Just hit 80 on my Ele - a little lost
You do not need exotic armor to do Dungeons, save for Arah and maybe the other lvl 80 dungeons. They were desined to be ran at a level where exotic armor does not exist. (Of course it helps to keep you safer, but it is not the most important thing.)
As to exactly what to wear, I cannot tell you. Those who really focus on that stuff can help you, but they need to know what your traits are and what weapons you use, at least.
If you play on an EU server, I’d be glad to show you what my ‘merry little band of mercenaries’ = my characters, do daily at lvl 80.
5 of 6 armor pieces that are P/V/T Gear can be had from karma vendors once an Orr temple or Arah event has been successfully completed.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/List_of_armor_sets#Exotic_Karma_armor_sets
As to whether this is the best set, there are 2 schools of thought. One says that only DPS matters. You might run into this attitude if you pug dungeons. The other says that survivability is important. P/V/T armor supplements what’s called a bunker build, which in an ele is likely to be 0/10/0/30/30 trait-wise. I can vouch that this build is hard to kill, but it also does not kill quickly. You’ll have to decide what play-style suits you.
P/V/T armor is not needed for bunker eles in PvE. I use Knight’s (Power/Precision/Toughness) for my main six pieces of armor, Berserker’s for my weapons, and a mix of Cavalier’s (Toughness/Crit Damage/Power) and Berserker’s for accessories. I don’t do as much damage as a glass build, but I do a more reasonable amount nonetheless.
PvP is another story, one I’m not qualified to speak on.
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