if it wasn't for those, I wouldn't have any purples. Everyone I talk to, though, always forgets about rep levels. Before I ever put a faction on, I got my Vanguard rank to level 9. You sometimes get armor, sometimes not for your class, but that's also the same reason I went immediately from 20 to 25 with my Warlock alt, because I had a storage locker of gear waiting.

I finally switched to Future War Cult, because I like their guns, but instead of just going to lvl 3 and moving on, I've got to 4, working to 5, because you get a purple from their set every timee (and I would *really* prefer to just unlock instead of earning Crucible marks).

But yeah, rank and Nightfalls is how I got ALL my non-Raid Legendary guns. I have only used Vanguard marks on heavy, use Xur and the fixed unlocks for all other gear.