Ok here is my rambling paragon post. Proceed with caution!
Right now 7 of the skills on my bar seem solid, I've been experimenting on the 8th. Out of the above skills the one I have been considering the most was Stand Your Ground, because like you said they get knocked down first. I was asking the monks last night if they were seeing less KD lately, not sure if it will be as effective since there is less shock going around. I can still run it next time to see how it works. Right now in that slot I have ballad of restoration which i like a lot, it heals each party member for 68ish the next time they take dmg.
Another shout i was considering is Aria of Zeal which gives all party members +3 energy the next time they cast a spell. I would bring We shall Return, but Go for the Eyes is huge. Basically anytime its up I throw that up to enhance the dmg. And Aggressive Refrain is really important in helping my adrenaline stay up to cast Watch Yourself+Go for the Eyes since they are both 4 adrenaline. Bladeturn is really hard to use, you have to target the ally and its hard on energy since it doesnt give back any energy. Also disrupting isnt as effective as it was when barbed spear was on my bar (yes i know the dervish causes conditions, but im not always on the same target.)
Here is my current bar and attributes:
4 Tactics
10 Spear Mastey - minor rune
14 Command - major
8 Motivation - minor
10 Leadership - major
Vampiric spear + shield both +30 hp, Furious spear as second
- Spear of Lightning little bit of pressure or throw at someone running away low hp
- "Incoming!" lasts 7 seconds with 14 command, recharges in 20
- Ballad of Restoration
- Aggressive Refrain increased atk spd, keeps adrenaline just enough for other shouts
- "Go for the eyes!" give you and warrior +72% chance to critical on next atk skill
- "Watch Yourself!"
- "Fall Back" good for chasing a team thats running, or save when in their base to help retreat
- Signet of Return solid hard res
I've also noticed spamming Go for the eyes and Watch yourself is good, but there are times when you only have enough adrenaline to throw one up right away. That is when you must make a decision. If someone on our team is being pressured, go with Watch Yourself, if we are ok and Punt is about to spike, go with Go for the Eyes. Also Fall Back helps monks kite, but I dont use it all the time anymore. I try to save it if i think we will need to pull back, whether at the flag stand or in their base, or if we are pushing the other team out and we need to maintain our pressure by pushing out with a little extra speed. Incoming is godly, at the start I keep it up as much as possible, or if I'm targeting an ele and i see them about to spike. The hardest part of this job is to make sure all of your shouts hit your whole team, basically you need to position yourself in the exact center of the team and let the war+derv know if they are out of range since if they overextend Incoming doesnt work.
Overall I would say this job is in a strange position, way more than my mesmer was, of coordinating the team. You give buffs to atk+defense, and you have time to listen to the rest of the team complaining about whats giving us trouble. Then you can tell the offense to hit the mesmer casting languor, or tell punt to pull back so you can cast incoming on him. Or you can target a shadowsong or a rangers wolf pet to help out subtly. The paragon himself doesnt do massive dmg, and doesnt heal for huge hp, but he helps greatly.
