1. Does my heroselect folder have to be in the Marvel Ultimate Alliance folder (alongside folders like actors, data, etc.)? [Currently my heroselect folder is on a different drive -- can I keep it that way?].
2. Is it required to have the exact same characters (no more, no less) installed in the game AND included in my herostat.cfg as are included on the spreadsheet? If so, does the order matter?
1. As long as it is in the same folder as herostat.cfg and passvalues.hero it should work.
2. The only restriction is that the names on EZ TEAM.xls match the names on top of herostat.cfg, and that the characters you've chosen are in both files. For example, in my previous herostat.cfg I had Juggernaut as "juggernaut", while on E-ZStat Juggernaut is under "Juggernaut_hero".
If in your herostat.cfg you have Juggernaut as, let's say, "juggy", you'll have to go to the sheet "teams" in EZ TEAM and change "Juggernaut_hero" to "juggy". (You shouldn't change the list on herostat.cfg, because then you'd have to change herolist.hero too).
My suggestion is to crossreference your herostat.cfg list with this one:
defaultman
hawkeye
blackpanther
blade
captainamerica
daredevil
deadpool
doctorstrange
elektra
colossus
iceman
invisiblewoman
ghostrider
humantorch
lukecage
silversurfer
ironman
moonknight
mrfantastic
nickfury
spiderman
spiderwoman
storm
thing
thor
msmarvel
wolverine
hulk
captainmarvel
cyclops
nightcrawler
magneto
sabretooth
blackwidow
ronin
doomdlc
venom
scarletspider
forge
Beast
CaptainBritain
Blob_Hero
husk
Jubilee
Lizard_Hero
elixir
hellion
dust
emma_frost_hero
firestar
marrow_hero
Magma
XMan
Visionp
surge
Cuckoo_hero
Shadowking_hero
Sage
rockslide
Rhino_Hero
Quicksilver
Psylocke_Hero
Northstar
X23
Wolfsbane
SheHulk
Polaris
Shard
shadowcat_hero
omegared
multiple
Longshot
Domino
blink_hero
Banshee_hero
Apocalypse
angel
Bishop
Gambit
Juggernaut_Hero
Phoenix
ProfessorX
pyro_hero
Rogue
ScarletWitch
sunfire
Toad_Hero
Cable
Avalanche_Hero
ironfist
Dazzler
Electro
Mysteriop
SubMariner
Punisher
Quasar
Toxin
Warmachine
endoffile
If you want, PM me your herostat.cfg list and I'll check which names you should change. Heck, I'll even add those that aren't in the previous list as a bonus.