there is no "right tool" or "wrong tool" for creating a synth, or bass, or pad. pick one, learn it, use it. eventually you will have favorite ones for various tasks.
as far as kicks and snares, try layering various kicks on top of each other... one with a nice "high" snap to it, and one with some nice sub. Same for snares, layer one with some nice crisp "sizzle" and one with lots of midrange pop. These are just a few basic ideas, and again there are no "rules", only "ways to get to the result".
also, youtube is your friend when learning about compressors, or anything really... it seems like you have some pretty general questions that you could answer while doing tutorials. as for getting your tracks loud, don't worry about that right now....... turn your system up.... you shouldn't be maxing out the master in the mixdown stage. focus on getting the levels of every track balanced to the way you want the tune to sound
just an example i am looking at one of my kick tracks in a tune in ableton and the gain is at -24.6 I started with the kick and then mixed the snare to match and built the tune around that.
these are all just suggestions, i don't claim to know the right way to do anything tbh. just what works for me.