vanguard dps is completely fine. no, it is not better than razorclaw, but its pretty darn good compared to non meta stuff. granted a normal twf pally or fighter is better, but vanguard gets the most defense of any dps, some of the best CC of any dps (rivaling dragonlord with the right items), as well as having multiple animation cancel attacks. just because you probably don't know, vanguard pally needs to have a favored weapon like a normal pally, and arguably the "best" vanguard weapon is either bastard or DAxe, and both of those are rough getting favored. bastard needs a +1 lesser heart from pdk, level 23 (so do the whole heriocs without any favored bonuses...). DAxe needs 11 racial points on dwarf. technically longsword and Warhammer solve those problems, but daxe/bastard are better IMO due to strikethrough, better CC weapons, and you have a lot of clear speed. it will be less dps vs a boss sure, but that's 1% of the game most likely. of note, vanguard pally gets the imbue on the shield if your mainhand weapon is favored. also, divine crusader t5 is the one you want as its the best for dps shield build. lastly, if you don't have the fire over morgrave shield, go home. you will be severely gimped in both shield dps and gearing and CC without it (doesn't matter at all for leveling)