So I recently hit level 80 on my main (after 9 months) and I'm a bit lost now. I want to start equipping my character but I'm lacking the funds to do so. What would be the best way to make gold at this point? I definitely don't have enough to buy a full set of exotic gear yet but making money in this game seems to be somewhat difficult.

I'm also curious as to how some people get the more unique looking pieces of equipment in the game because everything in the auction house looks the same, even some of the 80 armour looks the same as level 40 which is a bit disappointing.

And lastly, how would I start working on getting legendary weapons?

I've spent some time in the game but as you can see I know pretty much nothing about it so if someone could help enlighten me that would pretty great. Thanks a lot.

Firstly I should point you towards the vendors in Lions Arch by the Fort Mariner waypoint. Those are the Dungeon Token vendors and they give unique 'top stat' gear in exchange for tokens you get by running explorable dungeons (3-5 runs nets you enough tokens to get a piece of gear).

Those same dungeons give you coin for completing them along with a change of various loot to vendor or sell on the trading post. Basically running dungeons is one of the ways to make money and get stuff in the game. Specifically one of the paths in Citadel of Flame (CoF) is the common way to make money as it can be done in under 20 minutes if done right.

There's also cultural armor which you can get in your races home city (look for the blue helmets on the map), those cost straight coin though.

Lastly for the legendary, and also gear I guess... check out Bahloo's sticky on how to obtain endgame armor.

We did an episode of the Lincolncast where we talked about getting legendary weapons but I can't seem to find which episode it was... anyone know?

@thurbleton: Thanks a lot for the answers. When trying to get into a group for the CoF explorable should I have a certain build or anything to help me find one or could I just go there as I am? I only have part of an exotic set and I don't have up to date weapons yet. Also my build probably isn't that great.

@ezakael: 1. Thurb is crazy. If CoF path 1 takes you 20 minutes something has gone horribly wrong.

2. Most groups look for straight DPS. You will find a lot of groups that only want warriors and a mesmer for CoF, but if you can manage to find a group that will take anyone and does not mind teaching, go for it. Or, just yell in guild (assuming you are in BOMB) and depending who is online we could get a guild group going.

3. I didn't see what profession you are in your OP. Odds are I (or someone else) can recommend I decent build/gear set for you and tell you exactly where to get the gear you need for it.

4. I wouldn't even bother thinking about a legendary until you get your main toon completely geared.

@shinboy630: I might try and set something up in the guild chat at some point if enough players are online at the time than. My main is a Thief by the way.

@ezakael: For thief, this is what I use. It is kind of really squishy, so I would maybe recommend speccing for a bit more survivability in the mean time until you really get a grasp on how to use your dodges/stealth. However, once you get that down, that build does really solid DPS.

In terms of variations, pretty much all the Adept and Master level traits in Crit Strikes are useful at some point or another depending on if you are fighting bosses or trash and if you want a bit more HP. The 3 and 4 traits in Trickery are also pretty good if you feel like using them instead (especially Flanking Strikes in longer boss fights).