Is 2.6.3.3 more reliable / stable in terms of making / restoring nandroids? I just got my new Note last week

(p607t) and flashed xKat with TWRP at one point, restoring apps from (some with data to avoid re-entering account info or redoing complex settings...) I have had one problem however, when I was almost done restoring, I noticed that I was getting fc's, particularly with games that required an internet connection. I wiped dalvik and cache in TWRP, then hit fix permissions, which I think screwed everything up (maybe due to the bootloader / firmware base mismatch). Anyway, my most recent nandroid was with the fresh xKat install, but fixing permissions caused this weird "hot"-bootloop where it skipped the boot animation but start loading immediately after rebooting, but then freezing before all boot tasks had completed (ex. some optimizations on boot with Android Tuner Pro, FolderMount mounting folders, loading xposed modules...)
Not wanting to re-restore, I first just tried dirty-flashing the ROM again (only wiped dalvik and cache, but did something I hadn't tried before: in the wipe menu I hit "repair partition" for system and data, pre-flash). Luckily it worked and set everything straight... but just want to make sure, 2.6.3.3 is still recommended as the most stable version (in my experience, fixing permissions in recovery can be very hit or miss on any version)?
2 questions before I roll back my recovery, I think these "killer features" (totally serious, #2 has been huge since I got a couple of the newish flash drives with micro usb on one side and regular usb on the other) of TWRP were implemented in 2.6.3.3, but just want to make sure: can you 1) compress nandroids and 2) mount a USB OTG drive and flash from or backup to it? Thanks all, really loving my new Note (massive upgrade from my Note 8!)