if i can offer any advice to those playing for the first time, try not to focus on getting your lower tier heroes to high lvl, only upgrade them high enough to unlock all their skills. later down the track when it will take a large amount of time (more than several days) to save for the next hero then go back and lvl them like crazy (500-1000 per hero) and go for ascension. You will progress much faster this way and on your second run will have 10 hero souls or more which will increase your damage allowing you to progress even faster the second time around.
awesome game, i love the whole twisted mentality of firing a turtle from a cannon and then shooting it or bouncing it off enemies to keep its momentum up. i mannaged to get to 3 mill feet before getting the 'obsession badge' =)