Yeah, unless you're running ARR-HW dungeons obsessively, they won't be better than your readily available NPC Support group, unfortunately...
An interesting bit about them: When you complete a dungeon, they can learn what is the equivalent of a "personality" which can be offensive/neutral/defensive, and it affects their AI a little bit. An offensive type arcanist would stop casting physick and would focus on DPSing, while a defensive healer might actually not DPS at all and just focus on healing for once (which can be good because I'm sure you've seen how these people heal! lol)


It's something I really like, because a well set-up and trained squadron can blitz through any dungeon. Sadly, it's not worth much when they can't go past HW. If you'd like to grind something similar, level up your Trusts from ShB and onwards. You unlock extra outfits for them, and when you get them all leveled up you get an achievement title:
lvl80 Trusts: Trusted Friend
lvl90 Trusts: The Seventh Dawn
lvl100 Trusts: Goldheart
It's a grind, but if you like this type of thing or you really want one of these titles, you'll have an easier time with Trusts than your squadron. It's also good practice if you're testing out a new job!


I hope you have a great time with your new character!