Exotics are best gotten by earning strange coins and buying them from Xur. There is also a decent chance to drop in Nightfall and raids. Make 3 characters and do the nightfall and weekly 3 times per week. That's best. Legendary gear is easily bought from tower vendors. Do strikes and public events (3 per day per character) and bounties to level reputation. Raid gear is generally the best, but hardest to get. Raid when you can. Until the next patch, everyone can solo the first Crota raid chest. Do that once for each of three characters per week.