I know you all hate me for going through this, but bear with me here. I was considering why I recommend the choices I recommend, and the basis of all my answers are based on this.

So, what does a new player want to do for them to reach Endgame?

1. Clear Episode 1-9, Ancient Dungeons, LoPF, FoS
2. Play Low/Mid Inheritance Colosseum
3. Clear Challenge 1-4, 3 Hidden, 2 Hidden
4. Clear Camilla Banoub
5. Farm Challenge and Camilla
6. Clear FoRS and Rael
7. Clear Challenge 5-7 Hidden
8. Clear Loki Incarnate
9. Clear Challenge 8-10 Hidden
10. Play High Inheritance Colosseum
11. Arena and Exploring New Heroes

I will now divide the steps into Earlygame, Midgame, and Lategame. To define these, the Earlygame is where the player is adjusting to the game mechanics and eventually transitions into the Midgame, where the player is now grinding resources to make their teams strong enough to tackle the hardest stages of the game and compete against other players.

Step 1 is not very difficult. You might have a little bit of trouble on the Blockade Stages (and can use friend hero to clear), but otherwise, it is not difficult. Because of how quickly a player may get through these stages, I'm putting this into the Earlygame. If you’re struggling in Episode 7 or Episode 8 or 9, ask for help; you're probably missing some mechanic (See General Guide to Crusading, Episode 7 Normal Mechanics, Episode 7 Hard Mechanics, Episode 8 Mechanics for help)

Step 2 is clearing Challenge Mode, followed by clearing (being carried in or clearing yourself) Camilla and farming Challenge in Steps 3 and 4. Because a player is trying to grind resources to eventually clear Rael, Camilla, Challenge 5-7, Loki, High Tier Colosseum, and Arena, I put these 3 steps into the Midgame as you can't progress into the last phase without grinding Colosseum. If you are struggling in this phase, see General Guide to Crusading which has resources for Fortress of Raging Souls, Camilla Banoub, Loki Incarnate, and links to the Challenge Guide.

The rest of the steps, therefore, are considered Endgame as you have reached the hardest bosses of the game and are continuously to farm them for building new heroes for optimization and fun, not so much for clearing other stages since you've cleared them all. This includes Challenge 5-7 Hidden, Loki Incarnate, and using sigils from these stages you can progress onto High Tier Colosseum and Arena.

Earlygame is not worth spending a hero ticket on. You can clear almost every stage with Archon Mew Alex with a few deviations on the Blockade stages. If a stage is proving to be difficult, a friend hero can usually solve the issue. If you are struggling on every single stage in Story, there is likely something fundamentally wrong with your team and you should seek help.

Endgame can only be reached via grinding Midgame. Therefore, I suggest you to use your Selection Hero Ticket to help your Midgame.