@SarrahW you're on the right track, edge loops and quads are best to keep control over your model while reducing the LOD instances.
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Personally, my workflow is as follows:
Depending on the model or item i want to create i lay out the basic structure and try to figure out the best approach
(i don't do it on "paper", i just try to visualize it in my mind's eye, but everyone should find their own approach)
Most of the time i start with a high poly model (thousands to millions of quads) and then build the LOD0 around it.
The high poly won't need UVmapping so i cut corners in this step, the LOD0's UVs should be laid out in a way that gives you the least amount of fixing when reducing polygon detail. (quads are easiest, a quad is always two triangles, so after you're done you can always convert to tri-meshes) unless you use one of the reduction tools, they transform your model into tris and, where no other solution applies, NGons (an NGon is a polygon with more than 4 sides, like a pentagon, octagon, etc.) so when reducing, always check your UVmaps and whether they are still coherent to the higher LOD (and do this before moving onto the next lowest LOD, because any errors will be copied down and this leaves you with a pile of additional work)
Why do i start with a high poly model? Because this is the base for any normalmapping. Most details in PlanCo are displayed via normalmaps, as they are much less straining on the game's performance (any game for that matter)
and your game model should have as few polys as possible, not just for performance, but also to keep better control over your shapes, UVs and workload) However, a high poly model isn't always necessary in every case and you should only attempt it if you feel comfortable with it and know what you're doing.
Take your time with the UV unwrap and the LOD reduction (and if you're not sure how to do it, take your time to watch some tutorials on those topics until the question marks in your head vanish, and don't shy away from playing around in your authoring package, do simple models, unwrap them, rinse and repeat with more complicated shapes and so on), it might seem tedious, but it's best to do the unwrapping and LODing manually (DO NOT START WITH THE LODS UNTIL THE BASE MODEL IS FULLY DONE!), if you cut corners here you will have to live with the loss of control over what you're doing, and to fix this later on will take significantly more time to achieve than if you did it beforehand.
I'm terrible at explaining stuff and it's just scratching on the surface, but maybe this gives a little insight into the pitfalls of game asset creation.
For the nerds amongst you,
here's an awesome video on the evolution of game graphics and how they evolved in the past decades:
[video=youtube;QyjyWUrHsFc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyjyWUrHsFc"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyjyWUrHsFc[/video]
To give a few examples of high poly modeling and stuff i've worked on in the past, here's a link to my Artstation page and a small selection of YT vids
https://www.artstation.com/artificialartist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXOS1-oYfTJHixqkb3QjCXh6h2vlIMgNI
[video=youtube;RSZiIzW2mzM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSZiIzW2mzM&t=0s&index=2&list=PLXOS1-oYfTJHixqkb3QjCXh6h2vlIMgNI[/video]
