Haha yeah I got Lini first try with it, funny enough, the only difficult part was predicting which missions would yield a new recruit.

Does equipping items for missions have any other advantages? I read somewhere about sub-mission rewards or something, and sometimes it seems like I have an option to avert combat by giving or doing something in particular (not submitting to the other side, obviously), but like giving sweets to the faeries or what the crap ever. Do you get a special bonus or an easy completion when you have certain items?