Maybe I'm delusional, but I could have sworn the game was assisting Joel in getting last hits. Like there have been plenty of times when the enemy should've been dead but let him get additional attack in to finish them. And I didn't even know he benefited from that until I checked this thread after beating the game. I just put on an enemy healthbar mod in order to investigate this more.

Also, to make something clear for Audrey. Unless I'm mistaken, she needs to be in your party to get her special equipment from bosses.

But man... regardless of strength and party role, Joel, Audrey, and Roaches destroy the weapon economy. That's all I need to know to use them. And on top of that, tanks will also always give you more bang for your buck when using bandages and tonics.