A Guide to Setting Up Friend Partners (mostly updated for Ep3)

[TaigaUC]

Some people have been asking how to set up a good Friend Partner.
This guide will try to cover and explain the most important points.

March XXth 2016 Update:
Reportedly, Skill Rings do not affect Friend Partners.
13 star Summoner pet at level 120 is reportedly decent.
There's an unconfirmed report that weapons with latents that apply a debuff may carry over to Friend Partners (eg. Flowen's Will).


February 6th 2016 Update:
Summoner is useless as a Friend Partner. Pet defense and damage seems akin to level 1, and they don't seem to use any Pet PAs.
Friend Partner will also not switch pets when the initial pet gets knocked out.
You also can't sub Summoner pets because Tact is main only and cannot be extended.
HP Restorate does not affect Friend Partners.

Also note that moving your weapon position is not reflected in Friend Partners.


July 22nd 2015 Update:
Friend Partner damage has been boosted by 3-4x and their defense is now greater than player characters.
Seems there's no longer a need for a Hunter defense subclass.
See my post here for some details on the changes.


Much of this information is directly translated from the JP swiki.
I've also added information from my own experimentation and experience.
Please be aware that changes to the game may render parts of this guide outdated.


What is a Friend Partner?
Friend Partners (abbreviated "FP") are bot versions of a player's character, with simple AI.
You can register your character's Friend Partner at the Visiphone.

Friend Partners are NOT Support Partners. Support Partners are the tiny AI characters.
Friend Partners differ from Support Partners in various ways.
If you want to read about Support Partners, refer to my guide here.


General Information

Spoiler!

Level/Status:
- FP level scales down to the level of the person that summons them (eg. FP is 65/65, summoner is 30/20, FP will become 30/20).
- FPs use the rank of PAs/Techs the character has at the time of registration.
- FPs use Skills, but not all of them. Refer to the Active/Passive Skills lists for details.
- FPs do not use Customized Techs (as of March 2014).
- FP stats are equivalent to the stats displayed at the class change counter + weapon affixes (eg. class change counter says you have 200 TATK, your weapon has Technic 3 for +30 TATK, then your FP will have 230 TATK)
- If you reset your character's Skills or change your character's appearance, FP will not change until updated via re-registration.

Skills/Subclass:
- FPs do not use subclasses when summoned by a character who has not unlocked subclass.
- Main/Sub level of summoned FP are limited to the level of the summoner (eg. Lv30/20 summons Lv20/30 FP, FP will be Lv20/20).
- FPs will use Shifta/Deband even if non-caster weapons are equipped (new to March 5th 2014).
- FPs will use Resta, Megiverse, etc. regardless of weapon.

Weapon Palette:
- FPs will primarily use the weapon in slot 1. However, if slot 1 is empty, they will use slot 2.
- FPs will occasionally switch to their secondary weapons.
- Order of usage priority: Melee Weapon > Gunslash (melee) > Ranged Weapon > Gunslash (ranged) > Caster Weapon (may have changed in March 5th 2014 update)
- In the case of multiple melee/ranged weapons, FPs will favor earlier Weapon Palette slots (may also have changed).
- FP will switch to ranged weapons for flying enemies.
- FPs will use the PAs/Techs configured in other slots if slot 1 is the same type of weapon (eg. if slot 1 and 2 are Double Saber, it will use the PAs in both slots).
- For Force or Techer, FPs will use all Techs of any Weapon Palette slot, as well as Sub-Palette book 01 (eg. if slot 1 is Rod and slot 2 is Talis, they will use Techs from both).

Sub-Palette:
- FPs will only use what is registered in the first palette in book 01 (refer to the Skills section for what FPs will and won't use).
- FPs will not use Skills that require a catalyst item (eg. Ranger's Stun Grenade).

Equipment:
- FPs are not affected by weapon or unit stats, ie. grinding does nothing. Weapon base stats also seem to do nothing.
- FPs are affected by some weapon affixes and element attributes. Resist affixes currently do not have an effect.
- FPs are NOT affected by weapon potentials/latents.
- FPs are not affected by unit stats or affixes, they are only for appearance.
- In the case of Talis, FPs will only throw Talis if they have Techs registered (ie. they will only use regular attacks).

Items:
- FPs will only use items registered in Sub-Palette book 01.
- FPs will not use Debandraid or Shiftaraid, as they are considered catalysts.
- FPs will use items even if you have 0 in stock at the time of registration (eg. you have 0 Star Atomizers and register FP, but FP will still use Star Atomizer).
- FPs will start each Quest with maximum item stock, and will reset their stock when you return to the Camp Ship (don't know if this applies to telepiping to the Camp Ship).
- FPs will not use Cosmo Atomizers.
- FPs will not use Moon Atomizers unless their Special Compensation is set to Revival Support.

Mags:
- FPs are not affected by Mag stats at all.
- Friend Partner Mag energy will always stay at 100%.
- FP will use the Mag equipped at the time of registration, including Auto Action, Trigger Action and Photon Blast.

Accounts with Multiple Characters:
- You can only register one FP per ship.
- You can't save individual personality, comments, etc. for each character.
- Other characters on the same account can summon the registered FP, but the character that is the FP cannot summon themselves.

FUN Points:
- Clearing a Quest with an FP rewards FUN. Rank does not matter.
- You can receive FUN points once per friend, per day, with a maximum of 10 times.
- If you have Premium, you receive even more FUN per completion.
- You will receive FUN points if other people complete quests with your FP.

Artificial Intelligence: (based on my understanding/memory, and not tested thoroughly)
- FPs have infinite PP.
- FPs don't seem to ever use dodge, but I think they do guard.
- FPs will pick a random PA/Tech/Skill to use, from the Weapon Palette and Sub-Palette book 01, slot 1.
- The above means they like to activate and deactivate their own stances.
- FPs that are not Tech users tend to spend most of their time using regular attacks or standing around doing nothing (ie. they rarely use PAs).
- FPs that are Tech users will constantly use Techs at a fairly high rate.
- FPs currently do not need to charge to cast Techs.
- Repeating the same PA/Tech/Skill in multiple slots may increase chance of usage (compared to whatever else is available), but this does not seem to apply in the case of PAs/Techs/Skills that only trigger under certain circumstances (eg. Resta, Anti).
- FPs will only use Resta when party members are low on health.
- FPs will only use Anti/Sol Atomizer when party members are afflicted.
- FPs will randomly Star Atomizers when the party is not at full health.
- Even a single slot of Megiverse or NaMegid will cause the FP to use them often.

Free Partners:
- You can make your Friend Partner available to the public (aka Free Partner), simply tick the permission box when you register your FP.
- There seems to be a limit to number of registered Free Partners at any given time.
- If you want others to be able to see your Free Partner on the list, you'll need to re-register them once or twice a day (I think this depends on how often other people are registering Free Partners).
- If a Free Partner is present when a Quest is completed, the person that summoned the FP will receive a dialog box asking if they want to send a friend request to the owner of the FP.
- You can disable incoming Friend Request pop-up notification windows (so that they only appear in the Friend List instead).

Miscellaneous:
- FP appearance, stats and such are all taken from your player at the time of registration. They won't update until you update them by re-registering.
- Access to FP will be removed if no longer friends, but you can still use them as Free Partner.
- Other players can summon an FP of a character who is already present in the party or multi-party.
- As with NPC partners, any FP can only be summoned once per multi-party.
- FPs (and NPCs) ignore all traps and Gel Bulf (Code Avoid).
- FPs count as a player slot (ie. 12 maximum per multi-party).
- FPs will use Autowords, and they will only be visible to the party. They will also appear in the Party Chat log.
- However, FPs will not use Autowords that utilize commands such as <t>, <tc>, <pa>, etc.
- In regards to spawn rates, the presence of an FP is equivalent to 0.7 of a human player. However, this does not affect PSE, nor some Emergency Trials. As such, FPs should be removed when a multi-party fills up with real players, so as to increase spawns and such for everybody.
- You can remove an FP by left clicking on them, and the option to kick them will appear. Note that you can't do this when dead.
- FPs will use your character's voice (they previously were inaudible).

Major Differences from Support Partners:
- Friend Partners have much less HP than Support Partners.
- You can freely configure Techs/PAs/Items/Skills.
- You can customize Autowords.
- Support Partner strength relies on rareness of equipment.

Configuration

Spoiler!

Personality:
Note that personality has no effect.

Unique Characteristic: (uses my rough translations)
Morning Person: More active during JP time of 6am to 6pm.
Nocturnal: More active during JP time of 6pm to 6am.
Loves Sunny Weather: More active during sunny weather.
Loves Cloudy Weather: More active during cloudy weather.
Targets Large: Prioritizes attacking large enemies.
Targets Small: Prioritizes attacking small enemies.
Loves Adversity: More active when HP is in the red.
Slow Starter: More active after a certain period of time has passed from the start of the Quest.
Lonely: Stays in close vicinity of party members (ie. won't wander far away).
Targets Darkers: Prioritizes attacking Darkers.
Targets Primitives: Prioritizes attacking Primitives (ie. Naberius wildlife).
Targets Mechs: Prioritizes attacking mechs.
Targets Dragonkin: Prioritizes attacking Dragonkin.
Targets Sea Species: Prioritizes attacking Sea Species.
Tsundere: Increases the likelihood of healing party members whose HP is in the red.

Special Compensation:
Resurrection (Healer): When incapacitated, restores health fully with Shifta and Deband once per Quest.
Prepared for War (Battle-ready): Constantly activates Shifta and Deband when encountering enemies.
Thorough Defense (Guardian): Constantly activates Deband when encountering enemies.
Enraged (Fiery): When a party member is incapacitated, activates Shifta and Deband.
Revival Support (Savior): Very, very rare chance to use a Moon Atomizer. Unlike Mags, they won't revive immediately, and they may use it if you wait a long time (I've personally never see them use it after waiting for 30+ minutes). I've seen FPs use it around 5-6 times so far (since open beta), and they always use it almost immediately. If they are dead, they may run up to you and use it after they revive.
Loves Humans (Human Lovers): Regularly activates Shifta and Deband if a Human is in the party.
Loves Numans (Numan Lovers): Regularly activates Shifta and Deband if a Numan is in the party.
Loves Males (Male Lovers): Regularly activates Shifta and Deband if a Male is in the party.
Loves Females (Female Lovers): Regularly activates Shifta and Deband if a Female is in the party.
Condition Master: Random chance to apply a debuffon every attack (Burn, Mirage, Poison, Freeze, Shock, Panic).
Loves Dumans (Duman Lovers): Regularly activates Shifta and Deband if a Duman is in the party.

Active Skills *outdated*

Spoiler!

Hunter:
Guard Stance: Yes.
Fury Stance: Yes.
War Cry: Yes.

Fighter:
Brave Stance: Yes.
Wise Stance: Yes.

Ranger:
Weak Bullet: Yes, when using a Rifle (if Rifle is not primary weapon, will switch to use it).
Bind Bullet: Yes, when using a Rifle (as above).
Jellen Shot: Yes, when using a Launcher.
Panic Shot: Yes, when using a Launcher.
Mirage Shot: Yes, when using a Launcher.
Poison Trap: No, as it uses a catalyst.
Upper Trap: No, as it uses a catalyst.
Stun Grenade: No, as it uses a catalyst.

Gunner:
Chain Trigger: No (unknown as to why).
Showtime: Unconfirmed.

Force:
Photon Flare: Yes
Freeze Ignition: Yes, if enemy is frozen and within effective range.

Techer:
Rebirther Field: No.
PP Convert: Pointless, as FPs have infinite PP.
Poison Ignition: Yes, if enemy is poisoned and within effective range.

Braver:
Average Stance: Unknown.
Weak Stance: Unknown.
Katana Combat: Unknown.
Combat Finish: Unknown.
Rapid Shoot: Unknown.

Passive Skills *outdated*

Spoiler!

Hunter:
HP Up: Yes.
SATK Up: Yes.
SDEF Up: Yes.
Gear: No.
JA Bonus: No (FPs don't have Just Attack).
Fury Stance Up: Unknown.
Fury Combo Up: Unknown.
Fury Critical: Unknown.
Iron Will: Yes, but probability drops to around 1/5th. <- Even at Lv10, acts as if Lv1.
Automate Half Line: No (requires catalyst).
Flash Guard: Yes.
Flash Tech Guard: Yes.
Guard Stance Up: Unknown.
Guard Stance Poison: Unknown.
Guard Stance Burn: Unknown.
Absorption: Unknown.
Rare Mastery Hunter: Unknown.

Fighter:
SATK Up: Yes.
HP Up: Yes.
SDEF Up: Yes.
Gear: No.
Brave Stance Up: Unknown.
Brave Stance Critical: Unknown.
Wise Stance Up: Unknown.
Wise Stance Critical: Unknown.
Chase Advance: Unknown.
Chase Bind: Unknown.
Halfline Slayer: Unknown.
Deadline Slayer: Unknown.
PP Slayer: Unknown.
Adrenaline: Unknown.
Crazy Heart: Unknown.
Crazy Beat: Unknown.
Rare Mastery Fighter: Unknown.

Ranger:
ABI/DEX Up: Yes.
RATK Up: Yes.
RDEF Up: Yes.
Weak Hit Advance: Unknown.
Standing Snipe: Unknown.
Killing Bonus: No (infinite PP).
Tool Mastery: No (doesn't use traps).
Upper Trap Custom: No (doesn't use traps).
Poison Trap Custom: No (doesn't use traps).
Tactics Trap: No (doesn't use traps).
Trap Search: No?
Power Bullet: Unknown.
PP Save Bullet: No (infinite PP).
Rare Mastery Ranger: Unknown.

Gunner:
SATK Up: Yes.
ABI/DEX Up: Yes.
SDEF Up: Yes.
HP Up: Yes.
Gear: No.
Zero Range Advance: Unknown.
Aerial Advance: Unknown.
Chain Finish: No (doesn't use Chain Trigger).
Automate Deadline: No (requires catalyst).
Attack PP Restorate: No (infinite PP).
Perfect Keeper: Unknown.
Showtime Star: Unknown.
Stylish Roll Up: No (doesn't use S-Roll).
Stylish Roll Arts: No (doesn't use S-Roll).
Stylish JA Bonus: No (doesn't use S-Roll).
Rare Mastery Gunner: No.

Force:
HP Up: No. <- Bug?
TATK Up: Yes.
PP Up: No (infinite PP).
TDEF Up: Yes.
Flame Mastery: Yes.
Ice Mastery: Yes.
Bolt Mastery: Yes.
Burn Boost: Unknown.
Freeze Boost: Unknown.
Shock Boost: Unknown.
Flame Tech S Charge: Yes.
Bolt Tech PP Save: No (infinite PP).
Freeze Keep: Does not seem to (I tested with 5/5, freeze always breaks in one hit)
Freeze Ignition Boost: Unknown.
Photon Flare Advance: Unknown.
Photon Flare After-Boost: Unknown.
Tech Charge Advance: Yes.
Tech JA Advance: No (FPs don't have Just Attack).
Normal Tech Advance: Unknown (they don't use charge attacks, but it may affect NaBarta).
PP Charge Revival: No (infinite PP).
Rare Mastery Force: No.

Techer:
TATK Up: Yes.
PP Up: No (infinite PP).
TDEF Up: Yes.
SATK Up: Yes.
Wand Gear: No (they won't use regular attacks if using Techs).
Shifta Advance: Yes.
Deband Advance: Yes.
Shifta Critical: Yes.
Deband Cut: Yes.
Extend Assist: Yes.
Wind Mastery: Yes.
Light Mastery: Yes.
Dark Mastery: Yes.
Mirage Boost: Unknown.
Panic Boost: Unknown.
Poison Boost: Unknown.
Resta Advance: Yes.
Super Treatment: Yes.
PP Restorate: No (infinite PP).
Element Weak Hit: Unknown.
Wand Reactor: Unknown.
Rare Mastery Techer: Unknown.
Long Time Assist: Yes.
Wide Support: Yes.

Braver:
ABI/DEX Up: Yes.
SATK Up: Yes.
RATK Up: Yes.
Katana Gear: No.
Average Stance Up: Unknown.
Average Stance Critical: Unknown.
Average Stance Charge: Unknown.
Weak Stance Up: Unknown.
Weak Stance Critical: Unknown.
Weak Stance Charge: Unknown.
Combat JA Bonus: Unknown.
Combat Finish: Unknown.
Rapid Shoot Up: Unknown.
Rapid Shoot Mastery: Unknown.
Braver Mag: No (Mag stats don't affect FP).
Snatch Step: No (FPs don't use step).
Just Reversal Cover: No (FPs don't use Just Reversal).
Rare Mastery Braver: Unknown.

Recommended Setup:
Summary:

Spoiler!

You'll need to decide if you want a full support/survival FP, a full attacking FP, or a hybrid FP.
If you're setting up a caster, you'll have to decide on an element or two. Or none at all.

I don't really recommend non-casters, as they tend to waste all their time spamming regular attacks.
For caster damage, I currently recommend Light. Most enemies are Darkers so it's also more effective in that way.

Only use Megiverse/Zanverse if you want your FP to focus more on support than attacking.
Even a single instance of Megiverse will have your FP using it often.

If you're using an all-class weapon, you can swap the main and sub around.
Caster main = more damage, Hunter main = more survival.
Affix the weapon with as many survival and damage affixes that you can afford.

I currently recommend Te/Hu. Use the skill tree below as reference (you can mix and match a few skills).
If you go with Fo, feel free to put the remaining points into your preferred element.
Note that Fo's HP Up currently has no effect on FPs.

Skill Tree:

Spoiler!

Recommended skill tree.

Class:

Spoiler!

Non-caster Friend Partners tend to idle a lot, rarely use PAs, don't have JA, dodge or Gears, and they suck at stances... so they are not very effective or useful.
If you want your Friend Partner to be awesome, casters are the way to go.

However, it has come to my attention that Hunter subclass with heavy focus on defense significantly increases your FP's survival.
With this in mind, my current recommended combination is Techer/Hunter, with focus on support spells and defensive skills.
Alternatively, Techer/Force with a focus on Il Foie if you want damage. But Te/Fo will die much more often.

Techer main has much better main-only support skills, not to mention higher defensive stats.
In general, if you're using an all-class weapon, you can swap the main and sub around.
Caster main = more damage, Hunter main = more survival.

Feel free to try mixing melee/ranged with Techs, but outside of Weak Bullet, I don't really recommend it unless you have no other choice.
Even if you don't have Force or Techer levelled, you could probably get by with subbing one of them and having your FP use rank 1 support spells and Il Foie.
Note that there's a recent comment on the JP swiki complaining that maining Techs and subbing Sword won't switch to Sword at all (which goes against previously confirmed rules).

Configuration:

Spoiler!

Unique Characteristic:
I like to choose Lonely so that the FP stays close to the player.
FPs often heal when you're low on HP, but Tsundere seems to slightly increase the frequency.
The other Shifta/Deband boosts are redundant because there are plenty of other ways for them to use those.
They also wear out quickly and don't seem to carry the effects of support skills.

Special Compensation:
For FPs with AOE, Condition Master is great (thanks Rien for reminding me).
Alternatively, you can use Revival Support for a very, very small chance at being revived.
If you want to reduce your bot's downtime, Resurrection is great.

Skills:

Spoiler!

You may want to have Skill Trees dedicated to FPs, if you can afford them.
Aim for useful Skills that are confirmed to work (refer to the list).

Extend Assist:
Increases the time before buffs expire.
FPs don't seem to use buffs as often during battle, so this comes in extra handy.
It has also been reduced to 1 point, so there's no reason to not get it.

Long Time Assist:
Does not work for friend partners.

Super Treatment:
Whenever you get cleansed of a debuff, you'll regenerate HP and PP.
This seems to be really popular. It only costs 1 point now, too.

Shifta Advance:
Increases the effect of Shifta by 125%.
For example, Shifta at level 5 is +18.4% damage.
Shifta Advance at rank 10 would be 18.4%x1.25 = 23% damage increase.
If Shifta is at rank 16, and Shifta Advance is at rank 10, that's 19.5x1.25 = 24.375% damage increase.

Shifta Strike:
Increases damage done when Shifta is active.
Really great stuff. If only FPs would keep Shifta up.
Always try to max this skill.

Deband Cut:
Cuts damage taken by 15%. Of course, you won't need this if you don't take any damage.
But it'd still help to keep the FP alive, as they likely keep Deband up on themselves.
Still, it may be better to put points into Shifta Advance instead.

Deband Toughness:
Increases maximum HP by quite a large amount.
Recommend maxing this out. Only problem is the FP may not heal you to maximum.

Territory Burst:
Increases support spell range.
It's now passive and only 1 point, so it's an absolute must have.

Long Time Assist:
Previously did not apply to FPs, but reportedly now works.
Highly recommended.

Wide Support:
Further increases support spell range.
Also highly recommended.

Poison Ignition:
Currently untested. Feel free to put the points elsewhere.
If you get this, don't forget to put it on your FP's sub-palette.
Chances are that the FP will be out of range if they do use it.

Dark Mastery 1 and 2:
Increases damage of Dark Techs.
+40% doesn't sound like much, but it makes a massive difference.

Light Mastery 1 and 2:
Increases damage of Light Techs.
+40% doesn't sound like much, but it makes a massive difference.
With the right setup, except Light Techs to hit for around 300-500 per tick.

Wind Mastery 1 and 2:
Increases damage of Wind Techs.
+40% doesn't sound like much, but it makes a massive difference.

Poison Boost:
Not that much of a boost. When I tested it, enemies rarely got poisoned.

HP Up 1, 2 and 3:
Increases HP.
Recommended for survival, as FPs aren't affected by Units.
Note that Force's HP up currently does not affect FPs.

Iron Will:
Chance to survive a killing blow with 1 HP.
According to the JP wiki, the chance of a successful Iron Will drops to 1/5th for FPs.
You may want to invest points into it, just in case.

Flash Guard 1 and 2, Flash Tech Guard:
Reduces damage taken from various sources.
Highly recommended for survival.

Automate Halfline:
Does not work for Friend Partners, as it requires a catalyst.

Flame Tech S Charge:
Necessary if you want your FP to use Il Foie efficiently.
Casting Il Foie takes a long time without it.

T-ATK Up, T-ATK High Up:
Increases Tech damage.
Recommended because FPs aren't affected by Units or weapon stats.
However, they are expensive and not as significant an increase as damage multipliers.
Only get these if you've extra points left over.

Tech Charge Advance, Masteries, Elementa Weak Hit:
Multiplies damage done.
These are a higher priority than T-ATK (more significant increase).

Equipment:

Spoiler!

Remember: base stats, potentials/latents, grinding and units have no effect.
It's up to you if you prefer high damage or high survival affixes.
They can also be very costly.

There seems to be a Matterboard 5-slot "Wand" that comes with Stamina 3, Technic 3.
It can be used as a decent base for making a FP weapon.

Personally, I aim for Blow Resist, Shoot Resist, Stamina and Ragne Soul.
However, Resist affixes currently do not seem to have any effect, so you may want to try and maximise Tech and Stamina.
If you have a lot of money to spend, feel free to try Stamina or Tech Boost.

When using a combination of the above survival affixes, caster FPs should be able to survive 1-3 hits from level 65 mobs.
I tested the above with Lv60/60+ Female Human, Numan and Duman FoTe/TeFo FPs, on Naberius 2 vs Garongos and such.
Hunter sub FPs won't take much damage in general.

A level 70 Friend Partner caster with the above affixes will have roughly 600 HP. Combined with the Hunter survival skills, they will have around 800 HP.
Even higher with Deband Toughness.

Sub-Palette:

Spoiler!

This is what I always have on all of my FPs (order shouldn't matter):
Resta, Anti, Photon Blast, Shifta, Deband, Sol Atomizer, Star Atomizer.
The remaining 3 slots can be for your Active Skills, primary Tech attack, or Megiverse/Zanverse.
You may want to put some healing potions on there to encourage FPs to heal themselves more, but when I tried it, FPs rarely seem to use them.

Why do I put Sol Atomizer and Star Atomizer on there?
Because bots will throw up Star Atomizer as long as your HP isn't full.
They won't use Resta unless your HP is low.
Sol Atomizer is also much more reliable than Anti, which tends to miss or can fail.

* I don't recomend using stances, as FPs will randomly activate/deactivate them.

Weapon Palette

Spoiler!

I used to have all six Weapon Palettes as a caster weapon with all four slots as Il Foie.
If you're using only Il Foie for attacks, a single Weapon Palette slot or even only having Il Foie on your Sub-Palette seems to have the same effect.

If you want to mix and match, remember that FPs won't use certain Techs unless specific conditions are met (eg. they'll only Resta when party members are low on health).

Recommended Tech Attacks:

Spoiler!

Ra Grants:
This is my current favorite.
Does decent damage, applies Panic, seems to have wide range.
If I recall correctly, as Te/Fo with Light Mastery and maxed out TATK Up, it does around 500x5 damage on a large number of enemies.
Considering that it seems to come out faster than Il Foie, it may be more effective.
Also, because Light Mastery is a Techer skill, this is probably the best attack for Te/Hu.
It does around 300x5 damage as Te/Hu, which is still pretty great.

Na/Gi Grants:
Similar to Ra Grants, but relies on close range, so it doesn't hit as often.
The slight hitstun may be useful for slowing enemy attacks down.

Ra Zan:
Useful for knocking enemies down.

Il Zan:
Similar range to Ra Grants, hits pretty hard, sucks enemies together and knocks them down. Overall a pretty decent attack.

Barta/Gi Barta:
If you want to freeze enemies, these are your best bet.
With Lonely unique characteristic, FPs tend to stand at the perfect range for Gi Barta.
Note that Freeze Keep doesn't seem to work.
It also does not work for Wands.

Sa Barta:
I forget the numbers, but hits quite hard with Ice Mastery.
Has a small amount of AOE and tends to "freeze" the smaller enemies it targets.

Il Megid:
Nerfed pretty hard, but probably still does decent AOE damage over a wide range.
It'll seek out enemies and hit them, sometimes multiple times.
I've no idea how much damage it does now.
I'm sure it won't kill stuff as quickly as Il Foie, as it didn't before.
However, unlike Il Foie, it does not obscure the screen, which is a big plus.

I don't recommend making a full Poison build for it, as Il Megid's poison doesn't seem to occur often.
I have yet to test Poison Ignition with it.

Il Foie:
Formerly the best spell. AOE damage, and it hits hard.
Should hit for roughly 2-4k on SH enemies.
Takes 1-2 seconds to cast (depending on if your FP has the flame tech cast time reduction skill).
They will drop it right on top of their target.
Note that the explosions cover the screen, which can cause visibility problems.

Megiverse/Zanverse:
Somewhat useful in conjunction with "Lonely" unique characteristic.
Problem is that they tend to cast them when they aren't really needed, or far away.
However, Megiverse is very useful for FPs to keep themselves alive (as long as they aren't killed in one hit).
If you're using three FPs at once, having only one with Megiverse should keep all of them healed.

Note that having a single Megiverse instance makes them cast it all the time.
If you want your FP to focus on attacks, don't use Megiverse/Zanverse.
Other support spells are okay, because they will only cast them under specific circumstances.

Other Noteworthy Abilities:

Spoiler!

Weak Bullet:
FPs will use WB if it's placed on their Sub-Palette and they have a Rifle on their Weapon Palette.
Note that they tend to fire all the WB shots one after another.
Also, they will fire it indiscriminately (ie. overwrite player WBs) which can be a problem.

Cluster Bullet, Rodeo Drive:
They hits pretty hard. FP won't use them often enough, though.

Satellite Cannon:
Seems great in theory, right?
Alas, FPs will only use the partially charged Satellite Cannon (ie. not max, and not uncharged).
It has poor range and poor damage (~600? or so per enemy).
Most importantly, they won't use it much.

Shift Period:
This is AMAZING. Only, the FP never uses it.
Sadly, Twin Machinegun FPs spend almost all of their time spamming regular shots.
Which are extremely weak and useless.

Fudou Kuchinashi: (thanks Rien for reminding me)
Braver's AOE stun.
Aside from melee FPs wasting time on regular attacks, this PA can be useful.

Il Barta:
The damage is decent, but nothing amazing.
If you set the FP to use nothing but Il Barta, they will likely help stack the Il Barta damage multiplier debuff.
I haven't tested this myself, but I'd imagine this would be particularly useful if you're an Il Barta user with an army of Il Barta-spamming FPs.
Unless of course you are trying to time a maximum damage Il Barta finish and an FP beats you to it.

Na Foie:
FP throws this out quickly. It does decent damage, and if it misses it'll still carpet the floor with flames.

Na Megid:
Haven't tried this for a long time.
It does decent damage but FPs can't do anything else while charging it.

Zondeel/Sa Zan:
Causes positioning problems in general (eg. you go to fire Weak Bullet, FP sucks enemy away).
Avoid using. If you absolutely must use it, write a warning on your Friend Partner comment.

Zandion/Fomelgion:
FP does not seem to use these at all.

Mag:

Spoiler!

Remember that Mag stats don't affect Friend Partners at all.

Photon Blast:
Ketus Ploi is obviously the best Photon Blast because of its AOE PP regen and how quickly/often it can be used.
When combined with Il Foie, FPs seem to gain Photon Blast very quickly.

Trigger Action:
I haven't experimented with Trigger Actions.
HP Recover A or B should be good for keeping the FP alive, especially in conjunction with the Hunter auto-potion skill.
Ability Increase K may be good, because it will Shifta/Deband anyone who is nearby (but you have to be nearby).

Auto Action:
Anything but Upper is probably good.

Tips on using Friend Partners:

Spoiler!

- Generally, having one full survival/support and two full attack FPs is probably good balance.
- Having three full attack FPs will probably clear out trash quickly, but be useless against bosses.
- Having a full party of support/survival FPs is probably good for bosses.

Thanks for reading. It's a bit of a mess to read, but I hope this helps.
If I've forgotten anything, I'll add it later.