Just contributing to what @nazrious started. I am currently running the squire shinobi build.
Tanking wise I believe I’m doing especially well for the physical damage tanking department.
I do not use C button nor do I enjoy holding on to it because I fear I maybe overwhelmed by burst dps classes during the 20 seconds cooldown of swash buckling.
When I was running the Pelhoplilte squire build, I was tanking decently in terms of mitigating damage but I find my use of mainly only two skills (stabbing and Pierce) along with auto attacks to gain aggro is too little. Hence I went with Shinobi, which provides kunai a 15s overheat multi hitting skill which complements the Hoplite build as well. The spear lunge also doubles the damage output of all Pierce attacks including kunai’s.
With the added multi hit skill from shinobi, I have yet to find anyone other dps class including swordsman (as long as they turn off their provoke attribute) that can overtake the aggro from bosses. This is observed from my missions in siaulial.
I have also managed to tank through the siaulial without a cleric (because search party) and without hp pots. I will still have half hp left at the end. This also includes tanking the poata and mole together initially on the last room.
For now I am still finding solutions for the magic damage tanking department as I am still prone to magic. Reason being why I chose shinobi and squire is that they provide mokuton and arrest respectively. Both skills aims to bind/hold monsters in their place while your party plough through the monsters safely. It is my current work around to magic mobs for now.
Cast mokuton>Lure a bunch of magic mobs>all projectile towards me but only 1 hit to trigger the mokuton> mitigated rest of the magic hits when teleported/blink strike to the enemies, at the same time binding them. Mokuton has a pretty large AoE though I am still unsure how huge… And I can also follow up with arrest on the next batch of magic mo
Of course I still hope to improve the tanking on magic damage through discussions here.
Currently I will say I’m on a pve build with 100+ con and 200+ dex Stat build.
@nazrious
Ok so at the beginning I’m sorry for my English.
I pvp player and it is defensive build Ninja+shield for pvp. I’m going to play a sword+shield, full cloth armor for magic ress.
Pros
R1: SW1: bash good cc, pain barrier, concentrate
R2: PELT1: + 25% hp, + 18% evasion, + 25% block, stun (UB chance 25%)
R3: BARB1: stun, +50 crit rate, good dmg // Hoplite will be also a good choice, but I do not like spear. Meybe sword c2.
R4: ROD1
R5: ROD2: here !, CC CC yeah, shield charge !, Montano stun + good dmg, target smash cc, slithering 10s magic immune + Increase strike attack to 100% if in hit ofc
R6: CROS: Iron hook! great cc, and can use combo burst from shinobi or rodelero skills, JR enemy debuff
R7: Shinobi: burst, stealth, FUN!
STR / CON / DEX 1/1/2: this is my way
Im thinking about rodelero c3 but crosair cc is great
Website was acting funky sorry for delay.
Thanks for the reply Dark, It helps me to better understand your reasoning. I don’t really PvP but it looks like an interesting build.
Thanks for the info mate, It nice to know you are able to forgo C and still make it through missions. How has your Dungeon experiences been?
Heres an image I been messing with does anyone have better editing skills and can work on it?
A very good post on tanking.
Been getting some kind of 504 error and have not been able to get on the forums let alone work on this thread.
Basic Idea if any one has the ability to improve/ rework on this I’d appreciate it. My skills are very lacking in this department.
For dungeons, I am currently at 240 dungeon. So far I am still able to take lesser damage from the physical department.
However magic is still the main obstacle. I always lure a bunch of those monsters and then katon no jutsu to keep myself invisible before arresting them.
I have tried out every skills of shinobi… Here’s what I know so far interacting with dungeon/mission mobs.
Mokuton no jutsu does a debuff that binds initially but if the monsters affected receives a hit, the debuff will be gone, ending the bind prematurely.
Bunshin no jutsu level 1 does not have any penalty at all. But from level 2 onwards you will take extra damage which is 2 times, so going forward level 3 = 3 times… So on and so forth.
Mijin no jutsu damage sounds good on paper but the animation and penalty isn’t really worth it for the damage. I didn’t keep a record of my damage but I did a crit of 9k odd damage to a Pierce prone monster on level 3 mijin(note that I have low str). I tried it on players and bunch monsters but it didn’t make up much so I reset it away. Unless convinced again of its use. At 25k hp now I wouldn’t use it at all.
9k aoe might have uses, Especially on packs of casters. Do the mobs still follow when invis? Would be a great way to group up casters.
Thanks for the info.
Hey a lot of useful information here ty 
I had always the dream to make a shinobi like this (it would take a while though, not much time to play 
)
I would like to use it to tank/pvp decently (even if not optimal, it seems fun on the paper at least)
Dunno if Mijin is worth leveling up vs Kunai (Katon i only want it for stealth)
Full STR/CON build in mind.
I would drop the second slot of pelt and grab cor, or even hop. It will make your life easier and you would get hexen or finestra. Both synergize well with bursting. PvP wise stealth and hook are a very tough combo, for the sword tree anyways, and is one of the few combos out there that seems to be well liked. I don’t PvP really so others will have to go in depth.
Time wise, this game is better if you go slow and steady, learn from others experience and mistakes so you do not end up in a bad spot. I barely have enough time in a day to get missions and dungeons done, some days not even that. Right now rushing to 280 does not do much for you, the first wave is already there thus no easy world boss camping or anything that makes it needed to rush.
I’m adding in some useful tanking advice to the guide any input especially from the Ninja tank community on tactics and how you handle differnt mobs and bosses is welcome.
Slight Update. and again if any one has any skills with graphic editing please let me know.
@Cathexis or someone Rod2+ verify when the CD on slithering starts.
Does it start as soon as skill is used?
or
Does it start at end of skill?
This makes a huge difference.
Added an Equipment section, and would love suggestions from others.
Ohh thank you for ur imput 
Im still Sword > Pelt > Swordsman… ill take C3 Sword next and then Corsair C1… and then ill expect to have more experience to be able to decice R6…
The point about taking Pelt C2 was to be better tank in PvE and for more survability when taking heavy damage in GvG/PvP. High Guard seems very nice on the paper, also the attribute for Rim and Unbow…but just theorycraft dunno if it is worth actually, maybe u are right about this. (I also read this “old” discussion and seems it is not that good actually Highlander’s Cross Guard vs Peltasta’s High Guard...WTF?)
What i really would like instead of Pelt C2 is Barbarian C1, mostly because of Helm Chopper…Corsa C2 could be nice too, but it seems weaker than Barbarian, same with Hoplite C1 (both better Bursts but less CC)
Oh and I agree about taking it easy about leveling…i would like to be R7 by now ofc, but i also enjoy a lot the road to it haha so no problem
I will tell what i finally did when i reach R6…someday 
Take care!
Glad to help, right now Pelt c2 is very bad, it is better to pick any other circle even if you decide barb, pelt c2 just does not merit the investment, nor does c3 imo but that is open to much discussion. also if you plan to not go cor 2 have you thought about sword pelt sword sword hop hop ?
Hehe yeah it seems they should buff a bit Peltasta beyond C1 :S
About Hoplite C2 i should have to sacrifice something that i feel is basic for PVP and the way i want to play the character (Sword C3 is a must for me, cause I want the funny Bunshins actually working so cant drop that even if it is just gimmicky… Corsair C1, is another must cause of Iron Hook for PVP, thats the only reason i want it actually, and well being a Pirate is cool too xD… and then there is the only Rank I could go Hoplite or something else… but again to me Barbarian is a must, that i would only sacrifice if something were really good… but atm the only thing i could consider if no Pelt C2 is Rodelero C1…but Stun from Barbarian seems OP to me and also synergizes better with Swordman skills, so i think i will end up chosing Barbarian but we will see hehe…)
If i wanted to be full tank, then i would go Hoplite way for sure, but i would want something like a 50% PVP, 25% TANK, 25% FUN/STUPID character hahah
What do you think of Sword1, Peltasta2, Barbarian3, then Shinobi?
The squire one looks tempting does it make alrite money as a sub class that’s more of a craft/support like pardoner?
I see well pelt2 isn’t doing you many favors so u can always adapt it to a more PvP oriented selection[quote=“royitdhanuvekin, post:32, topic:249646, full:true”]
What do you think of Sword1, Peltasta2, Barbarian3, then Shinobi?
The squire one looks tempting does it make alrite money as a sub class that’s more of a craft/support like pardoner?
[/quote]
What is your goal? Pelt 2 is not really needed for tanking and if your goal is a dps spec then there are other routes than pelt2 have you considered adding in doppel or something else?
Been toying around with the idea of a tanky shinobi for pvp purposes. The build I’m aiming for is Sw > Pelt > Hop > Rod > Rod > Corsair > Shinobi with about 40-60 dex ( just enough to hit most non-archers in pvp) and rest con.
Reasoning for the build is: Corsair gives you access to Iron Hook, which is one of the best cc skills available to swordsman, Rodelero gives some cc and slithering to help mitigate magic damage, Shinobi allows you to stealth and use skills while invisible. I’ve got somewhat high str dragoon for pvp atm but I feel the returns you get from putting points in str aren’t high enough to warrant it; I often wish I had put those points in con. As for gear, I prefer the Grynas Set over the Roxona set since it gives magic def and has higher acc on gloves while still being plate.