The formation you use is ultimately up to you and which heroes you put in your team. There are four types of heroes in Tales of Radiance: Tanks, Fighters, Mages, and Supports. Tanks are your frontliners who will lead the charge into battle with crowd control skills and damage mitigation shields. They have high health and defense, but low attack and speed. Their job is to absorb damage for the team and debuff enemies. Fighters are brutal attackers that deal exceedingly high amounts of damage to single targets. Sometimes they can debuff enemies as well. These are your main damage dealers, and they will usually be the ones to land the killing blows. Mages wield the elements to inflict damage against multiple enemies in the group. They do not deal as much damage as Fighters, but they excel in spreading their damage across the entire enemy team. Supports are the backbone of the team, as they focus on healing your team's wounds and protecting them with shielding barriers. You always need at least one Support on your team to get them through the thick of things.