This is fantastic feedback, thank you very much for playing and taking the time to share your thoughts!
I definitely agree on the option to switch to Autobattle partway through the round, it's on my to-do list.
Regarding XP, right now I have it so that all characters (even those not in participating in combat) earn XP for each enemy defeated by the party unless they are currently KO'ed. So a Hero who gets KO'ed right away would still earn 0 XP, one who got KO'ed halfway through the battle would get about half XP, and one who survived the whole fight would gain full XP. However, even one that never even fought would gain full XP too. I wanted to make it so you don't have "dump" characters that you never use, since if you don't use them they eventually get strong enough you'll want to use them. I'm not sure that's the right thing to do, but trying it out at least!
And on starting without Heroes every Ordeal, yeah, that's something I'm trying to make less painful. It's not explained well, but Heroes have 2 different progression tracks
Level - By defeating enemies they level up and their stats increase relative to their growth rates (e.g. Power A+ means their Power increases by 8 each level). Level does not carry over between Ordeals, or at least not currently.
Bond - If you draw a Hero that you've already summoned before, their Bond level increases, which will increase their stat growth rates (e.g. Power going from A+ to S). So a 1-star that you've drawn a bunch of times can have better stats than a 2-star that you're drawing for the first time. I had planned on having passive and active skills learned via this too (as well as advancing their individual story), but haven't finished that part.
Victory Points currently serve as the "XP" for Bond levels, so when you earn VP after a map, each Hero's Bond increases proportional to the amount of VP earned. Eventually you'll be able to actually spend VP to upgrade Lord Regent, like increasing grown rates, getting new weapons, increasing range, and learning skills.
Non-combat characters are definitely coming back!
Thank you again for your feedback and encouragement, it is most sincerely appreciated!