Legend of the Ghost Lion/Battle tactics

Fast battles

 * In a combat against many enemies, summon the Elf for his Hold spell, then use the mystical rope, too. When all enemies are blocked, you can summon the last spirit attacker (the one that costs less Dreams) and speed up the end of the combat.

Holding back the enemies
The Rapier Elf soon learns (chapter 2) an extremely useful spell: hold. With this spell, all enemies can be blocked, one by one. If enemies are held back, they are prevented from attacking you and from dodging your attacks.

Shortly later, early during chapter 3, Maria acquires the mystical rope, that has the same effect as "Hold", therefore allowing to block all enemies within less turns. The rope can block only one enemy, though.

Later, Twana of the Lamp learns "Hold", too, but his spell has a far lower success rate.

Random encounters with a single enemy
Instead of summoning the Rapier Elf, a strong attacker can usually end the battle in one or two turns. Maria should use her Blue Ring or Aurora to protect herself. In this case, Twana and the Goldrock Gnome count as attackers.

Twana's magic
If the Elf's Hold is effective and useful, it can also get boring. Twana can cast a wider array of spells. Instead of "hold", Twana can start by casting a protection spell ("S-plate" or "Barrier"), followed by his "Shadow" spell or more protections ("M-plate" or "Return"). After Maria gets well protected and the monsters attack get weakened, Twana can switch to attack spells, but usually he has enough power left to cast only one.

In conclusion, a combat with Twana offers more options than any other spirit, but a battle against two or more monsters will still be shorter if you summon the Rapier Elf.