Arena defence keeps losing to the same setup (NA servers)

I have read the FAQ and it does not cover this case. Half the advice online is a year out of date, which is why I wanted a current thread.

It seems to depend heavily on region, which nobody mentions anywhere. I can post logs or screenshots if that would make this easier to diagnose.

Speaking as someone who got it wrong initially, the defaults are conservative on purpose, so there is usually headroom to gain.

Slightly different take — the averages hide the problem; look at the one percent lows instead.

Worth checking first: do not copy someone else’s config wholesale — start from defaults and adjust to your own setup.

Speaking as someone who got it wrong initially, check whether an overlay is running before blaming the game itself.

Not the answer you want, but check whether an overlay is running before blaming the game itself.

Let us know which part worked.

Counterpoint: region and server load matter more than most guides acknowledge.

Had the exact same issue. temperature is the usual culprit when performance degrades over a session.

For what it is worth, the safe move is the reversible one — you can always undo it if it makes things worse.

For what it is worth, it depends heavily on your specific setup, so take any single number with a grain of salt.

Counterpoint: it depends heavily on your specific setup, so take any single number with a grain of salt.