Single Layer Water vs. Default Lit

Single Layer Water is the gold standard for water in Unreal Engine and looks fantastic, providing caustics support, refraction, scattering & absorption. But there are a few downsides too:

For starters, it does not self-shadow (meaning waves won't cast shadows onto themselves or break up specular reflections) and secondly, it only casts and receives shadows from the primary directional light. In shots lit by Spotlights or Pointlights, missing shadows can break the illusion as shown here:

Default Lit

Single Layer Water

Default Lit works much better in those shots, as long as you don't need the translucency/caustic effects. It suits dark, deep water. Setting Metallic to 1 can improve the look and make things far more realistic as well.

Feature	Single Layer Water	Default Lit
Translucency/Absorption/Scattering	✅	❌
Caustics	✅	❌
Shadows from lights other than the primary directional light	❌	✅
Best for	Most shots	Dramatic lighting with local lights; dark, deep water

Switching shading model

1. Open your EasyWaterscape material instance.
2. Search for Shading Model.
3. Change it suit your needs.

Open the Material Instance found in EasyWaterscape's details panel

Change the Shading Model here

Neither one is “better” than the other, they depend on your needs, and the shot you’re trying to render.