You want to use your vokes as 'snap' aggro skills and use abilities to gain hate while feathering in phalanx's when you block. Furthermore, I highly suggest getting some iron throwing daggers and engaging your enemies with them so that you can follow with a heavy stab or provoke(on leves the mobs go to the person who starts the leve).

Mitigation wise you just cycle your shield skills and then you have your defense boosters, Rampart for long term high mitigation and/or magic and sentinel/obsess for frequent use; rest is personal choice imo.