Star Wars: The Old Republic Guide: Jedi Guardian Player's Guide

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The Jedi Guardian is an advanced class of the Jedi Knight. Its skill trees are Defense, Vigilance and Focus. The focus tree is shared with the Jedi Sentinel. The Jedi Guardian is a mirror class of the Sith Juggernaut.

Defense is a tanking tree with skills that debuffs a target’s armor.
Vigilance is a DPS tree that uses the heat from the lightsaber to burn the target.
Focus is a PvP tree that has amazing mobility.
Playing the Defense Tree

Essential Skills:

Guardian Leap: Leaps to a friendly target, reducing his or her threat by a moderate amount and reducing damage taken by 20% for 6 seconds.
Challenging Call: Taunts all enemies within 15 meters, forcing them to attack the Warrior for 6 seconds. Player targets deal 30% less damage when attacking anyone other than you. Lasts 6 seconds
Endure: Temporarily increases your maximum health by 30% for 10 seconds. When the effect ends, the health is lost.
Taunt: Taunts the target, forcing it to attack the Warrior for 6 seconds. Player targets deal 30% less damage when attacking anyone other than you. Lasts 6 seconds.
Soresu Form: Enters a defensive lightsaber form, reducing all damage taken by 6%, increasing armor rating by 60% and increasing threat generation by 50%. Soresu Form also increases shield chance by 15%. While active, taking damage builds 1 Focus, but all Assault abilities generate 1 less Focus. This effect cannot occur more than once every 6 seconds.
Sundering Strike: Strikes the target for damage, and reduces the target's armor by 4% for 15 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times. Builds 2 Focus.
Guardian Slash: Strikes the target with a powerful blow, dealing weapon damage and applying 3 stacks of armor reduction for 15 seconds. Targets affected by 5 stacks of your armor reduction suffer additional weapon damage instead.
Force Sweep: Strikes up to 5 enemies within 5 meters with the Force, dealing 1538 - 1889 kinetic damage. Also stuns weak and standard enemies for 1. 5 seconds.
Saber Ward: Raises a lightsaber ward, increasing melee and ranged defense by 50% and reducing the damage taken from Force and tech attacks by 25%. Lasts 12 seconds.
Riposte: Ripostes a parried or deflected attack, striking back at the target for weapon damage. Riposte can only be used after a successful melee or ranged defense and does not respect the global cooldown. Attacks with both weapons if dual wielding. Cannot miss, be parried or dodged.
Awe: Confounds all nearby enemies, preventing all action for up to 6 seconds. Damage ends the effect prematurely. Has no effect on droids.
Force Stasis: Subdues the target, stunning it while the ability is channelled and dealing kinetic damage every second. Builds 1 focus per second.
Force Kick: Kicks the target and interrupts its current action, preventing that ability from being used for the next 4 seconds.
Call on The Force: Calls upon the Force to aid you and your companion, immediately finishing the cool down on Saber Ward and restoring 2% of maximum health every 3 seconds. Requires an active companion. Lasts 1 minute.
Resolute: Breaks you free from all incapacitating and movement-impairing effects.
Blade Storm: Uses the Force to project a wave of energy toward the target, dealing kinetic damage. In addition, standard and weak enemies are knocked senseless, stunned for 4 seconds.
Force Push: Deals kinetic damage, knocks the target back several meters, and knocks the target down for 2 seconds. Immediately finishes the cool down on Force Leap.
Hit Strike: Bashes the target for kinetic damage, stunning it for 4 seconds. This ability generates a high amount of threat.

The Jedi Guardian is a rather simple tank. High armor, the ability to shield attacks and a few ways to interrupt or CC let the Guardian do what he was built to do. Your main two attacks are Sundering Strike and Guardian Slash. The first is used to build Focus, while the second uses it up. What these attacks mainly do though is debuff enemies’ armor, making them take more damage from your allies and yourself. On top of that, Riposte will almost always be available, providing a 6% boost to melee and ranged defense when used for 6 seconds. It should be used often, but pay attention to your Focus so you have enough left over for other emergency attacks. If you are In Soresu form, like you should be, you shouldn't have any issues with Focus. Force Sweep and Blade Storm should also be used on cooldown regardless if you are tanking a single enemy or a whole group, as the former lowers accuracy by 5% for 18 seconds and the latter will give you a damage absorbing shield. Awe, Hilt Strike, Force Push and Force Stasis give you a lot of CC in situations that need it and Force Kick is there for an interrupt. Force Leap can also be used for an interrupt, but it's best to be kept for quick movement when needed. Your taunts are there for when you need them and you have plenty of abilities to help out your healers in the form of Endure and Saber Ward. Besides the large amount of skills, playing a Defense Guardian is pretty easy.

Playing as Vigilance

Essential Skills:

Dispatch: Throws the main-hand lightsaber at a target, dealing energy damage. Only usable on targets at or below 20% max health.
Opportune Strike: Punches the target, dealing kinetic damage. Only usable on slowed or immobilized targets.
Pommel Strike: Bashes the target, dealing kinetic damage. Only usable on incapacitated targets.
Force Kick: Kicks the target and interrupts its current action, preventing that ability from being used for the next 4 seconds.
Force Leap: Jumps to a distant target, dealing damage with the main-hand weapon, immoblizing the target for 2 seconds and interrupting the target's current action. Builds 3 Focus.
Saber Throw: Throws the main-hand lightsaber at a distant target, inflicting damage and building 3 Focus.

Combat Focus: Immediately generates 6 Focus.
Sundering Strike: Strikes the target for damage, and reduces the target's armor by 4% for 15 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times. Builds 2 Focus.
Overhead Slash: Executes an acrobatic attack that deals weapon damage.
Plasma Brand: Engulfs your lightsaber in fiery plasma, dealing elemental damage to a target afflicted by Sundering Assault, with further elemental damage over 12 seconds.
Shien Form: Enters an aggressive lightsaber form, increasing all damage dealt by 6%. All attacks that cost Focus will refund 1 Focus when used. In addition, you generate 1 Focus when attacked, but this effect cannot occur more than once every 6 seconds.

A Vigilance spec Guardian is also rather easy to play. At the start of the fight, and at any points where big cooldowns line up, using Saber Throw, Force Leap and Combat Focus will max out your Focus allowing you to open up with a high damage burst if needed. Or keep the Focus high while going through your rotation on longer fights. Overhead Smash is your strongest attack, followed by Plasma Brand. Any time you are able and both Plasma Brand and Overhead Smash are on cooldown, Opportune Strike and Pommel Strike deal very high damage. If none of those are available, then Blade Storm has a very high chance to crit, but doesn't deal as much damage. If by chance even that is down, Force Sweep doesn't do much damage but is a free attack. Sundering Strike will be your main use attack however, as it debuffs the enemies’ armor and grants you three Focus. Use it on cooldown, likely every third attack. Under 20% health, Dispatch takes priority over all.

Playing as Focus

The Focus Tree is unable to tank like the Defense tree, or deal as much damage as the Vigilance tree in PvE, but makes up for all that with its CC in PvP. It is a support tree in group situations, using taunts, slows, stuns and armor debuffs to make sure the enemy is at a disadvantage, while the rest of your team uses the distractions you create to claim victory.