FE6 Balance Patch

[Dunal]

Being new to modding I thought I would make something that could be useful to the community. This patch re-balances most of the units within the game to make them as equal as possible (based on tiers for the most part). Choosing which team to use has never been more indecisive!

This patch changes the following elements;

• Unit base stats, growths and starting inventory
• Combat utility for Merlinus, Lalum and Elphin (swords, anima and light magic respectfully)
• The support system is changed in terms of support speed. Certain unit supports which were otherwise slow are much faster, especially units that join towards the end.
• Items/Weapons (Short Bow and Dragon Breath having 1-2 range, lots of hit/mt/wgt changes across the board etc...)
• Stat caps for certain classes
• Enemy class growths (Each individial enemy should be more equally as dangerous)
• A more balanced difficulty (easier first chapters and harder latter chapters; not slightly harder, we're talking about 'max stat Idoun' harder here )
• Affinity bonuses (streamlined by having each affinity only increase 2/3 stats, or to better fit the units whom have specific affinities)
• New shops which allow the player to buy items such as Spears, Tomahawks, Fenrir, Fimbulvetr, Runesword etc...

PATCH REMOVED DUE TO FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

LATEST PATCH NOTES!

Edited March 13, 2011 by DLuna

[Ezra]

I was actually in the process of making a balance hack for FE6 myself, but I guess there isn't too much need to now... ( still might finish it anyway )

[Dunal]

I was actually in the process of making a balance hack for FE6 myself, but I guess there isn't too much need to now... ( still might finish it anyway )

You could instead suggest some changes for future versions (based on what you've done). Take a look at the patch notes.

Of course, anyone could offer suggestions if they would like.

Edited February 8, 2011 by DLuna

[Flying Shogi]

Could you change the accuracy of some of the weapons?

[Hash Jar]

I agree, increase the hit of things like steel weapons, throwing weapons, and axes in general. Also, some of your stat changes are really strange.

Generals should have more Str and why does the female sniper get a whopping 27 str?

Edited February 8, 2011 by Hash Jar

[Dunal]

I agree, increase the hit of things like steel weapons, throwing weapons, and axes in general. Also, some of your stat changes are really strange.

I'll increase the hit of steel & throwing by +5 and all lances and axes by a further + 5.

Generals should have more Str and why does the female sniper get a whopping 27 str?

I didn't change the STR cap, only the SKL. But I could increase the cap by 1 or 2 points.

As for snipers, Dorothy has a 65% strength growth. In all seriousness, Sniper is a mediocre class so high caps are there to make them better. The Females get a high STR cap and the males get a high SPD cap (which Wolt could now reach with his high SPD growth). Dorothy and Wolt are the red/green archers (unlike the original where they were both mediocre in all stats).

EDIT: 1.1 released! It's mainly weapon changes (Lance/Axes).

Edited February 8, 2011 by DLuna

[CT075]

Oh hey I remember this

At any rate, I think you should take a look at this thread. It might give you some ideas.

[Anouleth]

I think that it's very cute that you felt Marcus needed to be improved.

And thank goodness you improved Merlinus' growth rates. Now he is definitely worth training!

[Flying Shogi]

Wait, I just remembered what you said earlier. You said that you changed the Speed cap for Snipers, but they had a default 29 Speed cap so what did you do? Also, for units with 24 or below Str cap can use the additional 1 or 2 points. I think Generals should have 22 or 23 Speed cap so they don't get doubled by every promoted class aside from their own. DLs can also use an additional 1 or 2 point(s) Speed boost for their cap.

Edited February 9, 2011 by UberLughFTW

[Dunal]

Oh hey I remember this

At any rate, I think you should take a look at this thread. It might give you some ideas.

It looks like I've already done around half of that list. I imagine that some of those are quite difficult to do, though.

I think that it's very cute that you felt Marcus needed to be improved.

Bases =/= Growths. Marcus is good because of the former, so that doesn't need changing. Improving the latter just means that he can last for a couple more chapters, without effecting his already great preformance in the earlier chapters. Same for Zealot and certain other prepromotes.

And thank goodness you improved Merlinus' growth rates. Now he is definitely worth training!

And he wasn't before? Blasphemy!

Edited February 9, 2011 by DLuna

[Anouleth]

Bases =/= Growths. Marcus is good because of the former, so that doesn't need changing. Improving the latter just means that he can last for a couple more chapters, without effecting his already great preformance in the earlier chapters. Same for Zealot and certain other prepromotes.

But that's precisely the issue. Marcus is a very useful character in earlygame. If he was useful beyond earlygame, he would actually be somewhat broken (think of the Jeigans from later games like FE7 Marcus, Seth, and Titania). The idea of a 'balance patch' is to buff weak characters and nerf powerful characters, but Marcus is already a powerful character, so he doesn't need buffing.

[Dunal]

But that's precisely the issue. Marcus is a very useful character in earlygame. If he was useful beyond earlygame, he would actually be somewhat broken (think of the Jeigans from later games like FE7 Marcus, Seth, and Titania). The idea of a 'balance patch' is to buff weak characters and nerf powerful characters, but Marcus is already a powerful character, so he doesn't need buffing.

Well, I suppose. Yet, I doubt the additional growths would make much of a difference (skill/luck?). I just added them to actually give him growths (At least 200%). And because he's Marcus, of course.

Either way, I'll revert the changes, then.

[dondon151]

I don't think changing class caps affects anything. Most characters don't ever hit them.

Quite honestly, I think a lot of your changes don't do enough for a character to alleviate what are normally their biggest problems. You also seem to include a lot of superfluous changes like random +luk bases and growths, -5% growths, or +/- 1 in a relatively unimportant stat.

Edited February 9, 2011 by dondon151

[Dunal]

I don't think changing class caps affects anything. Most characters don't ever hit them.

Quite honestly, I think a lot of your changes don't do enough for a character to alleviate what are normally their biggest problems. You also seem to include a lot of superfluous changes like random +luk bases and growths, -5% growths, or +/- 1 in a relatively unimportant stat.

I agree that caps shouldn't matter much. The only reason why I'm changing some is so that certain units don't hit a cap so early (Wolt = Speed, Dorothy = Strength, Sophia = Magic, Wendy = Speed etc...). And I've also changed sages and Valks so that their magic cap is lower than Druids (as it should be).

As for unit changes, what would be some examples? What are your suggestions? The reason for lot of superfluous changes is to create unit variety (a lot of physical units have horrible res in this game normally, for example) and/or because certain units don't really need much of a buff (Marcus). Luck doesn't have much of an effect, no. But it always does in some cases.

Take Bors for example, that +3 SKL (and +skill growth) just provides him with some more hit against the axe users he will be fighting against (I understand he may need more base speed to avoid being doubled, though). And that Skill + Luck boost to Wolt will mean he will have 90+ hit rates rather than 80. It's minor yes, but for those units, it does help. And for users of lances/axes, luck + skill is always useful.

But even with those changes, I'm still looking at the bigger picture. I understand Thany/Tate need more con, weight for certain weapons need lowering, Sophia needs far better growths (and dark magic less heavy), Lilina needs speed, Wade needs speed, Wendy's bases need to be a lot better etc etc...

Although like I said, it isn't complete and if a specific unit still needs to be changed then say so. I'm guessing Hugh, Geese, perhaps Sue? The archers, still? Did lot really need those bonuses? Is Rutger balanced now? Do give me suggestions.

Edited February 9, 2011 by DLuna

[General Spoon]

I agree that caps shouldn't matter much. The only reason why I'm changing some is so that certain units don't hit a cap so early (Wolt = Speed, Dorothy = Strength, Sophia = Magic, Wendy = Speed etc...). And I've also changed sages and Valks so that their magic cap is lower than Druids (as it should be).

As for unit changes, what would be some examples? What are your suggestions?...

Herp, how did this get here? Bet its similar to balance...

[Dunal]

1.2 released. Quite a few changes have been made. Weapon weight has been reduced universally. Wolt can now double from the get-go. Bors doesn't get doubled from the get-go. Marcus' changes have been reverted and various other changes across the board etc etc...

Herp, how did this get here? Bet its similar to balance...

Some of those ideas are good. Karel being lower level ought to be fun. Raising the weapon levels of certain pre-promotes seems needed too.

EDIT: For the next patch I'm going to change the classes (bases, growths and caps). This will make the game harder (especially in later chapters), and will make enemies of certain classes better (or worse). If you want to make any recommendations, then do say.

Edited February 9, 2011 by DLuna

[Narga_Rocks]

But even with those changes, I'm still looking at the bigger picture. I understand Thany/Tate need more con, weight for certain weapons need lowering, Sophia needs far better growths (and dark magic less heavy), Lilina needs speed, Wade needs speed, Wendy's bases need to be a lot better etc etc...

Thany and Tate don't want more con. You can give them even more speed and a higher spd cap in tier 2, but higher con means lower aid. Unless you give all the female units 25 - con for aid instead of that annoying 20 - con, raising their con will make them unable to rescue drop important units like Dieck.

Miledy for example is pretty bad at rescuing once she (and most other units) hits tier 2.

Really, just give Tate a better weapon level to start and let Thany have more str and a better growth. They'll be fine.

Sophia needs better bases, too. Much better. 100% growths in each stat wouldn't do much for her with those bases. Having ~50% hit on nearly everything while getting ORKOd is a major pain. The only things that don't ORKO her in her starting chapter are the mages, but they 3HKO and double and have crit on her. In other words, even if it isn't a practically guaranteed ORKO, they still have a pretty high chance considering how annoying it is to have to restart.

Lilina needs either speed or a better mag base (with lower growth to prevent really early cap-ramming). Yes, it's annoying that she'll never double anything but armors. But unless you want her to be a carbon copy of Lugh, more speed isn't the answer. It annoys me even more that it takes a lot of levels before she gets a significant magic lead on Lugh since he's supposed to be the fast one and she's the strong one. Also, more skill so she can have reliable hit on bosses would be nice. Lugh doesn't double bosses anyway on HM (most of them anyway) and that +30 avo on thrones is pretty tough to hit even for anima users.

Edited February 9, 2011 by Narga_Rocks

[Dunal]

Thany and Tate don't want more con. You can give them even more speed and a higher spd cap in tier 2, but higher con means lower aid. Unless you give all the female units 25 - con for aid instead of that annoying 20 - con, raising their con will make them unable to rescue drop important units like Dieck.

Miledy for example is pretty bad at rescuing once she (and most other units) hits tier 2.

Really, just give Tate a better weapon level to start and let Thany have more str and a better growth. They'll be fine.

I've only raised their con by 1. But I've also reduced the weight of lances by 1. So they both gain 2 AS. That's good enough, IMO. Thany also has a better base STR and Tate has better growths in STR/DEF/HP, so they're both good.

Sophia needs better bases, too. Much better. 100% growths in each stat wouldn't do much for her with those bases. Having ~50% hit on nearly everything while getting ORKOd is a major pain. The only things that don't ORKO her in her starting chapter are the mages, but they 3HKO and double and have crit on her. In other words, even if it isn't a practically guaranteed ORKO, they still have a pretty high chance considering how annoying it is to have to restart.

Sophia does have much higher bases now. Check the patch notes. She has +3 MAG, +3 SPD, +5 LUCK and +1 RES, along with amazing growths. Dark magic also has more +hit now and weighs less.

Lilina needs either speed or a better mag base (with lower growth to prevent really early cap-ramming). Yes, it's annoying that she'll never double anything but armors. But unless you want her to be a carbon copy of Lugh, more speed isn't the answer. It annoys me even more that it takes a lot of levels before she gets a significant magic lead on Lugh since he's supposed to be the fast one and she's the strong one. Also, more skill so she can have reliable hit on bosses would be nice. Lugh doesn't double bosses anyway on HM (most of them anyway) and that +30 avo on thrones is pretty tough to hit even for anima users.

Lilina now has +2 MAG, +2 SPD and +15% SPD growth (and -10% MAG growth). But you're probally right. Instead of speed, I could give her more skill (and growth), but I still think she should keep the higher base SPD for obvious reasons (change the growth back, though). As for Lugh, he now has 1 more SPD for constrast.

[dondon151]

I've only raised their con by 1. But I've also reduced the weight of lances by 1. So they both gain 2 AS. That's good enough, IMO. Thany also has a better base STR and Tate has better growths in STR/DEF/HP, so they're both good.

Promoted Thany can't rescue promoted Dieck anymore. That's a huge loss for her, especially since they support each other.

[Anouleth]

It's not like Thany or Tate were even bad characters. Sure, they had subpar combat, but it should be expected from a flier. And even Tate's combat wasn't that bad once she hits C Lances.

Edited February 9, 2011 by Anouleth

[Smiley Jim]

Promoted Thany can't rescue promoted Dieck anymore. That's a huge loss for her, especially since they support each other.

Promoted Thany with +1 con has 14 aid. Promoted Dieck has 14 con. Unless I'm mistaken, Thany can still carry Dieck when both are promoted. Now if promoted Thany had 7 con or if promoted Dieck had 15 con, I could see a case against that movement.

[Dunal]

Promoted Thany can't rescue promoted Dieck anymore. That's a huge loss for her, especially since they support each other.

I'll increase base speed by 1 instead, then. For Tate, I'll also give her C lances. I'll revert most other changes.

EDIT: So...

----------------------------------

[THANY]

----------------------------------

- Base speed increased by 1

- Base strength increased by 1

- Resistance growth increased by 10%

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[TATE]

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- Now has C lances

- Base Speed increased by 1

- HP growth increased by 10%

- Defense growth increased by 10%

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Edited February 9, 2011 by DLuna

[Hash Jar]

EDIT- Oh wait nevermind. I see you changed the CON back.

I would recommend editing enemy stats as well. Make them more balanced.

Also, I don't recommend nerfing too much since I don't like it :P

Edited February 9, 2011 by Hash Jar

[Dunal]

EDIT- Oh wait nevermind. I see you changed the CON back.

I would recommend editing enemy stats as well. Make them more balanced.

Also, I don't recommend nerfing too much since I don't like it :P

I am going to change enemy stats, yes. Certain classes need better growths. In terms of enemies themselves, the earlier chapters should be easier, while the later chapters should be much harder. There could be more of a difficulty curve.

[dondon151]

Promoted Thany with +1 con has 14 aid. Promoted Dieck has 14 con. Unless I'm mistaken, Thany can still carry Dieck when both are promoted. Now if promoted Thany had 7 con or if promoted Dieck had 15 con, I could see a case against that movement.

Oh, right. Hero does gain only 1 con.