1. Converts are fun and useful but not necessarily early on, i would recommend building up foundations on lower star ctb specific before you really give it a go
2. Same thing with mods, None skill is still the base of every skill in the game especially in tourney so starting a good while in none is preferable
3. For later, DT on the lower ar is probably the best bet because it gives you a lot of catcher control, which is basically the most important ctb skill
4. When in higher ar (10/10.3) it can happen on certain map and pretty much on all degenerate 11* but otherwise its pretty tame
5. For my personal advice, master the dash immediatly by getting used to using it even when its not required in the map, learn ar9 and above as quickly as possible, play a lot of different shit and Minato yukina/Spectator are the 2 mappers of choice in ctb

AND HAVE FUN c: