Tower Vendors & Faction Rep - What am I missing? (Destiny)

by stabbim , Des Moines, IA, USA, Monday, January 26, 2015, 10:55 (3381 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

Am I way off here? Is there more to the vendors than I realize?

Yes and no. I think the conclusion that they're useless is dead wrong for a lot of people, but not necessarily for you. Perhaps your random drops have been good enough that you just haven't needed them. On the other hand, maybe you made a huge mistake in ignoring them, and some fights could have been a lot easier if you'd bought their weapons instead of waiting for RNG drops. Who's to say?

I agree the armor is more important, but I have bought a few weapons to fill in gaps. I wanted an arc shotgun, for example, so I bought the Secret Handshake from the Vanguard vendor. I don't see how that's a worse option than waiting for RNG to gift me the right item. Even I do eventually get a better item from a drop, I had something to fill that role in the meantime.

The weapon that has changed my Destiny experience the most on its own was actually a Vanguard vendor purchase. Back in the early days when we all still had mostly blue weapons and were struggling through the Phogoth strike, I decided I needed something to help with Wizards, so I bought this gem from the Vanguard, and WOW did that make a difference. With the combination of perfect balance and rangefinder, it's a laser beam compared with most fusion rifles. I'm still hoping to get one from a drop now so I can have a 331 version.

Where the system falls down for me is that there are ONLY certain weapon type/damage combos available from any given vendor. That wouldn't be so bad if some of the vendors didn't REQUIRE Crucible marks. Ugh.