I got to Deling and I'm getting absolutely crushed by the random encounters around the city (Wendigo and Vysage) is that normal? I think I have decent junctions, even though Zell and Irvine are a bit low on levels compared to Squall. Dribble from Wendigo basically puts them on critical damage with one attack.
Well yes, it's kind of normal. Here is some advice:
Make sure to have the HP-J Ability unlocked for all 3 characters. The enemies that appear around Deling City are balanced around having at least Cura junctioned on everyone's HP. Cura can be drawn from the Geezard enemy in the area, or "bought" from the new Odine Shop in Deling City (indirectly through Healing Waters, or Tents via Siren's L-Mag RF Ability). The ideal HP spell at this time would be Zombie which can be made through the Zombie Powders dropped by the Gerogero boss or drawn by the Blood Soul enemy found at the night-time grassland area around the city. It should raise your HP to around 1500-2000, which should be enough to deal with the attacks by Vysage (500-600 HP single target damage through Aero, 200-300 HP damage through the AoE attack) and Wendigo (up to 800 HP single target damage). But I agree that Wendigo is slightly overtuned for this area, so its overall damage output will be decreased for Standard Mode soon.
All in all, as far as the early-mid game goes, I would say that junctions are more impactful than leveling up overall. Sometimes, searching around for new spells is needed to keep up with the enemies (especially after leaving Timber and during the D-District Prison events). Leveling up will definitely pay off in the mid-late game though, so there's no need to hold back with your levels (the Bonus Abilities that grant permanent stat boosts when leveling up are removed in this mod anyway).
Also good to know that you got the EFIGS.dll patch working. It is actually very important for all mod changes to take effect, not just in regards to the Draw cap in battle. Without the patch, for example, magic damage is severely limited for both party members and enemies, which explains why Elvoret (who uses mostly magic attacks) gave you little to no trouble at all. I hope the increased enemy magic damage is not too overwhelming now. Otherwise, don't hesitate to tell, and maybe more specific enemies will receive a little adjustment. Thanks.
@kokie: Information on Darkside damage can be found
here. As for HP loss, check out
this topic. This is for the 2013 version; the stuff is elsewhere for Remastered (EFIGS.dll instead of FF8_EN.exe): the damage multiplier instruction starts at offset 2E447E; while HP loss is at 2E3FD1.