too much quoting i lost track of who was saying what =(...
umm group agro doesn't always translate to single target argo... its the difference in the stances which put brawlers above guardians, its even more noticable on low yellow and below conning mobs... but i think the OP was more about soloing...
in soloing guards are the worst tank class... in equal gear we'll always be the worst... its just not built into our class to be solo friendly...
our off stance is really in need of some love... with just swapping out jewelry last night solo i had 500str in off stance (one str imbued ring, no str hex dolls)... and my jewelry isn't really anything to write home about, only one item of it takes more than one decent group to get (djinn ring), and by decent i mean can kill cazel...
but you did pick one of the worst zones to try and solo... the mobs in there are really underconned... i soloed the whole expansion preLU13, even then i think the boss mob there was the hardest fight i ever had soloing (kite soloing the green x2 in icespire was easier)... it wasn't a debuff that hit ya, it was a pot trap... when i was doing that zone i learned to take some of the cure effect potions that merchants sell...