Leveling Without Purchase?

If you decide to purchase bundles you can't go wrong with the resistance one. It has around 7 or 8  7*  r5 toons for 9.99. the raddus light speed bundle comes with around 9  7* r5 toons and 8     7* ships for 19.99.

I'm not saying you should get bundles or not just letting you know of 2 of the better value ones. 

Another option is just continue leveling eventually you will unlock lightspeed tokens for the Phoenix squad then some jedies under journey quests. Just keep in mind you are a ways off of getting the quests

This game is all about patience, especially if you're free to play.

The good news is that 'Arena' isn't worth your concern.  The rewards are super 'meh'.

However, ship arena is definitely worth your concern.  If you farm the best possible ship open to you, it'll prove its worth in the long run.

Do the anniversary quests

And you were right! I played the "Era of Anniversary" until 4th rank and reached 5th rank in Coliseum with related characters. Once the Era ended, the game gave me all the characters and now I have a really strong collection to compete in the Arena! Meanwhile, I got some lightspeed tokens by rewards and restock, I'll find the best way to use them...

You can't it is pay to win 

Don't miss the free stuff, and have EPIC patience. Collect what you can from the webstore, and choose a guild that is just slightly above your max. I focused on the Sith early on and it paid me dues. I haven't spent a dime, and I take a bow every time I defeat someone in the Grand Arena that I can tell has tried to pay their way to power.

The 85 hyper speed was totally worth it.. like 70 characters to lvl 80.. 20 ships.. I forget what's all in there. But I bought it after I got to lvl 85 and wasted so much resources on things I ended up getting light speed tokens for. Or things I bought cheap. I hit the sales that are more bang for the buck. 20$ around my max.. but I still ended up around 150$ altogether so far.. but if you can spend it.. spend it, right? But I had fun as a free to play. But The grind was soooo long.. now I'm always double checking sales so I don't burn materials on things I'll prolly end up buying..

I’ve been playing free for 3-4 years. It’s a grind at times…

I've been playing this game for years and I've never spent money on it. I'm level 85 and my gp is now over 2 mil. Your progress will be slower, but you can level up eventually. I focus on one squad at a time with goals of getting a character or completing some quest.