The Banner Saga franchise seems to have issue with CPU optimization in certain part of the game, if you are playing with an old computer you may not be aware of this or you won't be having this issue at all, but if you are with newer hardware, you may notice your computer fans suddenly spinning fast in 'hero stats' screen. I opened up performance overlay from NVIDIA app and noticed excessive CPU usage in this particular screen like below.

This is the normal CPU usage in the most part of the game

However when you click any portrait of a hero and enter the next screen, CPU usage from average 10% to 60%

It's very unlikely this issue is ever gonna fixed by the developer, however I have found a way to lower the CPU usage without any third party programs. It's not perfect fixed but it's kinda acceptable (I think). Follow the instructions below:

1. Launch The Banner Saga 3.
2. Open up Task Manager and click 'Details (1)' and find the game on the right part of the window (2).
3. Right click on the game and select 'Set Affinity (3)'.


4. In the next pop-up window uncheck All Processors first and then check CPU 0.

My result after this method - CPU usage from 60% to 20%

There will be FPS drops in the hero selection screen, but apart from that the framerate seems to be normal.