Reshade: A Guide
Note: This guide is for non Steam users, but I imagine it’ll work the same for Steam if you relocate to steamapps instead of the /game/ folder for FFXIV
Reshade…
is a QoL tool that is completely fine to use for FFXIV. This tool makes the game prettier, including but not limited to:
- Boosting Saturation
- Adding Shadows
- Giving a more in depth, easy to use Depth of Field (DoF) vs FFXIV’s
- Allowing Sharpening to an image
- Bringing the game to life by adding color, steering away from FFXIV’s general “bland” coloring
…and much more, all without tampering with the game’s files!
The tool is also relatively easy to use.
Setup
Step 1: Download the application and launch it.
Step 2: Hit “Select Game”. Navigate to the folder you have FFXIV installed on
Step 3: Select your rendering API. DX9 if you use ffxiv.exe, DX10+ if you use ffxiv_dx11.exe.
You’ll be prompted to add an array of standard effects as well, I always hit no here personally because it doesn’t install for me otherwise.
Step 4: Launch FFXIV. Once you do, hit Shift+F2 to bring up the Reshade configuration. It will prompt you to go through the tutorial, which you should read carefully.
Your Reshade should look something like this once finished:
If it looks like this, you did everything right setting up the tutorial. From here on out, feel free to experiment with different settings - they update in realtime, too!
F.A.Q.
Q: Reshade is great and all but…I’m a little lost. Where can I go for presets?
A: I personally used >>Stormshade<< as my go to preset, which I highly tweaked to my liking (if you couldn’t tell in the before > after, I love high contrast and colors). You can also get more presets for Reshade >>here<<, although I can’t vouch for how many are updated to 3.0.
Q: Where did my screenshot go?
A: Reshade puts screenshots into a pre designated folder. You can change the folder on the Reshade settings, as well as various other settings.
Q: My settings aren’t saving! What gives?
A: Settings may not be saving due to a plethora of reasons, but these are the two most common I found as fixes:
- Navigate to your /Final Fantasy XIV - A Realm Reborn/ folder.
- Right click > Properties on the /game/ folder.
- Navigate to the security tab.
- Allow writing in the settings.
This will not break your game.
A secondary fix: make the folder no longer read-only (personally didn’t work for me, but others have reported it as working).
Q: My game is tearing! What did I do wrong!?
A: Turning some settings up to intense levels will cause the game to tear. You did not break your game files, so don’t worry! You can toggle off each and every setting to find the culprit of the tearing if you want to keep your preset, or you can make a new preset completely, if needed.
Q: My Reshade tutorial only has a red screen! What do I do?
A: Download Stormshade and copy everything from the download into your /game/ folder. It should fix it. In the same vein, your settings might not be saving properly, so look at the above question for help on that.
Some tips on settings:
- MXAO makes shadows more intense, will cause shadows to bleed through the grey UI on the game
- HDR is a must have for settings, IMO. It simply makes everything look better by upping the contrast and brightness of an image simultaneously. You can produce similar results by upping the contrast and brightness of an image in Photoshop, SAI, etc.
- Certain sharpness effects are more heavy on FPS hits than others. I personally use AdaptiveSharpen. FineSharpen is the most intense out of all of them.
- Do not be afraid to experiment with every single setting! You can toggle it off, or worst case scenario, make a new preset if you really mess up.
