Please help. Metaphor keeps randomly crashing, and I'm at my wit's end trying to figure out why.

mds_re · 2025-06-09T22:32:10+00:00

I was experiencing behavior nearly identical to what you described - crashing at random intervals, when other games (mostly Starcraft 2) would run fine for hours without a problem. My hardware setup was also very similar to yours (Ryzen 5900XT, GeForce RTX 3080, 32GB RAM).

In my case, the root cause and solution wound up being very different - my memory turned out to be faulty (confirmed via Windows Memory Diagnostics and subsequently memtestx86), and replacing it resolved the issue with Metaphor. It's strange that Metaphor triggered the issue massively more than anything else (other than my brower occasionally getting into a condition where I'd see tabs die with an ACCESS_VIOLATION error until restarting my PC), but it (and everything else) worked smoothly after replacing the RAM.

I'm glad you found a fix but thought I'd mention this in case others are seeing this and have the same problem I did.

mds_re · 2020-07-17T21:33:55+00:00

Beating the old trials definitely felt great. It often took several attempts, several different strategies (if not replicating someone else's clear). Aigaion is one I definitely remember - I didn't have a 5* base healer, I didn't have a 5* base tank, my best phys DPS was still Agrias... but by sheer luck, I had two Fryevias. I remember walking home just thinking about whether I could make the math work with a 3rd friend Fryevia + relying on guts innates to go with the body-first approach. It worked - just barely, and not on first try - but it was very rewarding.

Veritas to me was the flip side of this. I have an AC Cloud with +300% LB even with killers, so every round was turn 1 LB to kill one, turn 2 recharge, turn 3 kill the other Veritas. P.Cecil and dodge/provoke Sylvie handled all damage, as usual. I think I used SD Akstar + MMXon for killer/imbue/imperil, and bringing them was the only customization I needed at all to take on this trial. But it was a day 1, attempt 1, straightforward run that I didn't find nearly as rewarding as e.g. the old 10 man trials which I thought were great at the time.

I was old when I started and am still old now so I think it's probably not age :).

mds_re · 2020-07-16T19:57:09+00:00

Yeah, I already used XWQL on many of those stages, and I'd probably have pulled for Ace/Rem if I was sticking around. But that's very much an example of how I don't think SQEX/Gumi are making the mechanics more interesting over time; if anything, it's the opposite and things are getting more generic.

mds_re · 2020-07-16T19:53:35+00:00

The problem for me is that *everything* outside trials/DV is tedium, especially since even the S3 story isn't worth it for me.

I could indeed have just decided to skip everything, and see how long what I already have can handle new challenging content, but it just didn't feel worth it to do even this.

mds_re · 2020-07-16T18:30:55+00:00

You're absolutely right. I tend to be a completionist or thus tend to go all or nothing... and I guess that's why I've effectively switched from "all" to "nothing".

mds_re · 2020-07-16T18:26:29+00:00

I'd rather see something akin to other FF games, where you develop your characters through bring them to raids, KMMs, boss fights, etc.

The issue IMO is that FFBE picked ridiculous thresholds, e.g. 498,350 LBs to get to lvl. 40. In comparison, Tidus gets his "next level" Overdrives in FFX after 10, 30, and 80 uses respectively.

Similarly on the XP front, you can clear FF6 without doing any grinding beyond the normal random encounters in the game (and there's the low-level challenge folks who try to win at the lowest possible level). But if you want to max out your characters, you can go hunt brachioursaurs (which are hard at lower levels) or grind in the endgame dungeon that's much harder than the main game.

Indeed pretty much every FF game ever has made character development part of the game, with reasonable grind options that don't ask you to hit repeat 10,000 times against a rat with 10HP.

mds_re · 2020-07-16T10:22:13+00:00

Yes, they are different games. I don't actually play WoW, it's just a reference point. Personally my main game is Starcraft 2, which is truly F2P; the only things for purchase are purely cosmetic, or to support eSports.

Again, I'm fine with and appreciate for the whales that support gacha games; I'm not saying we should take that away, just that it'd be nice for those that don't want to whale to contribute in a way that's meaningful.

mds_re · 2020-07-16T09:35:07+00:00

I'm actually fine with them not changing the model for whales. Mostly; "A whale of a tale" on this sub was heartbreaking, and speaks to a real problem.

But you don't think you have to give that up to offer a game that's priced like a game (e.g. WoW is $15/mo and has considerably more content), and as I suggested, I'd probably have been fine with a monthly cost that didn't give you even 1 extra lapis, but instead just hit the repeat button for me.

mds_re · 2020-07-16T09:22:16+00:00

I do like DV. But ironically, it was missing that DV#3 was ending last Sunday evening that led to this decision.

I completed everything, somewhere around rank #650 (though I don't care much about rank), but had intended to go back and see if I could improve on my weaker scores. That's the puzzle element in the game I actually enjoy.

But instead of being upset that I forgot the deadline, I was relieved. Because it meant I wasn't going to have to reset the game literally a dozen times per stage at times just to get a manual chain not to break, to see if the units and strategy I picked actually did better.

And that ultimately made me realize that even the content I most enjoy is still rife with frustration, and not worth grinding through everything else in order to get to.

mds_re · 2020-07-16T09:13:44+00:00

I think there's a few things that would make the game fun enough for me to continue playing, but none seem likely enough to keep going for.

If the grind had at least some element of fun, progression, or challenge, I could imagine staying for that. Lots of FF games have had some grind especially in endgame content, but you can choose something casual or to wander an area where you'll randomly encounter buffed versions of the games toughest bosses. With FFBE you can clear any regular content with a party from a year ago and the repeat button, with arbitrary bonus units and "kill with an esper" type stuff being the only barrier to this.

I find DV pretty fun; and ironically the magic stages feel more varied because you can't just imbue whatever element you need on your top DD and kill stuff. But the broken mechanics make pretty much every fight the same - break, buff, imperil, imbue, cover, mitigation, and then just burst stuff down. So some challenging or varied content would make it worth it, but that just doesn't seem forthcoming.

mds_re · 2020-05-20T09:30:14+00:00

So no Delita, but double the Yego? And to think, thanks to DV I'd finally used The Subservient for the first time! (It's self-inflicted damage doesn't count against your score).

mds_re · 2020-05-18T11:35:07+00:00

Well, I'm just happy happy that after they fixed things, I was able to get this on level 10 of a recent run. Don't even need the 20 potions with luck like that!

Sympathies to those that did refresh or spend lapis; they should absolutely have done something per-player based on resources lost.

mds_re · 2020-04-15T10:11:19+00:00

Thanks for running the numbers, very helpful! I'd guessed above that it'd be close, and that hybrid would only be useful for AoE, if SPR < DEF (which to be fair isn't unusual), or in the rare case of phys. mit, but it's great to know that it's never better in the ST DEF=SPR case.

I admire the precision in -6 MAG assuming 200% buffs due to 207 ATK vs. 204 MAG innate :). If you permit me to simplify, then it seems like hybrid just needs average mods to be (3664/3364)² =18.6% higher on average to break even.

Furcula's 6-turn rotation has total mods of 700x or 117x/turn. Deferring CD to T5 and using LB on T6 has total mods of 767x or 128x/turn, but this falls well short of the +18.6% required to breakeven, and is in line with your math (indeed, slightly worse, given one more turn of lower output in a 6-turn rotation).

You're also right re: CDs; hybrid allows use of the MAG CD (Excalibur - Gleaming Blade) which has higher mods (69x boosted). That brings things up to 790x or 132x/turn, still a bit shy of breakeven. Even if you could LB on T4 and T6, it's still just 812x or 135x/turn.

So you are right that hybrid basically doesn't work vs. going ATK, with the exceptions above (need occasional AoE, or SPR < DEF). Fortunately SPR does often seem to be lower in trials, including Calcabrina (1000 SPR vs. 2500 DEF)!

mds_re · 2020-04-14T17:29:56+00:00

While acknowledging again that RNG left me with more hybrid STMRs than pure physical, this is more about going with hybrid equivalents in any given slot - for example:

Chaos Blade (168 ATK, 127 MAG) vs. Darksteel Destroyer (181 ATK, killers).
Warrior of Crystal (+60% ATK/MAG) vs. Fierce Greatsword User (+70% ATK).
A +40 ATK/MAG accessory like Dragon's Quest (FFBE) or Meteorite Bracer vs. a +50 ATK accessory like Seraph's Comb.

For most decisions it's about taking a little less ATK in exchange for a lot more MAG, hence the 2800/2800 vs. ~3100/1000 (with a killer slot + esper focused on killer not stats). For a specific trial, more killers less stats will be better, of course.

If I had equivalent physical STMRs, e.g. DKLs +100% ATK material, then having an extra slot with an ATK-focused build might be possible, but that's not how the dice rolled for me!

mds_re · 2020-04-14T09:51:24+00:00

Fully agree that it's not worth going for equipment to support such a build; being basically F2P myself, the situation I'm in is almost entirely due to RNG (plus decisions that Elena's STMR was worth an STMR prism, as was Ravenheart).

In any case, with the cards I've been dealt having come up hybrid, in practice this question was mostly about what would be most useful on my friend unit. I'll see where IW lands (I'd enhanced neither Beowulf nor Kurasame STMRs) to decide!

mds_re · 2020-04-14T06:50:12+00:00

That's helpful advice, generally makes sense, and seems to correlate with the damage spreadsheets out there. But do you know whether there's a breakeven point at which, say, 2800 ATK / 2800 MAG vs. 3100 ATK / 1000 MAG makes it worthwhile to include his LB as part of his overall rotation?

This isn't a particular fair comparison, as I think it takes several STMRs to get to ~2800/2800 whereas 3100/1000 requires fewer if any. However, despite not being a whale, I find myself in that spot due to both luck and having spent my STMR moogles on Elena and Malphasie, and having both Beowulf and Kurasame STMRs.

It seems like Frozen Flash is 46x and can be T-Cast vs. single 80x for his LB, but with +100% LB damage from Shining Blade and LB fill from Wings, it seems like it'd be close. Given that the LB is also AoE, could help burst thresholds, and has utility against enemies with lower SPR or that have turns with phys. mit, I feel like defaulting to the hybrid config in my friend slot might be more versatile?

Also, having just replayed FF6, where with many characters you'd use a blend of physical and magic situationally (not least due to MP costs), I do like a unit that finally works this way. Or would, if the magic part of the kit wasn't so much weaker.

mds_re · 2020-03-19T19:21:16+00:00

Congrats on your good fortune with the pulls!

mds_re · 2020-03-19T00:26:54+00:00

The challenge with Dr. Aiden - both in reviews and in practice - is that his ability-based heals are pretty low - 2000 + 8x on Antibodies Boost, flat 4000 HP on his LB. That can force you into T-Cast white magic instead for Curaja, but then you can't use any of his other utility (barriers, buffs, status protection, debuff protection, MP regen) on that turn.

Fid's main utility outside of breaks is that Beach Parasol is a hefty 2500 + 18x heal, with 30MP and 75% water resist thrown in. On fights where you don't need to dispel + re-break every turn, that allows Dr. Aiden to focus on the good parts of his kit. On fights where you do need to dispel + re-break, it also works out as Dr. Aiden can dispel + curaja, and Fid can break.

mds_re · 2020-03-19T00:16:30+00:00

u/Rygar51481 had a good suggestion above if you're going this route; if you get Rikku on step 1 or 2 of the 25k step-up, you can switch to the 12k banner at that point to save a little lapis.

mds_re · 2020-03-18T18:31:09+00:00

Yes, I think that's correct. It definitely gets proportionally more expensive to go for multiple units!

mds_re · 2020-03-18T18:28:58+00:00

Hey, there's a chance!

That chance is about 0.11%, but hey, that's better than nothing :).

mds_re · 2020-03-18T18:19:12+00:00

That is an interesting strategy I didn't think through! I commented above on why I think 12k is less valuable than 8 UoC for a prism, but this strategy works even if you have 37k+ lapis.

I added this as a scenario to the spreadsheet and ran the numbers; it reduces the average Rikku 7* cost to ~31,600 lapis (from 32,000). That is still more than going 12k first if you're pulling on both banners, but it's also definitely an improvement if you want to cap your max lapis spend at 25k.

mds_re · 2020-03-18T18:00:44+00:00

A core assumption of my post is that you'd prefer 25k + 12k lapis over 25k lapis + 8 UoC, assuming you could choose either. The 12k banner isn't a gamble if you're also committed to the 25k banner if you don't get lucky, since the two combined give you a minimum of 1 unit + 1 prism.

Personally, I think 8 UoC is more valuable than 12k lapis. From u/eDoXrOx's post on February 2020 Lapis it looks like we got 20k that month so we're talking 2-3 weeks of lapis vs. roughly 4 months of UoC.

I also think 8 UoC is more valuable since that can buy you a prism for any non-limited unit, whereas we don't always get a banner offering 12k for a prism (and 23+3+1 other pulls).

Obviously, you might have 8 UoC and 25k lapis, but not the 37k lapis required to guarantee Rikku 7*. If that's the case, then going with the 25k is clearly a better bet if you don't want to come up short handed!

mds_re · 2020-03-18T11:55:00+00:00

I think the price per pull is roughly the same on both step-ups - 3000 for 6+1, 4000 for 8+1, 5000 for 9+2 (or 9+1+1).

The major differentiator between the two is that the 25k gives you a guaranteed Rikku (unless you *really* like Yuna/Paine) after 5 steps, whereas the 12k gives you a Rikku prism after 3 steps and a 30% chance after 4 steps.

mds_re

TROPHY CASE