Beating Ford is about passing his role challenges. Bernard can pass some of those, such as Mentor, with powered up roles. However, for some roles, like Preacher, a strong blue reverie build is all that's required (no role ups).
In general, it is better to conserve your 5* Legendary hosts earned in the previous event for use in the next event. You should only combine them as a last resort to pass Escalante or Cottage, and even then try to do it during a Rebuild style event (like the upcoming Chaos Takes Controls) so you will earn event trophies.
For a good idea of how to tackle Ford's Cottage, check out this resource.
And if you are curious whether your host is powerful enough to pass, check out this amazing Cottage calculator and test. This might save your Bernie a trip to the body shop!
Hope this info has helped you, good luck!
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