Guardian class - skill rotation?

Very new and trying to figure out how to best do damage as a Guardian elf!

I've been playing with various 1-handers from quest rewards and generous folk (on landroval!) & a Shield

Took me till level 16 to even find out about the passive skills tab >_<

Any advice or sites that can help me?

1 - what stats shoudl I be looking for on gear?

2 - Is there a proper rotation I should be going through? When soloing and when (in the future) tanking?

I am F2P so I'm super limited on trait slots (2 or 1 in each category), would that limitation make me a ****** tank?

Thanks for any help!

Sindirell, lvl 16 guardian elf , Landroval server.