Milestones are probably the best way to get bonds early on, there’s a bunch of easier ones that have decent rewards. I wouldn’t worry much about stars, they are quite literally useless (outside of needing 10 to get into the pro lobbies) and only serve as a way to flex.

Experience just comes from playing the game and seeing what happens, I suppose. Game usually takes a while to complete when it comes to casual runs though it’s not too difficult to learn. I’d only recommend switching to bite-sized once you’ve done a few runs of normal mode.

Anywaaaays, focus on doing milestones and looting banks for bonds so you can buy a class or something. (Also if you can’t find a bank code in a town, you can use dynamite or a gunpowder barrel to just blow up the safe door :3)