First time FE6 player here: Numbers patch or Rising Wind patch?

[Garlandolf]

So I played FE7 back in the day when it was released and loved it and have replayed it multiple times since. I've always wanted to play FE6 because shared world but I've been turned off by what I read about it's questionable difficulty. I've come across two rebalance patches, the Numbers patch and the FE6 - Rising Wind patch and I would like to know what the community thinks is the optimal hack for this title

[gringe]

18 minutes ago, Garlandolf said:

So I played FE7 back in the day when it was released and loved it and have replayed it multiple times since. I've always wanted to play FE6 because shared world but I've been turned off by what I read about it's questionable difficulty. I've come across two rebalance patches, the Numbers patch and the FE6 - Rising Wind patch and I would like to know what the community thinks is the optimal hack for this title

I made the Numbers Patch so I am not an unbiased source, but Rising Wind looks like it makes a few too many changes for my taste. Additional supports and newly playable characters gets a little too close to fan fiction territory for me. I mean no insult to the author—it’s just not my cup of tea. The Numbers Patch purely makes changes to...well, numbers, and isn’t too far removed from the original.

A lot of people like to crap on FE6 these days, but I don’t think it’s entirely deserved. The original game is a solid experience, but if the thought of low hit rates and “unbalanced units” kills you and you end up deciding to go with the Numbers Patch, I recommend the latest version in the latest post from me in its topic. I just completed a playthrough with it.

However I’m in the process of updating the localization patch and will further update the Numbers Patch as appropriate when done. It won’t significantly alter the experience but will have a slightly revised script.

[Eden Agleam]

I personally think it would be better to just play the original FE6. I find that the difficulty is largely overemphasized, and the FE6 weirdness is manageable. But if you are determined to use a balance patch, Numbers is the better choice if you are trying to have an authentic experience. 

[AnonymousSpeed]

Seconding vanilla FE6 hard mode. I think it's a fun game whose oddities are better implemented than you might think.

[Interdimensional Observer]

Wasn't the Numbers Patch, at least originally, not balanced for the Hard earlygame? Fixing Axeurracy is good for the player later, but not so much at the fragile start when a more precise Wade is less desirable than a lower chance of getting axes in your faces?

 

If you're not great at FE, FE6 can be a bit rough, enemy quality is much higher than in FE7 and same-turn reinforcements might bite you from time to time. So I wouldn't start with Hard, which normally isn't available from the start actually. Just keep in mind the difficulty is wavy, up to and including 7 or 8x can be difficult, but then it lowers for a midgame dip, which starts inconsistently picking up again around 14. So if you're frustrated early on, keep in mind it'll get better.

[gringe]

14 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Wasn't the Numbers Patch, at least originally, not balanced for the Hard earlygame? Fixing Axeurracy is good for the player later, but not so much at the fragile start when a more precise Wade is less desirable than a lower chance of getting axes in your faces?

Originally, yes. Later versions decrease hard mode bonuses very slightly in the early chapters to account for this.

Additionally, the Rapier has its FE7 stats, essentially buffing Roy, and Bors starts at level 4 with appropriate bases, making him a little better at tanking, so it should be playable.

Edited May 31, 2020 by gringe

[eclipse]

A translation patch, so you can read the text.

But otherwise, stick with vanilla.  Think of FE6 as a test of what you've learned in FE7.  The mechanics will feel clunkier, but that's because FE6 came first.

[Benice]

I'd say to start with vanilla and if you really dislike it, switch to the numbers patch. FE6 has flaws, but the difficulty is only questionable because of Ambush spawns and a few gimmicky chapters, and sometimes the game straight up tells you when ambush spawns will occur.

[Koops]

On 5/31/2020 at 5:41 AM, AnonymousSpeed said:

Seconding vanilla FE6 hard mode. I think it's a fun game whose oddities are better implemented than you might think.

This.

I find FE6's difficulty to be perhaps one of the best in the series if not the best. Normal mode is hard enough where it's not considered easy yet it's very manageable, and hard mode is a good challenge that, with experience, shouldn't be too bad (plus you get hard mode bonuses which are amazing in this game). Do be careful in the earlygame in hard mode's case, tho, it can get dicey, and Mercs (sometimes Nomads) may have enough speed to double a lot of people, and chapter 7 is hell on earth.

But it's still so much fun to play FE6 on either difficulty for me. You should at least try vanilla, but I would understand if you decide to go for a patch since it's definitely not a game everyone can enjoy.

Edited June 1, 2020 by Koops

[Nébulya]

Go for Vanilla. Even if FE6 has a lot of flaws, you should play the vanilla to at least understand why peoples are saying this and to discover the original experience. Keep in mind it won't be as annoying as it was back then, because you're on emulator.