AION 2 Gladiator Build: Best PvE & PvP Builds (November 2026)

Best Gladiator PvE farming build in AION 2 (November 2026)

For open-world farming the Gladiator runs the stigmas Lunge Stance, Rage Burst, Lifestealing Blade and Zikel's Blessing. Leaping Slam resets on kill so you jump from pack to pack, Crushing Wave and Rending Blow hit up to 4 enemies, and Lifestealing Blade heals you off the whole group. Stat priority: Combat Speed, Attack, Accuracy, Critical Hit.

Why this build

• The build follows Orzik's General & AoE build (20 Oct); Netero (48 likes on questlog.gg) runs the same four stigmas. Farming builds don't have many ratings yet, but they all share this core.
• Lifestealing Blade at 15 drains 10% HP from a hit on up to 4 enemies, gives the party Predation and has a 30 s shorter cooldown. In packs it replaces Focused Block, which has nothing to block against mobs.
• Leaping Slam takes the reset on kill and +20% PvE Damage Tolerance for 3 s; Rush Strike restores 300 Stamina after a dodge and reaches 20 m.
• Orzik leaps into packs of 3–4 mobs and holds the macro Crushing Wave → Overhead Slam → Rending Blow together with left click.
• Crushing Wave with Absorbs 2% HP and Rending Blow with −20% MP cost save both HP and mana between packs.

How it differs from the other modes

• Compared with the dungeon build: Lifestealing Blade instead of Focused Block, Zikel's Blessing only at 10, active skills spread evenly at 14 instead of two skills at 20, and Crushing Wave added.
• Alternative: Wave Armor instead of Zikel's Blessing (andrevictor).

Best Gladiator dungeon build in AION 2 (November 2026)

For dungeons (Nightmare, Expedition, Transcendence, Ludra) run the stigmas Lunge Stance and Rage Burst at 20, Zikel's Blessing at 15 and Focused Block at 5. The core is a no-cooldown Overhead Slam at 20, Sword Aura Rampage at 20 and Ruinous Blow for the Prepare for Battle buff. Stat priority: Combat Speed, Attack, Accuracy, Critical Hit.

Why this build

• Ulfhednar (PvE DPS Endgame, 2 Nov), matixte, Orzik and Not Ace all run the same four stigmas. In questlog.gg search they are the four most common Gladiator PvE stigmas.
• Lunge Stance at 20 gives every crit a 50% chance to cut all cooldowns by one second; Rage Burst at 20 adds another +10% PvE Damage Boost and opens Overhead Slam for 10 s.
• Sword Aura Rampage at 20 fires on its own from the row as soon as the boss is staggered, and every hit cuts all cooldowns by one second (Orzik, Ulfhednar).
• Focused Block catches telegraphed boss hits, and every block gives the whole party a buff through Experienced Counterstrike (Orzik).
• In Nightmare the Gladiator has an index of 113 and reaches the top 5% more often than his population suggests (global tier list in cooperation with aion2.gaming.tools).

How it differs from the other modes

• Compared with October: Rage Burst at 20 instead of 5, Zikel's Blessing at 15, Overhead Slam and Sword Aura Rampage at 20, Keen Strike with −1 s to the Ruinous Blow cooldown instead of Absorbs HP, and you hold left click the whole time.
• When a Templar tanks, Blade Toss instead of Focused Block (Ulfhednar, older build with 60 likes).

01Overview

The Gladiator is a greatsword tank. He has no taunt and holds bosses through damage alone: Keen Strike, Rending Blow and Overhead Slam all increase Enmity, and according to Grobs that's enough to tank every dungeon. In a party without a Templar you are the tank, and because some buffs of the two classes don't stack, Grobs doesn't put them in the same group.

Your damage is built on Overhead Slam. Normally you can only use it on a knocked-down target; against bosses it unlocks at random or through the Rage Burst stigma, which opens it for 10 seconds. At level 16 Overhead Slam gets a no-cooldown specialization, and in that window you spam it nonstop. The Lunge Stance stigma at 20 then gives every crit a 50% chance to cut all cooldowns by one second, so Rage Burst and your buffs are up almost all the time. Arthars Gaming calls this the reason the Gladiator is so strong.

Don't expect a pure DPS class. mein-mmo's tier list from 6 Oct 2026 puts him in A tier both as tank and as DPS. On the global rankings (22–23 Oct) he is strongest in Nightmare with an index of 113 and below his fair share everywhere else: Abyss 80, Transcendence 81, Arena of Solitude 91 (100 = as many players reach the top 5% as his population suggests). The 28 Oct patch gave him 1,500 base HP, tied with the Templar for the biggest increase of any class.

02Global Season 1: what changes

• The global version has four stigma slots and stigmas cap at level 20. According to Arthars Gaming the Gladiator has six good stigmas, so two have to stay at home.
• The level cap is 45. Daevanion has five boards on global: Nezekan from 12, Zikel from 20, Vaizel from 30, Triniel from 40 and the PvP board Azphel from 45. The Korean PvE board Ariel is not in the global version. Stigma slots open at 22, 27, 32 and 37.
• On the global client Zikel's Blessing only buffs you: Attack and Accuracy for 10 s, nothing for the party (questlog).
• Murderous Burst raises your own Critical Damage Boost and also deals area damage (questlog). That's why it's one of the four main passives.
• The buff from Experienced Counterstrike doesn't stack with the Templar's Fury (questlog). When a Templar blocks in your party his version applies, but you keep the Front Attack Damage Boost (Arthars Gaming).
• Season 1 has lower stats, slower Combat Speed and few skill points and Arcana cards. Arthars Gaming therefore builds so that three skills at 16 and two at 20 are enough.
• Crushing Wave only pulls enemies with a 50% chance from the level 16 specialization (questlog). In PvE, says Arthars Gaming, what's left is an AoE heal off mobs.
• The 28 Oct and 4 Nov patches didn't change any Gladiator skills. 28 Oct added 1,500 base HP at level 45 (from 4,702 to 6,202), and 4 Nov brought Chaotic Outer Reshanta, where stats and skill and stigma levels are equalized and only specializations count.

03Skills

A skill gets 10 levels from skill points and four more from Daevanion: Overhead Slam, Rending Blow, Ruinous Blow and Keen Strike each have a +1 node on all four regular boards. Rings (+1 to a chosen skill each) and Arcana cards add the rest. Levels 12, 16 and 20 matter because each opens another specialization slot. The target from the November endgame builds: Overhead Slam and Sword Aura Rampage at 20, Rending Blow, Ruinous Blow and Leaping Slam at 16 (Ulfhednar).

Overhead Slamtarget 20

Deals 174 damage to a target afflicted with Knockdown within 4m and increases Enmity. Has a 7% chance to trigger when attacking a target with Incapacitated Immunity. 5 Stagger Gauge Damage

Your main damage source. Without specializations you can only use it on a knocked-down target, on bosses with a 7% chance on hit, and for 10 s without limits after Rage Burst. The build runs it at 20 with the Upward Strike chain, a guaranteed Critical Hit and no cooldown (Ulfhednar, matixte). That guaranteed crit keeps cutting your cooldowns through Lunge Stance.

• 8Adds [Upward Strike] Chain Skill
• 12Critical Hit on hit
• 16Remove cooldown

All specializations (5)

• 8Absorbs 0.7% HP
• 8Changes to AoE Skill
• 8Adds [Upward Strike] Chain Skill
• 12Critical Hit on hit
• 16Remove cooldown

Rending Blowtarget 16

Deals 70 damage to up to 4 enemies within 4m and increases Enmity. 2 Stagger Gauge Damage

A no-cooldown spam skill that costs MP. At 8 take the mobile-skill change, otherwise every use roots you in place and the class feels clunky (Grobs, Arthars Gaming). At 16 add 50 MP restored on crit. Ulfhednar and matixte both run it at 16 with exactly this pair.

• 8Changes to mobile skill
• 16Restores 50 MP on landing a Critical Hit

All specializations (5)

• 8-20% MP consumed
• 8+200 Block while using skill
• 8Changes to mobile skill
• 12Deals up to 12% more damage when less targets are hit
• 16Restores 50 MP on landing a Critical Hit

Ruinous Blowtarget 16

Rushes to a target within 7.5m to deal 2387 damage to up to 4 enemies nearby and grants Prepare for Battle for 20s. Prepare for Battle: Increases PvE Damage Boost by 20%, PvP Damage Boost by 10%, Critical Hit by 100, and Status Effect Chance by 15% 25 Stagger Gauge Damage

A leap onto a target within 7.5 m with a big hit and the Prepare for Battle buff for 20 s: +20% PvE Damage Boost and +100 Critical Hit. The build takes +30% Skill Critical Hit and extra damage. Ulfhednar uses it right after Zikel's Blessing and Lunge Stance as the opener on a boss.

• 8+30% Skill Critical Hit
• 12Extra damage on hit

All specializations (5)

• 8+20% Skill Speed
• 8+12.5m Range
• 8+30% Skill Critical Hit
• 12Extra damage on hit
• 16Ignores Block and Evasion and lands as Multi-Hit

Sword Aura Rampagetarget 20

Deals 124 damage to a target afflicted with Stagger within 4m.

A spam skill that only works on a target in Stagger. In his 2 Nov endgame build Ulfhednar pushes it to 20 with Multi-Hit and −1 s to all cooldowns per hit. Placed above Ruinous Blow in the row, it fires on its own as soon as the boss is staggered (Orzik).

• 12Multi-Hit on hit
• 16-1s all skill cooldowns on hit

All specializations (5)

• 8Absorbs 5% HP
• 8Restores 120 MP
• 8Changes to mobile skill
• 12Multi-Hit on hit
• 16-1s all skill cooldowns on hit

Keen Striketarget 12

Deals 51 damage to up to 4 enemies within 4m and increases Enmity. Restores 100 MP.

A no-cooldown basic attack that restores MP. The build takes +20% MP restored and, at 12, −1 s to the Ruinous Blow cooldown per hit. Ulfhednar holds it on left click the whole time alongside the macro: the Gladiator burns a lot of MP on global, and he recommends around 4,200 MP or an MP potion.

• 8+20% MP restored
• 12-1s [Ruinous Blow] cooldown on hit

All specializations (5)

• 8+20% MP restored
• 8Absorbs 1% HP
• 8+50% Multi-Hit on hit
• 12-1s [Ruinous Blow] cooldown on hit
• 16Adds [Reckless Strike] Chain Skill

Leaping Slamtarget 16

Leaps to a target within 20m and deals 70 damage. 10 Stagger Gauge Damage

A 20 m gap closer. The build takes a short 3 s Prepare for Battle right after the leap and a cooldown reset on kill, so when farming you jump from target to target (Grobs, Arthars Gaming).

• 8Prepare for Battle effect on the caster for 3s
• 8Resets cooldown on defeating an enemy

All specializations (5)

• 8Prepare for Battle effect on the caster for 3s
• 850% chance to trigger [Ankle Slice] on hit
• 8Resets cooldown on defeating an enemy
• 12+20% PvE Damage Tolerance and +10 PvP Damage Tolerance for 3s
• 16Changes to AoE skill and pulls in enemies

Rush Striketarget 12

Moves to a target within 10m and deals 330 damage with a 30% chance to inflict Knockdown for 3s after using [Dodge] or while flying. 100% chance to inflict Knockdown on NPC targets. 10 Stagger Gauge Damage

A second gap closer, usable after Dodge or while flying. The build takes +10 m range so it matches the 20 m of Leaping Slam, plus −10 s cooldown. Grobs puts both on one key.

• 8+10m range
• 12-10s cooldown

All specializations (5)

• 8Restores 300 Stamina on hit
• 8+10m range
• 8Changes to Charge Skill and deals AoE damage
• 12-10s cooldown
• 16+25% Knockdown Chance

Defiancetarget 12

Removes Stun, Knockdown, Airborne, Grab, Frost, and Fear from the caster and grants Tenacity for 5s. Tenacity: Grants Status Effect Immunity Unaffected by cooldown reduction effects.

Removes Stun, Knockdown, Airborne, Grab, Frost and Fear and gives you 5 s of Tenacity. The build takes 20% HP restored and +2 s Tenacity. Arthars Gaming wants it at 16 for +50% PvE Damage Tolerance during Tenacity, but admits the Gladiator doesn't take much damage.

• 8Restores 20% HP on using [Defiance]
• 12+2s Tenacity duration

All specializations (5)

• 8Adds [Wrath Burst] Chain Skill
• 8Restores 1000 Stamina on using [Defiance]
• 8Restores 20% HP on using [Defiance]
• 12+2s Tenacity duration
• 16+50% PvE Damage Tolerance and +25% PvP Damage Tolerance for Tenacity duration

Ankle Slicetarget 8

Selects a target within 4m and deals 294 damage to up to 4 enemies within 4m with a 50% chance to inflict Root for 3s on Block. 100% chance to inflict Root on NPC targets. 10 Stagger Gauge Damage

Hits up to 4 enemies and always roots NPCs. In the PvE build level 8 with +16 m range is enough; don't put more points into it.

• 8+16m [Ankle Slice] range

All specializations (5)

• 830% chance to inflict Knockdown for 3s on landing [Ankle Slice]
• 8Adds [Ankle Smash] Chain Skill
• 8+16m [Ankle Slice] range
• 12Ignores Block and Evasion and lands as Multi-Hit
• 1625% chance to reset [Ankle Slice] cooldown on Block

Mocking Bladetarget 8

Deals 207 damage to a target within 4m and inflicts Knockdown for 3s. Changes skill motion when attacking targets with Incapacitated Immunity. 15 Stagger Gauge Damage

Knocks the target down, which unlocks Overhead Slam. At 8 it drains HP, 15% from a target with Incapacitated Immunity, which is why Arthars Gaming keeps it as an emergency heal.

• 8Absorbs 4% HP, absorbs 15% HP of target with Incapacitated Immunity

All specializations (5)

• 8Absorbs 4% HP, absorbs 15% HP of target with Incapacitated Immunity
• 8Changes to AoE damage on down strike
• 8Adds 2 additional strikes
• 12+1s Knockdown duration
• 16Ignores Block and Evasion and lands as Multi-Hit

Aerial Snaretarget 8

Deals 479 damage to a target afflicted with Knockdown within 4m with a 50% chance to inflict Airborne for 3s. 100% chance to inflict Airborne on NPC targets. Has a 5% chance to trigger on attacking a target with Incapacitated Immunity. 20 Stagger Gauge Damage

A hit on a knocked-down target that always launches NPCs. At 8 with +25% Airborne chance; it needs no more points in PvE.

• 8+25% [Aerial Snare] Airborne Chance

All specializations (5)

• 8Multi-Hit on hit
• 8+25% [Aerial Snare] Airborne Chance
• 8+100% damage to targets with Incapacitated Immunity
• 12Adds [Forced Fall] Chain Skill
• 16-50% [Aerial Snare] cooldown

04Passives

You run out of passive points only at the very end, and you'll max most of them from points over time (Arthars Gaming). Order still matters: Experienced Counterstrike and Attack Preparation are the clear top two, followed by Impact Hit and Murderous Burst. Blood Absorption works fine without extra points. Don't level Protection Armor and Destructive Impulse, and swap them out on your gear.

Priority	Passive	What it does	Why
1	Experienced Counterstrike	Increases Front Attack Damage Boost by 0.4%. Increases PvE Damage Boost by 5.4%, PvP Damage Boost by 2.7% for 20s for the caster and party members on Block. PvE Damage Boost and PvP Damage Boost does not stack with Templar's [Fury] effect.	Front Attack Damage Boost pořád a při bloku PvE Damage Boost pro tebe i partu na 20 s. Grobs ji bere jako první, Arthars Gaming ji z pohledu poškození staví i nad Attack Preparation. S Templarovým Fury se buff nesčítá (questlog).
2	Attack Preparation	Increases the caster's PvE Damage Boost by 5.5%, PvP Damage Boost by 2.75%, Defense by 2%, and Accuracy by 100.	Stálý PvE Damage Boost, Defense a Accuracy bez podmínek. U Artharse Gaminga jednička, u Grobse dvojka; oba ji při levelování berou jako jednu ze dvou pasivek.
3	Impact Hit	Increases the caster's Impact-type Chance by 11.2% and Double Chance by 0.3%.	Impact-type Chance nepotřebuješ, ale Double Chance ano. Grobs ji bere hned za první dvojicí, Arthars Gaming na čtvrté místo.
4	Murderous Burst	Grants a stack of Menace for 3s when landing an attack. Removes Menace at 5 stacks and deals 539 damage to up to 4 enemies within 5m of the caster and increases the caster's Critical Damage Boost by 5.5% for 3s.	Každých pět zásahů rána navíc a Critical Damage Boost na 3 s. Gladiator útočí tak často, že buff drží pořád (Grobs).
5	Blood Absorption	The caster has a 50% chance to restore 20-24 HP and 1.6% Max HP on landing an attack. Immediately restores 26% Max HP when HP drops to 50% or less. Cooldown: 1s Instant Healing Cooldown: 60s	Léčení při zásahu a okamžité doléčení pod 50 % HP. Podle Artharse Gaminga i Grobse stačí základní hodnota, body do ní neženeš.
6	Identify Weakness	Increases the caster's Critical Hit by 100 and Perfect Chance by 0.5%.	Critical Hit a Perfect Chance. Po změnách Experienced Counterstrike a Murderous Burst klesla v pořadí (Arthars Gaming).
7	Survival Stance	Increases the caster's HP by 200. Increases Max HP by an additional 7%, Natural HP Regen by 20, PvE Damage Tolerance by 5.5%, and PvP Damage Tolerance by 2.75%.	Max HP, regenerace a PvE Damage Tolerance (questlog). Obranná pasivka, tvůrci ji neřeší.
8	Survival Willpower	Increases the caster's Status Effect Resist by 17%. Increases PvE Damage Tolerance by 12% and PvP Damage Tolerance by 6% for 5s when afflicted with Stun, Knockdown, Airborne, Frost, or Fear. Increases Status Effect Resist by 10% for 5s when hit while afflicted with Stun, Knockdown, Airborne, Frost, or Fear (up to 10 stacks). Damage Tolerance Increase Cooldown: 60s Status Effect Resist Increase Cooldown: 1s	Status Effect Resist a Damage Tolerance po omráčení nebo sražení (questlog). Hodí se spíš do PvP.
9	Destructive Impulse	Deals 146 extra damage to targets afflicted with Stagger or an Impact-type status.	Poškození navíc jen na cíl ve Stagger nebo s Impact-type efektem. Arthars Gaming do ní body nedává a na výbavě ji přehazuje.
10	Protection Armor	Increases the caster's Block by 200 and restores 53-64 HP on Block. Cooldown: 1s	Block a malé léčení při bloku. Podle Artharse Gaminga nedělá nic podstatného, body do ní nedávej.

05Gear and stats

Stat priority: Combat Speed › Attack › Accuracy › Critical Hit

The Gladiator attacks from the front because Experienced Counterstrike adds Front Attack Damage Boost. Watch your Accuracy more than other classes: when the boss parries you, you lose damage (Arthars Gaming). Not Ace aims for Combat Speed above 20% and Accuracy and Critical Hit around 1,000; Krix Domi puts Accuracy ahead of Critical Hit because the Gladiator's kit already gives plenty of crit. Of the Damage Boost types, Arthars Gaming rates Weapon Damage Boost and Front Attack Damage Boost highest.

Skill levels belong on rings: each gives +1, and two rings are enough to take Overhead Slam, Rending Blow and Ruinous Blow from 14 to 16. Other gear pieces carry passives, but on global they compete for space with stats like Combat Speed, which Arthars Gaming often prefers.

Grobs recommends enabling Display Boss Orientation Indicator in the settings (Settings → Info Display → Combat). The game then shows you where the boss's front is.

06Arcana

Arcana cards add more skill and passive levels. On Parchment cards Arthars Gaming looks for Overhead Slam and Ruinous Blow, on Compass cards only Rending Blow. Use a card that offers every skill on whichever one is still short of 20.

Arthars Gaming runs either four Primal Vigor cards plus Mirror from the Magic Armor set, or three Primal Vigor plus two Magic Armor: Mirror with passives (Experienced Counterstrike, Murderous Burst, Impact Hit, Identify Weakness) and Bell with Attack. Two Magic Armor cards refill your mana when MP runs low. Among the Primal Vigor cards he wants one with the Freedom stat for Accuracy. The Gladiator doesn't need a card with the Illusion stat (Cooldown Reduction), since Lunge Stance already cuts his cooldowns.

07Daevanion

Each of the four regular boards has a +1 node for Overhead Slam, Rending Blow, Ruinous Blow and Keen Strike, so they get four extra levels from Daevanion. Grobs takes those first, then the orange nodes: Combat Speed on Nezekan, Damage Boost on Zikel and Multi-Hit Chance on Triniel. He leaves the passive nodes for the end of each board. For leveling Grobs has a separate 65-point plan that gives the main skills two extra levels.

• Nezekanfrom lv. 12

  Combat Speed, Cooldown Reduction

  Nejdřív uzly +1 k Rending Blow a Overhead Slam, pak oranžový Combat Speed a +1 ke Keen Strike a Ruinous Blow. Zbytek desky jsou pasivky a dva uzly Cooldown Reduction (Grobs).

  1. Skill Level Up – Rending Blow
  2. Skill Level Up – Overhead Slam
  3. Combat Speed
  4. Skill Level Up – Keen Strike
  5. Skill Level Up – Ruinous Blow
  6. Skill Level Up – Blood Absorption
  7. Cooldown Reduction
  8. Skill Level Up – Attack Preparation
  9. Combat Speed
  10. Skill Level Up – Identify Weakness
  11. Cooldown Reduction

• Zikelfrom lv. 20

  Damage Boost

  +1 k Leaping Slam a Ruinous Blow, pak Damage Boost. Další +1 k Overhead Slam, Keen Strike a Rending Blow a na konci pasivky Impact Hit, Murderous Burst a Experienced Counterstrike (Grobs).

  1. Skill Level Up – Leaping Slam
  2. Skill Level Up – Ruinous Blow
  3. Damage Boost
  4. Skill Level Up – Survival Willpower
  5. Skill Level Up – Overhead Slam
  6. Damage Boost
  7. Skill Level Up – Keen Strike
  8. Skill Level Up – Destructive Impulse
  9. Skill Level Up – Rending Blow
  10. Skill Level Up – Impact Hit
  11. Skill Level Up – Murderous Burst
  12. Skill Level Up – Experienced Counterstrike

• Vaizelfrom lv. 30

  Skill Level Up

  Třetí +1 k Overhead Slam, Ruinous Blow, Rending Blow a Keen Strike, pak čtyři hlavní pasivky. Grobs má na Vaizelu jen 22 uzlů, zbytek doplní, až bude mít body.

  1. Skill Level Up – Overhead Slam
  2. Skill Level Up – Ruinous Blow
  3. Skill Level Up – Rending Blow
  4. Skill Level Up – Keen Strike
  5. Skill Level Up – Attack Preparation
  6. Skill Level Up – Experienced Counterstrike
  7. Skill Level Up – Impact Hit
  8. Skill Level Up – Murderous Burst

• Trinielfrom lv. 40

  Multi-Hit Chance

  Čtvrtý +1 k core skillům (tím mají Daevanion +4) a tři uzly Multi-Hit Chance (Grobs).

  1. Skill Level Up – Attack Preparation
  2. Skill Level Up – Blood Absorption
  3. Multi-Hit Chance
  4. Skill Level Up – Overhead Slam
  5. Skill Level Up – Keen Strike
  6. Multi-Hit Chance
  7. Skill Level Up – Destructive Impulse
  8. Skill Level Up – Ruinous Blow
  9. Skill Level Up – Rending Blow
  10. Skill Level Up – Impact Hit
  11. Multi-Hit Chance
  12. Skill Level Up – Murderous Burst

• Azphelfrom lv. 45

  PvP

  PvP deska, pro PvE build ji řeš až po ostatních.

You can plot the route and count points and reset cost in the Daevanion planner on aion2.gaming.tools.

08Stigmas

Lunge Stancelv. 20

Increases the caster's Combat Speed by 20% for 10s.

The most important stigma and the first one you take to 20. It adds 20% Combat Speed for 10 s, and at 20 it gets a specialization that gives every critical hit a 50% chance to cut all cooldowns by one second. According to Arthars Gaming and Grobs, Lunge Stance, Rage Burst and your other buffs are then up almost constantly.

Rage Burstlv. 20

Deals 1327 damage to a target within 4m. Inflicts Wounded for 10s on hit, reducing the enemy's Attack by 10%, and increases the caster's PvE Damage Boost by 10% and PvP Damage Boost by 5% for 10s. Triggers [Overhead Slam] on the target for 10s on hit. Wounded does not stack with the Shrink effect from the Templar skill [Taunt]. 20 Stagger Gauge Damage

Hits the target, lowers its Attack, gives you PvE Damage Boost and lets you spam Overhead Slam for 10 s. In October level 5 with its shorter cooldown was enough; the November endgame builds (Ulfhednar, matixte, Not Ace) push it to 20: a guaranteed Critical Hit at 15 and another +10% PvE Damage Boost at 20. Krix Domi calls it the most important stigma. It goes at the very bottom of the hotbar.

Zikel's Blessinglv. 15

Increases the caster's Attack by 20% and Accuracy by 100 for 10s.

+20% Attack and +100 Accuracy for 10 s, for you only. At 15 it adds +50% Stagger Gauge Damage, +10% PvE Damage Boost and +50% Multi-Hit chance (Ulfhednar). Krix Domi only picks it up once Lunge Stance is at 20, because it has a 120 s cooldown.

Focused Blocklv. 5

Temporarily increases Block Damage Reduction by 100% and guarantees Parry. Restores 110 MP and Stamina once on Parry.

A guaranteed Parry and +100% Block Damage Reduction for a short time. Every block triggers Experienced Counterstrike, so you buff the party too. At 5 it has two consecutive uses. Orzik presses it on every telegraphed boss hit, and Arthars Gaming takes it as his first stigma while leveling.

Alternatives:

• Blade Toss instead of Focused Block when a Templar tanks: it lowers the target's Defense by 30%. That's how Ulfhednar ran his older build with 60 likes, the highest-rated Gladiator PvE build on questlog.gg.
• Lifestealing Blade instead of Focused Block for farming: it heals off every hit and gives the party the Predation buff. In dungeons, according to Arthars Gaming, it's only worth it at 20 and with a coordinated group.
• Wave Armor when there's no Templar in the party. At 10 and 15 it boosts Experienced Counterstrike and Murderous Burst (Krix Domi, Not Ace, Arthars Gaming).
• Tenaciousness is mainly a PvP pick. In PvE Arthars Gaming only takes it as insurance against a boss that would otherwise kill you.

09Macro and rotation

You can stack several skills on one hotbar key. The game uses the lowest one that's currently available, and if it can't, it goes to the next one up. That's why Rage Burst goes at the bottom for the Gladiator: it adds a buff and opens Overhead Slam, so it should fire every time it's ready. If it sat higher, the game would never reach it while Overhead Slam has no cooldown (Arthars Gaming).

Set up the in-game macro in the skill window (Skill window → Macro). You add whole hotbar rows as steps with a 10 ms delay, and the macro skips whatever is on cooldown. Keep the basic attack out of the macro and hold Keen Strike on left click separately. Grobs dropped it after level 16; the November endgame builds keep holding it for MP and the shorter Ruinous Blow cooldown (Ulfhednar).

1. Hotbar rows

• RMB
  1Rage Burst2Overhead Slam3Rending Blow
  Rage Burst dole = nejvyšší priorita, aby se pouštěl hned, jak doběhne cooldown. Nad ním Overhead Slam a nahoře Rending Blow (Grobs, Arthars Gaming).
• E
  1Ruinous Blow2Sword Aura Rampage
  Ruinous Blow dole (buff Prepare for Battle), nad ním Sword Aura Rampage. Sword Aura Rampage zasahuje jen cíl ve Stagger, takže se v řádku spustí sám, když boss do Staggeru spadne (Orzik). Ulfhednar ho v endgame buildu z 2. 11. tlačí na 20 se specializacemi Multi-Hit a -1 s ke všem cooldownům.
• F
  1Rush Strike2Leaping Slam
  Oba skoky na jedné klávese: když je Leaping Slam na cooldownu, hra použije Rush Strike (Grobs).
• LMB
  1Keen Strike
  Keen Strike držíš pořád spolu s makrem na RMB (Ulfhednar: „Macro hold RMB and LMB“). Specializace +20 % MP a -1 s cooldown Ruinous Blow; Gladiator na globálce potřebuje hodně MP, Ulfhednar doporučuje mít kolem 4 200 MP a jinak MP lektvar. Not Ace drží Keen Strike kvůli MP taky.

Order 1 = highest priority. In game, put skill number 1 in the bottom slot of the row, because the game checks the bottom slot first.

2. In-game macro

• RMB
• E

3. What you press

• Before the pull Zikel's Blessing and Lunge Stance, then Ruinous Blow, then hold the macro on right click together with left click (Ulfhednar).
• The macro has two steps: the RMB row with Rage Burst, Overhead Slam and Rending Blow, and the E row with Ruinous Blow and Sword Aura Rampage above it, which fires as soon as the boss is staggered (Orzik, Arthars Gaming).
• Press Focused Block manually on telegraphed boss hits, Defiance when stunned, and the leaps on F.
• When your HP runs low, Mocking Blade with the HP-drain specialization heals you and drains more from bosses (Arthars Gaming). On a group of mobs use Crushing Wave.

The Macro Helper on aion2.gaming.tools builds a macro from your own character: after login it reads skills and stigmas from the official Armory.

10Summary

• Overhead Slam and Sword Aura Rampage at 20, Rending Blow, Ruinous Blow and Leaping Slam at 16.
• Dungeon stigmas: Lunge Stance and Rage Burst at 20, Zikel's Blessing at 15, Focused Block at 5.
• Passives: Experienced Counterstrike, Attack Preparation, Impact Hit, Murderous Burst.
• Daevanion: +1 nodes for the core skills first, then Combat Speed, Damage Boost and Multi-Hit Chance.
• Gear: Combat Speed, Attack, Accuracy and Critical Hit; two rings for skill levels.
• Hotbar: Rage Burst at the bottom, Overhead Slam and Rending Blow above it; hold Keen Strike on left click, attack from the front and block telegraphed hits.
• For farming Lifestealing Blade instead of Focused Block; for PvP Tenaciousness, with Zikel's Blessing in the Abyss and Focused Block in 1v1.

Best Gladiator PvP Abyss build in AION 2 (November 2026)

In group PvP (Abyss, Artifact Siege, Reshanta) the Gladiator runs the stigmas Lunge Stance, Rage Burst, Tenaciousness and Zikel's Blessing. He knocks the enemy down, holds the Overhead Slam macro and finishes with Aerial Snare at a higher Airborne chance. Stat priority: Attack, Combat Speed, Accuracy, Status Effect Resist, Critical Damage Tolerance. Tenaciousness keeps him alive when focused.

Why this build

• Orzik (PvP & Abyss, 20 Oct), xmeron (Siege, 6 Nov), lsplukas and toutogi all run the same four stigmas. The 20/20/15/15 levels come from xmeron's post-patch build.
• Tenaciousness at 15 gives 3 s of immunity to damage and status effects, then +100% Incoming Heal, 20% HP and +20% Attack.
• Zikel's Blessing raises your status effect chance. ShuTooSlow and Trunx want it at 20 for +20% Status Effect Chance against players with high resistance.
• Crowd control from specializations: Ruinous Blow with +12.5 m range, Leaping Slam with a 50% chance to trigger Ankle Slice, and Aerial Snare with +25% Airborne (Orzik).
• Since 4 Nov, Chaotic Outer Reshanta equalizes stats and skill and stigma levels, so specializations decide. The Abyss is a weaker discipline for the Gladiator: index 80.

How it differs from the other modes

• Compared with PvE: Tenaciousness instead of Focused Block, Survival Stance and Survival Willpower among the main passives, Defiance at 12 with +2 s Tenacity.
• Alternative: Armor of Balance instead of Zikel's Blessing for 5v5 (Trunx).

Best Gladiator PvP 1v1 build in AION 2 (November 2026)

For Arena of Solitude and duels run the stigmas Lunge Stance and Tenaciousness at 20, Rage Burst at 16 and Focused Block at 15. Rush Strike at 20 with a higher Knockdown chance opens Overhead Slam, and Defiance at 20 pulls you out of crowd control. Stat priority: Attack, Combat Speed, Accuracy, Status Effect Resist, Critical Damage Tolerance.

Why this build

• matixte (Glad PvP, 2 Nov), ShuTooSlow, lxyyds8 and Trunx all run the same four stigmas; Trunx says this is the set he uses most against melee.
• Rush Strike at 20 takes +10 m range, −10 s cooldown and +25% Knockdown chance. A knocked-down enemy unlocks Overhead Slam (ShuTooSlow).
• Mocking Blade at 16 ignores Block and Evasion and drains HP; Defiance at 20 gives +25% PvP Damage Tolerance during Tenacity.
• Tenaciousness at 20 triggers on its own when an Impact status hits you. Focused Block at 15 can be used on the move and adds speed after a Parry.
• matixte and ShuTooSlow base their builds on Korean and Taiwanese players but pick stigmas for the 4 global slots. The Arena of Solitude index of 91 predates the 28 Oct patch.

How it differs from the other modes

• Compared with the Abyss: Focused Block instead of Zikel's Blessing, Tenaciousness, Rush Strike and Defiance at 20.
• Alternatives: against Rangers Blade Toss and Armor of Balance instead of Focused Block and Rage Burst (Trunx), Lifestealing Blade instead of Tenaciousness (notnameless.).

LLeveling 1–45

Short, for a second monitor. Based on Grobs's starter build and Daevanion plan, with tips from Arthars Gaming.

Your browser remembers ticked steps. Steps with a red frame are specific to the Gladiator.

How to fight while leveling

• Packs: Leaping Slam into the group, then the macro with left click. The leap resets on kill (Grobs). For a bigger pack add Crushing Wave, which heals (Arthars Gaming).
• Elites and bosses: Lunge Stance and Zikel's Blessing before the pull, leap, Ruinous Blow and the macro. Catch the boss's first attack with Focused Block (Grobs).
• Mana: Keen Strike restores MP, Rending Blow spends it. That's why you keep holding left click while leveling (Grobs).
• Low HP: Blood Absorption heals you once on its own below 50% HP. Then Mocking Blade for healing and Defiance when something stuns you.

Leveling macro

• Grobs uses a single row while leveling: Rage Burst at the bottom, Overhead Slam above it and Rending Blow on top. Hold the macro plus left click with Keen Strike and that carries you through the whole leveling.
• Until Overhead Slam loses its cooldown, Rage Burst only opens it for a single hit. While leveling you use it mainly for the PvE Damage Boost (Grobs).