I really didn't intentionally stay out of hero range. I king of made a vow to myself IC that I would not intentionally rank up with a group until I found the sleek black, and was foolish to stick to that. I leveled from 35 to 41 completely solo, and mostly through exploration and then finishing off a level when I was up over 50% or more anyhow. I was feeling bad with how many people I turned down to group for learning, but I had a pipe dream for a long time that I could find the black before I got to hero.