Sorry if this is stupidly basic of a question to ask, but I'm failing to get a good grasp on this information form the wiki or other sources.

See, when I first started, I went with the Gladiator based on its flavor text. It said something about protecting others, or focus on one handed swordmanship. I thought "damn, that's neat, I've always liked the appeal of just one handing a single blade." Then designed my character around that mental image.

Cut to hours later, I've obviously noticed that my class has shield skills baked into its kit. (I have some old World of Warcraft experience, and many years of Elder Scrolls Online experience, so totally clueless to cues.) Kinda reminding me of my old faux pas of trying to not use a shield with Protection Warrior in WoW back in the day, I immediate knew I was trying to put a circle shape in a square hole here. After clumsily looking into it, it seems all the classes (jobs? I'll get used to the lingo eventually) I'd want to play are firmly baked into the Tank category. So, that leads me to my question:

• I've designed my class fantasy around my character using a blade. And I actually really like my character. Can any of the tank classes function as a DPS (not talking can it be done here, I'm sure all single player content can be DPS's with a tank, rather, the question is; is it competent enough for other players to accept someone playing in that manner), or are even two handed Tank classes firmly lodged in the Tanking role?

Thank you in advance for any advice. I'm trying to correct my class before I go too far in the wrong direction.