character set up and how to use them

for the tougher missions later on-
so what equipment set up and high damage abilities do you guys use? especial with snow sazh and vanille? 'cos i don't use them very much and not sure what they have up their sleeves :p

I discovered how devastating a combination involving Saboteur + Synergist and Rav/Rav/Rav (to Stagger) can be, followed by Com/Com/Com if applicable, for absurd physical damage if your target doesn't block that kind of thing. A combination involving one or more Medics is of course not a bad idea to keep around. I actually ended up using Vanille rather a lot - she's a fine Ravager, but a quite handy Saboteur/Medic even so. Snow or Sazh I'm not very familiar with. I suppose Snow is the quintessential Sentinel - maybe a general purpose combination along the lines of Sentinel/Commando/Ravager, with Vanille as a Medic for Those Ugly Turns?

Against the final marks, I found myself just using trios of all classes (COM+COM+COM, RAV+RAV+RAV, ...). Doing that just gets the job done so much faster. As for characters, Fang is a must for me. She's the best character in terms of damage and only her and Vanille can cast the really good Synergist spells. For comparison: Protect increases defense by 33%, Protectra by 50% - Bravery increases physical damage by 40%, Bravera by 80%. I also usually had Lightning because she is well-balanced, good at everything but Medic, great at Ravager. Lastly, I had Sazh at first because he's awesome, but when I found out how bad he was at fighting I switched to Hope/Vanille because one really good Medic is almost mandatory.

Well various scenarios require different set-ups, but currently I do the most damage with Fang (party leader), Hope, and Vanille. Fang has the highest base strength, and Hope the highest magic with Vanille not too far behind. With a COM/RAV/RAV set-up, I have Hope and Vanille boost the chain gauge to 999% after the enemy is staggered, and then Fang does her awesome Highwind attack just before the enemy goes back to normal. (Granted they've all maxed their original 3 roles.) This set up also leaves you with at least one of each role to play around with.

Apparently there is a trick to Sazh where he murders absolutely everything with the right set-up, but I have yet to try it.

heh i think i am finally getting the hang of it
especially now i have started using my sentinels
usually i just go all out offence
must just have been blind luck that got me to finish the main story :p