Here’s my standard speech to new players, and one I wish someone had given me, except I wasn’t on the boards at that time. You need at least one, maybe two, rainbow teams of three-star heroes as a base. This gives you depth for war and class trials, allows you to complete rare tier challenge events monthly and compete in three-star raid tournaments when they appear, and do some minor color stacking to better your damage on titans. That’s a lot of ways to get stuff. And it will be among the fastest things you will do on E&P. Not that it’s super fast, but compared to other long-term goals you will have, it will be fast.
So, stop whatever you are doing now and focus on leveling one three-star hero in each color at a time until you get a double rainbow three-star team. Yes, I know you have cooler heroes and this part sucks, but it will help you in the long run. And I practice what I preach. I drew Gill-Ra last month in Atlantis, and when I finish Rigard, I will be leaving Domitia at 1^20 until I can max Gill-Ra. I think it sucks, too, but I know it needs doing.
Who should those heroes be? If you want my advice, your double rainbow team should be:
Purple: Tyrum and Balthazar
Yellow: Bane and Melia
Red: Hawkmoon and Nashgar
Blue: Valen and Gato
Green: Belith and Brienne
These are among the best three-star heroes in the game, almost by consensus. That’s not to say these are the only three-stars you will ever need, either. I would also keep and eventually level Gunnar, Chochin, Muggy, Berden, Mnesseus, Gill-Ra, and maybe Friar Tuck, but that one is debatable. All of these have utility at some point in the game. Also, consider your rosters for class trials before you feed away any other three-stars. Prisca is terrible, but I kept her around for a long while because I needed another paladin. By the way, with your roster, anything below a three-star is food. No need to keep any of them. Feed them away.
Once you have this double rainbow team in place, you need to do the same thing with four-stars. There is less consensus about who is “best” in the four-star realm, and a lot of it has to do with your personal play style. By the time you have gotten a double rainbow team of three-stars maxed, you should have a little better feel for who you want to focus on in the four-star realm. Also, you may have some very good four-stars by then that you don’t have now that you want to make a priority. For example, as red four-stars go, Gormek is probably your best, followed by Colen, and then Sumitomo. None of them are the best four-star in their color; that honor most likely belongs to Boldtusk. So, you could spend a lot of time, feeders, and eventually ascension materials trying to bring up Gormek now. Or you could work on your three-star base and give yourself more time to get a better red hero to work on. If you don’t, Gormek is good. (I use him every day.) But if you do, you won’t regret giving Gormek your hidden blades while Boldtusk sits at 3^60 waiting for more hidden blades.
The one consensus pick on your roster for a great 4-star is Rigard, so make sure to give him some love, and since you have already ascended Sabina, you might as well finish her too. I think I see Wu down there, and if Titans are your thing, he’s your guy. The double four-star rainbow team is about ensuring you have the man- (and woman-) power to get your hands on the elusive 4-star ascension materials that you need to max your five-star heroes. These are super rare, so you need to be taking every chance to get them as soon as you can.
Now, the good news. Your five-star heroes are bosses. Seriously. Joon is a no nonsense sniper. Gravemaker is one of the best two or three heroes in the entire game. Ariel is a top-notch five-star healer, and five-star healers are rare. A lineup of just those three would have most players drooling. So you’ve got lots to look forward to. Hope this helps, and didn’t give you a neck cramp trying to read it all!