I think everyone is taking the role and largest contributing atributes of guardian and throwing them to the gutter to make it something it was never supposed to be. Guardian was never supposed to be a strong solo class. It is best in groups, even more so in Guardian rich groups. There are several traits that allow for insane aegis up time IF used in a guardian rich enviroment. Sometimes you have to think outside the box and read between the lines. If you want a class that has uber surviva and dps in a solo operation then war seems more appropriate but Guardian is not a solo strong class. No other class has more access to more radius aoe dps/condi burst. before HoT patch I ran a 5 guard group in wvw for havoc. 1 bunker (shout build 2 condi cleanse per shout and strong group sustain and plenty of age for everyone) 2 medi burst, 2 burn the stability , aegis , and aoe dps/condi AND survivabilty up time was insanely strong. Our only weakness was open field combat if the apposing group was good at pick and run targeting . but if the team stayed within a 600 range of each other it was kitten near unbreakable by anything less then 10 apposing players. Skill of players do play a role but in a full guardian group, the guardian traits are insanely strong. Not sure if this was intended or not but it works. Zeal is useful in everything but a bunker shout guard. Although I would agree that the heal from zealous blade could use a bit of a buff, and burn guardian specs could use a source of more consistant heals. but over all, 5 guardian group comp in wvw , 2 guard comp in pvp , and 5-10 guard comp in pve would be really really strong in both dps and survivability. so, in conclusion, it is my opinion, if you can find a few good players who love to play guardian, you have a opertunity for a strong team.