There's quite a lot of gear, leveling, and shopping in Destiny that can take a while to get your head around, with multiple currency and reward types resulting in a complicated system. To further the confusion, the game doesn't do a very effective job of communicating how these elements work individually or with one another.
Destiny's Crucible Marks And Reputation System Explained
Hopefully, we can help you to understand what you should be aiming for after level 20. Below is a guide to Destiny's faction system and what you'll need to build reputation and access high-level items.
Faction Overview
There are three factions in Destiny, all of which have members in the Tower that can sell you legendary gear. Gaining access to these items, however, is difficult and a bit complicated. Each faction has items that boost different attributes, so you should pick which stats you want to focus on ahead of time and, thus, which faction you will represent. You will also need to accumulate Crucible Marks to spend.
Guide For How To Succeed In The Crucible
To represent a faction, you must buy (with just Glimmer) and wear the unique class item (cloak for Hunters, mark for Titans, and bond for Warlocks) from the faction vendor once reaching level 20. While wearing the item, everything you do will build your reputation for that faction, which in turn gives you access to their gear once you accumulate enough reputation. The New Monarchy sells items that increase Intellect (reduces Super cooldown) and Strength (reduces melee cooldown), Future War Cult's gear increases Discipline (decreased grenade cooldown) and Intellect, and Dead Orbit's combination is Discipline and Strength.
Also, here's a general disclaimer: If you can't stand the Crucible, don't go down this path. Only Crucible Marks can be used to buy faction gear, and if you don't want to play the competitive multiplayer mode, you'll never be able to buy items from any faction or the Crucible handlers. The Vanguard class vendors would be your best bet, as they take Vanguard Marks acquired from patrol missions, strikes, and events instead of Crucible points. You can purchase legendary gear from them, too--factions are just another method of accessing high-level items with specialized focuses. Additionally, the item and attribute bonuses come down more to personal choice and play style than really suiting any one class better than another--just go with your gut or preference.
Buying The Gear
To access the items on sale, you must rank up in faction reputation for your chosen side before you can spend. Completing Vanguard (Strike playlist, events, etc) tasks and Crucible matches while wearing the faction item will convert the points you gain into faction reputation, and reaching 1,500 reputation will achieve rank one. This will let you buy some emblems, but most gear and weapons are locked beyond ranks two and three--it's going to take a while. The gear is purchased with Crucible Marks, which you'll gain from completing competitive multiplayer matches; the Crucible system and currency are explained further in our guide here.
You won't be locked into one faction and can switch at any time, but it would be pretty inefficient to split your efforts. It will take long enough to gain reputation in one faction, and so tossing all of the points you've accumulated aside to switch will be throwing away many hours of play. They all sell good gear
Where Can I Find Each Faction?
All three groups have representatives in the Tower. The New Monarchy's Executor Hideo is hanging out in Tower North, to the left of the entrance under an overhang. The Dead Orbit and Future War Cult can both be found in the Tower Hangar, down to the left and up some stairs in the back respectively. If you're having trouble finding the locations, the robots standing around the Tower offer maps that will point them out.
