What are the best programs to edit a base character mesh?

So I’m thinking of buying the rebel character on the marketplace Rebel in Characters - UE Marketplace and I’m wondering what would be the the best programs to use to edit this character to make other characters. Money is not an issue so it doesn’t matter if it is a paid program like zbrush or free like blender. I just want the best and I’ll start buying courses on udemy to learn more. Just something that will allow me to change the facial shape so it looks like a different person, I’m guessing I will have to change the UV mapping if I make changes to the facial and bodely structure so that needs to be taken into account as well. Also would I be able to use a program like substance painter to change the look of the clothes or again is there a better program out there for that.

I’m starting as a complete newbe when it comes to modeling so I know I have a long road ahead of me. I just want to make sure I start off on the right path buy using the right software.

Maya or 3ds Max have the best compatibility with UE4 and are also the most used in the industry, though they are expensive.

For editing the textures, it’s likely best to start with Photoshop. If you want to really get into game development then it would be useful to learn Substance.

You don’t really have to change the UVs, if you do you would have to redo the textures which are already done for that model. If you want to change the facial shape/body shape you can use morph targets with the same UVs, you could have a base (default) body type, then easily make a bunch of variations using shape keys (Blender morph targets) and sculpting (or proportional editing) in Blender. You can then do the same thing for the clothes with the same names.