soo...yea...I hate the 3 second cast times, so i dont really use them, Im constantly having to move and cancel them, like 60ish% of the time, very annoying. now that being said, I can unload when I get some alone time, and depending on your spec you can get some big daddy burst deeps. As for your QQ about being hit and the center of attention, work on that, or that might just be your play style to be all up in the middle of things. and if thats so: you might want to rethink your class, we aint built to be all up in the middle.
personally; I think you have just watched too many highlight videos, and now that you dont crush like the guys on youtube, you are disappointed, c'est la vie
Yak