GBF Start Dash, Surprise Gatcha Recommendations

Q: I've bought the start dash pack on impulse, how does it actually work?
A: You get two tickets: one gives you any card of your choice (with a few exceptions), while the other gives you a free 10-roll. The former disappears in 7 days after buying it, while the other can be used whenever you want. The 10-roll is affected by the rate changes, so you better save it for increased SS rates.

Q: Where do I redeem them?
A: You redeem the selection ticket on the same screen you bought the pack. The 10-roll ticket is redeemed on the usual gatcha screen, between the Mobacoin and the crystal 10-roll buttons.

Q: What do I choose with my selection ticket?
A: There are a few different ways to approach this, but the general rules go like this:
 - Pick an SSR character. Naturally, they have better stats than SR or R characters, so the only reason you'd go for the lower rarity is the waifu factor (and if you do, why are you even reading this?).
 - Pick an SSR character of an element you have less SSRs in (with wind, fire, water and earth having the priority over light and darkness). The game is built in such a way that you want to have a team for each element, not focus on a single one.
 - Picking an SSR summon is a bad option because you can get most of the summons you need through raids, and the ones that are better than that can't be picked through the start dash ticket. Surprise gatcha might include those better summons, but even then, you are probably better off filling a hole in one of your teams.

Q: I want to pick the character based on their looks.
A: Go ahead and check them all out. Double-check in the game if the character you want is available; Christina, event characters, the guild war characters and the latest additions to the gatcha are usually not an option, but it might change depending on the surprise gatcha.
http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%BF%CD%CA%AASSR

Q: I want to pick the character based on their voice actress/actor.
A: You can check their Fate episodes before getting them, but listening to them all might take a while. Here are a few names that you might be looking for.
Hanazawa Kana - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%BC%A5%BF%20%28SSR%29
Imai Asami - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%F4%A5%A3%A1%BC%A5%E9%20%28SR%29#SSRvira
Kitamura Eri - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%B1%A5%EB%A5%D9%A5%ED%A5%B9%20%28SSR%29
Kugimiya Rie - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%F4%A5%A1%A5%F3%A5%D4%A5%A3%20%28SSR%29
Noto Mamiko - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%EC%A5%CA%20%28SSR%29
Ohara Sayaka - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%DE%A5%AE%A5%B5%20%28SSR%29
Saitou Chiwa - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%EC%A1%A6%A5%D5%A5%A3%A1%BC%A5%A8%20%28SSR%29
Sakamoto Maaya - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%A2%A5%EB%A5%EB%A5%E1%A5%A4%A5%E4%20%28SSR%29
Sawashiro Miyuki - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%AB%A5%BF%A5%EA%A5%CA%20%28SR%29#SSR
Ueda Kana - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%E6%A5%A8%A5%EB%20%28SSR%29
Yuuki Aoi - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%A2%A5%CB%A5%E9%20%28SSR%29
And the husbandos:
Ono Daisuke - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%A2%A5%EB%A5%BF%A5%A4%A5%EB%20%28SSR%29
Ohtsuka Chikao - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%A2%A5%EC%A1%BC%A5%C6%A5%A3%A5%A2%20%28SSR%29
Midorikawa Hikaru - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%A2%A5%EB%A5%D9%A1%BC%A5%EB%20%28SSR%29
Morikawa Toshiyuki - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%BB%A5%EB%A5%A8%A5%EB%20%28SSR%29
Namikawa Daisuke (comes in two flavors) - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%B5%A5%EB%A5%CA%A1%BC%A5%F3%20%28SSR%29
Seki Tomokazu - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%AC%A5%A6%A5%A7%A5%A4%A5%F3%20%28SSR%29
Tachiki Fumihiko - http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%D0%A5%B6%A5%E9%A5%AC%20%28SSR%29

Q: I want to pick a character that will carry my team.
A: On one hand, there are no bad SSR characters in the game, so you can't go wrong by picking any single one. On the other hand, no character can carry your team too far by themselves. Still, there are a few recommended picks that are likely to stay on your team for a while.
 - The AoE healers. As you are unlikely to one-shot anything early on, prolonging the fights is your best option, and you can't really do that without healing.
Lennah ( http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%EC%A5%CA%20%28SSR%29 ) can use her AoE heal right away, and while she can't do much else, she doesn't really have to: she has one job, and she does it well. She also happens to resist the element the story mode healers (Katarina and Io) are weak to.
If you'd rather pick someone with more utility in the late game, you can pick Lily ( http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%EA%A5%EA%A5%A3%20%28SSR%29 ) for her fire guard or Cagliostro ( http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%AB%A5%EA%A5%AA%A5%B9%A5%C8%A5%ED%20%28SSR%29 ) for their late-bloomer buff potential.
Yuel ( http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%E6%A5%A8%A5%EB%20%28SSR%29 ) is somewhere in the middle: she is a decent damage dealer right out of the box and learns the AoE heal later on.
 - Sarah ( http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%B5%A5%E9%20%28SR%29#SSR ). The combination of the defense buff, AoE damage reduction and taunt make her the queen of tank characters. She makes water bosses a joke, and even wind bosses end up dealing less damage than they're supposed to. However, she deals no damage, so picking her in the early game might make fights a huge drag. Because of that, she's more of a late game investment. You also have to learn the boss attack patterns to maximize her potential, so beginners might have a tough time using her. Then again, she does force you to git gud fast that way.
 - Altair / Artyle ( http://gbf-wiki.com/index.php?%A5%A2%A5%EB%A5%BF%A5%A4%A5%EB%20%28SSR%29 ). He's got everything you would ever want in a support character (other than the heal): buffs, debuffs, ougi charge, you name it. He's so good, you are likely to use him even on late-game non-water teams. Just keep in mind that his debuff is not guaranteed to land.

Q: I want to pick a good (Insert element here) character.
A: TBD