I feel like I used to have a satisfactory layout for years but haven’t since found a consistently comfortable arrangement. I like to have a fairly thick pillow or two under my head to accommodate my bad shoulder, a pillow between my thighs to avoid chafed skin, and a pillow for hugging - also mostly for my shoulder.
The head ones tend to get distorted really quickly and it’s really difficult to find a good hugging pillow.
I’m exclusively a very hot side-sleeper, so dialing in my pillow setup has taken decades.
I use three different types of pillows: a real down pillow for my head (this one was expensive, but seriously worth it), a faux down pillow for hugging (keeps its fluffy shape all night), and cotton-filled pillow for between my knees.
The fillings are what matter most to me, and the real down pillow for my head is the most recent and best addition imo. It has made a massive difference to my comfort over the memory foam one I had been using previously. I splurged for a Parachute down pillow because the high quality is immediately obvious, and it’s hands down the best pillow I’ve ever bought.