Thanks for the responses. I recently read the TB battle basics tutorial, so I do realize that breaking up the fights with story segments makes a fight easier to follow. 

[quote=@Rilla]
Essentially it comes down to what you want to play. The arena is highly competitive but we do value having a good time. As well as weaving an interesting story. So while you may want to give it to a more physical character, is that the story you want to tell? We also, well I, frown upon loading up one character with all types of advantages. Fast, strong, durable, er flaws allow for a better story to be told.

How do you overcome them? How does the witch get around being fragile to combat someone who can take a few hits?

My characters tend to lean towards the faster side, less defensive, decent power output. 
[/quote]

It might be the story I want to tell, yes. But arena or not, this is a roleplay, and my partner's input matters to. Is it the story they want to tell? There is a competitive element to the fights in arena, which I assume is why people come here. It looks like there's a contest going on with a cash prize. That's definitely going to facilitate a "play to win" mentality. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.

[@Vordak][@Guru][@MelonHead]

This talk about tier play, levels, and balance brings me to my next question: What are the tiers of play and how are they balanced? Or is it more done on a fight-by-fight basis where the combatants all need to be tweaked to complement each other?