well, for me its the boys... vaan with sword.... basch with GUN and balthier with sword...1st all of them should have all thier quickenings for triple MP..i found out that vaan's magic is still strong even with a sword on...and basch is good with a gun for his default evasion is higher than balthier's...and balthier with sword and shield and heavy armor coz he gets hurt easily but still has high atk power...all of them should have haste, protect, cure, cura, shell, bubble and esuna...and have at least 1 character with curaga, protectaga, shellga, esunaga and hastega...and all black magics should belong to vaan..

but for me i like going solo with no gambits on....thats just me...a party is also good but really burns MP and items