A lot of IDEs these days offer a three-way-merge interface that massively improves on the conflict resolution process. Different tools have different interfaces, but generally you have three panes visible: one showing the diff original->A, one showing the diff original->B, and third showing the current state of the merged file, without conflicts. You can typically add chunks from either of the two diffs, or free edit your resolution based on a combination of the different options.

I find resolving conflicts through this sort of system tends to be a lot more intuitive than trying to mess around with conflict markers - it also helps with protecting against mistakes like forgetting conflicts or wanting to undo changes. If you're not used to it, I really recommend finding a good three-way merge plugin for your editor/IDE of choice.

I agree, the conflict marker resolution idea isn't very clear. I think i'm going to have to look into some other tooling to see how they od it.

Emacs is my current tool of choice, and i'm way too invested to change at this point.

yes, jetbrains editors are particually good at resolving merge conflicts. They also have a magic button to do all the obvious conflicts automatically.