A tip for newer players: Why you should NOT focus on ventures to speed up your progression.
Downsides:
- You get no crafting materials.
- You won't learn the game fast enough to keep up with higher level missions.
- You need a good hero loadout and traps, i.e., you'll be hoping others do the work for you, as, after a certain point, you'll be just leeching, and that's assuming you even find people to play with frequently.
- Ventures reset each season, requiring you to do all that awful ~~leeching~~ grind again.
Honestly, just play the game like a regular player.
There's no point where the grind legitimately feels like a wall. If you lack a material, you just go ahead and grind for it. It's pretty simple. There's no easy way out. It's a grindy game.
Play long enough and you won't even bat an eye at the materials required to upgrade or craft stuff anymore.
I'd probably recommend ventures if you already have access to at least key lv106 traps.