I'm not talking about other things in a different way, I'm talking the same thing but better. In this case standing toe to toe with your enemies can be done and can be done better by a guardian also using the GS. You can initiate the battle, switch to another weapon/utility and safely rez a downed ally.
The thing I'm wondering is: what do you like about GS rangers that you don't find in GS war/guardian/mes. The option to switch to a really good ranged weapon is there for mes/war without a doubt, guardian's scepter is actually pretty good for dmg aswell.
I'm not talking about a class being better than another for x,y,z like you bring up the hammer guardian. What I am trying to find out is if you like GS (the weapon) why did you opt for a ranger? To me it seems like people level a toon are comfy with that toon and don't want to level another class even though the playstyle is very similar and better on another class.