Vanguard of the Balance is vastly underrated...against anyone a Nexun SHOULD be fighting at that moment, it can range from decent to good damage reduction, and if you do your job well enough to convince an imm to lay Champion of the Balance edge on you, it gets even better. (Last time I was in Nexus it was full of a buncha gear whoring newbs who didn't give a shit about the balance, wasn't hard to stand out.) Not to mention the aspect of the power where the more damage you WOULD take, the more reduction you get. So it's especially good versus stuff like dragon breath and deathblows(surprise!)

And Bond...bond is hit or miss. Sometimes you just don't have anyone to bond with. But when you DO...man, there's some OP combos to be had there.