So I have had a friend of mine start playing FEH and a few questions came up about the game. I know that there is a thread on questions everyone has but...it's a bit long to sift through to see some of the questions so I figured I'd give the bare bones of the game that most newbies will need to start with. Any other questions should refer to the question thread of course since this is a brief guide only. If I've missed anything please feel free to let me know
Summoning
First summon of a banner is always free. The rest cost orbs and every summon is completely random. Painfully random
Certain heroes appear in special maps as a reward for completing the maps. Special maps have a regular rotation so be sure to check back daily in some cases as you might find the heroes you want are there and could save you some orbs.
Favourite Heroes
When you first start FEH you need to be aware that by default the game automatically favourites heroes 4 stars and above. If you do not want that you will need to go to settings and remove default favourite. Once you've done that you'll have to go back to the allies menu to select your favourite characters and favourite them manually.
That's all I had, if anyone feels that there is more shoot me a PM or ask away on the Question Thread.
ETA: Or add to this thread if you like.