Wee bit o guidance?

https://swgoh.gg/p/757344514/
My goal for this game is not to be the best in my shard, or to get everything with the best efficiency possibly. I just want to see my favorite people from SW knock things silly. If I could play as Ezra or Kanan in BF2 I would be playing that.

That being said, I have a couple things I need help with.

Now, I have read everything I possibly can, and have gleaned a few things from it. Such as using my crystals to refresh Energy, not nodes, using Mk1 raid tokens for Credits, and other general tips. I try not to waste credits on things I am not working on or dont need, Speed is King etc etc. I also have full allies that are almost all long lived players.

But I am, unfortunately, 'special', as well as spoiled for choice. Too much things I *can* go for, but I have no idea what would be best to ensure I do not hit a wall. I also cannot watch a video and absorb its information. If I could get some simple, succinct tips on how to proceed, it would be appreciated.

Should I focus more on Dark Side now? Do I focus on clearing all the nodes like in Warframe before doing anything else? How can I increase my Fleet faster, as I currently am stuck on 2-E battle? Is my current Phoenix team good? Have I made decent progress as a f2p account who just started on the 7th of October?

Main issue I have currently that is preventing progress is Credits and Ship Credits.

Sometimes its thrilling playing a long existing game, and other times its overwhelming. This is a bit o both. Preemptive thanks to those who help.

Current Progress:

Level 73, Light Side: Normal, Hard 3 stars up to 8. Dark Side: Normal up to 7, Hard up to 6. Cantina 6, Mod 8, Mod Battles: Three stars on all until Offense T3, can only do T2 past that. Fleet stuck on 2-E

I posted on the Reddit, but also here to increase likelyhood of tips and tricks and guidance.