Early game is always a bit of a grind with a large chunk of the "best" starting units basically not being usable yet.
If you befriend a few gaf players it should be relatively easy to get something like a Mihawk guest captain (boosts slashers) to help boost several units once they're within your cost range.
(whitey bay and vista aren't just int, but slasher too; so mihawk would boost them);
Ah right, the slasher advice is great. I got Mr. 3 on the Whitey Bay account too so I should aim to farm other INT slashers.