nicoga3000
Saint Nic
With respect to 1) I didn't pull an SS until after I beat the game. Unlike most mobile games, the low ranks can be better than the high ones. If you pull an SS mage, awesome. If not, it's not a deal breaker like most other mobile games.
With respect to 2) Suoh, Camellia and Sheena are all SS ranks that can be pulled from Pact of Friendship. (The coin-based one) Additionally, I question spending energy on stamina. It's never necessary, and doing so puts you steps further from rolling Pact of Truth characters. Additionally, Sheena is a glass cannon, but incredibly powerful with great skills.
3) Bahl is one of the better sword users in the game. Her 1.5x attack boost level 65 skill in her third job makes her capable of some rather crazy damage. (She's seeing use against the tier 3 summon fights currently, which speaks volumes about her usefulness) Ra'prow is an okay spear user, and Grace is fantastic because of her -20% defense abilities for wild beasts and dragons. (Both of which have been very useful in events)
Everyone has a different experience, but it's still generally accepted in ANY game with a gacha mechanic, it's often best to re-roll for at least a high tier unit if you intend to stick with the game. If you have no desire to complete the highest level content, sure - go with whatever the game deals you. But he's a PAD player, so he probably understands the importance of a decent starting hand. Bahl and Grace are probably good enough for him to proceed, though.
And yeah, there are 3 SS characters, sorry. I thought there were only 2. But regarding spending energy on stamina for coins, it's been discussed in this thread that people do that. While it's not your play style, it's definitely a viable way of getting all the crap out of the coin gacha. But if you're not looking to farm Coin Creeps all weekend, there's no reason to even consider that.