Troop level vs Hero level. What is the best strategy?

Ok… I am relatively new (6 ms). I lean more towards P2W vs FTP. I’ve played for about 6 months and have achieved level 40 with one maxed+ 5* team and a a decent sized number of 5* 70s waiting to be upgraded. I’ve noticed that the top players all have troops in the high teens. It is much more expensive to level up a troop than a hero.

What are the advantages of higher level troops compared to higher level hero’s? Any help would be appreciated.

Both?

Troops are really good cause they can be used over and over again in wars and the like.

They also offer a great boost in your hero base stats which (primarily) affect damage dealt (attack) and surviving (defence/HP)

For me personally I’m doing both at the same time. I level heroes and with my excess food, level troops.

I level my troops during the time I finished my backpacks from Atlantis!
Put my tc to 11 then farm more backpacks for 5 days!
It’s not a mega boost but keeps it steady!