Mods, Add-ons, and Plugins have been a source of debate among Final Fantasy XIV's community and playerbase. This is due to the fact that the use of third-party tools, including Mods and Addons, is theoretically prohibited by Final Fantasy XIV's Terms of Service.

This can also be seen as a warning to all players who wish to install Mods and Addons in order to improve their gameplay in various ways. While it is highly improbable, if not impossible, that game creators will go out of their way to search your PC for third-party software, their use is still prohibited. The general guideline is that you should never discuss Addons in-game chat, especially in public places where other players can readily report you.

That being said, there is a wide range of Addons that can be added or downloaded to assist enrich your gameplay or make certain aspects of the game easier to complete. This post seeks to compile a list of 15 of the top addons available for download in 2022, developed by creative modders and designers alike.

The addons described here may enhance your gameplay by improving the graphics and detail of the game, making it simpler to access resources and information, encouraging you to achieve better, especially in Endgame content, and many other things.

15. NPC Defined

One of the examples of the look of the NPCs using this particular addon.

NPC Defined is the first Mod in our list, as well as the first addition that may enhance your gameplay experience by boosting the graphics and detailing on the game, specifically on the NPC characters that you meet along the road as you complete your Main Story Questline, Raids, and other features.

SofieHiyatsuki authored and posted this Mod to Nexus Mods. For players who are concerned of being banned for using any addons, this mod is ideal because Square Enix will not be able to identify it because it is a personal modification made from the client side and does not modify the game's structure in any way for other players.

Furthermore, they have updated their content to incorporate all of the new Endwalker NPCs, so players who wish to enjoy the new Main Story Questline with improved graphics should consider downloading this as well.

How the mod makes FFXIV more fun:

• Makes the NPC look better, so it might also make the cutscenes feel more immersive.
• Players who has a hobby of taking screenshots with the NPCs will be able to take better quality screenshots with this mod.
• It includes most of the major important NPCs including the new ones that has just arrived with the Endwalker expansion. Players who want to enjoy watching their favorite NPCs while doing MSQ will have more fun downloading this mod.

Get the mod here.

14. Touch of Real (Male and Female)

A quick example of how players can enhance the look of their characters using this mod.

Touch of Real is another mod that enhances the graphics and textures in the game, notably the features of the player's character. This mod comes in two flavors: one for a male character and one for a female one. It's a well-known mod written by dricent74656 and uploaded on the same website, Nexus Mods.

The main purpose of this patch is to replace the original, vanilla textures of both male and female characters used by players, particularly from old races that still use outdated images and textures from years ago, such as the Hyur, Roegadyn, and Elezen.

How the mod makes FFXIV more fun:

• Improves the player’s character features exponentially, which overall fits better to the updated, modern graphics of the later expansion areas, like Shadowbringers and Endwalker.
• May feel more immersive for players who want to get into the story and enjoy the cutscenes, as the updated textures will help the characters look more alive.
• Players may also be able to take better screenshots with their own created characters on the screen.

Get the mod here (female version) and here (for male version).

13. XIVCombo

XIVCombo is a plugin that simplifies rotations.

XIVCombo is a plugin built by attic, and it is also the first plugin included in this post. The purpose of this plugin is largely to assist players in simplifying their 1-2-3 combo into a single button they must push, making the work much easier.

How this plugin helps:

• It may help players who have problems clicking the usual 1-2-3 combo for either single target or AoE attacks by simplifying it into a single button they need to click which automatically turns into the next skill they need to press.
• It simplifies rotation and therefore may help players be able to deal more damage by having less chance to mess up your 1-2-3 rotation for either single target or AoE attacks.
• It helps keep the hotbar space needed to a minimum, especially useful for players who use gamepads or players who have small screens, or just simply want more free space instead of being filled with hotbars.

Get the plugin here.

12. Hrothgar and Viera Hats

This mod allows the two new exclusive races to finally be able to wear hats just like the others.

XIVCombo is a plugin built by attic, and it is also the first plugin included in this post. The purpose of this plugin is largely to assist players in simplifying their 1-2-3 combo into a single button they must push, making the work much easier.

How this mod makes FFXIV more fun:

• Especially so for Viera and Hrothgar players, they are able to use most hats when they previously couldn’t.
• Allow these same players to be able to create a more glamour look in their glamour dresser and glamour plates.
• Allow Viera and Hrothgar players to be able to take more unique screenshots that they previously couldn’t because of the hat restrictions for these two races.

Get the mod here.

11. Hair Defined

A must-have graphics enhancement mod for players who like to Glam, which describes almost half the playerbase.

Hair Defined is another innocuous mod produced by SaikaDarkmoon that improves gameplay for players by upgrading and replacing vanilla textures with much better ones, allowing their hairstyles as well as other players' to look more defined, detailed, and intriguing.

How the mod makes FFXIV more fun:

• It allows players to be able to enjoy the sights of their character with a much better hairstyle.
• It also allows for more immersive gameplay, as the updated, enhanced graphics will be able to blend better with the sophisticated and fantastical look of the new areas and NPCs.
• Players may be able to use hairstyles they previously dislike or don't care about, as this mod helps enhance the previously bland hairstyle into a more detailed one.
• Players will be able to take better screenshots and Group poses by themselves or with others.

Get the mod here.

10. Fr4nsson's FFXIV Config (FFC)

A tool that greatly enhances gameplay in FFXIV.

While this tool is still relatively new, it has quickly risen up the popularity ranks in the months it has been available in the game. This config, created by Fr4nsson, helps keep the hotbar for certain jobs for smoother, easier gameplay. Not to mention that it is not a mod and so does not violate the FFXIV Terms of Service, making this config highly safe to use in the game.

How FFC helps make the game more fun and engaging:

• A lot of jobs share the same spells and abilities, and this config helps save those specific skills into the same hotbar, making it easier for players to pick up a new job faster and use the skills they’re used to having.
• It helps players who like to play multiple jobs have an easier way to navigate around those different jobs by using their skills on muscle memory presses and not get them wrong.
• Players will also be able to have a deeper understanding in their battle jobs by having a neat, arranged hotbar for all of their skills and abilities.

Get the config here.

9. Bard Music Player

A tool often used by many entertainers crowding in Limsa Lominsa.

After unlocking Bard in Final Fantasy XIV, players will be able to use the Performance mode to play various instruments and press notes to create beautiful music that can be enjoyed by themselves or other players.

However, playing a decent song in public is much easier said than done, especially for players who have never touched a real instrument before. They must fight with tempo, finding the correct notes, arranging the melodies, and so on.

This is where Bard Music Player comes in to save the day, and potentially the sanity, of thousands of other players who don't want to hear a cacophony of'music' in every major city they visit in the game.

How BMF makes the game more fun:

• Players are able to play the Performance Mode easily by simply downloading a MIDI song listed in their website, or their own MIDI songs and inserting it into the tool.
• Players will be able to enjoy FFXIV songs and even other songs outside of the game being played by the bards in major cities, which makes for an immersive atmosphere.
• Players do not have to struggle trying to learn how to play the Performance mode in order to play their favorite song in FFXIV.
• Players will also be able to create bands and group ensembles with their friends to make a fun content in FFXIV using Performance Mode and Bard Music Player.

Get the mod here.

8. Material UI

Material UI helps simplify the UI in FFXIV and use more distinctive colours.

For good reason, Material UI is one of the most popular FFXIV Mods in Nexus Mods. Some players may dislike the initial UI of FFXIV for aesthetic reasons, or because the color scheme does not provide enough contrast between various elements in FFXIV.

How this mod makes FFXIV more fun:

• It helps give a different look to FFXIV’s UI, good for people who want a different change.
• Looks more simplistic with more color difference and explanations, making it easier to identify certain things, like uninterruptible and interruptible cast.
• Gives a cleaner look to the UI of the game.

Get the mod here.

7. Moogle Maps

A change of your area map once you’ve installed this particular mod.

Vec7rex's Moogle Map is yet another mod mentioned in Nexus Mods. This mod will be able to tremendously assist gamers, particularly in combat. This is because Moogle Maps assists gamers by providing information that they would otherwise have to hunt for on websites.

How the mod helps makes FFXIV more fun:

• Simplifies your daily marks and hunts by showing where the enemies you need to kill. This saves time for looking at where each enemy is online.
• Also saves time and simplifies treasure hunting by showing where you need to go for certain maps. This become increasingly helpful on bigger maps, which often happens in late game expansions like Shadowbringers and Endwalker.
• Encourages people to do both of these content since they have simplified the ways and saves time for them dreading to look for the information necessary to complete them online.

Get the mod here.

6. Universalis

Universalis, a plugin that helps relay information all about Market Board.

Universalis is a plugin that participants can use to monitor the Market Board in their own Data Center. On their website, gamers may enter their Home World and view prices for specific items in all of their Data Centers' Servers.

How Universalis helps players in FFXIV:

• Gives information about prices of all items on the Market Board for all Data Centers, updated quite fast.
• Gives players an approximation of Gil they need to spend to buy items they want or need.
• Saves a lot of the player’s time by providing the cheapest prices in their Data Center, so players do not have to jump and forth between one server to another every time they want to buy items.

Get Universalis here.

5. GShade

The perfect tool for all players who love taking screenshots.

Gshade is a popular third-party add-on for Final Fantasy XIV that many players have installed. This is because Gshade lets users to change the graphics and overall aesthetic of FFXIV to suit their preferences.

How Gshade makes FFXIV more fun:

• Offers players many Shaders and options to alter the look, lighting, color, and other graphics settings in FFXIV.
• Players will be able to take a lot of beautiful, stunning screenshots they could never do before.
• Players will be able to enjoy a more beautiful FFXIV as well, such as enhancing the old areas to match the current area’s graphics and more.

Get Gshade here.

4. XIV Alexander

XIVAlexander is most often used by end-game raiders and players with high ping.

XIVAlexander is a plugin that aids in the reduction of lags experienced by players, particularly those with high Ping. When players from various regions play in a Data Center that is quite far away from their original location, such as a SEA player playing on a North American Data Center, high ping is common.

Lags frequently lead players to have to push buttons repeatedly for them to go off, or to wait a long period of time between each GCD attack, which may influence not only their overall DPS, but also their personal survivability and the survival of their party, which is especially true for Tanks and Healers.

XIVAlexander aids in the management of this issue by attempting to lessen the lag that frequently occurs for these players by minimizing lag and allowing players to push oGCD buttons, such as their abilities and mitigation skills, more fluently and with less gap.

How XIVAlexander helps players:

• Players will be able to press their Mitigations and Cooldowns on time, causing less stress for the healers as well as help keeping themselves and their party members alive.
• Players will be able to do more damage with less gap between each GCD as well as being able to press their oGCD offensive skills with less lag. This is very important on endgame content where there are many DPS checks to clear the content.
• Players will be able to weave more skills and abilities between each GCD because of lesser lag, which helps improve damage and keep the party up and alive.

Get XIVAlexander here.

3. FF Logs Companion

The newest addon added by their team, which may help improve every player’s playstyle.

For good reason, FFLogs is one of the most popular add-ons in the game. It is also inextricably tied with the addon on the second level of this page, which will be covered immediately following this.

The newest Plugin that may be added directly into the game is FFLogs Companion. This plugin displays a wealth of information on the runs that players have completed. FFLogs will show players their "scores," or how well they are performing in each combat.

Players can obtain a score ranging from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest) (highest). The main goal of the score system is, of course, to improve in the game, and it is ideal for endgame raiders or players trying to clear high-end material.

Of course, it goes without saying that criticizing other players for their low scores is completely prohibited and is NOT the primary reason for the existence of FFLogs. You WILL be blacklisted if you do this.

With that said, how FFLogs Companion may help players:

• Track how well they are doing with every battle content using any battle job. This allows them to see how well they are doing.
• Players will be able to see how they can improve by seeing their scores, the deaths and debuffs listed in the site, and so on and so forth.
• Players will be able to do friendly competition with other players out there to get the best score for each battle content.
• Players will be able to encourage their static on how to improve each of their own skills to be able to aim for higher scores or clear harder content.

Get FFLogs Companion here.

2. ACT (Advanced Combat Tracker)

One of the, if not the, most popular third party tool for FFXIV for years.

Advanced Combat Tracker, or ACT for short, is a third-party application that has been utilized by millions of FFXIV players. As previously stated, ACT is inextricably tied with FFLogs. This is due to the fact that ACT supplies the battle data required for FFLogs to establish a scoring system and present a player with both individual and team scores.

ACT offers a variety of plugins from which they can choose based on their own preferences, but the basic goal of the tool remains the same, which is to supply any combat information. This is based on the damage dealt by each player as well as the total DPS dealt to the enemy by the party.

How ACT may help FFXIV players:

• Provides combat data for each player as well as the total DPS dealt by the party. This is very useful to see as certain endgame content has an approximate minimum total DPS to be able to clear them before Enrage.
• Healers will be able to see how much they overheal, and may make a healing plan with their co-healer to be able to provide more damage for the DPS check.
• Players will be able to see at what time they die, deal the most damage, and how the buffs lines up for the DPS’ burst. Using this information, the party can adjust their buffs and potions to be able to deal more damage to the boss.

Get ACT here.

1. XIV Launcher

XIV Quick Launcher helps simplify a lot of things for players.

For a variety of reasons, XIV Launcher is one of the most popular third-party tools installed by players in 2021. Many additional useful plugins that may be added in-game are also loaded by the XIV Launcher, which players can choose independently based on their own needs.

How XIVLauncher can help FFXIV players:

• The launcher by itself allows players to do quick logins (not having to insert ID and Password) and do fast patching during updates, which can be very useful when there is a big update or addition to the game that may cause a login queue.
• XIV Launcher’s list of plugins can help provide a Discord Rich Presence as well as alerting you for certain things you can modify for your own, like chat messages in PM and/or Party, Duty Pop-ups, Retainers, etc.
• Other plugins will also help players with many other things such as calculating Wondrous Tails’ percentage for 1,2, or 3 lines, suggestions for moves for Mini Cactpot and Triple Triad, as well as notifying you for many things while you minimise your game.

Get XIV Launcher here.