Keys, settings and how-to

01 · How to use it

Setup

1. 1

   Open Lucent.

   It’s a single portable Lucent.exe. Windows warns on first launch; here’s what to expect. Close XIV first: Lucent never changes the game folder while the game runs.

2. 2

   Scan.

   Lucent finds your game folder (XIVLauncher, Steam, the Square Enix launcher or the default location; choose it yourself if needed), your graphics card and its tier. If only beta content is available, turn on Beta channel here. If another ReShade, GShade, OptiScaler or GPosingway is there, Scan lists every file Lucent will back up and replace, and the presets it keeps. Show files opens the full list.

3. 3

   Choose your setup.

   Pick your Neural Rendering settings (DLSS preset, passes and resolution), a frame generation mode, HDR if your monitor has it, whether to include ReShade and whether to add Lucent to the Start menu. Lucent writes these choices once; see first-install choices.

4. 4

   Review, then Install.

   Install downloads every file and checks it against its hash, copies the files it replaces to your Backups folder (Settings → Game folder → Backups opens it), applies each change through a journal it can undo, then checks every deployed file. If anything fails, your game folder goes back exactly as it was.

5. 5

   Play.

   Start XIV as usual. No ReShade preset is active until you pick one: press Shift (MAJ on French keyboards)+F2 in game.

Your original files are copied to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Lucent\Backups\<game folder name>\game under their own paths. In Lucent, Settings → Storage → Backups opens that folder, and Clear… there removes the copies you no longer want: the ones that only repeat what Lucent keeps itself start ticked, and the originals an Uninstall left out start unticked, because they are the only copies. Lucent also keeps its own hash-checked backups, which is what Uninstall uses.

02 · Keybinds

In-game keys

These are the bindings of content 2026.10.21, which needs Lucent 0.3.0-beta.8 or newer. Older content binds some keys differently, as the rows below note. The Keys section in Lucent shows the bindings your installed content uses.

Changing a key

OptiScaler: open its menu, then Keybinds. Click an action and press the new key; Esc (ÉCHAP on French keyboards) cancels and Backspace (RET.ARR on French keyboards) unbinds. OptiScaler takes single keys, not combinations. ReShade: open its menu, then Settings, and set Overlay key or Effect toggle key. Lucent keeps your keys through content updates, unless an update changes that same key.

03 · Settings explained

What Lucent sets, and why

Lucent writes three config files in the game’s game folder: OptiScaler.ini, ReShade.ini and ReshadeEffectShaderToggler.ini. They are yours once Lucent has written them: change any setting in the OptiScaler or ReShade menu. An update leaves your files alone unless that content version says otherwise. A new OptiScaler build can add missing keys, which writes only the settings your file lacks and keeps every value, comment and line you have; it can replace a file, which backs yours up first and writes the tested setup again from your first-install choices. The update card lists the files it adds keys to or replaces, and the Logs section has a line for each file. The frame cap and frame-generation details below describe content 2026.10.21 (Lucent 0.3.0-beta.8 or newer); earlier content may use different values.

First-install choices

The Graphics step is the only place Lucent offers options. It writes your choices into the config files once, when it installs; after that the files are yours. Change any setting in the OptiScaler or ReShade menu, or choose again with Settings → Reset setup…, which shows the same step with your earlier choices filled in, backs up your config files and writes the tested setup again. Repairing and launching never rewrite them.

Neural Rendering

The DLSS preset, the number of passes, the Neural Rendering resolution and two switches, all described under Neural Rendering settings. It also holds the Character preview Neural Rendering and Frame rate governor choices and, collapsed, the pass preset hints. Lucent starts from the choice that suits your graphics card, and nothing changes until you change it.

Frame generation

Off, 2× to 6×, or Dynamic, limited to what your card can run. A mode that needs an unlock carries a yellow Experimental tag, and picking it is your opt-in. The line under the choice shows what it means at your frame cap, for example “XIV renders up to 56 fps, shown at 224 on your 240 Hz screen”. The default is 2× on a 120 Hz screen or faster and Off below that; every mode your card supports stays on offer, even one that renders XIV slowly. On RTX 40, Unlock multi-frame generation (Experimental) is its own switch: with it off you get Off and 2×, with it on 3× to 6× and Dynamic appear, and 2× works with or without it.

HDR

Off, HDR or Scene HDR (Experimental), offered only when the monitor XIV runs on supports HDR; HDR is the default. Scene HDR uses the fork’s continuous composition of world and interface light; nobody has tried it on an HDR display yet. If Windows HDR is off, press Win + Alt + B to turn it on; until then XIV stays SDR. Picking HDR or Scene HDR turns Windows Auto HDR off for ffxiv_dx11.exe only, so the image isn’t expanded twice, and Uninstall puts it back. Lucent can’t change NVIDIA RTX HDR, so turn it off for XIV in the NVIDIA app.

DLSS model

Which DLSS super resolution model preset OptiScaler asks NVIDIA’s DLL for: Default (the game and the DLL choose; NVIDIA’s defaults are K for DLAA, Quality and Balanced, M for Performance and L for Ultra Performance), or Preset J, K, L or M, the default being M, and the legacy Preset E and F tagged Experimental. It is offered on every NVIDIA card, with frame generation on or off. NVIDIA’s notes for this DLSS version say presets A to D are removed and G to I, N and O fall back to the default, so Lucent doesn’t offer them; E and F are deprecated, so whether this DLL still honours them is not known, and a Using App hint Preset … line that still names the default means it did not. In OptiScaler’s menu you can change it later; OptiScaler.log says which one is in use (Using App hint Preset …).

UI mode and DLSS-G preset

Two more choices under HDR, shown only while frame generation is on and your card is an RTX 40 or RTX 50, which run NVIDIA’s frame generation. UI mode is [HudLess] Mode: Off, Recomposition (the default) or UI-free (Experimental, and greyed out while HDR is on). UI-free’s micro-stutter in motion was removed by the fork’s default probe interval (8, from v0.5.1) in one played session with preset C; Recomposition with preset Auto, the defaults, stays the recommended setup. DLSS-G preset is [DLSSG] RenderPreset: Auto (the default), A, B or C, which are NVIDIA’s own presets. Preset A and C turn NVIDIA’s UI recomposition off, so they are greyed out while the UI mode is Recomposition. Nobody has measured what the presets look like or cost, so Lucent says only what the runtime does with each. An RTX 20 or RTX 30 card gets UI mode Off and no preset. In OptiScaler’s menu both apply at once; switching the UI mode to or from Recomposition restarts frame generation for a moment.

Frame cap and peak brightness

Computed from the monitor XIV runs on at the moment Lucent writes the files, then never again. Use the OptiScaler menu if you change monitor or refresh rate.

ReShade and the Start menu

ReShade is included unless you turn it off (some cards need it). Adding Lucent to the Start menu is optional and only offered until Lucent is there.

Neural Rendering settings

Four choices shape Neural Rendering. Lucent writes them once, when it sets up; after that, change any of them in the OptiScaler menu and Lucent leaves them as you set them. Changing XIV’s own 3D resolution slider has no effect while Lucent manages upscaling.

DLSS preset

How far XIV is upscaled. DLAA renders at your full resolution (1×, the sharpest and the most expensive), then Ultra Quality (1.3×), Quality (1.5×), Balanced (1.7×), Performance (2×) and Ultra Performance (3×). The line under the choice shows the resolution XIV renders at on your screen, for example 2560×1440 for Quality at 4K. Lucent writes it to ForcePerfQuality.

Neural Rendering resolution

How much of the frame the Neural Rendering model works on: 75%, 100% (recommended) or 125%. The image itself is never reduced; only the model’s own work is done smaller and enlarged. Cost falls with the square, so 75% costs about 56% of 100%. 125% supersamples for the cleanest image at about 156% of the cost. With DLAA, 75% is recommended to protect your frame rate. Lucent writes it to WorkingScale.

Passes

1, 2 or 3 model layers run one after another. Each extra pass costs about as much as the first, so 2 and 3 are deliberately stronger and slower. 1 is normal. Written to Passes.

Spatial compression

Saves performance by giving the edges of the screen less Neural Rendering detail. The centre is untouched. Off by default.

Residual frame generation

Experimental. Runs Neural Rendering on every second frame and lets NVIDIA frame generation fill the rest. It is faster, but the image arrives one frame late, so motion blur and the HUD can look slightly off. It needs an RTX 40 or RTX 50 card with frame generation on at 2× or higher, so the switch is greyed out, with the reason, otherwise. Off by default.

Defaults: Quality with two passes on an RTX 4090, 4080, 5090 or 5080; Quality with one pass on the next tier down (4070 Ti, 5070 Ti, 3090, 3080 Ti); Balanced with one pass elsewhere. The resolution starts at 100% and both switches off.

OptiScaler · Neural Rendering [DlssNr]

Enabledtrue

Turns on DLSS 5 Neural Rendering, which redraws detail and light in the upscaler’s image before frame generation sees it. Press Delete (Suppr on French keyboards) to toggle it in game (from content 2026.10.15; content 2026.10.14 used the key).

Passesyour choice

How many model layers run one after another. 2 is deliberately stronger and costs about twice the model time of 1.

RunBeforeSRtrue

Runs Neural Rendering on the render-resolution image just before DLSS upscaling, instead of after it. Cheaper, and the upscaler cleans up its result.

ResidualFGyour choice

Runs Neural Rendering every other frame and lets NVIDIA frame generation fill in its changes. Faster, with one extra frame of latency and occasional misaligned effects.

ResidualFGApproxCameratrue

Allows the every-other-frame mode to estimate camera movement when the game doesn’t supply full camera data.

SplitFrameWorktrue

For XIV: spreads the every-other-frame work across two frames, which can smooth frame pacing at the cost of one more buffered frame.

PreSRTrailGuardtrue

Limits Neural Rendering’s edits to what the current frame supports, reducing trails behind moving objects.

SpatialCompressionyour choice

Keeps full quality in the centre of the screen and spends less of the model’s work at the edges. SpatialCenterX/Y = 50 sizes the centre region and SpatialWorkX/Y = 60 is the share of work kept at the edges.

VitEvery2

Reuses part of the model’s computation every second evaluation. Saves work; can leave slightly stale detail in fast motion.

PassFeedback0.807

How much of one pass’s edit reaches the next when Passes is 2 or more; below 1 it reins the second pass in.

Governorfalse

Experimental. The Frame rate governor choice inside the Neural Rendering card, before the preset hints: Off (the default) or Hold frame rate. When the frame rate is under the lower of your frame rate limit and your display’s refresh rate, Hold lowers the model’s resolution in steps, down to half, and raises it again once the frame rate recovers. It never goes above the resolution you set, does nothing while Spatial compression or the fork’s automatic multiplier ([DLSSG] AutoMFG) is on, and has not been tried in game.

Preset · Style1 · 2

The model’s built-in profile and style: style 2 is cinematic (0 standard, 1 natural). Pass2Preset and Pass2Style set the same for the second pass. The Graphics step offers the preset hints (Preset, Pass2Preset and Pass3Preset, each 0 to 3, with auto for a later pass to follow pass 1) under Advanced inside the Neural Rendering card; they start at 1, 0 and 0, and their visual effect is unverified.

Intensity2.0

How strongly the first pass applies the model’s picture (0 to 2). Pass2Intensity = 1.29 sets the second pass.

LocalStructure · LocalTone1.75 · 1.46

Strength of fine detail and of local light and shade (0 to 2). The second pass uses 0.53 and 1.24.

SkinStructure1.0

Detail on skin (−1 follows LocalStructure). The second pass uses −0.32, softening skin, with Pass2AutoMask on.

SkinProtectiontrue

A colour-based filter that tones the edit down on skin. SkinDetail and SkinColour at 0.75 keep three quarters of it there. Warm scenery can be mistaken for skin.

ColourStrength1.1

How much of the model’s colour comes through, not just its brightness. 0 keeps the game’s hues exactly.

ReversibleMode3

How the game’s HDR-range image is mapped for the SDR-trained model and back (3: hybrid mapping, composed).

WhitePointSource2

Where the model’s white point comes from. 2 measures the scene’s exposure; in XIV it uses the game’s own lighting to keep the result stable.

ScalingDownscaler4

Lanczos3, used only when the model runs above native resolution.

DisableOnFocusLosstrue

Experimental. Pauses Neural Rendering while XIV isn’t the foreground window or is minimised, so the GPU does much less in the background. The plain upscaled image is shown meanwhile, and Neural Rendering resumes with clean history a quarter of a second after XIV is focused again. It does not change Enabled.

ToggleKey0x2E

The Delete key (labeled Suppr on French keyboards) toggles Neural Rendering, from content 2026.10.15.

OptiScaler · upscaling

Dx11Upscalerdlss_12

XIV is DirectX 11; this runs DLSS through a DX12 bridge, the only DX11 route that can also run Neural Rendering.

RenderPresetOverride · RenderPresetForAlltrue · 13

Forces DLSS model preset M for every quality level; chosen as DLSS model on the Graphics step, where the other offers are Default (NVIDIA’s own choice per mode), J, K and L, and the Experimental legacy E and F. NVIDIA calls K its best image quality at a higher performance cost, and L and M sharper and more stable than J and K, with L more expensive. Only M has been seen working in OptiScaler-FFXIV’s own logs.

ForcePerfQualityyour DLSS preset

XIV picks its own DLSS quality; this answers it with the DLSS preset you chose, so XIV’s own 3D resolution slider has no effect. Quality, for example, is 2: it renders at two thirds of your resolution per axis (1.5×).

MipmapBiasAuto · MipmapBiasAutoOffsettrue · −0.18

Sets the texture sharpening from the upscaling ratio, log2(render width ÷ display width), so there is no number to work out by hand. The offset is added to it: negative is sharper, positive softer. It only reaches textures created after a change of the DLSS preset or the resolution.

MipmapBiasOverride−0.77

The fixed bias you would use by hand. It is kept for when MipmapBiasAuto is off, and ignored while it is on.

OptiScaler · frame generation and pacing

[FrameGen] Enabledmode

Turns frame generation on for the selected mode; Off disables it. Press End (FIN on French keyboards) to toggle frame generation in game.

FGInput · FGOutputGPU/HDR mode

Lucent selects a provider for the card and HDR mode: RTX 30 uses FSR 2× in SDR and XeFG 2× as its HDR alternative; RTX 40 and RTX 50 use NVIDIA’s DLSS frame generation.

FramerateLimitfrom your screen

Caps total output frames per second, generated ones included, through Reflex. Lucent computes the cap when it writes the config, from XIV’s selected display refresh R using floor(R − R²/3600): 138 fps at 144 Hz and 224 fps at 240 Hz. Lucent doesn’t recalculate it later; if you change monitor or refresh rate, set the limit in the OptiScaler menu.

ForceVsync · SyncIntervaltrue · 1

Forces V-Sync on, presenting at most once per refresh, for even pacing without tearing.

ForceReflex · LatencyFlexMode2 · 2

Settings for fakenvapi, OptiScaler’s Reflex stand-in: force its low-latency mode on, since XIV has no Reflex setting of its own, and pace frames with Reflex frame IDs.

ForceDMFG · FramerateTargetDMFGmode · from your screen

Enables Dynamic multi frame generation only when Dynamic is selected; its target is the same frame cap. Beta content offers Dynamic on RTX 40 as Experimental, pending testing on an RTX 4090, and on RTX 50 as Experimental; it does not offer it on RTX 30. RTX 30 XeFG 3×, 4× and Dynamic MFG unlocks remain deferred pending Intel license clearance.

[XeFG]2× · HDR alternative

RTX 30 uses XeFG 2× when Windows HDR is on. Its MFG unlock stays disabled; 3×, 4× and Dynamic XeFG unlocks are deferred pending Intel license clearance.

[XeFG] ForceBorderlesstrue

Uses borderless “fullscreen” instead of exclusive fullscreen, which frame generation needs in XIV. It can cause stability issues on a display-mode change, and a softer image if exclusive fullscreen was smaller than your display. [Window] Mode below cleans up what it leaves behind.

OptiScaler · XIV character preview, window and HUD

Options that only OptiScaler-FFXIV has. They are written for this XIV build (game build 0x6ac3dc96). After a game patch, the ones that read or hook the game’s own code switch themselves off, with a line in the log, until the fork is updated; from content 2026.10.31 (OptiScaler-FFXIV v0.5.1) they can instead run on the patched build when FfxivUnknownBuildHooks is on, and the ones that find the game by program name or shader keep running either way (see the last rows of this section). The menu has an FFXIV tab (Insert) with a control for each. Lucent writes the values below on a new install or Reset and then leaves them alone. Some are experimental or for diagnosis, as noted.

[FFXIV] PreviewDLSS · PreviewAA · PreviewNRtrue · true · false

The character preview in the equipment and examine windows. PreviewDLSS upscales each preview with its own DLSS pass; PreviewAA smooths it spatially, and is used while the DLSS pass can’t run; PreviewNR runs Neural Rendering on the result. PreviewNR starts Off, because it takes a lot of video memory: it adds one more model for each open preview window, which the fork’s own tests put at roughly 180 MB per window with the default settings (about 740 MB when it runs after the DLSS step), plus a few milliseconds of GPU time. Turn it on only if your card has memory to spare. The Graphics step has a Character preview Neural Rendering choice for it, inside the Neural Rendering card, and Reset setup shows it again. An existing setup keeps the value it has.

[FFXIV] AutomaticReShadeDepthtrue

On by default. When the game renders below your screen resolution, the picture is upscaled but the data ReShade effects read is not, so ambient occlusion such as MXAO lands in the wrong place. With this on, OptiScaler lines up ReShade’s depth input, and for presets built on the Reshade Effect Shader Toggler (such as Alive NEXT) the game’s normals, decals and motion vectors, with the picture while ReShade draws its effects. It needs ReShade 6.8.0 or newer, which Lucent installs, and stands down by itself when a preset scales or offsets depth by hand. It was tried on one RTX 4090 in SDR with one preset, so treat it as experimental: switch it off in OptiScaler’s menu (the FFXIV tab, card “ReShade depth compatibility”) if you see a problem. Content 2026.10.29 turned it on; an existing setup that set the key itself keeps its value. The motion vectors it hands to ReShade are always scaled to the render size; the old key that could turn that off is gone.

[FFXIV] PreviewNRBeforeSRtrue

Experimental. Runs the preview’s Neural Rendering on the picture before the DLSS step instead of after it. The model then works at the render size, so it should use less GPU time and video memory per open window. The picture can differ: look for shimmer or trails on hair and cloth, and switch it off if you see any. It only has an effect with PreviewDLSS and PreviewNR on.

[HudLess] Moderecomposition

HUD-less frame generation, chosen as UI mode on the Graphics step. With recomposition, DLSS frame generation is given a UI-free image and a UI image and recomposes the interface itself, which keeps the HUD sharp in fast camera motion. It still interpolates the UI layer. It applies at once (switching to or from recomposition restarts frame generation for a moment) and does nothing while frame generation is off. Tested in SDR; with HDR it is untested. The other modes are off and ui_free, which runs frame generation on the UI-free image and pastes the interface back at the real frame rate; it is experimental: its micro-stutter in motion was removed by the default ProbeInterval of 8 in one played session with DLSS-G preset C, and ProbeInterval = 1 brings it back.

[HudLess] Diagnosticsfalse

A developer switch, for diagnosis only. It watches the game’s UI boundary even with Mode = off, shows a HUD-less diagnostics card in the FFXIV tab and turns on the ReShade add-on probe, which writes small files under OptiScaler\hudless-diag\. It doesn’t change the frame. Set it before the game starts.

[Window] Modeon

Window-mode handling for the borderless “fullscreen” that ForceBorderless gives. After the game leaves it, a stray window edge is removed once frame generation is confirmed off. A window-mode change the game makes while frame generation runs is held back, frame generation is switched off first, and the change is replayed afterwards, so Streamline never sees a window change with frame generation on. It needs ReShade; without it nothing is held back. Applies after a game restart. Tested. The other values are off and probe, which only logs each resize and window-mode call.

[FFXIV] JitterCorrectiontrue

Experimental. XIV reports to the upscaler about 1.67 times the camera jitter it actually applies. When they differ, this replaces the reported pair with the applied one for everything that reads it: DLSS, frame generation, Neural Rendering. In the maintainer’s test at the Quality mode it made no visible difference. If the log says it held back as often as it replaced, switch it off.

[FFXIV] JitterProbetrue

Read-only. About every ten seconds, and when the render size or preset changes, it writes one log line comparing the jitter the game applies with the one it reports. It only reads game memory and costs nothing while off. The lines go to OptiScaler.log, which is off, so you see them only after turning logging on.

OptiScaler · added by the fork, left off

[DLSSG] AutoMFGfalse

The automatic multiplier, for DLSS frame generation on RTX 40. It picks 2× to 4× from the real frame time and changes the count in place, without the off and on cycle of the slider. It needs the multi-frame unlock for anything above 2×, never goes above 4× and does nothing on RTX 50. It never changes the multiplier while the game is stalled, for example on a loading screen, and stops after two or three changes that cost a long frame. Tested on one RTX 4090. Lucent’s frame generation choice sets the multiplier; this replaces it if you turn it on.

AutoMFGMax · AutoMFGTarget4 · 0

The highest multiplier the automatic mode may use (2 to 4), and the frame rate it aims for. 0 means the lower of the frame limit and the display’s refresh rate.

AutoMFGSelfTestfalse

A one-off check for the maintainer: it changes the count 2×, 3×, 4×, 3×, 2× six seconds apart and logs PASS or FAIL. It needs AutoMFG on, a fixed 3× or 4× multiplier and the Info log level.

[HudLess] ReShadeProbefalse

A developer switch: the ReShade add-on also subscribes to effect-runtime events and writes reshade-probe.txt under OptiScaler\hudless-diag\. Diagnostics turns the same probe on.

[FFXIV] FfxivUnknownBuildHooksauto (off)

After an XIV patch, the fork finds the game’s code addresses itself by searching the executable for the instruction patterns the supported build was verified with. The features that identify the game by program name or shader fingerprint (scene HDR, lighting, HUD-less, markers, mipmap bias) then keep running on any ffxiv_dx11.exe. The ones that read or hook the game’s own code (the native quality selection and the DLAA gate, the jitter probe and the jitter source fix, the character preview lookup) run on a patched build only with this set to true and only if the search found every address a feature needs; otherwise they stay off and OptiScaler.log says why. The fork has not yet tried this on a real game patch, so it ships off. Lucent 1.0.3 has a switch for it in Settings → Game patches: it sets this one key in OptiScaler.ini in place (true when on, false when switched off again) and nothing else, and a Reset keeps it. It takes effect the next time XIV starts, and it needs content 2026.10.30 or newer.

[FFXIV] FfxivForceUnknownBuild · FfxivLegacyGameBuildauto (off)

For the maintainer. FfxivForceUnknownBuild ignores the fork’s table for the supported build, to test the search. FfxivLegacyGameBuild goes back to the behaviour before the search: no search, the table only.

[FramePacing] FgRecorder · [Status] Enabledfalse

Diagnostics added in v0.4.0 and v0.5.0, all off: a frame generation event recorder (up to 144 MiB per session in fg-recordings, five sessions kept), a status file (status.json), and capture tools under OptiScaler\ and dlssnr-capture. Uninstall removes what they wrote, unless the folder was already there when Lucent installed or updated. Lucent 1.0.4 has a switch for the recorder in Settings → Troubleshooting: it sets FgRecorder in OptiScaler.ini and nothing else, a Reset turns it off again, and the Recordings row there shows their size, opens the folder and clears them.

OptiScaler · HDR, menu and logging

FfxivHDRtrue

HDR is a first-install choice, on by default when the monitor supports it: Mode = 0 is HDR, Mode = 1 is the experimental Scene HDR method, and FfxivHDR = false is Off. If Windows HDR is off, press Win + Alt + B to enable it. Peak Nits is computed when Lucent writes the config: it follows the display profile when available, clamps to 400–4,000, and defaults to 1100 when unavailable. If the monitor reports its peak incorrectly, use Windows HDR Calibration. NVIDIA RTX HDR is a separate driver feature that Lucent can’t change; turn it off for XIV when using this path. Tune brightness and color live in the OptiScaler overlay (Insert → HDR): PaperWhiteNits = 240, HighlightExpansion = 0.6, Contrast = 1.1, Saturation = 1.05 and Vibrance = 0.25 shape the result.

ReShadeHighlights · NRSceneInput · DLSSSceneInputtrue · true · true

Three experimental options of Scene HDR (Mode = 1), on so that picking it works at once. ReShadeHighlights keeps the measured scene highlights through ReShade’s grading. NRSceneInput runs Neural Rendering on the linear HDR scene instead of the SDR colour, and needs Neural Rendering before upscaling. DLSSSceneInput feeds the native scene HDR through DLSS before ReShade’s SDR processing; restart after changing it.

LegacyCompositionfalse

Scene HDR (Mode = 1) composes world and interface light continuously instead of with the older two-rule switch, which could draw a ring around the interface. The fork marks it experimental; nobody has tried it on an HDR display. true brings the old composition back. Off and HDR (Mode = 0) do not read it.

ScreenshotFormat · ScreenshotIccOnly · ScreenshotMenu1 · true · true

OptiScaler’s own screenshot saves one PNG; its key, ScreenshotKey, is unbound until you set one. 1 makes it an HDR image (0 is SDR for sharing); it needs HDR on. ScreenshotIccOnly writes the colour space as BT.2100 PQ ICC metadata without the outer PNG cICP chunk, which keeps the HDR values but not every viewer reads it. ScreenshotMenu includes the OptiScaler menu, in its HDR colours, when it is open on screen; with the menu hidden you get the clean capture.

LoadReshadetrue

OptiScaler loads ReShade64.dll itself, so ReShade doesn’t need to be installed as dxgi.dll.

Scale1.2

The OptiScaler menu’s size.

[Menu] Styleember

The Ember look for the OptiScaler menu. OptiScaler’s own theme mixes the accent colour into every surface and control, so an orange accent turns into brown buttons and a rust title bar. Ember keeps surfaces and controls neutral (charcoal, hairline borders, rounder corners, more padding) and uses the accent only to mark state: check marks, slider grabs, the selected tab’s underline, the focus ring and the selection. classic is OptiScaler’s own look. It applies the next time the menu opens, and an update adds it to an existing ini (your own accent and opacity are kept; set classic to go back). It is a dark style, so with LightTheme on the menu stays classic.

AccentColorR/G/B · BGColorA#FF640A · 0.92

What Ember takes from the old theme settings: Lucent’s orange accent and the window’s opacity, with the game image blurred behind it (not under HDR output, which draws the menu opaque). BGColorR/G/B is set to charcoal but Ember doesn’t use it. On a new install and Reset only; an existing file keeps its own colours.

OverlaysUseTheme · FontSize · TTFFontPathtrue · 13 · Segoe UI

The FPS overlay takes the same colours, and the menu uses Windows’ Segoe UI at size 13, like ReShade, instead of the bundled monospace font.

ShowFps · FpsCycleShortcutKeytrue · −1

The FPS overlay starts on. Lucent sets Page Up to toggle it, and the key that cycles its style is unbound so that Page Down stays free for XIV’s camera zoom.

LogToFile · LogLevelfalse · 2

Logging is off. A debug log can pass 100 MB; turn it on only to report a problem. When you do, the level is Info (2) instead of the default Trace.

[Hotfix] CheckForUpdateauto (off)

Upstream OptiScaler asks its own GitHub project for a newer version at every launch, which for this fork names the wrong releases. Since OptiScaler-FFXIV v0.3.0 the check stays off unless you set this to true. This fork’s releases are on its GitHub page, and Lucent announces the content that goes with them.

ReShade ReShade.ini

PresetPathempty

No preset is active until you choose one in the ReShade menu. ReShade remembers your choice, and updates keep it unless a version replaces the file or removes the preset you chose, in which case it moves your choice to a preset that is still there.

EffectSearchPaths · TextureSearchPaths.\reshade-shaders\…

Where shaders and textures load from, relative to the game folder.

SkipLoadingDisabledEffects0

Off, so ReShade loads every effect, including the ones your preset turns off, and any of them can be switched on in the menu without reloading. On compiles only the effects your preset uses, so the game loads faster, and adds a Force load effects button to the menu for loading the rest.

NoDebugInfo0

Shaders are compiled with debug information, which helps when a shader reports an error or you debug one with a graphics tool. It changes nothing you see in the game. Content 2026.10.28 sets SkipLoadingDisabledEffects, NoDebugInfo and ShowForceLoadEffectsButton in an existing ReShade.ini when it updates, and touches no other key.

ShowForceLoadEffectsButton1

Lets the menu show the Force load effects button. ReShade draws it only while SkipLoadingDisabledEffects is on, so with Lucent’s setup it stays hidden.

PerformanceMode0

Off, so every effect stays adjustable in the menu. On compiles faster shaders with settings fixed.

PreprocessorDefinitionsdepth

Tells depth-aware shaders how XIV stores depth: reversed, not upside down, far plane 1000.

DepthCopyBeforeClears2

Copies the depth buffer before XIV clears it, so depth effects see the right scene.

InputProcessing2

The game gets no keyboard or mouse input while the ReShade menu is open.

ForceShortcutModifiers1

Shortcuts need exactly their modifiers: Shift (MAJ on French keyboards)+F2, not Ctrl+Shift+F2.

TutorialProgress4

Skips ReShade’s first-run tutorial.

ShowFPS2

ReShade’s frame counter shows only while its menu is open.

FontSize13

ReShade’s default size, which it scales to your resolution (2× at 4K). Ctrl + mouse wheel resizes it in the menu.

FileFormat · SavePathPNG · Pictures\FFXIV Screenshots

Screenshots are PNG files in FFXIV Screenshots inside your Pictures folder. Lucent writes the real path of your Pictures folder when it installs, so a Pictures folder moved to another drive or to OneDrive is followed. An existing ReShade.ini keeps the folder it has; Reset applies this one.

[STYLE]ember

Colours the ReShade menu with exactly the palette and corner rounding of OptiScaler’s Ember menu, taken from the same source, so the two overlays look like one. ReShade has no setting for padding or spacing, so only colours and rounding carry over.

Shader Toggler ReshadeEffectShaderToggler.ini

An add-on that hands XIV’s internal buffers to shaders. Its groups provide motion vectors, normals, decal normals, transforms and material data, which effects such as ray-traced lighting rely on, and a UI group that applies ReShade’s effects before the game draws its interface, so the HUD stays untouched. ResourceShim = ffxiv selects its XIV support. No group has a key.

04 · Everyday use

After setup

Status card

The state of your setup: Healthy, Disabled, files that need repair, or an update, with the action it needs.

Scan

Checks every deployed file against its hash. Use it after you’ve changed something, or if the game looks off. If a file is missing or changed, the card offers Repair. It’s on the Healthy card and under Settings → Game folder, and it works while XIV runs.

Repair

Puts back the files Lucent deployed, from its cache, downloading only what’s missing. A config file is written again only if it is missing, from the tested setup and your first-install choices; one that is there is never restored, so your changes and presets stay. Game patches that replace a file are the usual cause.

Launch XIV

On Home. Starts XIV the way you do: through XIVLauncher if it’s set up for this game folder, through Steam for a Steam copy, or with the Square Enix launcher. The label below the button shows which one it uses. If more than one applies, use the arrow beside Launch XIV to choose, or change it in Settings. Lucent remembers your choice.

In-game keys

The Keys section: every OptiScaler and ReShade key, read from your game folder each time you look.

Enabled

Off leaves Lucent’s files in place but inactive: the game runs as if vanilla. Turn it on again any time.

Logs

The Logs section shows what Lucent does, line by line, and the logs OptiScaler and ReShade write in your game folder while XIV runs, when their logging is on. It follows new lines until you scroll up; Latest jumps back and Copy copies what is shown.

Mods

The Mods section is separate from the setup above and opens during setup too. It offers a Starter set of Dalamud plugins and Penumbra mods, and needs XIVLauncher with Dalamud already set up. Add plugins first shows each third-party plugin repository it will add, then places the plugins you ticked once; from then on Dalamud looks after them. A Penumbra mod is a link to its Heliosphere page. Close XIV and XIVLauncher before you add plugins. Lucent never installs XIVLauncher, Dalamud or a mod, and does not check or repair them afterwards.

Updates

Lucent checks for new content and app versions when it opens, and Settings → Check now checks again. Nothing downloads until you click Update. Skip stops the announcement. Versions rolls back to an earlier version.

Beta channel

On Scan before the first deployment when beta content is available, then in Settings. Offers beta app and content versions. Leaving Beta changes nothing installed.

XIVLauncher auto-repair

In Settings, if you use XIVLauncher. Lucent checks your setup when the game starts and repairs it after the game closes.

Reset setup…

Settings → Reset setup… is how you choose your Neural Rendering settings, frame generation and HDR again, or recover from a bad tweak. It shows the first-install choices with yours filled in, shows where the current config files will be backed up, then writes the tested setup with your current screen values. Nothing else in Lucent changes them.

Uninstall

Settings → Uninstall removes everything Lucent added. If Lucent backed up files from your game folder when it installed, it asks what to do with them: put my earlier files back (the default) or restore the game to vanilla, which leaves them out and keeps their copies in Lucent’s backup folder; the message after Uninstall gives its path. Either way it puts back Windows Auto HDR for XIV if Lucent turned it off. Your own presets and shaders stay. To remove Lucent itself, use Settings → Apps.

05 · When something looks wrong

Quick fixes

After a game patch

Open Lucent. If the card says files need repair, click Repair. Otherwise click Scan to check every file.

Too slow

Press Delete (Suppr on French keyboards) to compare with Neural Rendering off, then lower the upscaling quality or turn on frame generation in the OptiScaler menu.

The look is too strong

Choose a lighter preset with Shift (MAJ on French keyboards)+F2, or turn effects off with Shift (MAJ on French keyboards)+F3.

Washed-out colours

With Windows HDR on, turn off RTX HDR for XIV in the NVIDIA app. Lucent turns Windows Auto HDR off for XIV itself when you choose HDR, and OptiScaler handles HDR.

Still stuck

Help → Report a bug copies diagnostics and opens a GitHub issue. Questions go in a GitHub issue too.