Focus on levelling one hero at a Time once their Special skill is at 8/8 you can throw all 1* and 2*(any colour) at them and once your done there go to the next one I’ve been doing this for the last 2 months and increased my Teampower by 300+ points but I also had the mats for them which helped a Ton.
We are fortunate to have such a patient and helpful community.
I would continue to use boldtusk. I found him to be a very strong character while leveling. I think he would be a better healer for than hawkmoon at any level. Take him as high as you can, continue to use him in your team for now is my advice
Hawkmoon is for 3* events and tournaments. In all other cases yes Boldtusk will be a far superior choice.
As for off color feeding I always advice against it as long as you have any interesting character to level at all. If it comes down to leveling like Isshtak or Graymane you could consider it but as long as you actually use either of them anywhere I would still continue to color feed. I like that 20% increased exp too much to let it go to waste just for a short term increase. Always think long term.
I would indeed buy more slots. Having about 30 free slots for feeders would help. The more the merrier but keep spending in check. While I love the game it’s quite easy to spend a little too much. Not that too many would buy gems instead of food but in the entertainment budget let’s just say I could have my current account or maybe 100 full games.