Hard Mode Bonuses
How Hard Mode bonuses are applied to FE6 enemies.
Overview
FE6 has a few very simple ways of making Hard Mode significantly more difficult than normal mode. It essentially does two things: increase enemy stats and add a few extra reinforcements. The extra stats will sometimes apply to recruitable enemy units, which can be very beneficial. This leads to recruitable enemies being some of the strongest units in the game, such as Rutger, Melady, and Perceval.
Guide Contents
This guide contains the following information.
Calculations
Calculating enemy stats and Hard Mode bonuses.
Enemy Level Ups
Enemy unit level ups are not the same as player unit level ups. They do not generate one 7 RNs between 0 and 99 to check each stat; rather they are based around class stat growths. Class growth rates can be found on the classes page.
The enemy stat calculation process is the following (repeated for each stat).
- Take the number of levels gained and multiply it by the class growth rate for the current stat expressed as a probability.
- Generate a random decimal number between 7/8th and 9/8th of the value found in step 1.
- Take the whole number part of the value found in step 2, the unit gains that amount of points in the current stat.
- Roll a single RN between 0 and 99, if this RN is less than the decimal part of the value found in step 2, the unit gains an extra point in the current stat.
This method of generating stats still results in some variance in enemy stats, but not nearly as much as straight up generating 7 RNs. Essentially, enemy stats are bounded in how low and how high they can be.
The number of levels gained per enemy depends on their level and whether or not they've promoted. A generic enemy will simply gain their displayed level minus 1 levels using the above method. If they are promoted, they will also gain 9 levels, or 19 levels in Hard Mode in their unpromoted class.
Hard Mode Extra Levels
In the GBA games, Hard Mode enemy stat increases are done by giving the enemy extra hidden level ups. These level ups increase the enemy units' stats in the exact same way as described above, but the extra levels do not show on the enemies' stats screens. In FE6 specifically, each chapter has a set number of extra levels that a Hard Mode enemy unit will gain. These values are listed below.
| Chapters | Extra HM Levels |
|---|---|
| Chapters 1 and 2 | +4 |
| Chapters 3 and 4 | +5 |
| Chapters 5 and 6 | +6 |
| Chapters 7 to 8x | +7 |
| Chapters 9 and 10 | +8 |
| Chapters 11 to 12x | +9 |
| Chapters 13 to 14x | +10 |
| Chapters 15 to 16x | +11 |
| Chapters 17 and 18 | +12 |
| Chapters 19 to 20x | +13 |
| Chapters 21 and 22 | +14 |
| Chapters 23 and 24 | +15 |
| Final | +16 |
As you can see, the later the game goes the more significant the bonus stats. Also, all initial enemies on the map for the first 5 chapters will receive double the listed number of bonus levels. This is partially what causes the FE6 HM early game to be such a terrible slog. Note that Rutger (the only recruitable enemy in the first 5 chapters) does not receive this double bonus, not that he needs it.
Sample HM Enemy Stat Calculation
Putting all of the above together, we can calculate the stat ranges of any enemy in the game given their class and level. Let's calculate the possible HM Strength values of the infamous Level 10 Wyvern Rider in Chapter 7 as an example. Note that this enemy, like most enemies, are male.
\(B_{str} = \text{Class base Str} = 7\)\(G_{str} = \text{Class Str growth} = 0.45\)\(L_{base} = \text{Base levels gained} = 10 - 1 = 9\)\(L_{hm} = \text{HM bonus levels (Ch. 7)} = 7\)\(L_{total} = 9 + 7 = 16\)\(\begin{aligned} Q &= \text{Base stat gain value} \\ &= L_{total} * G_{str} \\ &= 16 * 0.45 \\ &= 7.20 \end{aligned}\)\(Q_{low} = \frac{7}{8} * Q = 6.30\)\(Q_{high} = \frac{9}{8} * Q = 8.10\)For demonstration purposes, lets say that the random number generator chose 8.02 as the decimal between 6.30 and 8.10. Then, we can continue as follows.
\(Q_{whole} = 8\)\(Q_{decimal} = 0.02\)Hence, if 8.02 is chosen as the random number, this Wyvern Rider will gain at least 8 Str, with a 2% chance of gaining 9 Str if the rolled RN is below 2. Adding this on to the base, we get 7 + 8 = 15 expected Str (with a 2% chance of being 16). Absolutely terrifying.
Note that the floor of the lower Q is the minimum possible stats gained, and the ceiling of the higher Q is the maximum possible stats gained. So, on Hard Mode, this Wyvern Rider will gain at least 6 and at most 9 Str from base, for a potential stat range of 13 to 16.
Recruitable Enemies
Recruitable enemies will use the same calculations as above, except they use their own personal bases with the class's growths. They will also only gain levels according to the chapter, regardless of their own level.
Recruitable enemies were not meant to gain Hard Mode bonuses. This is evident because the game even has a list of character addresses that includes exactly all recruitable enemies (plus Cecilia, who may have been originally a recruitable enemy in an early version of the game). However, the routine that skips Hard Mode bonuses for recruitable enemies is only run on the initial map, and does not apply to those who spawn after the chapter starts.
This is the reason that Perceval gains bonuses on Chapter 15, but not Chapter 13. In Chapter 13, he is present during the battle preparations menu, meaning that he is part of the initial map. Whereas on Chapter 15, he spawns after the chapter starts during a story event that occurs before turn 1. Hence, he is not actually present during the time that the routine is run, allowing him to get a sweet 11 levels worth of bonus stats, calculated using Male Paladin class growths. Similarly, this is why units like Raigh, Hugh, and Douglas do not gain any bonuses on Hard Mode. They are all present at the start of the map, and hence get skipped.
Klein and Thea are also slight anomalies, because they can be recruited in Chapter 11 on A route, but Chapter 10 on B route. This means that they will gain 9 levels worth of bonus stats on A route, but only 8 levels on B route.
The calculations above have been precomputed for all recruitable enemies that get Hard Mode bonuses and are available on their pages. It will display a range of possible values for each stat, along with the most likely value. For convenience, here are links to all recruitable enemies that get Hard Mode bonuses.