I've never used a bind on an enemy ever. I always imagine those kind of skills always suck in RPGs on bosses...but if they actually work I might make a secondary party and give it a shot.
They're decent effects and can prevent high damage attacks from enemies. Dark Hunter has the bonus of that massive damage attack when the enemy is completely bound and her Force whatever binds stuff completely which can give one a turn or two to set up.
Yeah, DH are sickness incarnate later in the game. Also, after looking askance at Troubadours as "fegs with lutes" for most of my playthrough, I noticed something interesting... when you're grinding, you want to maximize the xp you're getting and get as many encounters as possible. The Fagadour does that for you! The Divinity skill when maxed out gives your party 125% of the xp from battles, and the Danger skill increases the random encounter rate. I wouldn't actually USE a Troubadour during my playthrough while exploring, but for grinding (especially in a four person party where you're trying to build one character up) the Troubadour is THE accessory to travel with.
The game is actually pretty good at making you utilize lots of character classes- Troubadours for grinding, Survivalists for lumberjacking so you're not a filthy poor, Landsknechts for the early game and Dark Hunters/Hexers for the mid-late game. I understand that they were pretty useful in the first game but I can't find a use for Protectors other than sucking and not dealing damage. I want fights to be over as quick as possible, who gives a shit if Protectors can help prolong battles? Fuck you buddy.
I'm toying with some beasts right now- Mange the Wolf, Colbert the Bear and Maurice the Stupid Panda. There's just lots to DO in this game. Totally my GOTY of 2008, even Fire Emblem DS which I plan on importing is gonna have a hard time unseating this. But then again, there's always Viva Pinata portable, where I can finally realize my dreams of a forced communist utopia in which the unruly are bashed to death with a shovel and fed to their children.