diff --git a/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/LatteTextureVk.cpp b/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/LatteTextureVk.cpp
index a62741e4..80dcb4d7 100644
--- a/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/LatteTextureVk.cpp
+++ b/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/LatteTextureVk.cpp
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ LatteTextureVk::LatteTextureVk(class VulkanRenderer* vkRenderer, Latte::E_DIM di
 	if (vkCreateImage(m_vkr->GetLogicalDevice(), &imageInfo, nullptr, &vkObjTex->m_image) != VK_SUCCESS)
 		m_vkr->UnrecoverableError("Failed to create texture image");
 	
-	if (m_vkr->IsDebugUtilsEnabled() && vkSetDebugUtilsObjectNameEXT)
+	if (m_vkr->IsDebugMarkersEnabled())
 	{
 		VkDebugUtilsObjectNameInfoEXT objName{};
 		objName.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_DEBUG_UTILS_OBJECT_NAME_INFO_EXT;
diff --git a/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/RendererShaderVk.cpp b/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/RendererShaderVk.cpp
index f639a9bb..f6549e3c 100644
--- a/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/RendererShaderVk.cpp
+++ b/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/RendererShaderVk.cpp
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ void RendererShaderVk::CreateVkShaderModule(std::span<uint32> spirvBuffer)
 	}
 
 	// set debug name
-	if (vkr->IsDebugUtilsEnabled() && vkSetDebugUtilsObjectNameEXT)
+	if (vkr->IsDebugMarkersEnabled())
 	{
 		VkDebugUtilsObjectNameInfoEXT objName{};
 		objName.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_DEBUG_UTILS_OBJECT_NAME_INFO_EXT;
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ void RendererShaderVk::FinishCompilation()
 
 void RendererShaderVk::CompileInternal(bool isRenderThread)
 {
-	bool compileWithDebugInfo = ((VulkanRenderer*)g_renderer.get())->IsDebugUtilsEnabled() && vkSetDebugUtilsObjectNameEXT;
+	const bool compileWithDebugInfo = ((VulkanRenderer*)g_renderer.get())->IsTracingToolEnabled();
 
 	// try to retrieve SPIR-V module from cache
 	if (s_isLoadingShadersVk && (m_isGameShader && !m_isGfxPackShader) && s_spirvCache && !compileWithDebugInfo)
diff --git a/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/VulkanRenderer.cpp b/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/VulkanRenderer.cpp
index 5a7d8f4e..a1340a94 100644
--- a/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/VulkanRenderer.cpp
+++ b/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/VulkanRenderer.cpp
@@ -446,8 +446,6 @@ VulkanRenderer::VulkanRenderer()
 	}
 
 	CheckDeviceExtensionSupport(m_physicalDevice, m_featureControl); // todo - merge this with GetDeviceFeatures and separate from IsDeviceSuitable?
-	if (m_featureControl.debugMarkersSupported)
-		cemuLog_log(LogType::Force, "Debug: Frame debugger attached, will use vkDebugMarkerSetObjectNameEXT");
 
 	DetermineVendor();
 	GetDeviceFeatures();
@@ -582,10 +580,14 @@ VulkanRenderer::VulkanRenderer()
 		debugCallback.pfnUserCallback = &DebugUtilsCallback;
 
 		vkCreateDebugUtilsMessengerEXT(m_instance, &debugCallback, nullptr, &m_debugCallback);
+
+		cemuLog_log(LogType::Force, "Debug: Vulkan validation layer enabled, vkCreateDebugUtilsMessengerEXT will be used to log validation errors");
 	}
 
-	if (m_featureControl.instanceExtensions.debug_utils)
-		cemuLog_log(LogType::Force, "Using available debug function: vkCreateDebugUtilsMessengerEXT()");
+	if (this->IsTracingToolEnabled())
+		cemuLog_log(LogType::Force, "Debug: Tracing tool detected, will recompile all shaders with debug info enabled. This disables the SPIR-V cache.");
+	if (this->IsDebugMarkersEnabled())
+		cemuLog_log(LogType::Force, "Debug: Detected tool capable of using debug markers, will use vkDebugMarkerSetObjectNameEXT to identify Vulkan objects");
 
 	// set initial viewport and scissor box size
 	m_state.currentViewport.width = 4;
@@ -1256,8 +1258,9 @@ bool VulkanRenderer::CheckDeviceExtensionSupport(const VkPhysicalDevice device,
 	// dynamic rendering doesn't provide any benefits for us right now. Driver implementations are very unoptimized as of Feb 2022
 	info.deviceExtensions.present_wait = isExtensionAvailable(VK_KHR_PRESENT_WAIT_EXTENSION_NAME) && isExtensionAvailable(VK_KHR_PRESENT_ID_EXTENSION_NAME);
 
-	// check for framedebuggers
-	info.debugMarkersSupported = false;
+	// check for validation layers and frame debuggers
+	info.usingDebugMarkerTool = false;
+	info.usingTracingTool = false;
 	if (info.deviceExtensions.tooling_info && vkGetPhysicalDeviceToolPropertiesEXT)
 	{
 		uint32_t toolCount = 0;
@@ -1268,8 +1271,10 @@ bool VulkanRenderer::CheckDeviceExtensionSupport(const VkPhysicalDevice device,
 			{
 				for (auto& itr : toolProperties)
 				{
-					if ((itr.purposes & VK_TOOL_PURPOSE_DEBUG_MARKERS_BIT_EXT) != 0)
-						info.debugMarkersSupported = true;
+					if ((itr.purposes & VK_TOOL_PURPOSE_DEBUG_MARKERS_BIT_EXT) != 0 && info.instanceExtensions.debug_utils && vkSetDebugUtilsObjectNameEXT)
+						info.usingDebugMarkerTool = true;
+					if ((itr.purposes & VK_TOOL_PURPOSE_TRACING_BIT) != 0)
+						info.usingTracingTool = true;
 				}
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/VulkanRenderer.h b/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/VulkanRenderer.h
index 7290fdd7..fabf7490 100644
--- a/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/VulkanRenderer.h
+++ b/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/VulkanRenderer.h
@@ -482,7 +482,8 @@ private:
 			uint32 nonCoherentAtomSize = 256;
 		}limits;
 
-		bool debugMarkersSupported{ false }; // frame debugger is attached
+		bool usingDebugMarkerTool{ false }; // validation layer or other tool capable of handling debug markers is used
+		bool usingTracingTool{ false }; // frame debugger or other API replaying tool is used
 		bool disableMultithreadedCompilation{ false }; // for old nvidia drivers
 
 	}m_featureControl{};
@@ -937,7 +938,8 @@ public:
 	bool GetDisableMultithreadedCompilation() const { return m_featureControl.disableMultithreadedCompilation; }
 	bool UseTFViaSSBO() const { return m_featureControl.mode.useTFEmulationViaSSBO; }
 	bool HasSPRIVRoundingModeRTE32() const { return m_featureControl.shaderFloatControls.shaderRoundingModeRTEFloat32; }
-	bool IsDebugUtilsEnabled() const { return m_featureControl.debugMarkersSupported && m_featureControl.instanceExtensions.debug_utils; }
+	bool IsDebugMarkersEnabled() const { return m_featureControl.usingDebugMarkerTool; }
+	bool IsTracingToolEnabled() const { return m_featureControl.usingTracingTool; }
 
 private:
 
diff --git a/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/VulkanRendererCore.cpp b/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/VulkanRendererCore.cpp
index 32ef7007..03e0d2bf 100644
--- a/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/VulkanRendererCore.cpp
+++ b/src/Cafe/HW/Latte/Renderer/Vulkan/VulkanRendererCore.cpp
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ void compilePipelineThread_queue(PipelineCompiler* v)
 bool VulkanRenderer::IsAsyncPipelineAllowed(uint32 numIndices)
 {
 	// frame debuggers dont handle async well (as of 2020)
-	if (IsDebugUtilsEnabled() && vkSetDebugUtilsObjectNameEXT)
+	if (IsTracingToolEnabled())
 		return false;
 
 	CachedFBOVk* currentFBO = m_state.activeFBO;