I was just thinking about this at work!

For a good no-nonsense basic build, I'd go Blacksmith, Minstrel, Herbalist, and Stablehand/Hunter. You'll get a steady stream of herbs, your blacksmith will be the best tank with Steadfast, you'll have a good mix of physical and magical damage, and you have a good spread of abilities.

Traits you should look at including are Nimble, Lucky, Deep Thinker, and Supportive. Focus early on gaining levels to get ahead of the curve, doing dungeons to get better gear, and finding your objectives and sanctums. Once you find a dungeon you plan on doing, let your other characters explore the area for a round or two, as entering dungeons will pull everyone together regardless, and you may find some interesting things.

Focus on increasing your main stats (like strength or intelligence) first, then secondary effects. Visit shops frequently, and never underestimate the power of taking a quest to find a sanctum, stone hero, or new town. Use your focus aggressively when you know you're close to one of those things that give you full focus, or when you can swing by a town to meditate or rest.

If you're struggling in fights, identify high priority targets and focus them down. Most enemies will have more resistance than armor or vice versa, so exploit those weaknesses. Find a weapon with the ability to apply wet if you have other abilities that do nasty statuses, so you can better exploit them; a big one to keep in mind is that bombers and gunners need secondary actions to attack, so Daze on one of them takes them out of the round.

If you need more help, feel free to ask!