I tend to use only special characters as I get them. That means, by the time I have Rafa and Malak, my entire party consists of Ramza, Mustadio, Agrias, Rafa, and Malak, so I have to use them.

I don't like how powerful Orlandu is, so I only use him in a few battles. Meliadoul is not very useful unless there are many human characters in the fights; she joins far too late in the game to be of real use.