How to Fix the "D3D_Feature_Level 11_1" Error in God of War

God of War‘s stunning Norse-themed world and thrilling combat catapulted it to immense popularity when it launched on PlayStation. The subsequent PC port unleased Kratos once again for a whole new audience – but also brought a slew of performance issues, crashes, and errors.

One of the most common problems faced is the pesky "D3D_Feature_Level 11_1" error preventing the game from launching properly. In this comprehensive guide, let‘s dig into what causes this error and how you can fix it to enjoy God of War‘s epic action on your PC.

What is the "D3D_Feature_Level 11_1" Error?

When you attempt to run God of War and are greeted with the error "D3D_Feature_Level 11_1", it signifies your hardware or drivers cannot support DirectX 11 feature level 11_1, which the game requires.

The ‘D3D‘ in the error refers to Direct3D, the graphics rendering API within Microsoft‘s DirectX suite. The ‘Feature Level 11_1‘ tells us it pertains to the specific capabilities introduced in DirectX 11.

Essentially, without feature level 11_1, your PC lacks certain graphics functionality God of War needs to run properly. This prevents the game from launching, or results in crashes, lag and other issues if it does start.

Why Does This Error Occur?

There are a few reasons you may encounter the “D3D_Feature_Level 11_1” error:

Old/Incompatible GPU – God of War requires your graphics card to be DirectX 11 compatible with feature level 11_1. Older GPUs that only support up to DirectX 10/10.1 cannot meet this requirement.

Outdated GPU drivers – Even compatible GPUs can show this error if graphics drivers are outdated and need an upgrade. Old drivers may lack full support for DirectX 11.

Driver conflicts – Conflicts between old and new drivers, or having incompatible drivers for different hardware, can also prevent DirectX 11 from working properly.

Insufficient VRAM – God of War recommends GPUs with >= 4GB of video RAM. Low VRAM on older cards can cause this error even if DirectX 11 is supported.

Windows version – You need Windows 10 64-bit to play God of War. The game cannot run on older Windows versions that don‘t have DirectX 11.

God of War System Requirements

Before we get into the solution, let‘s take a quick look at God of War‘s official minimum and recommended system requirements for PC:

Minimum Requirements

OS: Windows 10 64-bit
CPU: Intel i5-2500k / AMD Ryzen 3 1200
GPU: Nvidia GTX 960 4GB / AMD R9 290X 4GB
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 70GB HDD

Recommended Requirements

OS: Windows 10 64-bit
CPU: Intel i5-6600k / AMD Ryzen 5 2400
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB / AMD RX 570 4GB
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 70GB SSD

As the requirements show, you need a beefy PC with at least 4GB VRAM, 8GB RAM, and a decent recent quad-core processor. An SSD is also recommended for optimal load times.

In terms of graphics, the minimum GPU required is an Nvidia 900 series or AMD 290 series card with full DirectX 11 and feature level 11_1 support.

Benchmarks show God of War can hit 60fps on the GTX 960 at Medium settings at 900p resolution. The GTX 1060 can comfortably deliver 60fps at 1080p and High settings.

Clearly, God of War demands some seriously powerful hardware, which is why issues like “D3D_Feature_Level 11_1” commonly arise on aging PCs.

Understanding DirectX and Feature Levels

To better grasp the cause of this error, let‘s briefly explain how DirectX graphics rendering works.

DirectX is a collection of APIs that handle multimedia tasks like game graphics, sound, controllers etc. It allows games to communicate with your hardware for optimal performance.

Direct3D is the graphics component of DirectX concerned with rendering 2D and 3D game visuals. It has evolved over multiple versions – Direct3D 9, 10, 11, 12 etc. – each bringing new functionality.

Feature levels define the graphics capabilities supported within each Direct3D version. For instance, Direct3D 11 has feature levels 11_0 up to 11_1. Higher feature levels indicate newer hardware capabilities.

God of War requires the graphics features introduced specifically in Direct3D 11 feature level 11_1. Without your GPU supporting those capabilities, you hit the “D3D_Feature_Level 11_1” error.

How to Enable DirectX 11 on Old/Unsupported GPUs

If your graphics card is too old or otherwise lacks native DirectX 11 feature level 11_1 support, don‘t worry! You can still enable it on such GPUs using a compatibility tool called DXVK.

DXVK essentially acts as a translator, converting DirectX 11 calls from the game into the Vulkan API which your hardware can understand. This allows tapping into Vulkan‘s capabilities while still using DirectX for rendering.

Compared to raw DirectX 11, DXVK offers improved performance, fewer crashes, and wider hardware support. It has been a game-changer for running modern games on Linux and older Windows hardware alike.

With DXVK installed, you can trick God of War into thinking DirectX 11 is available and eliminate the “D3D_Feature_Level 11_1” error.

Here are step-by-step instructions to download, install, and configure DXVK correctly for God of War:

Step 1: Download Latest DXVK

Go to DXVK’s GitHub releases page and download the latest version (1.9.4 at time of writing). Grab the dxvk-1.9.4.tar.gz file.

Save the .tar.gz file in an easily accessible location on your PC.

Step 2: Extract the DXVK Files

Since it is in compressed .tar.gz format, you need to extract the DXVK files first.

Right-click on dxvk-1.9.4.tar.gz and choose "Extract Here" (or Extract Files/Extract All if using WinRAR). This will extract the files into a folder called dxvk-1.9.4.

Step 3: Navigate to Correct Folder

Inside the extracted dxvk-1.9.4 folder you‘ll find two folders:

x32 – For 32-bit Windows
x64 – For 64-bit Windows

You need to use the folder matching your Windows system type.

Press Windows Key + R to open the Run command box. Type msinfo32 and hit Enter.

Under System Type, verify if you have 32-bit or 64-bit Windows.

For modern systems, you likely have 64-bit, so go into the x64 folder.

Step 4: Copy DXVK Files

Inside the x64 folder, you‘ll see several .dll and .config files. Select all of them, right-click and choose Copy.

Alternatively press Ctrl + A to select all, Ctrl + C to copy.

Step 5: Paste Files into Game Folder

Navigate to your God of War install folder. The default location is:

C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\God of War

For Epic Games version:

D:\Epic Games\GodofWar

Right-click empty space in the folder and select Paste to paste the DXVK files you copied.

Step 6: Launch and Enjoy!

That‘s it! With DXVK files now present, God of War will tap into DirectX 11 capabilities even on unsupported hardware.

Launch the game and witness the glorious Norse world of God of War in buttery-smooth action. The pesky “D3D_Feature_Level 11_1” error should be vanquished for good.

Additional Troubleshooting Tips

If the above steps don‘t resolve the issue fully, try these additional troubleshooting measures:

Update your GPU drivers to latest version available. Outdated drivers can prevent DXVK from working properly.
If newest DXVK version causes crashes/issues, try an older release like 1.9.2 from GitHub.
Enable DXVK‘s logging feature to check for potential errors. Instructions here.
Set environment variable DXVK_HUD=1 to enable DXVK‘s heads-up-display and view error messages.
Verify game file integrity via Steam/Epic Games launcher to fix any corrupted files.
Adjust in-game graphics settings to reduce load if GPU is borderline.
Consider upgrading to a modern DX11-compatible GPU if all else fails.
Check PC meets God of War‘s minimum CPU, RAM, OS and other system requirements.

Conclusion

The “D3D_Feature_Level 11_1” error in God of War can certainly be frustrating, but is thankfully easy to resolve with the DXVK compatibility tool. By translating DirectX 11 calls to Vulkan, it enables playing this stunning game even on aging hardware.

I hope this detailed guide helped you get God of War running smoothly so you can fully immerse in its engrossing world. Let me know if have any other questions in the comments!