Hi folks.

I finally picked up XC2 after buying XC3 at launch. I am not a newbie to the series - I have 100% completion on both XC1 and XCX, including all superbosses - but I am really, really struggling to click with some of XC2. I still need to watch the videos linked in the sticky, and some of the questions I have are based around the combat system, so I'll avoid those for now.

In any case, I have just a few questions about specific experiences I've had. For reference, I've just left Torigoth and my party is around level 20 after completing all side quests that I could find. I guess this is the start of chapter 3?

1. After leaving the "affinity" sub-menu I got a bunch of pop ups about how my "idea level" had increased and I had received, say, " 1 Justice." I assume that this is somehow related to the items I'm receiving called "justice booster," etc, but I have no idea what these are supposed to be or how to use them as this mechanic has not been explained to me. What's this about?
2. I understand that blades are totally RNG based, which is annoying but whatever. However, it appears that some types of Blades are better for certain roles (ie there's Tank Blades, Heal Blades, etc). Is this ALL just luck of the draw? For example, if I resonate a core crystal with Nia, a healer, and it shows up as a really good Tank blade... she's just stuck with that blade, even if it isn't beneficial to how I'm using her in combat? And if I save beforehand and then reset to try again, since it's RNG, there's no guarantee that I will get that same blade again anyway, so it's all just luck of the draw? Is this right?
3. Is there any way to get ether crystals/parts for Poppi that doesn't require grinding Tiger Tiger? It appears that the answer here is "no."
4. Sorry to editorialize, but the need to refine aux crystals is a very classic bullshit bloated mechanic. That said - does it make any difference in the aux crystal what material I use to refine it? Like if I refine an aux crystal with puzzletree wood, will it have different stats than if I refine it with, uh, I dunno, a fish or something?
5. When is the rest of the combat going to unlock? I keep hearing that the combat is less of a drag after something with "chaining orbs" unlocks, but right now every enemy is a bullet sponge to an almost exhausting degree, even with a party at level 20 it took me multiple 5-10 minute tries to take out a level 18 UM. This is made more frustrating by the fact that there doesn't appear to be a way to control the movement of my party like there was in XC1, resulting in enemies very easily kiting them off the map or into other groups of enemies and wiping the party.

Overall my love for the series is keeping me moving forward, but I'm finding this game to be immensely frustrating and I'm hoping getting these questions answered will make it less so. Thanks in advance!