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I'd advise either a Dark Hunter for Binds (well, rather, for their Force Skill as landing an actual bind is pretty damn rare when you need it) and more offense. Plus, it nets you Climax, which instantly kills every non Boss in the game once they reach 55% or less HP at Level 10 (it also works on two bosses: Floor 10 and Floor 27).

The other option is a Protector which gives you a Defensive boost the entire game and allows you to approach every encounter with pretty much the same mindset: Mitgate damage, kill the Boss. The DH route is riskier since it's all about binds and killing them before they fall. Also, the Protector can achieve max STR like every other class which would make it quite a damage dealer in it's own right (still less than the Ronin or Gunner but at least it's more than the Landsknecht. A bit over 150% their damage if they use an Axe, ~182% the damage if they use a Sword).

For an easier time and generally more balanced group, I'd suggest the Protector.

Hmm...I was initially against a protector, as I felt they were sort of boring, but maybe its worth it.

What skills are the must-haves skills for a protector?

I feel like a lot of theses sorts of skills get butchered in other games, so I'm a bit skeptical.

Depends on the point of the game you're at; I find the Antis to not be very useful for the majority of the story as nothing uses Elements that often in anything resembling a predictable manner.

Protector:
HP Up: 10 / 10
TP Up: 10 / 10
STR Up: 10 / 10
Shields: 10 / 10
En Garde: 1 / 10
Riskwall: 5 / 5
Smite: 5 / 5
F. Guard: 10 / 10
1 Guard: 1 / 5
Provoke: 10 / 10

72 / 72 Points ... of course, there's the noticable problem of this lacking B. Guard, but I find the back-row Defensive bonus is a pretty good start for them; Choice Guard is there since it's a cheap alternative to B. Guard (point wise), has a better Defensive bonus than 1 point of B. Guard, and you really don't need multiple uses of it per turn to be honest ... though it does only guard one person.

It's worth noting the the Guards are _for that turn only_. You don't use F. Guard and have 5-turns of the Defensive buff. Still, if something hits hard enough to warrant F. Guard, you'll probably be using it every turn. I say to get the En Garde point in early and then F. Guard. After that, Smite or Provoke, depending on Offense or Defense. Riskwall is just kind of there >>.

When you approach the end-game stuff, Antis become far more necessary, though they're a whopping 30 points for them all. I'd also assume at least 1 Level 70 Retire, which changes the build a bit as you now have 81 Points to work with:

HP Up: 10 / 10
TP Up: 10 / 10
Shields: 10 / 10
En Garde: 1 / 10
F. Guard: 10 / 10
Antifire: 10 / 10
Anticold: 10 / 10
Antivolt: 10 / 10
Provoke: 7 / 10

78 / 81 Points

The lack of STR Up / Smite hurts but, really, the Protector will either be F. Guard or Anti-something every turn so it's not like they NEED to be able to attack. Still, I wish it could be fit in pretty easily. Also, Provoke is only needed for one fight, really, but it turns an attack that would kill your entire group to a single-target attack, though you can always just use Protector's Force Skill to negate the damage altogether.

In short:

Early-game: F. Guard and Provoke for Defense, Smite for Offense
Late-game / Optional Bosses: F. Guard, Antis

Pretty much; they have a huge -Chance to Activate chance per Guard (-32% for All Guard, -28% for Antiall) as well as not being as effective as their normal versions. There are SOME uses of, say, Antiall (there's a fight on the 15th Floor with Random single-target Elements) but both of these skills pretty much fail on fights with all-target attacks ... which is pretty much every hard encounter in the game.