I'll have to check out the "behind the shield" tactic you mentioned above. But in reality, having to sidestep or turn your body defeats the purpose of the ability waiting for the slow animation or the movement speed while blocking. Maybe if they made the movement speed while blocking the same as normal running speed would…
Either way, tanking or dps, these unblockable attacks make the mechanic kinda worthless. The guard has to be in melee range to dps. At least with the other classes you can avoid the damage outright with a dodge.
Yeah, I usually don't have any issues with aggro. My main complaint is these attacks you cannot block/interrupt that knocks you down. It's one thing getting knocked down for not paying attention or caring, but when there's no option in avoiding that IMO is an issue. Plus when prone, I tend to take huge amounts of damage.