The SWARM software isn't required to run the SUORA FX keyboard, but is recommended should you wish to access the full features. Once installed you will need to then download and install the specific driver for the SUORA FX keyboard. If it requires a firmware update, you will get a notice of that within the app.
The app provides various performance options including key response speed, and repeat rate, but also features some slightly gimmicky features like the feedback sound effects. In the key assignment screen, the SUORA allows you to remap keys, while being able to program an action, command or macro to the dedicated macro keys. To do this, you must first select one of the macro keys using the on-screen keyboard, then drag over the desired command from the list in the left-hand side to the Game Mode function tab, then enable the Game Mode. In the Macro Manager, ROCCAT include a large list of pre-made macros for various popular games, though you will need to check these against your current controls if you use non-standard, and you can record and edit your own macros as desired. The recording process isn't quite perfect as one must create several folders before you can even start recording, and then it doesn't even record mouse actions at all, instead they need to be input afterwards in a rather awkward manner of right clicking and selecting said activity, limited to main clicks and mouse wheel, then drag it it into the desired location.
As the advanced LED lighting is the only difference between the SUORA and the SUORA FX, there are a whole load of new lighting effects available. Including the preset effects: Fully Lit (static/one colour or colour cycle), Breathing, Wave (customisable direction left/right, up/down), fade FX (keys light once pressed, then fade), snake (unplayable unfortunately), Ripple FX (with the multicolour option selected it looks like little explosions of Lego), Rain (random effect), Snail (like snake but with a trail that circles and fills in the keyboard), Scan (two vertal beams crossing the keyboard and back), Radar (circular rotation pattern), then finally, Colourshift mode, which is a standard solid spectrum cycle. Though given the option to adjust the effect speed, there seemed little difference between min-max speeds, and many (specifically the wave/radar/scan modes) seemed too fast even at the lowest setting.
Aside from the preset lighting modes, you can customise the lighting per-key, save various lighting zones (a collection of keys you want to specifically group together) and assign specific colours to each key individually. You can also create various gradients of colour by dragging a colour down to the gradient bar, with up to six different colours. The in software/actual colour rendering is totally off all but the primary RGB colours, with yellow looking green, greens looking blue and white looking closer to an ice blue. Though as there is a colour wheel and RGB input you can get the desired colour by eye. Though unfortunately, for the animated effects, you only have a selection of preset colours or 'Spectrum'. Note, when using the spectrum colour with any effect, it isn't the same as 'colourshift', and the colours change in solid steps.
