I’m kinda stuck between choices on which tanky-type routes I want to go since both sound appealing in their own way in both pvp and pve scenarios.
Cata/dragoon combo.
sword > pelt > either sword2/pelt2/hop1 >cata >Cata2>cata3 >drag
I like the move speed thing with cata, in a lot of games mobility creep is annoying to your enemies. If you are faster than they are, you can run away from them or actch up to them. Plus riding companion gets you a mild % in bonus stats depending on companion stats.
I’m mildly stuck on what I want for rank3. Sword 2 would be for more concentrate hits and for restrain mostly. I considered doing a swod3 and no pelt earlier but while that would make me very annoying with 40% stun on hit, it would remove the agro-grab from swashbuckling which is essentially what makes a tank THE tank in this game. no swash = potential mobs hitting teammates. hop1 is a mild maybe mainly for finestra , perce which has nice multihit on larger mobs with low sp cost, and stabbing. Pelt2 would be the altenative for better agro grab though would lean more towards pve slightly since agro only works on mobs.
I like the way cata skills are aoe based since it looks useful for grouped mobs and drag might be able to fill a few single-target skills for fighting boss and impaler for pvp to be that annoying guy 
Here’s a question though, does the stun from restrain apply to ALL hits and skils? For example if i use restrain and then i use, for example, serpentine, rush, stabbing, or pierce, does each hit have its own roll for a chance to stun?
and option number 2: fencer.
sword, pelt1, barb1, barb2, barb3, fencer1, fencer2
Fencer seems like a class that seems to allow an easy follow-through on most previous classes, including swordsman and barb and adds its own form of “dueling” abilities that, to me, seem to focus on single targets, aka bosses.
pelt for grabbing agro obviously, same as before. the less my party has to move around and reposition, the more they can melt faces.
there seems to be a thing about highlander vs barbboth seem like good utility and decent damage. Maybe it’s just my own personal bias, but barb sounds simpler. Although i miss out on a possible armor break on bosses (not sure if the debuff works on them) I’m a simple guy and stuns sound like good CC for mobs to me. warcry and frenzy sound like great skills to help boost your own overall damage and also help team do more damage through the def debuff. Then we move to fencer that has interesting skills that buff evasion, can dodge attacks, and even double the damage on next skill. (yep, preparation to sept etoiles with barb atk buffs. yum.)
I’m thinking on dex type builds on both, probably along the lines of:
1str:1con:2dex or 1str:1con:3dex.
possible following some advice to make it look like 100str:50con:25spir:200dex type ratios closer to the finish (spir because skill-based damage. om nom nom SP) or even less STRto fill in more con/dex. not sure what the current lvl cap is. haven’t bothered to check.
Sorry bout the wall-o-text, but if possible some input from people that have played cata/drag and barb/fencer might help me finally come up with a decision. thanks in advance.