It's been a while since I've updated, so here's a brief update.
[spoiler]I've been doing pretty well with my non-hexer party.

I mapped floor 7 and the area of floor 8 accessible from floor 7. I got the fire plume from Salamox. The first time I tried it, I fucked up and got cornered by both the FOE and Salomox. What the hell is Salamox? What is up with his head? Anyway, I died. The second time, I was successful, but I didn't save because I wanted to do it again.

Anyway, I got that and have moved up to the 9th floor. Been wandering around that floor and was able to map part of floor 8 accessible only from floor 9.
I'm taking my time and mapping everything. My party is still a bit squishy, but I'm persevering. I'm debating whether or not to backline my medic. I equipped her with the Mirage Rod, so she has good reserve of TP, but her damage output is 40+.

Wiped out the Trigourds. They really weren't too bad. Wore them down with ice/volt, then Onyx used Climax. Man, that is an awesome skill. I just need to build up TP for her and Devere.
When do I get the next mission from the Duchy? I want to retire my characters when they hit level 30, so I've been keeping some quests in reserve for leveling purposes. I figure the extra boost in the stats would be quite helpful.
Ok, so a not-so-brief update.

[/spoiler]