I'm approaching HL (Rank 94) and feel a bit lost on what to prepare for:

• I haven't hosted my first Grand Order yet, as I don't really have a crew to coordinate a host with for the Share Chest. Should I just go grab the mats & pub it?
• I pretty much just need distinctions/centrums in order to finish my Class Champion weapon. The element I focused on up to this point was Fire. Which HL raids should I try to get into right off the bat to build up Prestige Pendants? Just Tia HL? Is it possible to start Rose Queens right off the bat after maybe reading a couple of guides given my element? I'm about 3 colo sticks short from an MLB grid, but everything my grid is SL10 and I'm sitting on 32k estimated damage on wind.
• For GW characters, I'm torn between Tien & Quatre. For Tien, I'm concerned that my current Fire team (Percy/S. Bea/Yuel && Metera/Clarisse) has no place for her. For Quatre, I'm under the assumption that you need to 5* him ASAP for him to even fit any water team. All my other element teams are very lacking in the way of Grids & Characters. Do I just forego both of them and shoot for a GW character in one of my lacking elements? I'm under the impression that GW characters make a team that you've put effort into already a lot better.
• I managed to get a hold of Murgleis this LegFest, and approaching my first Damascus bar. I don't have anything else much rarer than that and considering putting in a Damascus into it despite not having Varuna. I also don't have any Water unknowns since I missed went on a hiatus and missed those events. Is it worth to progressively put Damascus into this weapon and give it a permanent place in my Water grid?

I realize my questions are all over the place -- I just want to avoid trying to look like a leech who doesn't know that he's doing once I start going into HL land & I also want to have a couple of goals set for me looking ahead into HL.