I’ve found a new home on Treebeard, complete with a really friendly, active and relaxed Kin (Onodrimmoot). The server seems to be going really well 
I’ve just got my first character to 50 and I realised that I had no idea on how best to gear up as I normally zoom past it. So I’m going to compile the various sources of gear that can be earned at level 50 – it will be a work in progress, initially looking at solo sources but I will update as I progress through Instanced content.
Crafted:
Crafted gear available for level 48. These are green quality that can be critted to purple. No special ingredients needed. This is probably the easiest gear to obtain and will do until you can upgrade.
Lvl 50 pieces are from dropped single use recipes, they require a Beryl Shard and will give Purple quality. To crit (Teal quality) will require a Master Metalsmith’s Journal.
Improved Guild recipes are as above but require a Large guild pattern as well. It is not single use but does have a cooldown of 6 days and 18 hours.
Class quests:
The level 45 quests will give you 2 pieces of equipment at Teal quality. They vary for each class (check the wiki) and look to be decent.
Skirmish:
From a very quick comparison with crafted (lvl 48) gear – crafted is far superior. However, if you’re not able to get crafted gear for any reason, or are in a hurry, they might be worth considering.
Faction:
Kharum-Ubnar (Erebor Dwarves) barter Teal Bracelet, Leggings and Gloves at Acquaintance level. The stats are similar to level 48 crafted gear but they boost some other stats which I haven’t seen on the above items.
Wildwood Missions (Trestlebridge) barter Teal earrings. The stats look pretty good.
Motes of Enchantment:
Underwhelming given the cost.
Examples:
I will be initially aiming for Class + Wildwood + crafted. There are also gear sets available (e.g. Wildwood, Angmar) which I may look into next, along with lvl 50 dungeon drops.
Let me know in the comments if I’ve missed or misinterpreted anything