Released by Square Enix in 2010, Final Fantasy XIV (FF14), is a huge massively multiplayer online role-playing game for PC that is still quite popular today. The modding community of Final Fantasy has released some much-needed mods to keep the game alive and relevant for today’s players. Let’s discover some of the best FF14 mods released till date.
Final Fantasy XIV is quite a popular MMO with a huge modding community that has managed to keep the game still interesting after more than a decade of its release. However, given that this online game is played with other online players, most of the FF14 mods do not alter the core mechanics of the game as you won’t be able to enjoy them with other players.
Therefore, most of the FF14 mods are about reshades, textures, FPS, overlays that don’t alter the vanilla feel of the game. And given how the game is more than a decade old, it actually does need some visual changes to look attractive in this age of advanced video games. So we decided to curate a list of the best FF14 mods that will help you achieve that.
Let’s take a look at some of the best and most popular FF14 mods released till date.
Top 16 Best FF14 Mods of All Time [Ranked]
#16 Beautiful Eorzeans
Beautiful Eorzeans is a FFXIV mod for face textures that replaces the vanilla face textures to make Eorzeans look more beautiful and attractive. It adds new and highly detailed textures for every single race in the game, be it a playable character or an NPC.
There is also a replacer for all the vanilla face paints to give everyone a fresh new look. However, do note that not everyone playing with you will be able to see the modified face. Only those using this mod will be able to see your new face.
Download the Beautiful Eorzeans mod now for Final Fantasy XIV
#15 Viera Refined
The Viera Refined mod adds many cleaned up versions of Viera’s faces that have been enhanced to 1K resolution. All of them have been upscaled and corrected to get rid of those pesky pixels, while enhancing her nose. The mod also comes with new baked normal maps to bring better details for Viera’s faces.
It also adds improved eye textures and lip details, to make your favorite character more attractive. You can combine this mod with the Ear Defined or Hair Defined mods for the best results.
Download the Viera Refined mod now for Final Fantasy XIV
#14 Alex’s FFXIV Reshade Preset
Alex’s Reshade Preset is a custom reshade preset that makes the in-game graphics look much more sharp. The preset also changes the lighting of the game to make it appear more alive and fresh. For instance, you can now easily see every single detail of your weapons and armor.
However, to make this happen, the performance of the game takes a hit by about 10-15%. But if you ask me, it’s totally worth it!
Download the Alex’s FFXIV Reshade Preset mod now for Final Fantasy XIV
#13 Upscaled Equipment Textures
As you can tell from its name, this mod basically upscales the textures of all the base game equipment. It comes in three versions:
- A 2x version of 17GB (unpacked) with normal and multi maps with high quality content.
- A 4x version of 58GB (unpacked) with normal and multi maps with the highest quality content.
- And a recommended version with the 2x version of hands, head, legs, and feet, and the 4x version of the chest. it is a good balance between the above-mentioned versions.
You can pick whichever version you like.
So if you have upscaled the textures of nearly everything else in the game and wish that the in-game equipment could also use an upgrade, this is the perfect mod for you.
Download the Upscaled Equipment Textures mod now for Final Fantasy XIV
#12 Fr4nsson’s FFXIV Config (FFC)
This FFXIV tool is a complete config for the game that comes with a super user-friendly informational HUD layout. It is an ideal plugin for those who don’t like fiddling around with the keybinds and HUD. It is a work in progress that already assigns every job’s spells to its hotbars. Since many of the jobs have shared spells, the mod author has tried to keep many of them on the same keybinds.
It is absolutely safe to use and makes your job much easier, especially if you don’t like dealing with HUD and keybinds. It makes these changes without actually modifying any files or making new ones. So hats off to the mod creator!
Download the Fr4nsson’s FFXIV Config (FFC) mod now for Final Fantasy XIV
#11 Owl’s FFXIV Fantasy Reshades
This reshade mod for Final Fantasy XIV adds various reshade presets to the game that you can use to massively improve your in-game experience. Two of my favorite presets, Fantasy and Gameplay, are both really amazing and make some much-needed changes to the game.
The Gameplay preset is a lightweight preset for low-end computers that offers decent visual upgrades. Whereas the Fantasy preset is a high-end version that you can use when just standing idle, doing RP, or taking screenshots.
Some other presets added by this mod include Owl’s Fantasy, Owl’s Gameplay, Low, and High preset. So if you are looking for some really cool reshade treasures for the game, this mod is sure to suffice.
Download the Owl’s FFXIV Fantasy Reshades mod now for Final Fantasy XIV
#10 Eden ULTIMA – free RTGI Graphics Mod
The Eden Ultima is a huge graphics overhaul mod for Final Fantasy 14 that is based on the GShade’s dxgi.dll. The main features of the mod include:
- Lighting improvements and tweaks
- Modular installation support
- Texture sharpening for 2K and 4K displays
- Depth of field
- Free ssRTGI
- Color corrections, balances, and ambiance improvements
The mod is powered by SIA and works flawlessly. It is totally free of bugs and is a must-have for anyone looking for a complete graphics overhaul for Final Fantasy XIV.
Download the Eden Ultima mod now for Final Fantasy XIV
#9 Hrothgar and Viera Hats
As you can tell from its name, this hat mod for Viera and Hrothgar adds hat compatibility, fully functional hats, helmets, head gear, and hoods for the two characters. The mod also adds custom 3D models for all of this head gear, hats, helmets, and hoods for Viera nad Hrothgar. Most of the hat physics and visors work.
The mod adds hundreds of hats, headgear, and their variants, including:
Hunting Hat and its variants
- Gold Roselle Capeline
- Choral Chapeau and its variants
- Hraesvelgr hat
- Peacelover’s hat
- Anemos hat and its variants
- Buccaneer’s Tricorne and its variants
- Coronal straw hat
- Late Allagan Cap of Healing
- Summer’s flame hat
- and hundreds of other head gear items.
So if you are looking for a great head accessories mod for Viera and Hrothgar, this is the best one you can find.
Download the Hrothgar and Viera Hats mod now for Final Fantasy XIV
#8 Upscaled World Textures
The Upscaled World Textures mod basically revamps all the main world textures, covering all the ARR textures, Stormblood, and player housing. It breathes life into the world around you and adds more vibrancy, color, detail to it, while keeping things realistic.
It adds the following texture files to the game:
- Main World Textures
- Heavensward World Textures
- Endwalker World Textures
- Stormblood World Textures
- Grassworld Textures
The total zipped file sizes of all these textures is 33.9GB, and 93.2GB for the unpacked folders. If you are looking for a great texture mod for the FFXIV world, this is the perfect mod for you.
Download the Upscaled World Textures mod now for Final Fantasy XIV
#7 Owl’s Eyes of Eorzea
As you can tell from its name, this mod is actually an eye mod that adds new eye textures for all the races and genders in FF14. Every single eye texture has been made from scratch for each gender, race, and sub-race. So if you are looking for a way to get incredibly attractive eyes for your character, get your hands on this eye textured mod. It’s the best of em all!
Download the Owl’s Eyes of Eorzea mod now for Final Fantasy XIV
#6 NPC Defined
The NPC Defined mod is actually a texture upgrade like Face Defined. However, it effects the NPCs in the game by replacing their vanilla textures. It basically improves on the original textured by SquareEnix by making them more detailed by 4x.
It just enhances the effects without making any alterations, changes, or modifications. So if you are looking for a great texture mod for NPCs, get your hands on this one now!
Download the NPC Defined mod now for Final Fantasy XIV
#5 Material 4K-UI for ENDWALKER
The Material UI mod basically replaces the built-in theme of FFXIV. It adds a dark theme for it so it looks super pleasing to the eye and is also easier to read.
Download the Material 4K-UI for ENDWALKER mod now for Final Fantasy XIV
#4 Alive Gshade Preset (RTGI Support)
The Alive GShade preset mod adds a great collection of super fine GShade presets that make Eorzea look more alive. The mod fine-tunes the SSAO, atmospheric fog, and color settings to offer a great gameplay without making the visuals look faded.
Although all the presets appear slightly similar, they have very subtle differences that will look good on any kind of hardware you have. All of the colors are balanced for FF14.
Here is a short description of some of the presets added by this mod:
- Performance: The performance preset basically color-balances the game and also removes the green haze in FFXIV. It has a 1% performance tax.
- Vanilla: A better version of the Performance preset, this preset brings advanced shading for both the environment and characters. It has a 5-10% performance tax.
- Fantasy: This preset is based on the graphics in FF12. It comes with depth of field, meaning that the distant world will be blurred. It has a 10-20% performance tax.
- Ultra: This one is actually a better version of the Vanilla preset which comes with improved color correction, advanced shading, and atmosphere. It has a 15-20% performance tax.
- Alive RGTI: This Gshade preset has been fine-tuned to make Eorzea Path more alive and traced.
In addition to these presets, it also adds a Fantasy Ultra, a Gameplay, and a Screenshot preset. Check out the mod page below for more details. But if you are looking for a way to massively improve the in-game graphics, this should be your go-to mod.
Download the Alive Gshade Preset mod now for Final Fantasy XIV
#3 Eyeworks
Eyeworks is an HD eye textured mod for FFXIV that adds custom textures to breathe life into your characters. There are over 150 eye textures in this mod, including an HD specular version, a Normal version, and a Catchlight version.
All the 150 options have been customized according to your genders, races, and types of eyes. They have also been adjusted, upscaled, and reworked to offer the best performance and quality. All the textures are 256×256 and they also come with Beta Lalafell support.
Download the Eyeworks mod now for Final Fantasy XIV
#2 Face Defined
The Face Defined mod has been made to improve the vanilla faces of all the races, clans, and genders. It is a complete overhaul for all the faces in FF14 that replaces the vanilla face textures and also adds Defined Eye textures. So if you are looking for a great face textures mod for FFXIV, this is a must-have!
Download the Face Defined mod now for Final Fantasy XIV
#1 Hair Defined
The Hair Defined mod for Final Fantasy 14 adds 1000+ HD textures for the vanilla hair, that have been created using an advanced process of enhancing and upscaling the source material. This mod includes the most updated hair files for every single playable gender, race, and primary NPCs, including Thancred and Minfillia.
It is a complete hair overhaul that replaces the vanilla hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, and beard textures for each race and gender. It is actually a must-have mod for a true FF14 fan that fixes all the hair issues, offers better graphics, and also fixes the Pixelation artifacts that the vanilla hair get.
Download the Hair Defined mod now for Final Fantasy XIV
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Conclusion
So that’s all, folks! This pretty much sums up the best FF14 mods and add-ons for Final Fantasy XIV. If you still play the game but are looking for some much-needed improvements, fresh content, and unique in-game experiences, get your hands on these mods today.
Happy gaming!