They're bringing the servers down for an update. I didn't think performance was terrible so far tonight, but it definitely wasn't any better, and by the time they announced the restart it was beginning to feel a little stuttery. I got disconnected twice tonight, and locked once, fwiw.
Server performance seemed worse tonight, but my game seemed to be performing better.
But that is difficult to really determine - I had some FPS drops that were terrible, but they seemed random and, in voice, other people were complaining about it at roughly the same time, so it is likely server-end.
Since all servers are down for, most likely, at least another hour, I likely won't get to test until Monday. But, one thing I'll try is deleting the current useroptions.cfg file, letting the game make a new one, see how different it looks (I've heard this could be a cause for performance issues for some).
I've always had a strange issue that requires my game/launcher to Run as Admin to even utilize the config file so my personal methods won't necessarily work for everyone, at least not step-by-step approaches.
But try deleting that file (just rename to .bak instead of .cfg in case things get screwy) - I've heard the new file will have tweaked default settings and perhaps new line items in the config file. This may only affect someone who has previously edited the config file itself. I've done it extensively, though I don't suspect I've had such issues. Could be wrong.
I hadn't run non-limited FPS in so long, I can't really get a good feel until the servers are consistent and I see how much or how little my FPS drops during major battles.
I'm running mostly Ultra settings in the config file, and more often than not I see the FPS bouncing around the limiter (limit = 59 fps). Before the patch, I often had dips down to low 40s, mid 30s, during large battles.
It's odd, but it seems when the server cooperates, the game feels a tad bit smoother. Still seeing weird lag-based issues, like characters frozen stiff but gliding around/floating, or what have you, but overall the game seemed to feel more fluid.
I didn't get to check out much of the actual changes, I was focused mostly on following the outfit and watching the system performance differences - the server cut out on me (hot fix) before I could focus on anything else for a few moments. Definitely ran into a few of the small base redesigns, and the differences leave me feeling like I just ran into a completely alien setting. It's weird how, once you've adjusted to the cookie cutter designs found everywhere, some decent changes to that cookie cutter's shape just changes everything.
Yet at the same rate, it didn't seem to actually change it significantly. Again, I never even saw anything other than small outposts - none of the towers or tech labs, for instance. It'll be a little before I can get a taste/feel for those changes.