"Nothing can stand in my way!"

Class Summary

The Gladiator is the weapons master of the Aion world and boasts excellent tanking and damage dealing capabilities. As such, Gladiators can fill either the tanking or dps role in a group. This class also has the widest variety of weapons available to them, being able to wield any physical weapon with the exception of the staff.

Play Style

The Gladiator is the close range, AoE damage dealing class of Aion as it has more AoE skills than any other class. As the Gladiator is a hybrid tank/dps class they have many different types of weapons to choose from. Most Gladiators generally tend to use two-handed weapons such as greatswords or polearms, given that two-handed weapons are required for their AoE skills and have a chance to knockdown an enemy when dealing a critical strike. Some Gladiators may opt to use a dual wield approach, wielding two one-handed weapons in each hand. While dual wielding does increase the Gladiator's single target dps, the Gladiator cannot use AoE skills without first equipping, or switching to, a two-handed weapon. A Gladiator can also choose to wield a sword or mace and a shield if their plate armor alone will not suffice. This gives the Gladiator a chance to block and mitigate some damage, though this combination is rarely seen as Gladiators can tank most mobs or bosses just fine without the use of a shield.

PvE

In solo play, Gladiators can dispatch many mobs in succession as they are protected by the same heavy plate armor as Templars and also deal high damage, bringing down their targets quickly. As such, there is little to no rest time between mobs and Gladiators can grind for long periods of time relying solely on a few healing skills.

In group play, Gladiators make excellent main and off tanks even at low levels and can bring down groups of enemies, using their AoE attacks in conjunction with the high damage of a polearm. As main tanks, Gladiators use their passive skills to increase aggro generation as well as a single target <Taunt I>. As off-tanks, Gladiators can use AoE skills to hold aggro on multiple mobs while a templar holds aggro on the main target.

PvP

In solo PvP, a Gladiator can stand toe to toe with any of the melee classes. The Gladiator also has many buffs that specifically increase his damage to players. However, as Gladiators have little in the way of magical damage mitigation as well as ranged attacks, this class is often kited easily by caster classes. While Gladiators do have an excellent ranged root ability ( <Ankle Snare I>) and have the ability to attack with a bow, ranged classes will often be able to easily dispatch Gladiators.

In group PvP, a Gladiator can wreak havoc on enemy ranks as they have a variety of high damage, single target skills (Precision Cut being one) and AoE skills at their disposal. Being a plate class, Gladiators are not often targeted in group PvP until their Cleric or CC is dead. This gives the Gladiator the chance to fly in and attack Sorcerers and Spiritmasters and pressure the opposing Cleric. Their powerful AoE skills combined with the knockdown ability of their weapons makes Gladiator very useful in any group PvP situation.

Dual Wielding

Many Gladiators choose to Dual Wield to maximize their DPS. Dual Wielding is available to Gladiators through the <> Stigma. Gladiators will not be able to use any of the AoE skills available to their 2 hand weapons while dual wielding. They must have a polearm or greatsword handy to swap weapons if they wish to use these skills.

The main advantage of dual wielding is increased damage while weaving. Swords and Maces are 3-strike weapons, and with a high base attack, can crit up to 3,000 damage from auto-attacks.

PvE Strategies

Since most groups rely on CC when dealing with adds, a Dual Wield Gladiator is able to heavily damage the party's main target. They can still swap to a polearm or a greatsword to add a few AoEs then swap back to dual wielding.

PvP Strategies

Knockdowns are still available while dual wielding. When versing another player, rely on your knockdowns to stumble your opponent as much as possible. If versing Cleric or Chanter, keep moving! Try to anticipate when a Cleric will root next and Charge to anticipate it. Save knockdowns until they cast their heals. If they use <Remove Shock I>, knock them down again.

Ending Note

The gladiator is a hybrid tank class. They have many skills that increase their aggression on mobs and have a good amount of defensive capabilities, though not comparable to a templars. In exchange, gladiators boast a much higher attack and consequently do much more damage than a templar.

Gear

In PvE, gladiators can achieve varying degrees of success with mediocre gear in most cases. However, if main tanking in end game instances, good armor is a must as gladiators do not have access to the many damage negating skills of a templar. As far as armaments are concerned, procuring an attack speed boosting weapon is a priority for this class to make up for the slow attack speed of two handed weapons.

In PvP, gladiators require excellent gear to be viable as having any subpar gear will have devastating consequences. While gladiators do wear plate type armor, they are lacking in damage reducing skills and can go down quickly if not well geared. Also, as this class has little in the way of magical resistance, gladiators require excellent damage to quickly end any fights against casters by dispatching them before they get a chance to react. To achieve this, an excellent armsfused weapon (polearm, greatsword, and bow) fully socketed with attack manastones will be of great benefit.

For dual wield, get a set of gold or orange daggers or maces with attack speed. Rely on stigmas like Second Wind I (stigma) (or <Improved Stigma I>), Ankle Cut I (stigma), Lockdown V (stigma) and Crippling Cut III (stigma).

Synopsis

• Good tanking capability
• Excellent AoE / single-target damage output
• Wide variety of weapon choices
• Highly susceptible to magical attacks
• Capable of high DPS with Advanced Duel-Wielding

Video

AION Introducing the Gladiators(00:40)
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