Is there any squad mates in particular I should be keeping an eye out for?
Can't remember her name but the moody sniper woman has great traits and often ends up a favorite.
The Lady sniper in question is Marina Wolfstan, but her true value becomes apparent late in the game. She isn't half bad before, but her 4th and final class potential is the one that makes her the superduper Marina™ that everyone wants to use. Overall, the number of unlocked class potentials is the deciding factor when doing objective evaluation of the squad members who are not a part of the command squad. The best lv 20 party is very different from the best party at lv 8.
The squad leaders of other classes will be overshadowed to a certain degree later on, but Alicia is, and always will be, the best scout. The only difference is that the gap between her and the other good scouts only gets wider later on.
The engineers are generally a bunch of weirdos with seemingly 50/50 good and bad traits, but Nadine is the best of that bunch, easy.
Suzie, Nancy and Noce should be booted from the squad the moment you get their hidden character potential unlocked, as they are actively detrimental to your cause.
Overall, always go and check the character sheet when Ellet mentions having done some interviews on your members and then go and check the potentials of the members who have gotten a second paragraph in their descriptions. The main cast members don't adhere to that rule, as their potentials change as the story goes by and as you do the side episodes that actually have missions.
Anyone with the Darcsen Hater potential is likely to be on the lower tier side of that particular class.
Excellent! I'll stick her on.
Any useful tips would be fantastic actually. Been years since I've played this and I didn't finish it because it was too tough.
See the general tips posts linked in the OP.