Levels 21-30 Update
I reached Level 30 and finished Chapter 7. Things are much harder now and I had a few consecutive deaths on matches from slow starts which finally prompted me to start levelling the Assassin (Level 6 currently). However, I really want this to be about pushing through one character in the current environment so after some tinkering I found a spell build that worked well and have plowed on to Chapter 8. Here’s the highlights:
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Gear levelling is getting much tougher
Here’s my current setup:
I’m almost in full Rares after much effort through working the shop, buying virtually any shards I can (Gem prices too) as well as Relics. I have even bought the 10k gold buy for 250 gems now twice in order to pick up Lesser and Greater Relics for current and future evolves. The issue right now of course is Shards. So many shards are needed at this point to level anything and Greater Shards are virtually non-existent. Of course it’s a double whammy since (as I’ve pointed out repeatedly) Greater shards are overpriced in the shop which really hurts my limited gold and gems. On top of that, I have decision paralysis around my weapon. I have the shards necessary to level it to 20 but I’ve been holding out hope for something better. No luck to date.
Fortunately my aggressive efforts to level gear have worked out pretty well and thanks to a recent spell change, I’m still able to defeat the content in front of me pretty efficiently. My enemy gear score is up to 850+ now (my gear score is 574) so hopefully I can keep up!
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A new spell to the rescue!
Starting with Chapter 7, things started to get a bit rough. Even with my Rare Scorching Ray (an exciting find from the Event), my mana generation to start was just going too slow and I was getting three-shotted before even getting rolling. Thankfully, I had also found a spell I have never used before (It previously was only available to Berserkers at Level 50 and by then I didn’t need it) but it has proved to be a lifesaver. Here is my current spell setup:
Relentless Assault has made all the difference for me now. It’s only 105 mana and generates 3 Red and 3 Blue gems and also has the added benefit that when Rage is active, you acquire the Haste buff for two turns, which increases your mana gain by 50%. We all know the benefits (and perhaps necessity) of mono-color builds at higher levels but early on, mono-color is really limiting and results in too much wasted matching early on. This change not only lets me take advantage of more mana matching (and Savior’s Helm Big gems) early, but it also really keeps the mana flow going throughout the fight. Additionally I decided to focus entirely on physical dmg which benefits from the armor reduction (albeit small) of Relentless Assault. Using Spin Attack and Cleave to pop those Barbaric Rage gems ensures timely casts of Relentless assault and the benefit of the Haste buff. It’s fun to find a new way of doing things but of course this all came down to luck (finding this particular spell). Had I not found it I’m sure I would have come up with something but it might have been less effective and less fun.
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Food Deal Here I Come!
I decided that I was going to be aggressive as possible with my Followers knowing that I was going to run up against limits to Follower progression pretty quickly. And I was right! Here are my current Follower levels:
(Astute observers may notice that my Auri is already Uncommon. Out of pure chance, of the less than a dozen Eveline crafts that I have done, one of them produced an Auri crystal. Crazy, I know).
I have just about hit the limit of follower progression by spending all my earned Honor on Food and using some of that gem-bought gold as well to push them forward. Why be so aggressive? Because now I can take advantage of the absurd structure of the kingdom Food Deal. Why play the game, slogging through match after match of Wooden Chests when I can sit back like some slum lord and rake in my gains with virtually no effort! I purposefully found a kingdom that was half full so that I could take advantage of this stupid Food Deal structure. As I pointed out in my frustrated thread below, who needs Ruby Keys when I can just get a free Ruby Chest every day to open with my vault (which is hard to fill by the way because matches take so long, Wooden Chests are so common when doing the Story, and Event chests don’t even need Keys)!
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How Many Citadel Levels Will I Lose?
Something that I have started to think about a lot is the fact that I’m already Level 30 (technically almost Level 32) and I’m only partially through Chapter 8. Between the daily Events, Challenges and PVP, and the increasing difficulty of Story matches, It is highly likely that I will hit Level 50 with numerous chapters remaining. When I originally levelled all 5 classes at on my primary account, I finished the Story with my first class just about at 50 and I often finished the Story with the other classes needing just a bit of extra XP to hit 50. I have never been in the situation of looking at the potential of playing perhaps hundreds of matches and getting no progression (in terms of XP) out of it. With no stored XP mechanism, I could be playing as many as 5 Chapters and daily content along the way gaining no XP and getting no benefit to my Citadel once it actually unlocks. It feels like a pretty big problem.
As I said before, this is entirely a free-to-play approach and I have been liberal in my gem expenditures in order to make my character as competitive as possible. After completing Chapter 8 and doing a number of gem-reward Challenges along the way, my gem balance is currently 328. And I feel pretty good about it 
Cya in a few levels!