Solo self-sustain builds?

I just got back to the game yesterday after about a year or so off. I've been experimenting with different abilities etc but I'm having a hard time finding a really good self-sustain tanky build with all of the changes. I'm in nomads and similar survivability/healing gear. Any suggestions?

You might enjoy this bunker build. https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Firebrand_-_Mantra_Bunker

Its got enough sustain to take care of itself and you can always tweak it to your liking.

I tried that and some other ones out quite a bit last night in WvW. The game as a whole is a lot different than I remember it. While I did have some success in bunkering up in some solo situations it really didn't seem like I could sustain myself all that well when I was outnumbered. I had a lot of success in outlasting people 1v2 or even 1v3 before in a lot of situations when I last played, and this time around it seemed I could delay my death some, but that was about it.

I really didn't like the firebrand tome mechanic to be honest when it came to survivability. I spent a lot of time getting used to it etc, and it is quite powerful in a support situation, but what made the guard fun to play before was the ability to self-heal / protect while simultaneously using my weapon skills. Having to choose one or the other was just meh. I put a lot of time / gold / gems into my guard before, so I was sad to see I just couldn't find a way to enjoy playing him unless I was playing with a co-ordinated group. I suppose that's really where a tanky guard is supposed to shine best though, so I shouldn't be too surprised.

For now I've just swapped to my druid, who in spite of having seriously inferior gear is doing way better for solo survivability for me right now. I was just hoping to not have to learn another profession and do the gold sink thing again to get another character where my guard is :anguished:

I don't know enough about the current WvW scene to be able to give any good suggestions, but I feel you. It's rough having invested so much into a class and then not have it work quite the way you want. Fingers crossed for some kind of change or stroke of insight, and until then best of luck on your druid!

A tanky self-sustain core guard like the PVT builds of yore isn't really a thing anymore, much to my dismay as it's my preferred play style as well. (It'll still work in Central Tyria, and in a PvE group setting you can still pick up your friends when the fights are over, but solo it's quite weak in the new areas.)

A general-purpose build I've found that does well is based off the Conquest (PvP) Radiant Hammer build. I swap out the hammer for scepter/shield and move the hammer trait back to Absolute Resolution. You can tinker a bit from there to adapt it, but it's solid enough to take anywhere.

I ended up cycling through the druid, my necro and back to the guard again just trying out different things in wvw/pve. While it's not the guard I remember, I at least was able to get a firebrand burning/healing hybrid build that mostly works for what I like to do. I'm going to have to make new ascended weaps (previous ones were 2handers), but at least I can still play the guard :)

I have tried to create some sort of a hybrid between WvW support FB and WvW burn DPS FB, a build that can dish out some damage and could also support its group. Current sketch looks like this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQJAnPWSIss9z/ZAdtsCAJg9+ZBthC-jhhAABBqHAm9H6U9nGVCCwDAoMlfAA-e

I decided to choose Valor-Virtues pair, instead of Honor-Valor in common bunker builds, as Permeating Wrath is one of the main sources of damage in Radiance-Virtues DPS builds. Valor gives me group heals to Meditation skills, and it also gives Lesser Smite (which is Meditation skill) to your chosen heal skill. Thus, I chose "meditation-heavy" utility skill bar :)

I have tested different variants mainly just a open-world PvE side, and although I am not as familiar with Firebrand than I am with Druid, the build feels at least as potent in terms of survivability and DPS output. My current thought has been to use Sword/Torch + Axe/x for WvW side: I hope that Sword#2 + Judge's Intervention + Axe#3 all together give enough mobility. If not, well, then I have to try something else or go back to Dragonhunter or Druid roaming / small group action.

Any ideas for such hybrid builds are more than welcome. The build is definitely not as strong solo roamer than Meditrapper DH, but I hope I can get something to times between solo roaming and large scale zergs. That's why I have tried out things to give the build some utility and group heals.

EDIT: Let me add here, that I took few 1vs1 spars. Of course, I am not yet even familiar enough with Firebrand in general, but still I got to say that in such cases it may be hard to catch ever-moving opponent with tome skills: they feel bit slow, and you don't have all that CC you have on DH to drag people back and forth through your traps (or stay ranged, if you can't catch them). It could be easier if you'd have a friend or two to CC the targets. But I keep examining things, if everything fails, I then fall back to Druid or Dragonhunter for solo and small groups :)

In WvW Guardian is definitely more of a group class. I run a lot of supp FB, but it's awful solo. Just can't really put out damage without seriously gimping your support ability. And Condi FB solo roam isn't really a thing either because it's slow and has no range or stealth. DH Meditrapper is okay, but it tends to be kind of squishy to put out enough damage with longbow.

I think you'd be best off trying to adapt the core Radiant Hammer build that someone listed up higher. I would recommend keeping the Hammer, running full Valk (maybe a bit more tankiness if you want it), and swapping out the sword/focus if you want to make weapon changes. It's definitely more of an aggressive burst damage build than a tanky bruiser, but you can change that by just reworking your stats. That being said, you're probably not going to be able to 1v2 or 1v3 reliably at all, because Guardian just doesn't have the evades that a class like Druid does. and things like your mace and focus blocks proooobably just aren't gonna cut it, although you could always try something like a mace/focus condi FB and see if that works?