How do i get Athel ( rank 6 lvl 30 ) ready for 12-3 brutal on auto?

Hi, i am playing for a week and Athel is my campaign hero. Here are the stats!

I just learned that people level "food" in 12-3 brutal. I can do it but i have to manually time her a2 for the lifesteal to get me back to full or i will die when it's on cooldown.

I thought maybe just leveling the gear up to 16 will bridge the gap but i was wrong ( and it cost me ALOT of silver ).

what is the quickest free-to-play way to get her strong enough?