[Linux/Vulkan/Proton] Severe object/effect hitching after relaunch (reboot fixes)

Summary

On Ubuntu 25.10 via Steam using Proton Experimental with Vulkan, Path of Exile runs smoothly on the first launch after a system boot. If I play for a long session, then close the game and relaunch it without rebooting, performance becomes significantly worse: I get major hitching/stutter whenever enemies appear on-screen or when combat/effects/new objects seem to initialize. A full system reboot consistently restores smooth performance.

Importantly, once this degraded performance state is reached (often after object/effect first-use hitching), the poor performance persists for the entire play session. Performance does not recover over time or by revisiting the same content, and only a full system reboot restores normal behavior.

Environment

- OS: Ubuntu 25.10
- Steam: Steam client
- Proton: Proton Experimental (latest build @3/3/2026)
- Renderer/API: Vulkan
- Steam Vulkan shader pre-caching: Enabled
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
- GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
- RAM: 32 GB
- Drivers: Latest Ubuntu kernel + Mesa packages available as of March 2026

Game Settings. I've tried every meaningful combination. The only impactful settings are:
- Dynamic resolution makes the problem significantly worse.
- Global illumination makes it significantly worse.
- Lowering resolution reduces the severity somewhat (fewer objects/effects visible), but does not eliminate the hitching. At 3440×1440 the issue is most noticeable; at 1920×1080 it is less intense but still present.

Reproduction Steps

1. Boot the PC normally.
2. Launch Path of Exile from Steam (Proton Experimental, Vulkan).
3. Play for a long session (extended play time; multiple zones/maps, lots of enemy/effect variety). I'm a degenerate who can have a multi-hour play session in the evenings.
4. Exit the game normally.
5. Relaunch Path of Exile again (same settings), without rebooting the system.
6. Enter an area with enemies / start combat. Most noticeable with a lot of fancy content (Abyss, Shrines, Ground effects, Fancy Monsters)

Expected Result

Performance should remain consistent after relaunch (no major hitching when enemies/effects appear).

Actual Result

After the relaunch, performance is significantly worse than the first launch after boot:
- Large stutters/hitches new objects first appear on-screen (enemies, ground effects, and some map decorations). Combat exacerbates issue.
- Feels like blocking "loading/initialization" stalls (new enemy types and effects are the most noticeable triggers) or hitching due to first-use rendering.

Once the stuttering begins, overall rendering performance remains degraded for the rest of the session:
- Hitching continues even for objects and effects that have already appeared
- Re-entering the same map or area does not restore smooth performance
- The issue does not self-resolve during gameplay
- The problem is minimal or not present on the first launch after a reboot

Frequency

Consistently reproducible when following:
long session → close game → relaunch without reboot.

Workaround

- Full system reboot fixes it every time.
- Closing/reopening the game alone does not fix it.
- Restarting Steam alone does not fix it.

Additional Notes / What this resembles (not claiming root cause)

I can’t confirm the underlying cause, but the behavior is strongly consistent with one of the following patterns seen in Vulkan/translation-layer pipelines:
- Shader or Vulkan pipeline compilation occurring during gameplay (enemy/effect "first use" causing stalls)
- Pipeline/shader cache behavior differing across launches, leading to synchronous compilation or cache thrashing on the second run
- GPU/driver state not fully resetting on game exit (or allocations/caches persisting across launches), causing worse stalls after a long session until a full reboot clears the state

The overall gist is the second launch after a long session is dramatically worse, and only a reboot reliably returns the game to normal smoothness.

Diagnostics I can provide if helpful

- Proton logs from a repro run
- PoE Client.txt
- Exact kernel/Mesa package versions
- vulkaninfo output

You can report issues with Proton on GitHub;

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues

"

Sarno#0493 wrote:

You can report issues with Proton on GitHub;

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues

Thanks, I’m familiar with the Proton GitHub, but this doesn’t look like a Proton translation bug to me. Restarting the game or Steam doesn’t help, only a full system reboot resets performance. That points to persistent Vulkan/driver or pipeline state rather than Proton logic, which is why I reported it here first.

"

karsey#2995 wrote:

That points to persistent Vulkan/driver or pipeline state rather than Proton logic, which is why I reported it here first.

As someone who used to run the Solus distro as their daily driver for 5+ years - I am genuinely not attempting to be discouraging or frustrating. But GGG do not support the Linux OS, GPU drivers for Linux, the Steam Deck... literally anything to do with Linux whatsoever.

They aren't going to entertain offers to examine Proton logs, Mesa version info, or anything else.

They quite simply do not care.

If you feel strongly it's more likely to be, say, AMD's open-source driver then you can try reporting a bug against that instead. But GGG develops this game for Windows - I'm somewhat doubtful even the previously-promised macOS client for Path of Exile II will ever see the light of day, let alone the team attempting to "not support *wink*" Linux or whatever else.

You're posting on the forum of a studio that hasn't been bothered for, what - seven or eight years now (?) - to provide Technical Support for any of their allegedly supported Operating Systems. The odds of them finding the time to try to dig into a problem on an unsupported OS are vanishingly small.

I have posted on this forum over 15,000 times & created an unofficial help centre of sorts for PoE 1 because if someone can't play either of the games, I'd like to help them if I can. I am not attempting to drive you away from this forum - and I can think of no reason why you would stop occasionally checking to see if someone else has responded to your thread. But if there's other places you plan to post about this, I'd advise you to get the ball rolling on those.

I derive no pleasure or satisfaction from saying this, but you will not get help here.