Guild Wars 2

Hi first of all I’m new. I have the game since release but was playing other game until I gave up on it. So now I start with GW2 and pick the Guardian as my first character but after reaching level 49 I notice that my character looks more like an NPC while others have this flashy armors and costumes. Is there a way to buy better armor than the ones that NPC and Trade Market sells?

At the earlier levels theres not alot of armor variety to work with. Its not until around 60+ that unique skins will become more available. If you are still leveling its best to just stick with the gear you can buy from the Quest vendors or off the Trading Post. You can also craft gear which is probably going to be hard if thats your first character since you won’t really have the gold or materials to level it.

I’d recommend you just tough it out with regular gear until you hit 80 and start running Dungeons for tokens which you can trade in for weapons/armor. It would be best to start with Citadel of Flame (Path 1+2) which is the most beginner friendly. Once you have enough tokens trade them in for Berserker (Power/Precision/Ferocity) gear which is what you want for PvE.

I think you look like a pound puppy.

True, most of the stuff becomes available at level 80 – if you see players around your level with unique looking sets, they likely unlocked it on another character.

Though don’t despair: check out the Cultural Tier 2 vendor when you reach level 60, it features a great looking heavy armour set, very Guardian-like. In your wardrobe, it’s called Avenger. The armour is of rare quality, so it’ll last you some time as well. Plus you’ll unlock its appearance in the wardrobe! :-)
The total set costs about 8 gold, I remember it was a fortune when I started, but I think it’s more affordable these days, at your level.

I actually think your current set looks quite nice (if you match the scale colours), flashy isn’t always better!

I found out recently that, while leveling, the more aesthetic gear tends to come from Karma Vendors, typically ones you unlock by completing Renown Hearts. (Not all Renown Heart vendors have gear available, though.)
Here is a decent guide I found; it’s not perfect, but does give a good starting point:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/23bzt5/complete_idiots_guide_to_unlocking_karma_and_loot/

I’m surprised no one has mentioned yet, but at levels 35, 60, and 80 you gain access to a new tier of cultural armor from a vendor in your capital city. So there are three little blue helmets on your map in divinity’s reach. These are your cultural armor vendors. Quite a lot of people run around with these armor skins. (And more often then not, they buy the armor for the looks, and transmute the skins onto armies with more appealing stats.)
This is a great place to start, with many many more options opening up at level 80.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Human_Cultural_Armor

Thanks all, I just reach level 60 and look at the Tier 2 Cultural but obviously dont have enough for all the pieces of the armor so I will just update all my parts to 60 from karma vendors and keep going.