Ignore the music store guy, he has to know 1% of 800 different things, which makes him largely useless.
I just got my Helix and PC+ 2 days ago. I started reading the manual and quickly set it aside. It comes with a big "cheat sheet" that tells you what all the buttons do, use that for reference at first.
It comes with like 200+ factory presets. I suggest that you explore those. Eventually, you'll find one that you like, but maybe you wish it had less distortion. Now you have a reason and a goal to learn how to find the distortion block and adjust it. Or you wish it had less treble, now you have a reason to figure out how to find and and adjust an EQ. Want reverb? Now you have a reason to explore the many reverb options. If you're a computer guy, download HX Edit and do all this on the computer screen. You need to be the boss, not the other way around or you'll get frustrated.
You can only eat an elephant one bite at a time.