JohnLuke
09-11-2005, 06:43 AM
When you see a gladiator what do you think?
Several quotes in this post are from other forums concerning the Gladiator, because I'll be pulling information from several sources as well as my own thoughts I've chosen not to cite the information as it is all free domain.
I suppose this is a hot topic as peoples opinions of glads vary from "worse class ever” to "MOST UBER KILLAS". I don’t think any other class has such a varying degree of opinions, though I suppose it's fitting. Glads are a hybrid class. They are meant to be an intermediary,
and perhaps one of the most customizable. Glads can pick from the LARGEST variety of setups, each having its strength and weakness. A
glad customized to fight nukers is obviously not going to do as well against DAs. When you give one thing to a glad, it seems you take
something else away, keep this in mind.
Glads adaptability and versatility IS their only strength. Use it as best you can. As is I don’t think there is a "right" or "wrong" way to play a glad in so much as there is a "poor" and "better" way to play a glad, the player's skill is what truly shines through with a glady. A glad who knows his style, his
own methods is better than a glad who doesn’t. If you haven’t found your niche yet, hang in there, I’m just making a leveling push to try and hit level 70 and I’m finally just beginning to realize my char, which, despite the shortcomings I wouldn’t trade for the world. As the levels get higher, so does the glad. The power of the gladiator builds exponentially.
The Blunt Gladdy/Tank glady:
In comparison to other dual using glads these are generally frowned upon. Why? Well because most believe that they lack their damage dealing ability which is their stigma and they lack hate. But this isn't always the case. You can still use your focus sonic attacks for example. Stun is now also readily available. Throw on a shield and generally you've now become a DD tank. More times then not I've had to become the tank because of group problems, where deep in the lair we decided we needed to work our way out because of DC issues. Generally this is not a long term way to play it becomes less effective the higher the levels get, but don't be fooled that it is impossible. It is not that the blunt skills are ineffective, it is however that the dmg and speed of duals becomes more feasible.
Compared to Other melee Damage Dealers:
Compared to a dagger they are more consistent. Daggers are completely reliant on luck and Daggers can't take a punch well. In a short frame of time of time the dagger will pull of more specials but if you look at a slightly longer frame of time the glady will output more dmg with specials that consistently never miss. Tyrants are very similar to gladiators. Both are versatile however they are versatile in different ways. The tyrant has totems, for the most part these totems add great benefit but some also add some draw backs as well, those that are able to balance the positives with the negatives are amazing players. The gladiator is highly versatile when it comes to their setups, what armor, what weapon, tattoos things of that sort. Furthermore, our self buffs warcry (adding p attack) and duelist spirit have no drawbacks but last for shorter durations and have slightly longer reuse times. Tyrants have more attack speed and less p attack while glads have higher p attack and slightly less attack speed. The Destroyer has the single best skills that can save your butt in game before you die, with 30 second Ultimate attack and defense (Frenzy and Guts). They get full polearm masteries, Stun with a blunt, one handed and two handed sword masteries that stack. I consider them the absolute most versatile with what weapon they can use, they are a jack of all trades scarily they are masters of them too. With monster HP, weapon abilities that surpass all others they are a great character. They lack long ranged attacks besides that of a bow, which can be used effectively at some times but besides that they are very slow and lumbering, they can output more damage only because they have insane HP and will generally never pull argo till they are already the last one standing.
Macros:
Learn to use the dang macro system. After each attack that required a charge make a macro to use the attack and then use two charge stones. If done right you'll use your special and by the end of the animation have a charge level of 2 already again. Also make a stun macro that can switch to your blunt use stun and switch back to your duals flawlessly. If you can master these techniques they greatly improve your pvp ability.
Money:
Glads are not cost efficient we eat money, use the manor system it is our friend relaxed player can make 2 mil a day, and if you seed hardcore can make about 5-6 mil a day. I consider the manor system built for us melee to give us something over ranged players. It is very possible to turn the money eating ways of spamming SS and consumables around to a positive value that will increase you leveling speed give you a very steady income and allow you to craft your gear.
Things to Remember:
If you pvp a glady at anytime before 55 and lose, something is wrong. Either you played a glady who uses blunt skills who was able to stun you effectively or you need to brush up on your pvp skills. 9 times out of 10 glads will lose the pre 55 battle. Why? Because we don't have TSS (Triple Sonic Slash), this is our bread and butter. The single most damaging attack in the game but is also charge dependant, meaning that we have to use at least 3 Focus Sonics before we can attack. Lionheart, this skill is worthless until you get it to it's highest level of 3. Since getting this skill I've only been slept once with it on and stunned twice. It very effectively cuts down on the risk sleep, paralysis, root, and stun and last for about a minute. I like to consider it a "free pass go and collect 200a" card. You also need to remember that yes the blunt does have a faster attack speed so for charging (Focus Sonic) it will be faster. This however is only the case till level 64 and even more emphasized at 72. Dualist spirit, a self haste stackable buff, that only aids in increase attack speed with duals, nothing else. If you are at the level where you can get these skills don't bother switching to a blunt to charge it won't be close. And finally to those fighting a gladdy remember about the exponential power thing. Here are some examples we get an 8% increase in dual attack speed at level 64, another at 72. Our highest charge level 7 comes at level 74. Most of our attacks increase normally in strength every skill set like everyone else’s so expect that but with the charges as well tack on another ~200 dmg for each extra.
The next section shows "A Grade" gladiator set ups each very different play styles. Gladiators excel at two things our HP and our p attack these will be what we can tinker with to make and mold our characters into whatever we chose through gear and tats.
----HP----
Armor: Doom
Weapon: Dama*Kesh
HP Blunt
Tats: +5 Con -5 STR
+4 WIT -4 INT
It is no secret that HP wins pvp's plain and simple. No armor adds HP like doom does so enchant it up a bit and you'll have a cheaper A grade armor that adds alot of HP. The duals used are the HP duals they will need to be +4 but they'll add another 25% to your HP. Glads have with this set up can get around 12k HP with buffs this is sick because the p attack can remain well over 1k. When using a blunt remember to have the HP SA on it as well, cause if you switch to use stun and don't have health on your blunt then you lost all the hp for when you switch back, a mistake that many people make and ends up costing them pvps. And the tattoos even with - 5 STR you p attack can easily break 1k so add even more HP with + CON, this makes you an all around tough nut to crack and the +4 WIT -4 INT only adds to your ability to not be slept by a mage and rip em a new one.
----Attack Speed ----
Armor: Tallum
Weapon: Kesh*Kesh
Haste Blunt
Tats: +4 WIT -4 INT
+4 DEX -4 CON
In my opinion what glads severely lack until much higher levels is attack speed, I would never take away from DEX only add. The armor is easy Tallum Adds 8% attack speed as well as the Duals they also add 8%. Don't use an HP blunt, that would involve a little too much micro management using the blunt until the enemy was through you CP and the HP point where you would lose no HP when you switched to your duals, this is much more then the lineage lag could handle. Use the Haste blunt to continue with the fast attacks. The +4 WIT -4 INT is an added bonus so add that in as well. Now the DEX tat. In my own experience when you take -5 con this is when you start feeling the adverse effects of getting stunned more often and such, so -4 is just right. The 4 DEX will add 4% attack speed, 4% to crit rate and 4% to run speed, a slight but welcomed lil addition as well.
----Mage----
Armor: Nightmare Light
Weapon: Kesh*Kesh
Haste Blunt
Tats: +4 WIT -4 INT
+4 STR -4 DEX
+4 CON -4 DEX (optional)
When a Glad wants to kill a mage here is how it is done, get in their face and go crazy. The Nightmare light armor does this very well the 4% Mdef bonus along with the Sleep and Hold Resistance +70%. Coupled with lionheart and/or mental agesis and the +4 WIT -4 INT tat this means never sleep. Another set bonus of the light armor is that it restores 3% of melee damage inflicted on the enemy to oneself, so a self VR. Use the attack speed duals faster attack speed is more chances to interrupt and more HP being restored to you. I don't suggest stunning seems like the macro's always mess up when fighting mages and that can leave you high and dry. If you do stun generally once in the beginning is all you will need and it will generally land cause they have low CON. Since the duals add attack speed why not add some decent p attack with +4 STR -4 DEX, overall this still give you 4% attack speed and ~8-12% more attack power. You could increase you HP with a tat as well giving you no gain in attack speed but still having more HP and more attack power, it’s an option. This is the only case I'd take away from DEX ever, EVER.
----Kill CON----
Armor: Majestic
Weapon: Dama*Kesh
HP Blunt
Tats: +5 STR -5 CON
+4 DEX -4 CON
This is my current own set up at least that I'm striving to get right now. Over all this will give me - 9 CON in tats alone and -11 CON with the armor bonus (I believe it maxes at -10 but don't quote me on it) The Tats add some 4% attack speed and Crit and run speed as well as 12-15% attack power but take away ~900 HP, that is alot and with a lack of that much CON you get stunned ALOT. HP blunt and duals bring this up to slight more HP then you lost. Coupled with the majestic armor and then chance for stun is gone as well and +2 more STR and 4% p. attack bonus. This however does leave you open to having no tat to help with mages, lionheart will do just fine. 1 v 1 in arena both fully buffed and same level of 65 I fought an SPS with this set up and won all 3 times simply relying on lionheart to allowed me to get close. You can out last and aura flare battles. Launch a blaster from far, run in stun, charge up TSS and wail away came out with around 3k HP each time. Cancel is a problem, wait to use your self buffs so see if cancel comes. If it does quickly use your self buffs they can hold you over long enough to get the job done. To me this set up uses a balance of gear to only strengthen you from the normal gladdy, yet take nothing away. Glad (human)-- Average at everything, with this set up -- Average at everything and excelling in areas as well.
----P. Attack ----
Armor: Majestic
Weapon: Dama*Dama / Dama*Kesh
HP Blunt
Tats: +5 STR - 5 CON
+4 WIT -4 INT
Very similar set up as the above one. The only difference is that instead of the + DEX tat you do have some added protection from mages with the +4 WIT -4 INT tat. Therefore your HP won't be as low the necessity of HP duals is less and you could get a greater overall P. Attack with the highest A grade duals. It is a matter of opinion in that case. Keep the HP blunt the little bonus of a haste blunt won't be too effective as you aren't a speed focused set up. Slight penalties and small tweaks for greater p attack.
----Crit-----
Armor: Tallum
Weapon: Crit Duals
Haste Blunt
Tats: +DEX - CON
+4 WIT -4 INT
I've always wanted to try this set up. Tallum armor to give you a higher attack speed. Top B grade Crit duals. I don't mean crit damage I mean duals that add to your Crit rate. A glad can crit for well over 1k damage every time, my highest is just over 2kon slightly higher level mobs, that isn't bad considering when criting with duals you only get half of whatever your p. attack is which is in the crit formula. With Crit duals plain and simple you crit more often alot more often. And don't forget about VS (vicious stance) it works it adds alot of damage once you level it up and start criting 5-6 times on a mob. The DEX tat adds a slight bit to the amount of crits you'll get and again the +4 WIT helps you not be slept. Fight with a SWS and/or BD, man it’s like living the high life then.
The Little Stuff:
Don't forget to use accuracy and VS. They help and most 1 vs. 1 pvps will be short enough to use them, macro them together on one button, and turn them on and off mid fight when running and stuff so as not to waste mp too much. Stun stun stun, a glad that isn't using stun instantly puts himself at a disadvantage. If you stun an opponent use that time to charge up, the worst thing you can do is charge while getting wailed on by someone else.
Conclusion:
In My opinion through all the muck the glad only becomes the best at PVP once it’s at the level 75. highest CP and generally high HP with an insane p attack and possible attack speed makes us the greatest melee damage dealer. If necessary we can tank, long short periods of time, it doesn’t matter, we output enough damage to keep argo even with archers in group. When pvping a long range opponent we get two blasters one much stronger (Focus blaster) then the other but the second one puts less time into waiting for the first to be ready for reuse and helps to still do some damage during that down time. cut them off stun em just once and they are done. With a mage get in their face and take it to them. The problem of a bad gladiator arrives when someone is low level, the power as I said only comes in once you are higher much much higher or if the player is inexperienced and unable to use his character effectively with his skills, gear, tactical know how and adaptability. Gladiator Best 1 vs. 1 PVP.
~JL
Several quotes in this post are from other forums concerning the Gladiator, because I'll be pulling information from several sources as well as my own thoughts I've chosen not to cite the information as it is all free domain.
I suppose this is a hot topic as peoples opinions of glads vary from "worse class ever” to "MOST UBER KILLAS". I don’t think any other class has such a varying degree of opinions, though I suppose it's fitting. Glads are a hybrid class. They are meant to be an intermediary,
and perhaps one of the most customizable. Glads can pick from the LARGEST variety of setups, each having its strength and weakness. A
glad customized to fight nukers is obviously not going to do as well against DAs. When you give one thing to a glad, it seems you take
something else away, keep this in mind.
Glads adaptability and versatility IS their only strength. Use it as best you can. As is I don’t think there is a "right" or "wrong" way to play a glad in so much as there is a "poor" and "better" way to play a glad, the player's skill is what truly shines through with a glady. A glad who knows his style, his
own methods is better than a glad who doesn’t. If you haven’t found your niche yet, hang in there, I’m just making a leveling push to try and hit level 70 and I’m finally just beginning to realize my char, which, despite the shortcomings I wouldn’t trade for the world. As the levels get higher, so does the glad. The power of the gladiator builds exponentially.
The Blunt Gladdy/Tank glady:
In comparison to other dual using glads these are generally frowned upon. Why? Well because most believe that they lack their damage dealing ability which is their stigma and they lack hate. But this isn't always the case. You can still use your focus sonic attacks for example. Stun is now also readily available. Throw on a shield and generally you've now become a DD tank. More times then not I've had to become the tank because of group problems, where deep in the lair we decided we needed to work our way out because of DC issues. Generally this is not a long term way to play it becomes less effective the higher the levels get, but don't be fooled that it is impossible. It is not that the blunt skills are ineffective, it is however that the dmg and speed of duals becomes more feasible.
Compared to Other melee Damage Dealers:
Compared to a dagger they are more consistent. Daggers are completely reliant on luck and Daggers can't take a punch well. In a short frame of time of time the dagger will pull of more specials but if you look at a slightly longer frame of time the glady will output more dmg with specials that consistently never miss. Tyrants are very similar to gladiators. Both are versatile however they are versatile in different ways. The tyrant has totems, for the most part these totems add great benefit but some also add some draw backs as well, those that are able to balance the positives with the negatives are amazing players. The gladiator is highly versatile when it comes to their setups, what armor, what weapon, tattoos things of that sort. Furthermore, our self buffs warcry (adding p attack) and duelist spirit have no drawbacks but last for shorter durations and have slightly longer reuse times. Tyrants have more attack speed and less p attack while glads have higher p attack and slightly less attack speed. The Destroyer has the single best skills that can save your butt in game before you die, with 30 second Ultimate attack and defense (Frenzy and Guts). They get full polearm masteries, Stun with a blunt, one handed and two handed sword masteries that stack. I consider them the absolute most versatile with what weapon they can use, they are a jack of all trades scarily they are masters of them too. With monster HP, weapon abilities that surpass all others they are a great character. They lack long ranged attacks besides that of a bow, which can be used effectively at some times but besides that they are very slow and lumbering, they can output more damage only because they have insane HP and will generally never pull argo till they are already the last one standing.
Macros:
Learn to use the dang macro system. After each attack that required a charge make a macro to use the attack and then use two charge stones. If done right you'll use your special and by the end of the animation have a charge level of 2 already again. Also make a stun macro that can switch to your blunt use stun and switch back to your duals flawlessly. If you can master these techniques they greatly improve your pvp ability.
Money:
Glads are not cost efficient we eat money, use the manor system it is our friend relaxed player can make 2 mil a day, and if you seed hardcore can make about 5-6 mil a day. I consider the manor system built for us melee to give us something over ranged players. It is very possible to turn the money eating ways of spamming SS and consumables around to a positive value that will increase you leveling speed give you a very steady income and allow you to craft your gear.
Things to Remember:
If you pvp a glady at anytime before 55 and lose, something is wrong. Either you played a glady who uses blunt skills who was able to stun you effectively or you need to brush up on your pvp skills. 9 times out of 10 glads will lose the pre 55 battle. Why? Because we don't have TSS (Triple Sonic Slash), this is our bread and butter. The single most damaging attack in the game but is also charge dependant, meaning that we have to use at least 3 Focus Sonics before we can attack. Lionheart, this skill is worthless until you get it to it's highest level of 3. Since getting this skill I've only been slept once with it on and stunned twice. It very effectively cuts down on the risk sleep, paralysis, root, and stun and last for about a minute. I like to consider it a "free pass go and collect 200a" card. You also need to remember that yes the blunt does have a faster attack speed so for charging (Focus Sonic) it will be faster. This however is only the case till level 64 and even more emphasized at 72. Dualist spirit, a self haste stackable buff, that only aids in increase attack speed with duals, nothing else. If you are at the level where you can get these skills don't bother switching to a blunt to charge it won't be close. And finally to those fighting a gladdy remember about the exponential power thing. Here are some examples we get an 8% increase in dual attack speed at level 64, another at 72. Our highest charge level 7 comes at level 74. Most of our attacks increase normally in strength every skill set like everyone else’s so expect that but with the charges as well tack on another ~200 dmg for each extra.
The next section shows "A Grade" gladiator set ups each very different play styles. Gladiators excel at two things our HP and our p attack these will be what we can tinker with to make and mold our characters into whatever we chose through gear and tats.
----HP----
Armor: Doom
Weapon: Dama*Kesh
HP Blunt
Tats: +5 Con -5 STR
+4 WIT -4 INT
It is no secret that HP wins pvp's plain and simple. No armor adds HP like doom does so enchant it up a bit and you'll have a cheaper A grade armor that adds alot of HP. The duals used are the HP duals they will need to be +4 but they'll add another 25% to your HP. Glads have with this set up can get around 12k HP with buffs this is sick because the p attack can remain well over 1k. When using a blunt remember to have the HP SA on it as well, cause if you switch to use stun and don't have health on your blunt then you lost all the hp for when you switch back, a mistake that many people make and ends up costing them pvps. And the tattoos even with - 5 STR you p attack can easily break 1k so add even more HP with + CON, this makes you an all around tough nut to crack and the +4 WIT -4 INT only adds to your ability to not be slept by a mage and rip em a new one.
----Attack Speed ----
Armor: Tallum
Weapon: Kesh*Kesh
Haste Blunt
Tats: +4 WIT -4 INT
+4 DEX -4 CON
In my opinion what glads severely lack until much higher levels is attack speed, I would never take away from DEX only add. The armor is easy Tallum Adds 8% attack speed as well as the Duals they also add 8%. Don't use an HP blunt, that would involve a little too much micro management using the blunt until the enemy was through you CP and the HP point where you would lose no HP when you switched to your duals, this is much more then the lineage lag could handle. Use the Haste blunt to continue with the fast attacks. The +4 WIT -4 INT is an added bonus so add that in as well. Now the DEX tat. In my own experience when you take -5 con this is when you start feeling the adverse effects of getting stunned more often and such, so -4 is just right. The 4 DEX will add 4% attack speed, 4% to crit rate and 4% to run speed, a slight but welcomed lil addition as well.
----Mage----
Armor: Nightmare Light
Weapon: Kesh*Kesh
Haste Blunt
Tats: +4 WIT -4 INT
+4 STR -4 DEX
+4 CON -4 DEX (optional)
When a Glad wants to kill a mage here is how it is done, get in their face and go crazy. The Nightmare light armor does this very well the 4% Mdef bonus along with the Sleep and Hold Resistance +70%. Coupled with lionheart and/or mental agesis and the +4 WIT -4 INT tat this means never sleep. Another set bonus of the light armor is that it restores 3% of melee damage inflicted on the enemy to oneself, so a self VR. Use the attack speed duals faster attack speed is more chances to interrupt and more HP being restored to you. I don't suggest stunning seems like the macro's always mess up when fighting mages and that can leave you high and dry. If you do stun generally once in the beginning is all you will need and it will generally land cause they have low CON. Since the duals add attack speed why not add some decent p attack with +4 STR -4 DEX, overall this still give you 4% attack speed and ~8-12% more attack power. You could increase you HP with a tat as well giving you no gain in attack speed but still having more HP and more attack power, it’s an option. This is the only case I'd take away from DEX ever, EVER.
----Kill CON----
Armor: Majestic
Weapon: Dama*Kesh
HP Blunt
Tats: +5 STR -5 CON
+4 DEX -4 CON
This is my current own set up at least that I'm striving to get right now. Over all this will give me - 9 CON in tats alone and -11 CON with the armor bonus (I believe it maxes at -10 but don't quote me on it) The Tats add some 4% attack speed and Crit and run speed as well as 12-15% attack power but take away ~900 HP, that is alot and with a lack of that much CON you get stunned ALOT. HP blunt and duals bring this up to slight more HP then you lost. Coupled with the majestic armor and then chance for stun is gone as well and +2 more STR and 4% p. attack bonus. This however does leave you open to having no tat to help with mages, lionheart will do just fine. 1 v 1 in arena both fully buffed and same level of 65 I fought an SPS with this set up and won all 3 times simply relying on lionheart to allowed me to get close. You can out last and aura flare battles. Launch a blaster from far, run in stun, charge up TSS and wail away came out with around 3k HP each time. Cancel is a problem, wait to use your self buffs so see if cancel comes. If it does quickly use your self buffs they can hold you over long enough to get the job done. To me this set up uses a balance of gear to only strengthen you from the normal gladdy, yet take nothing away. Glad (human)-- Average at everything, with this set up -- Average at everything and excelling in areas as well.
----P. Attack ----
Armor: Majestic
Weapon: Dama*Dama / Dama*Kesh
HP Blunt
Tats: +5 STR - 5 CON
+4 WIT -4 INT
Very similar set up as the above one. The only difference is that instead of the + DEX tat you do have some added protection from mages with the +4 WIT -4 INT tat. Therefore your HP won't be as low the necessity of HP duals is less and you could get a greater overall P. Attack with the highest A grade duals. It is a matter of opinion in that case. Keep the HP blunt the little bonus of a haste blunt won't be too effective as you aren't a speed focused set up. Slight penalties and small tweaks for greater p attack.
----Crit-----
Armor: Tallum
Weapon: Crit Duals
Haste Blunt
Tats: +DEX - CON
+4 WIT -4 INT
I've always wanted to try this set up. Tallum armor to give you a higher attack speed. Top B grade Crit duals. I don't mean crit damage I mean duals that add to your Crit rate. A glad can crit for well over 1k damage every time, my highest is just over 2kon slightly higher level mobs, that isn't bad considering when criting with duals you only get half of whatever your p. attack is which is in the crit formula. With Crit duals plain and simple you crit more often alot more often. And don't forget about VS (vicious stance) it works it adds alot of damage once you level it up and start criting 5-6 times on a mob. The DEX tat adds a slight bit to the amount of crits you'll get and again the +4 WIT helps you not be slept. Fight with a SWS and/or BD, man it’s like living the high life then.
The Little Stuff:
Don't forget to use accuracy and VS. They help and most 1 vs. 1 pvps will be short enough to use them, macro them together on one button, and turn them on and off mid fight when running and stuff so as not to waste mp too much. Stun stun stun, a glad that isn't using stun instantly puts himself at a disadvantage. If you stun an opponent use that time to charge up, the worst thing you can do is charge while getting wailed on by someone else.
Conclusion:
In My opinion through all the muck the glad only becomes the best at PVP once it’s at the level 75. highest CP and generally high HP with an insane p attack and possible attack speed makes us the greatest melee damage dealer. If necessary we can tank, long short periods of time, it doesn’t matter, we output enough damage to keep argo even with archers in group. When pvping a long range opponent we get two blasters one much stronger (Focus blaster) then the other but the second one puts less time into waiting for the first to be ready for reuse and helps to still do some damage during that down time. cut them off stun em just once and they are done. With a mage get in their face and take it to them. The problem of a bad gladiator arrives when someone is low level, the power as I said only comes in once you are higher much much higher or if the player is inexperienced and unable to use his character effectively with his skills, gear, tactical know how and adaptability. Gladiator Best 1 vs. 1 PVP.
~JL