I like that this suggestion supports taking calculated risks. Right now, in many battles, it feels like there's often a "correct" move to make, which means that there aren't many interesting choices for the player to make; at that point, I don't see the point in having the battles at all - the game can just tell you who wins. This isn't pure randomness - if you really want to make sure that your strategy can succeed, you have to plan for it and possibly sacrifice some versatility in order to be really strong at one thing.
The second part makes a lot of sense, too. This early in the game, it seems pretty silly that one character can reliably buff themselves with Haste, Adrenaline, and Rage (studies from three different schools) and still have enough focus to swing a sword any better than moderately well. It should take investment to be really good at things.
