Gas Question When Minting Tokens

[FIRSTLY LET ME APOLOGISE THIS POST WAS BOOTED OFF OF /r/NFTs BECAUSE OF THEIR SHITTY AUTO MOD]

Rather new to the NFT space.

Soon I will be going in on a public sale on a very popular project that is likely to sell out in less than a minute.

I want to higher my chances as much as possible for a successful mint in this short window.

What should I do? A higher gas will help this I am guessing? And if so is there a way I can preset the gas so I dont have to waste time changing it to high before confirming in my MetaMask?

Is there anything else I can do to guarantee a higher chance? Never done it, but would minting directly from the contract be at a disadvantage here?

I need this mint badly and I appreciate all of your responses and thank you in advance!