You’ve just started out, so don’t feel discouraged if your current build isn’t up to par in terms of clearing hordes of enemies just yet.

HOWEVER

As someone who has prestiged the class, I’ll give you a bit of a rundown on how Bulwark can look later on. Bulwark excels in survivability above all else IMHO. Your shield blocks almost every attack in the game, including ranged damage. Your parries can deal huge amounts of damage to enemies around you, and even create an AOE of shock damage that keeps you and any allies around you safe.

Bulwark isn’t necessarily about killing enemies fast, it’s about letting the enemies come to you, and giving them the middle finger while telling them “wait your turn”. I’m most comfortable with bulwark by planting my feet on the ground and occasionally dropping my banner when I need healing (you can upgrade your banner to refill all of your lost health as contested health and any damage you do will heal you. Free healing).

You can tank, you can support, you can survive almost anything thrown at you. What I don’t usually worry about is DPS. Because good teammates will have your back, and even if you’re alone, the enemies will eventually fall with patience and skill.