Forget taking it slow, playing casually is tough

Is it even accurate to say I've been playing 'casually' for a month? There's no such thing as a gradual growth curve; I'm stuck in the 10th floor and wondering if this is normal. As your level increases, new skills unlock, but the action point cost also goes up. This makes gear with 'starting max action points' a necessity, and that's pure RNG. Plus, leveling is slow, so even if you get good gear, it takes ages to replace your current stuff. If you mismanage HP and get overwhelmed by enemy numbers due to bad luck, you lose EXP, and it just feels increasingly frustrating. It requires a lot of manual input and a significant time investment, which doesn't seem to fit with current gaming trends.