New/returning player, got a few questions

[Niwashi]

1) Should I start fresh with a new character? I don't remember much of what was going on or where to progress to next, there is so much going on.

Reviewing what was going on is about the only direct benefit of starting over. If you'd put considerable work into your original character, I wouldn't abandon him, but if you have the subscription type that lets you have several alt characters, it could be worth adding one to go through the story again, depending on how important story continuity is to you.

2) I remember hearing that tanks had something changed about them? iirc it was that vit gives damage for tanks now and not str, how does this change stat layout?

Now both Strength and Vitality increase your damage (and by the same amount), but since it's the only thing Str does, while Vit both increases your damage and boosts your Hit Points, Vitality is the clear winner. You should swap your bonus points to that and switch out any Str accessories for Vit ones as soon as you can acquire the equivalent Vit.