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Greetings Tenno!
With the launch of The Duviri Paradox on April 26th, we’ll be shifting the Enhanced Graphics Engine option to be the default setting on PC. This is another step towards retiring the Classic Graphics Engine fully (as has been announced in previous posts). We will provide ample notice on when to expect the Classic Graphic Engine’s retirement, but the ultimate goal remains of providing the best experience of Warframe to our players via the Enhanced Graphics Engine.
Why use the Enhanced Graphics Engine?
There are many stunning in-game details that are only visible via the Enhanced Graphics Engine such as wall decals, tattoos, facial hair, more accurate reflections, and dynamic lighting and shadowing (a detailed breakdown can be found in our original announcement here). We ultimately want players' first steps into Warframe and Duviri to be seen the way our team intended!
New and last generation Playstation and Xbox consoles run the Enhanced Graphics Engine experience, and we want our PC players who have yet to enable it to share in the benefits of this system.
Enhanced Graphics Engine Settings:
Our goal while phasing out Classic has been and remains to keep performance and scalability a priority for players. That said, you will be able to adjust the following in-game settings to tweak performance with the Enhanced Graphics Engine:
- Sun Shadows Toggle - This can be disabled via the Graphics settings in the Video tab of your Options.
- Enhanced Decals Toggle - This can be disabled via the Graphics settings in the Video tab of your Options.
- Switching Graphics settings under Options > Video to “Medium” or “Low” will also offer performance adjustments if required.
For the time being (before Classic retires), if you wish to return to the Classic Engine you’ll be able to do so via the Warframe launcher by hitting the cog > selecting “Classic” from the dropdown menu. 
Or via your Graphics settings in-game by opening the pause menu > Options > Video Tab > Scrolling down to the Graphics Options.
Why retire the Classic Graphics Engine?
Currently, the team has to maintain both engines which means twice the work for the graphics programmers, twice as much testing, and most importantly, it means our artists are limited by what the Classic engine can do.
Retirement plans for Classic were first announced in 2020 and since then the team has shifted to making content that uses more and more features of the Enhanced graphics engine. Once there is only one rendering engine to support we can make new content that we couldn’t make before!
Enhanced as Standard:
Ultimately, the Enhanced Graphics Engine is the gold standard for Warframe and all of its future content - the most immediate being Duviri! With Enhanced, you’ll be able to enjoy all of the hard work the team has put into making it a truly spectacular experience, of which you’ll jump into starting April 26th.
Thanks Tenno!