I feel like I've hit a road block

[Paradoxical]

That to say I have had no meaningful progress in about a week...maybe close to two. I play once or twice a day for 1-2 hours on average.

On adventure, I first beat GRB about two weeks ago and now can finally fight on idle in the clock dimension but it's very slow.

Stats
2.7m energy
350k magic

Adventure
4355 Power
3720 Toughness

My question is, is it time for me to do a challenge or something? I see so many complaints in topics about challenges so I don't know if that's the right path. I feel like I'm just playing for a few hours each day, killing RBG a few times and while farming boosts. Maybe I rebirth and kill a the next boss when I decide to play again. Do you really do this for a month+ or am I doing something wrong?

Also what should I buy first in the AP shop? I've saved 79k but I'm not really sure what the first best purchase should be.

[Kesac]

Hm, around those stats you MIGHT be able to start farming 2D Universe for equipment. (Recommended for manual in 2D Universe is around 4500/3500)

If you can't, level up your advanced training OR NGU Adventure a few levels. Advanced Training is quicker to level, but is temporary, NGU Adventure is permanent, but might be slow at your current spot.

(Doing a basic challenge can help too, as the first basic challenge is +11% adventure stats)

As for your first purchase in AP shop, most people recommend saving up for the Improved Loot Filter.

[Kesac]

Also, one thing I forgot -- at around 5000/4000 (or maybe even your current stats -- can't hurt to try), you can also take on the second titan, GCT. GCT doesn't have many really notable drops, except for the fact that it unlocks a new feature -- Yggdrasil. If you don't play all that much, the new feature can actually be pretty nice once you get it levelled up a bit, as the fruits take hours to grow.

[Fel]

The main way to progress through adventure zones is to merge the drops up to level 100 and use boosts to increase the stats up to the new maximum (you more or less double the stats of the level 0 gear at level 100).
It might be a bit hard to properly loot zones, and titans would be even harder to farm by playing only 1-2 hours a day since the game was designed around the idea that people leave it open while they are doing other things for extended amounts of time.

[Huillam]

For challenges Fel (thanks again Fel!) shared some useful information there: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1147690/discussions/0/1607148447810908391/
There's also that reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/nguidle/comments/dl3uqx/best_challenges_to_do_first/


Altough I would disagree with the reddit thread on one point: don't wait until you can complete basic challenges in 10 minutes. That may be true for some other challenges but not for that one.