There's nothing wrong with asking Hero characters to help you level up. That's how I managed to get from 45 to 51. Some are more than willing to help you out. You don't always have to wait for more goodies to rank up into your range.

Of course this is coming from the guy that took forever to hit hero. Mostly because I didn't actively go out of my way to rank up. Just did it whenever it was convenient. And yeah, a shame you deleted though. Now what am I going to do with all these damn spears?