The Witcher 3’s 4.02 patch re-adds HBAO support on PC and improved CPU utilisation

Expect The Witcher 3 to look and play better on PC and consoles with patch 4.02

Patch 4.02 for The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt has arrived o n PC and consoles, applying to all versions of the game except for Nintendo Switch. For last-generation consoles, this patch addresses some bugs, while on current-generation consoles the patch offers graphical improvements, improved performance, and more. 

On PC, two of the highlights of this patch are the game’s improved CPU core utilisation under DirectX 12, and the game’s re-integration of horizon-based ambient occlusion (HBAO). A particle optimisation has also been implemented to reduce instances of stuttering.

On current-generation consoles, The Witcher 3 now features an improved performance mode, and has addressed performance issues in Beauclair and Novigrad that occurred after loading a gamesave.

Visually, this patch also offers gamers “Improved immersion of water appearance by adding refraction to SSR and ray-traced reflections”, and the game now features a motion blur slider. 

You can join the discussion on The Witcher 3’s 4.02 patch on the OC3D Forums.

Patch Notes

Patch 4.02 for The Witcher: Wild Hunt is being rolled out and will soon be available on PC, PlayStation and Xbox! Among various fixes, it also improves the overall stability and performance of the game.

Below you can find a list of the most notable changes to come in this update.

PC-SPECIFIC

– Improved CPU core utilization in the DX 12 version.
– Restored horizon-based ambient occlusion. Players who had previously turned Ambient Occlusion off will need to do so again. You can find it in Options → Video → Graphics.
– Fixed an issue where the “My Rewards” section was not localized in REDlauncher.
– Fixed an issue with a flickering landscape in Toussaint that occurred when NVIDIA HairWorks was disabled.
– Fixed an issue related to particle optimization which could result in temporary stuttering.

CONSOLE-SPECIFIC

– Improved Performance Mode on next-gen consoles.
– Fixed an issue where characters could become slightly blurry during dialogues and cutscenes on PlayStation 5.
– Fixed an issue related to memory usage in Ray Tracing Mode which could result in crashes on Xbox Series X.
– Whatsoever a Man Soweth… – The game will no longer crash if Geralt runs away from Shani after starting the conversation on next-gen consoles.
– Fixed an issue where quicksaves couldn’t be loaded when using cross progression on Xbox One.
– Added two missing “Top notch swords!” on previous-gen consoles.
– Fixed an issue with overwriting manual saves where in some circumstances the oldest gamesave was deleted on PlayStation 5.
– Addressed performance issues in Beauclair and Novigrad that occurred after loading a gamesave.

VISUAL – PC and Next-Gen Exclusive

– Improved immersion of water appearance by adding refraction to SSR and ray-traced reflections.
– Fixed a visual issue with brick textures where black artifacts covered stone arches.
– Added a Motion Blur slider. It can be found in Options → Video → Graphics.

QUESTS & GAMEPLAY – Available on all platforms

– Battle Preparations – Fixed the lack of a dialogue option that would progress the quest during the objective “Let Avallac’h know everything’s ready.”
– Reason of State – Fixed an issue where the door to the warehouse could become permanently locked if the player knocked, entered and then immediately left the building.
– Scavenger Hunt: Cat School Gear Upgrade Diagrams Part 1 – Fixed an issue where the quest could stay active even after the diagrams were looted.
– Fixed an issue where trying to start a New Game+ on an incompatible save would block the player from starting the expansions in standalone mode until the game was restarted.

LOCALIZATION – Available on all platforms

– Fixed an issue with the Korean localization of Ciri’s and Geralt’s Gwent card descriptions.
– Fixed punctuation issues in Arabic localization.
– Updated Traditional Chinese font.