Question: What is Dragoon best at ?

[BinaryJack]

I must confess...I do not consider myself as a top DPS with my SMN only on ilvl83 and me levelling my BRD to 50 recently (yesterday) with an ilvl62.

In order to increase my damage for BRD I need to level my LNC...and I am nervous about this.

I have come across a lot of DRG in PUG across all types of runs and dungeons (nm and hm) that seem to be exceptionally squishy.
Hydra - dragoon died 3 times, I stopped raising him after the 2nd time, wasting a SC and Raise.
Cutters Cry - dragoon died twice in about 5 minutes at the Chimera boss.
Titan HM - dragoon died about 3 or 4 times to the point where the healers refused to raise her and she was getting flack from the rest of the party.

So...how can I be less squishy without sacrificing STR?