This.
As a lover of the isometric RPG game style, but not a hardcore spreadsheet player type, I have a problem with the "play harder" ethos that has crept into gaming in the last decade or so. This "play harder" ethos would have us believe that some character benefits should only be available to those players willing to dedicate endless hours of iterative/repetitive activity. While this works well in some game types (e.g. puzzle, racing, FPS) , I think it actually runs counter to the soul of an RPG.
In 40 years of D&D play (yes, I'm old) I've never once found myself tempted to save a player reward for the rare player that can memorize every stat in every battle. That said, I'm not opposed to rewarding player skill, even if it is a bit meta.
My point, and I do have one, is that any mechanism that puts a player at a disadvantage ought to be paired with a visual and/or audio clue that informs the player that he/she is operating at a disadvantage.
It is not enough to build in the mechanism and trust that the players will figure it out.
Also, given the nature of managing a party in battle, it is not enough to depend on simple onscreen damage tickers as these tend to get lost in the fray in an isometric party view.
Instead, I start with the assumption that any member of an adventuring party who was involved in an actual fight would immediately get a sense for how well his/her attacks were working (based on the effect those attacks have on the enemy). I then assume that - as the party's proxy - I (the player) should also have this knowledge. Assuming this is true, the only question is "How do we let players know when there are abnormal attacks?"
For example:
1. Does a party member need to swap weapons? (Blue Elf needs a mace badly.)
2. Does a party member need to swap armor? (Red Dwarf is apparently a pinata.)
3. Is a party member getting lots of crits? (Green Magician is the envy of his party.)
I know it's all a bit meta and some players may prefer not to see this kind of information, but for me it makes the overall gameplay a little more engaging. Instead of pushing me out of the game to a spreadsheet (literally or figuratively), it enables me to organically see the effect of what each party member is doing and make proper tactical adjustments "in situ".
That's my 2 cents.
TL;DR Damage tickers aren't enough. Use something cooler to alert us to bad situations.