You’ll have to do better than that… So far sounds like a spurious and unconfirmed rumour.
Oh, yeah, planning a route for me involves taking a path that can go through a mystery node with an alternative (sometimes I might even wish to avoid Cursed Treasure if the party is more weak and the boss fight might be risky, although generally it would be highly desirable… And I don’t like Sabotage much either, sometimes it can mess up things) and avoiding those stupid ‘boons’. Elite fights are usually much less of an issue. As for a good team, it should be able to carry at least one ‘extra’ merc, if nothing else.