Aran i felt was quite good, in my 2nd runthrough of the game. Him, Nolan, Tauroneo, and Zihark became the supporting pillars of the Dawn Brigade after i took Jill away from them (because i love Jill, and wanted to see her reach her full potential, which could only come through Greil Mercenary membership). The Soldier-Halberdier-Sentinel class really ranked up from Path of Radiance, where they were fairly useless. Aran became the glory of the Dawn Brigade, and Nephenee became the heart of the Greil Mercenaries
Nephenee is one of the best long-term investments in the game. She starts out pretty bad, and will need babying throughout Book 2, but throughout book 3 and 4 she can become a frontline character of sheer pwnage.
Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.
