I kinda like your first idea and think maybe something could be done there. As much as 50% of each league's rewards get shared evenly between everyone who beats the first map. The remaining rewards are then payed out as currently is setup by total score. This I think would encourage more players to at least do the daily free shot.
I kinda disagree with your 2nd point though. I have 1 yes and it can make a huge difference yes, but it is not an I win button. I've stupidly placed it more than once and watched it get blitzed. I've also replayed some days 3-4 times and scored higher in later matches when the hero was on cooldown.
I don't own the hero and never used it, so I'm kind of going off the assumption that it makes a huge difference also seeing the price it goes for. It might not be as bad as I think, but the fact remains that new players have the same reaction. I guess in a way it's similar to the Quad Killer for those who don't own it.
I wouldn't mind the pay2win aspect if the rewards weren't so top-heavy and if there was something like a guaranteed reward for being able to complete a tournament.
It has less hit points than an equal level Slime Trooper while doing slightly more damage at range than the trooper does up close. Up close the hero does about 1/3 as much damage per swing. If more than 1 mob gets on her she can go down fast. Some mobs can 1v1 her.
I think the game could use at least another hero maybe 2 or 3. It has that big hero slot in the center and everyone should get to use it. We have a legendary now maybe a common, rare and epic. A decent tank hero might be good, a ton of hp and defense but almost no damage output. Something to stand at a chokepoint so towers can do their thing. Some other ideas could be floated. If everyone could play some kind of hero I don't think the current one would be such a big deal.
Indeed, it would be nice for there to be more heroes and affordable ones. However, this will devalue the current heroes an upset the ones who own them.
I just posted 2 suggested changes and credited you one of them. See what you think.
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@ocoma/soulkeep-pay-more-not-less-a-counter-suggestion-to-staking