My question is this normal and should i adjust other settings instead. Game looks beautiful in ultra and im not seeing jagged lines or graphic hiccups
The visual difference between High and Ultra are not that much. In fact, you never want Ultra shadows anyway. Most of the time, Ultra settings are more for the View Distance than anything else.
Yes, Ultra will chug a system that can run the game on High, and it's the scripty things that are causing the most issues. Which is the NPCs in the battles that you have noticed this on. You need to go in and tweak the individual settings under Advanced as some things you want Ultra, somethings you don't need or want Ultra.