Ugh, I should have mentioned before but... Misha's path is the easier one combat-wise. Mostly because, if you know what you are doing, Krusche can make any battle a breeze...
And yeah battle-wise, Jack and Radolf are exactly the same archetype, but Jack is superior to Radolf on the account of having higher stats and added Fire-type damage to his normal attack. And plot-wise, Radolf is just bland.