Originally Posted by
Oitani
Leveling a guardian can be a bit discouraging from start and up till the mid 20s, because of the way the feat trees are set up. You will not really feel much difference independent on where you put the first 10-15 points. (It's about the same for all soldiers though.)
My first guardian (rip) I leveled in Shield&Sword and Defensive stance. My main was levelled in polearm and frenzy (mostly). Point is: it's doable either way. Wouldn't recommend S&S though. Not even for practicing tanking. Killing normal enemies and tanking bosses isn't the same. Combos change anyway, and the rotations aren't the same. Only spec tank if you have friends/guildies to play with and you know you will do a lot of dungeons together. (Or get multiple specilization if you are subscriber).
When using polearm and frenzy positioning is very important. Practice getting groups of mobs to pack together so you can hit many at the same time. That will help a lot further in the game.