1) Jedi Counselor
When first starting out on your journey, you'll be given a number of light and dark side characters for free simply by progressing through the game. One of these characters will be the Jedi Counselor. He's your first light side healer and he will remain a valuable asset to your team well into the later parts of the game. After you hit level 60 he will also serve a second purpose as the crew member of one of your first ships. If you have invested your time into gearing and leveling him up, he will provide you a significant advantage over those who have not as you work towards building up your fleet. Shards for Jedi Counselor can also be found in many places throughout the game making it a simple task to increase his star count. He is also one of the easiest characters to gear up and consequently one of the first characters that can acquire gear levels VII and up due to the low level requirements of the gear that he uses. There are arguments that could be made for many of the different characters that you will come across, but the Jedi Counselor is a solid investment and not one that you'll likely regret.
2) Your mystery character
Because EA is generous and they love their players, they've fixed the first Chromium pack that you buy so that it will always provide you a 3 or 4 star character. They also provide you enough crystals that you can usually acquire it around the time that you hit level 8 and gain access to the arena. This will likely be the first unique character that you acquire. In many cases (depending on what character you get) an investment in this character can give you an early lead in your arena bracket, which if maintained, could result in an increased daily income of crystals, and who doesn't like that.
