Overview
A greatsword bruiser and off-tank with near-DPS damage, high HP, lifesteal and an active block; it holds aggro whenever no Templar is in the group. Creators call it one of the easiest classes, a fit for newcomers to melee, players who want to queue as tank or DPS, and small-scale PvP.
Summed up from 52 videos by 24 creators, Nov 20, 2025 to Oct 9, 2026.
The Gladiator is a melee character skilled with greatswords. Typically a frontline DPS, they can also serve as a secondary tank courtesy of their high HP.
What makes the Gladiator tick
At rank 16 its Remove cooldown Specialty turns every Rage Burst into a 10-second Overhead Slam spam window. Creators treat it as the class's power spike.
Rush Overhead Slam to rank 16 and slot Remove cooldown before investing anywhere else.
- Lunge Stance
- Zikel's Blessing
- Jump in
- Ruinous Blow
- Hold left click and the macro key
Keep weaving Keen Strike once Rending Blow reaches rank 16?
Drop it and hold only the macro: Rending Blow's MP on crit replaces it.
Keep weaving it: it still adds damage per minute. Test both on the damage meter.
Skills
Open in the skill windowActive
12Passive
10Stigma
13
Overhead Slam
Deals variable 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
- Base cooldown
- 5 s
- Base range
- 4 m
- First learned
- Level 4
- 10Skill Points
- +4Boards
- +2Rings
- +4Arcana
One node on each of Nezekan, Zikel, Vaizel and Triniel. Rings, weapon and Guard can roll it in Soul Binding. Arcana: Parchment or Chalice.
- Rank 8
- Absorbs [value unavailable]% HP
- Rank 8
- Changes to AoE Skill
- Rank 8
- Adds [Upward Strike] Chain Skill
- Rank 12
- Critical Hit on hit
- Rank 16
- Remove cooldown
Some values in this skill's text are not resolved yet.
Take the Upward Strike chain first, then guaranteed crit at rank 12, then Remove cooldown at 16.
Reach 16 with 10 skill ranks, 4 Daevanion nodes and 2 more from Arcana, rings or the weapon.
Stigma
Without a Templar the Gladiator holds aggro, so the fourth slot goes to Focused Block.
Lunge Stance8 of 8 creators
Rage Burst8 of 8 creatorsIts value comes with Overhead Slam at rank 16; two creators hold it back until then.
Zikel's Blessing7 of 8 creators
Focused Block4 of 8 creatorsBlock the boss's first hit to start the party buff. Others take Blade Toss or Lifestealing Blade here.
Which Stigma goes to rank 20 first?
Lunge Stance, for its chance to cut every cooldown on a crit.
Zikel's Blessing.
Slots open at levels 22, 27, 32 and 37. Leveling order: Lunge Stance, Zikel's Blessing, Rage Burst, then Focused Block.
Journey
After level 45 your Item Level, which players also call gear score, decides what you can enter. Pick where you are.
Item Level 1400 to 1900
What opens
- 1500Ascension Trial NormalChamber of the DeadDepository of FatesForgotten RepositoryNightmare AltarSanctum of LoathingTyrant's Hideout
- 1600Transcendence 1Deus Research Base, Stage 1Shattered Arkanis, Stage 1
- 1900Transcendence 2Deus Research Base, Stage 2Shattered Arkanis, Stage 2
Gladiator priorities
Put Overhead Slam, then Ruinous Blow, on the Parchment, Rending Blow on the Compass, Attack Preparation on the Bell and a damage passive on the Mirror.
Use ring skill lines to lift Overhead Slam, Rending Blow and Ruinous Blow toward 20.
Take Front Damage Boost where you can: a Gladiator faces the boss almost all the time.
Soul Bind the weapon and Guard for Combat Speed, Weapon Damage Boost, Damage Boost, Might, Precision and Multi-hit.
Every class
Farm Vakron Sky Island before Urugugu Canyon: every Vakron armor drop is an upgrade, while Urugugu also drops other classes' weapons.
Hold pity selectors and Exploration chests until you know your last missing piece.
Fill all five Arcana slots as soon as Transcendence opens. For now, card grade matters more than which skills a card carries.
Party finders ask for Combat Power well above the minimum, so form your own group with a tank and a healer.
- Item levelsof what you wear
- +1per enhancement level
- +5per Amplify level
- +1per Daevanion point
- 1 to 4per Manastone line
- +3per Rare Theostone
The Amplify, Manastone and Theostone amounts are measured on players' characters.
Daevanion
Plan Gladiator boardsStat nodes sit in the same places for every class. Each Active skill has one node on each of the first four boards; each Passive has two on Nezekan or Zikel and one each on Vaizel and Triniel. Azphel has stat nodes only.
Use the boards to lift the core skills to rank 12, then 14, since skill points stop at rank 10.
Spend points on offense and the nearest core-skill nodes; skip defense, HP and MP early.
Take the Combat Speed lane on Nezekan and Damage Boost on Zikel.
Later, buy the blue nodes for Overhead Slam, Ruinous Blow and Rending Blow, then the damage passives.
Guides and builds
Guides
- Aion 2 Gladiator guide: playstyle, build and boardsShould you play Gladiator in Aion 2? How the greatsword bruiser tanks and deals damage, the skills and stigmas creators build around, and where to go for the full build.
- Aion 2 Gladiator PvE build: skills, stigmas and macroAn Aion 2 Gladiator PvE build from creator guides: which specialties to pick, the stigma order, the four passives to level, and the rotation and macro before and after level 45.
- Aion 2 Gladiator Daevanion guide: skill nodes on each boardWhere the Aion 2 Gladiator PvE build's skill and passive nodes sit on Nezekan, Zikel, Vaizel and Triniel, shown on the live boards, with what each board's big stat nodes give.
Builds
No published Gladiator builds yet. Builds people publish from the planner show up here, with skills, Stigmas, boards and gear.