Coliseum progression as F2P, stuck at 2/3 characters lvl 50+

What are your scores (%) on each of the 4 bosses? I’ve got 2 units at Lv55 and 1 at Lv54 f2p so you should be able to get more than you have now. 

EDIT:

One thing seems clear, the rewards are structured in such a way to make progression happen at a particular pace, and each tier seems to have a max level for your era units. If you’ve reached that level, you are stuck until you open up a new tier. 

Look at all the level increases that come with an “ability upgrade”, for instance. These seem to always require the materials from the relevant tier that are only awarded in the 40% crate and the 90% crate. All of the other reward tiers award the more standard material needed for all the other level increases - but once you reach a certain point you can’t use those materials anymore. 

When I had Choda at Lv55 and then had to decide between IG90 and STL on who to take to Lv55 next, I picked IG90. I’m now stuck until I clear 90% on t4 of one of the bosses, because the materials I need to improve Choda or IG90 aren’t available until I reach t6 on one or more bosses; and as I described I can’t improve STL until I get a 90% crate. 

I’m still “enjoying” Coliseum, but I’m not terribly keen on having a soft ceiling to how far players can get. I had hoped to clear t5 on one of the bosses before Assaj arrived, but I’m beginning to wonder if this is possible without spending money on materials from the next tier. If I get the 90% crate on the Temple Guards, maybe the ability upgrade for STL will get me over the line, but I doubt I will get that crate. 

You should have an overflow of rewards with each new marquee that helps level up the entire team more

Have you bought crystal packs though?

Only for currency. 

I believe you can only get the upgrade materials up to level 35 with crystals.  Anything beyond that requires money.  This is my guess based on how this has gone so far:  it is probably only a good idea to purchase the level 35 and below materials for the first character in the cycle of six, so in this case, just for Luke.  I can't absolutely confirm this, but I believe each successive character, in the first round of their marquee, gives you enough material to upgrade, not to the current level of your lowest character, but the level that is nearest to the level that is evenly divisible by five of the lowest character.  In other words, if you had all three at say level 49, you would be able to take assaj to 45, if you bumped each one up a level, then you could take her to 50.  That is just a current theory based on what I observed with Yoda.  I didn't pay enough attention to IG when I leveled him.

As for progression, when you get to these ability levels (the ones evenly divisible by five), you always need some extra material, and that is what is in the 40 and 90% boxes.  Eventually, you hit a point that you need a new type of material, and that is what is in the 100% box.  I'm close to where you are, I have everyone at 49.  Once I get some more Mk V, I can take 2 to 50.  I just got Jotaz to tier 5.  All other enemies are still at tier 4.  At this point, I know I have to get 100% on the next ones to get more Mk V.  Once I get everyone to level 55, then I will need to beat tier 5 in order to get the next batch of material to advance.

Unfortunately, it seems these runs can be quite random.  I think there is a good deal of rng involved on whether you dodge certain attacks or get crits on your attacks.  Sometimes I get a great run and get several boxes and then, even after making upgrades, go back in and do 25% less that what I just accomplished.  I think there is a learning curve involved at this point.

Overall, I think besides buying the currency, which I don't think we get enough of to advance at this point, your best bet is to buy the level 35 and below stuff on the first toon only and buy it day one so that you get higher in the coliseum as quickly as possible.  My rank has been pretty steady except the past few days where I have finally seemed to advance.  I think some people might have given up or I have just got some lucky runs that allowed me to upgrade more quickly.  The higher the level of the initial toon, means the higher level of the next one added. 

I am ceaselessly amused at posts like this. 

"Guys, I'm lvl49 F2P, am I stuck like this forever????!1111?!?!"

No, you dolt. We're only halfway through the Era. Three more marquee events will come, with more upgrade materials. Your Coliseum squad will get stronger and you will clear more tiers. 

Well that leaves me wondering how your units are 20 levels above mine, as I’ve engaged quite determinedly with the Colosseum. I don’t auto, and I try strategy, yet it seems I’m doing something horribly wrong next to you.

I am wondering how you overcame the level 45 cap on tier 4 bosses.  Did you get lucky and advance to tier 5.  I get to 98-99% on each boss with 3 or 4 of my characters left alive.  The boss immediately takes a bonus turn or some other unscrupulous mechanic and one shots the team without fail.  AT-ST, Asgardian Rip Offs, Steroid using Loth-Cats, Bob's Big Boy, can't seem to get over that hump.  And the Mk V Cresh Ability Modules are only available by paying cash or winning the 100% tier 4 level.  I would love to have known your strategy.  I have tired with both Luke lead and IG lead and neither gives any significant improvement over the other.  With Bounty Hunter Ventress release tomorrow it won't matter, will clear all levels just fine, then get stuck at tier 5 bosses for awhile.   

I had the 98% thing a few times on the AT-ST in particular, but then on one attempt a key dodge allowed me to finish. Of course, finishing that one meant I could start the next tier and add levels to all of the era units, which made the next day’s boss easier etc. 

Based on where I’ve got to, I’m assuming AV will allow clearing all the t5 bosses, but we’ll not be able to complete t6 until the next unit arrives. 

I've purchased a few materials packs using crystals, nothing using money, and I'm at L45 and hitting 80% on t4. But I haven't purchased anything like all the packs available. My crystal spending has been fairly restrained. I've maybe spent 2k over this entire era so far? That's a guess, but it wouldn't be far wrong. 

Which leaves me in the interesting position of being 10 levels above you, but 10 behind Darjelo. Am I doing some things right and others wrong?

It's so hard to know. But even more than that, it's so hard to know what is ultimately crystal-efficient. Most of what CG intends to give us is a combo of r10 mats on a day-to-day basis and g1-g12 gear at the end of the era. 

I don't need any gear below r13. All my toons are relic'd and I have plenty of gear sitting around to do the same to new toons. I won't need it now, but it also isn't a benefit to me. 

So mostly I am spending now to get more r10 mats, but how many will I need. how quickly? Should I have been spending more to move up a reward tier in r10 mats? 

Who knows. We really truly don't have enough information to evaluate the best value for our spending, much less how much effort will be worth it. We'll need several cycles to begin to optimize this stuff.

Worrying about getting better is a good thing in moderation, but don't let yourself stress too much about it. It will get sorted in time.