As I near hero with yet another nameless character

How about achieving a name for your character? Kind of pointless deleting after ranking when no-one would remember you afterwards.

Things you can do as Hero:

-Explore areas. Make a journey that becomes a part of the story. Exploration is an achievement on its own.

-Interact with people and leave a mark of yourself to their minds. That way, you can achieve a place for your character in Thera and it helps to define who (s)he is.

If your character is something more than a hollow throwaway with no life(has your character lived that time or did you just mechanically rank rank rank?) or personality, hold on to that character.

And what comes to people becoming better adventurers over time, it already happens in the form of skill % going up.