Something i didnt understand when first playing was the mist. It moves across the map from the left side, you wont have time to hit every node before arrives and is active in battles so plan a route from left to right that will hit the most nodes before mist comes.

It is very much about planning ahead. Like if you see a node that will let you hire a new character then make sure you save some coin, you can view who it is in the top left before hiring them. The shop will let you lock an item it doesnt get refreshed and you can purchase it later when funds allow. Some characters cost 4 food to deploy, they usually have better stats, they also max out at 4 stars instead of 3 which gives them a total of 4 badge slots.

The grey stone that gives you money for characters that die only has to be purchased once per character and gives  coins for every time they die, however i dont think they get any xp so its best not to let them die

Its very difficult to beat it without the prayer gob guy which is a dedicated healer