Help a grinder make a good party

[Zieborn]

Hey, I have always liked RPGs, but have always just grinded my way through them, when I've bothered to finish them at all. I got EO IV awhile ago now, and have stuck with it until most of my characters are near level 30. However, this game makes me want to move a lot faster than I have been, as I actually prefer mapping dungeons to any other exploration mechanic in any game I've ever played. So, I am finding grinding really, really tedious.

I have never worried too much about balancing, or character builds, etc. before, so I'm not used to having to think about this stuff. I always just grinded to a party of people who were okay at everything. However, I want to start doing some actual damage, and I want my party to work well together, so I can move faster. Thus, I'm looking for some advice. I'm willing to re-spec everyone, but don't want to start over with anyone. My party is (for better or worse):

Front: Landsknecht (a bit of a tank with every kind of link I can get at mediocre or low power) and a Fortress (Damage taking and taunting and pretty much nothing else)
Back: Sniper (binds and flank shot with random stuff I never use) Dancer (I wasted a lot of skills here, as I'm mainly using him for regen and refresh but have stuff everywhere) and a medic (a little of every kind of heal for no good reason).

Without changing the mix of classes, what would be a good strategy? My only reserve character worth anything is a level 21 Nightseeker I could use and upgrade if that'd be better than something else (and a level 8 runemaster I doubt I have the commitment to level up).

Thanks for any advice. I really want to play this game right, and grinding everyone to mediocre seems to not be the right move.

[Myssdii]

This a pretty standard linking party, you should focus on working on your Dancer and Sniper.

Since you have a Medic, you should put your Dancer in the front row and focus on Sword Dance and Trick Samba (and, when you reach the level, Mist Dance). Never put point in Speed Boost, it's buggy with Fan Dance (and Fan Dance is better as an evasion skill). You can also put points in Attack Tango to buff your front row.
Get Squall Volley on your Sniper, Leg Snipe and Eagle Eye. Then put all remaining points in passive skills. Binding the enemy's legs will get you a 100% hit rate with Squall Volley (since you don't have ailments with your team, this is your best shot).
Get Vanguard, Improved Linked and all your three links, then put points in Initiative to boost your damages.

The point is to use Vanguard to get your Landsknecht hitting with a link skill first. Then both your Sniper and Dancer will activate the links with Squall Volley and basic attacks respectively.

Fortress and Medic are pretty much straightforward, but if you need help with their builds, ask away

At this level you should have access to them, so consider replacing your Medic with an Arcanist : they're better healers than Medics at higher level. The best is to do the switch when you get access to subclassing.

[Zieborn]

Thanks for the advice! I was getting tired of the point assignment screen feeling like a mess I wanted to avoid.

Any good reason to re-spec and train up my Nightseeker as a useful backup?

[Myssdii]

The only reason would be to replace your Sniper, because Nightseekers do more damage, and you can exploit ailments if you do not want to invest on an Arcanist (and actually, Arcanists and Nightseekers are also good together). But this is micro-optimisation, you can finish the game with the team you have now if you build it correctly

Your probably not used to this, if you're coming from RPGs like Final Fantasy, but ailments are extremely useful in this game. You can only have one at a time on an enemy, but they can stack with bindings (and all bindings can be applied to the same monster).

Ailments like Confusion and Paralysis can affect most bosses/FOEs (some are immune or resistant though) and prevent them from harming you.

[Wolkenritter]

[Zieborn]

Thanks for the help. I've been playing all week with the new setup, and I not only finished all the caves/mazes I'd started, but I also went to one of the new ones and wiped the floor with the FOEs first time through (well, maybe wiped the floor is over-stating it, but I did kill them all ). I was really playing this one wrong. This is the most fun I've had with an RPG in a long time.