[Serra Britt]

Oh yes, my second playthrough of FFT, where I didn't power level at all, I definitely used the story characters. Even Mustaido (I butchered his name I'm sure) has useful base class abilities as long as he remains ranged. And yea...T.G.Cid doesn't need anything but his OP base class abilities XD

As for FE, the idea of using the initial high level to just draw enemies is a good one. I've used that kind of tactic in other tactics games like Advance Wars, though admittedly that game is more forgiving on losing units...