I should acknowledge... I don't actually use my ideal party. It's great for winning fights, but my goal is usually to level up characters, which tends to mean I use just the paladin and the maid while the other party slots are occupied by rubbish characters that I'm trying to level.
But... to clarify some things about my ideal party:
- The paladin needs Flagellate and Faith's Blessing. This lets her heal the entire party for 9 HP per turn, which no other class can keep up with. If you don't need quite that much healing, then the paladin can also Smite for heavy damage. (Minimum level: 3)
- The mage needs Flashfire. (Minimum level: 6) While climbing levels, she can make do with Firestream, but that's much less impressive.
- The maid needs Dust Storm, and must equip the pink feather duster. (Minimum level: 5) Conveniently, maids you find in dungeons start at level 7, meaning they can also take Quick Service and outspeed the Alchemist. This is good because the maid excels at removing all the enemy block tokens, which the alchemist has trouble dealing with.
- The Alchemist works pretty well from the start, but it's very worth getting her to level 4 for Swiftburn Powder. A level 4 or higher alchemist can sometimes open the fight by killing 3 enemies before they get a turn.