-------------------------
| Team Member Selection |
-------------------------

Now that you have seen how to end up with the monster you want (with the 
skills you want), we can move to the next task of building the team. 

The obvious goal is to make the strongest, most successful team. There 
are several "types" of members that you can expect to have. These can be 
either focused on different areas of expertise, or can be theme 
characters (which are just fun to use).

There are really two different schools of thought on this. Some people 
believe that it is better to have all of the monsters on a team with 
both healing and offensive spells. To some extent, this is true. In 
crucial battles, it is necessary to have everyone with a healing spell, 
and some kind of offense. I am offering an alternative strategy to that.

The members I have listed below are different types which can be mixed 
and matched to get different teams (with different strengths and 
weaknesses). I will talk more about this later. Below each member, I 
have listed a few monster types that would be ideal for this type of 
character. Keep in mind that the members of the Boss family will work 
for any of these, and are a powerful addition to any team. 

1. The Healer
This member should have all the best healing spells, evolved to either
HealAll or HealUsAll (from Heal and Heal Us, respectively). This monster 
will also have some kind of spell to bring back the dead, like Revive. 
It will also need something to get rid of status ailments, such as surge 
(to cover everything). Lastly, you can't be just defensive, so you need 
one or two heavy hitter like BigBang, MultiCut, or HellBlast (don't get 
rid of all your MP by using MegaMagic if that monster is to be your main 
healer) or even a GigaSlash (good for taking out one big nuisance)
     Typical skills: GigaSlash, BigBang, HealAll, HealUsAll, Revive, 
                     Surge, Ironize, and Meditate
     Attack Stance: Cautious
     Monsters: GoldSlimes and Metal Slime sub-family members seem 
               uniquely suited for this class. All are very resistant to 
               enemy spells and skills, and have very high MP. There low 
               attacks also make them better suited for this over any 
               other class.

2. The Handyman
This member is just helping everyone on all fronts. He will be equipped
with a healing spell, and maybe a revive. The main thing will be a bunch 
of increasers, like SpeedUp or TwinHit. These will improve everyones 
attacks. Also, he should have some good attacks of his own. A good 
person to have megamagic, because after he builds up everyone, he can 
unload what he has left. Would be nice to have gigaslash too.
     Typical Skills: SpeedUp, TwinHit, MegaMagic, Increase, Surge,    
                     Surround, Hustle, Revive
     Attack Stance: Mixed
     Monsters: Monsters that are suited to this would have good stats 
               across the board, and especially good MP. Also, you need 
               a high agility, to ensure that these effects reach your 
               party and your opponents before the action starts. For 
               this, I would suggest members of the Bird family, such as 
               RainHawk or WhipBird. 

3. The Overkill
Well, for those that don't really care about a finesse win, they just 
need someone that can quickly dish it out. This person should have all 
the awesome attack spells (BigBang, Multicut, MegaMagic, GigaSlash, 
HellBlast). Also, a good physical attack such as QuadHits would be 
useful too. Any supplemental attack spells would be good.
     Typical Skills: BigBang, MultiCut, MegaMagic, GigaSlash, Hellblast,  
                     QuadHits, Revive, WhiteFire
     Attack Stance: Charge
     Monsters: The ideal monster for this would have a very high attack, 
               coupled with average MP. This would cover both physical 
               and spell based attacks. My choices are from the Zombie 
               family, particularly the DeadNoble or Servant.

4. The Dragon
One of the theme characters. This character will have almost all of the 
breath based attacks (BlazeMost, PalsyAir, SleepAir, PoisonAir, 
WhiteAir, White Fire) as well as BeDragon. In addition, this dragon 
character will have SuckAir, to increase breath attack effectiveness. 
Like most theme characters, this monster will have StopSpell (or even 
DanceShut or ThickFog)to prevent any offense other than the big bad 
breath. Though for any theme character, it is good to keep like 1 or 2 
spots open for an offensive (Bigbang, Multicut, GigaSlash) or defensive 
(HealAll or HealUsAll) skill, since the opponents may have a counter for 
your specialty. 
     Typical Skills: WhiteAir, WhiteFire, BeDragon, SuckAir, SleepAir,    
                     PoisonAir, HealUsAll, StopSpell
     Attack Stance: Charge/Mixed
     Monsters: It seems silly to use anyone other than a member of the 
               Dragon family for this. Dragons increase well in all 
               stats, and work well with this set of skills.

5. The Dancer
Another interesting theme character. This character will have all of the 
dance attacks (K.O. Dance, LifeDance, RobDance, PaniDance) and some 
spell stopping attacks (StopSpell, ThickFog, or MouthShut). I would 
include some theme style attacks, like HighJump, SideStep, or BigTrip. 
Again, for any theme character, it is good to keep like 1 or 2 spots 
open for an offensive (BigBang, Multicut, GigaSlash) or defensive 
(Healall or HealUsAll)
skill, since the opponents may have a counter for your specialty.
     Typical Skills: K.O. Dance, LifeDance, RobDance, SideStep, BigTrip,    
                     PaniDance, GigaSlash, StopSpell
     Attack Stance: Charge/Mixed
     Monsters: There is one "dance" monster (DanceVegi), and it is fun 
               to have the theme complement its name. It has a high MP 
               and Agility growth rate (like any good dancer would).

6. The Caller
Since there are not that many different Call skills that this member 
would have, this class ends up being a modified HandyMan. The Call 
skills are YellHelp and whatever "evolution" of TatsuCall (Bazoo, Samsi, 
Diago) you have.  Good person to have MegaMagic (to unload after doing 
its initial TatsuCall and maybe a few YellHelps)
     Typical Skills: YellHelp, BazooCall, Chance, SpeedUp, MegaMagic     
                     HealUsAll, Revive, TwinHit
     Attack Stance: Mixed
     Monsters: Only a few monster have TatsuCall as an inherent skill, 
               but I would be more inclined to choose one of them. This 
               included WhipBird, DeadNoble, and GoldGolem.

7. The Hitman
This guy is ready to lay the smack down on anything he encounters. This
member will have maybe 6 or 7 of the 10 family cut attacks. By narrowing 
down the number of these he is using, he can keep a bunch of attack up 
attacks like TwinHit or Chargup, or Berserker. To go with the theme, may 
want a Gigaslash or Defeat.
     Typical Skills: MetalCut, DevilCut, DrakSlash, CleanCut, 
                    SmashSlime, ZombieCut, GigaSlash, TwinHit.   
     Attack Stance: Charge
     Monsters: The ideal monsters for this class will have very high 
               attack growth. The two best attackers, in my opinion, are 
               Gigantes and Grizzly. Either would work for this. 


8. The Nullifier
This monster will be there to essentially neutralize the enemy party. 
The specialty of this class is to remove spell, breath, and dance 
ability, and make their physical attacks useless (making them sitting 
ducks). The main skill nullifiers are StopSpell, MouthShut, and 
DanceShut. To get rid of physical attacks, there is Radiant and 
SandStorm. To lower their stats, there is Curse (which does random 
things to them), Defense and SlowAll. And to just keep them from doing 
ANYTHING, there is BigTrip and WarCry. Another good person to have 
MegaMagic, since they can unload once the enemy is neutralized. 
     Typical Skills: StopSpell, MouthShut, DanceShut, Radiant, 
                    MegaMagic, BigTrip, Curse, Defense    
     Attack Stance: Mixed
     Monsters: Really any good, FAST, spellcaster would work. They need 
               to be fast to get these effects out before the enemy 
               attacks.

9. The Elemental Master
These monster will take 1 or 2 of the elements and will pool various 
attacks from them. The reason for this, is that there is usually at 
least one or two resistance groups that monster families are weak to 
(besides the MegaMagic and GigaSlash ones), and it might be helpful to 
have these available. The FAQ by Alex Jackson breaks down the 
resistances into several main groups. Pick 1 or 2 groups, and then flesh 
out the skills with enhancers (like for breath attacks). 
     Fire 1: BlazeMost, FireSlash, BigBang
     Fire 2: Firebolt
     Explosive: Explodet
     Wind: Infermost, VacuSlash, MultiCut, WindBeast, Vacuum 
     Thunder: Zap, BoltSlash, Lightning, HellBlast
     Ice: IceBolt, IceSlash
     Fire Breath: WhiteFire
     Ice Breath: WhiteAir
     Poison: PoisonHit, PoisonAir,
Grouping things like all the Fire, or maybe 2 of the Fire and one more, 
would work out well. 
     Attack Stance: Charge
     Monsters: For an Ice Master, maybe a Blizzardy or IceMan. For a 
               Fire Master, maybe a Phoenix or LavaMan. For Thunder and 
               Wind, maybe ZapBird, WhipBird, or WindBeast. And for 
               Poison, a Poisongon.




Remember that after a lot of breeding, most of your final monsters will 
max out their stats (or get really close), and so the stats really won't 
become the deciding factor in what class that monster should be. It then 
becomes a matter of preference. 



------------------
| Team Selection |
------------------

Now that you have seen some of the different types of members, I will 
outline what different teams can be made from combinations of these 
members. 

There are really infinite combinations, each which could work given the 
right planning and strategy. I will add more as this type of strategy 
becomes more widespread.

Team 1 – The Castle
    Monster 1 – The Healer
    Monster 2 – The Overkill
    Monster 3 – The Hitman
  I call this the castle, because it always reminds me of the 
  relationship between wizard (healer), knight (overkill), and archer 
  (hitman) in the castle siege of any good medieval legend. 2 offensive, 
  one good defense to back them up. This is probably the most common 
  team combination, at any point in the game.

Team 2 – The Circus
    Monster 1 – The Dancer
    Monster 2 – The Caller
    Monster 3 – The Nullifier
  I call this a circus because it represents the grouping of a bunch of 
weird skills. The Nullifier here will block the enemy, allowing the use 
of odd skills. The Caller will probably go in for the most damage with 
the MegaMagic. A hard team to play (though very entertaining). Something 
nice to tinker with late in the game.

Team 3 – Circle the Wagons
    Monster 1 – The Healer
    Monster 2 – The HandyMan
    Monster 3 – The Hitman/The Overkill
  Representing the obviously defensive posture of "circling the wagons", 
  this team relies on the offensive power of the Hitman/Overkill to win. 
  Although not a good team to use late in the game, this formation is 
  handy when starting out early in the game with one REALLY good monster 
  and a few mediocre ones. 

Team 4 – Tag Team
    Monster 1 – The Healer
    Monster 2 – The Overkill
    Monster 3 – The Dragon
  Two great offensive powers, protected by a trusted Healer. Very strong 
  late in the game. 

Team 5 – Earth, Wind, and Fire
    Monster 1 – Ice and Wind Master
    Monster 2 – Fire Master
    Monster 3 – The Hitman
  This team relies on the fact that the two elemental masters will be 
  able to really whack most enemies. The Metal Slime sub-family will be 
  taken out first by the Hitman, so no need to worry about those.