Here's a list of suggestions to help optimize your Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition experience. 

🛠 Make the computer meets the minimum requirements
A full list of the minimum and recommended requirements can be found here.

🛠 Adjust Graphics Options in game
There are several settings that can affect how smoothly the game runs. These can be found from the main menu by clicking Options and then look through the Graphics Options. Several suggests are below:

• Change Super Sampling to 100% instead of 200%
• Disable Bloom Effect
• Change Particle Quality to Low
• Disable Tracer Effects
• Change the quality to Low for
  • Foliage
  • Shaders
  • Water
  • Shadows
  • Textures

🛠 Check to see if the username contains characters such as emojis

We are tracking a Known Issue which results in severely hindered performance when usernames contain emojis or non-standard characters. Consider temporarily removing them until an update has been released.

🛠 Check monitor resolution settings
Double check your other graphics card and monitor settings to ensure that there isn't something limiting your power.

🛠 Close Any Background Applications
This will help mitigate any disruptions while you’re playing Age of Empires. You can see what applications are currently running by pressing ALT + SHIFT + Esc to open the Task Manager window.

🛠 If you have multiple graphics cards (GPU), make sure the game is set to use best or high performance.

Windows 10 Settings: Use the below steps to change the graphic settings that Windows 10 will default to for a specific application. If these steps do not work for you, consider adjusting your settings at the graphics-card level (exact steps for this will vary between graphics card models).

Steam:

• Open Steam and locate the game
• Right-click on the game and select Manage > Browse Local Files
• In the File Explorer that opens, highlight the file pathway and copy it (CTRL + C)
• Go to your Windows Start menu and search for Display Settings
• Open Display Settings
• Scroll till near the bottom of the window
• Click Graphics Settings (it’s a hyperlink)
• Click Browse
• In the explorer window, paste (CTRL + V) the copied file pathway into the file pathway field
• Select the game’s executable application
• The application should now show in Graphics Settings page
• Click Options
• Change the graphics preference in the pop-up window to High Performance
• Click Save

Microsoft Store:

• Go to your Windows Start menu and search for Display Settings
• Open Display Settings
• Scroll till near the bottom of the window
• Click Graphics Settings (it’s a hyperlink)
• Change the dropdown from Desktop App to Microsoft Store App
• A second dropdown will appear
• Select the game title from the second dropdown
• Click Add
• The application should now show in Graphics Settings page
• Click Options
• Change the graphics preference in the pop-up window to High Performance
• Click Save