Hit Level 24 and unlocked Nightfall Strikes (Destiny)

by stabbim , Des Moines, IA, USA, Sunday, October 26, 2014, 22:08 (3492 days ago) @ Grizzlei

I'll try ato lay some things out in case this info is needed. There are ways to obtain legendary gear reliably from vendors, though it's not necessarily quick due to the weekly limit on Vanguard and Crucible marks. I bought a few of these items as early as I was able to, and it really helped me get going.

You can rank up with Vanguard or Crucible by doing various PVE and PVP things, respectively. For Vanguard, look at running the weekly/daily strikes and doing patrol missions. I'm pretty sure patrol can actually gain you rep faster (not much from each mission, but they can be done very quickly), but the dailies and weeklies are still worth doing because they tend to reward engrams, upgrade materials, and other useful things. To rank up Crucible... play Crucible, I guess.

Once you're ranked up appropriately and have the marks, you can buy Vanguard armor from the mentor for your class. You can buy Vanguard weapons from the Vanguard Quartermaster, who's located in the ship bay area. Same pattern applies to Crucible - Lord Shaxx sells armor, and the Crucible Quartermaster sells weapons.

To rank up with Dead Orbit, New Monarchy, or FWC factions, you need to buy one of their specific class items from their vendor, and have it equipped when doing the stuff listed above. The reputation will get applied to the faction you've equipped.

Protip: if you're going to bother ranking up and getting the marks to buy these things, look at the armor stats before you jump in. Each faction tends to sell armor with 2 particular stat boosts, and it's worth considering which you want. My sunsinger build thrives on strength and discipline, so I ranked up Dead Orbit first.

Also worth noting: for the 3 factions, you can gain rep and rank up by doing PVE activities. Any rep you earn with their class item equipped counts. However, you'll still need Crucible marks to actually BUY their items.