[NaJJ]

Foreword

Because of the Gladiator forums being constantly flooded with new threads and because I think this attempt of a guide contains enough quality info on the most important matter of this game which is PvP, I've decided to post it up here in the Class Guides subforum for all and especially new players to browse. I confess not being a K-Aion or C-Aion player but I think I've had sufficient experience in the CBTs to share some good insight on the Gladiator class in PvP at lvl30. I hope you find my 3rd input on this matter useful.

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Hello everyone again ;D!

This attempt of a guide is made for level 30 solo (I love solo rifting!) and small group pvp as a Gladiator. I will try to complement my experiences with other ppl's info, interesting comments, questions and videos whenever possible. As promised, this 3rd thread is better organised, so as to make the information easier to access. And of course, everyone is welcome to add their input. Now, lets get to the point!

Section 1 - Equipment
1.1 - Weaponry
1.2 - Armory
1.3 - Consumables
1.4 - Manastones
1.5 - Stigma stones

Section 2 - Solo Tactics
2.1 - Templar
2.2 - Gladiator
2.3 - Ranger
2.4 - Assassin
2.5 - Cleric
2.6 - Chanter
2.7 - Sorcerer
2.8 - Spiritmaster

Section 3 - Environment Skills
3.1 - Sneaking
3.2 - Jumping
3.3 - Mobility

Section 4 - Duo Group Tactics
4.1 - Duo with Cleric
4.2 - Duo with Gladiator
4.3 - Duo with Assassin
4.4 - Duo with Sorcerer

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Section 1 - Equipment

First and foremost, there is no class more gear dependent than the gladiator. I would say that gear is responsible for 75% of you doing good and 25% are your player skills.

1.1 Weaponry

The best polearm:

So lets go to the big question: why a polearm over a greatsword?

The advantages of a polearm over a greatsword:

- Slightly higher damage per hit. I've calculated for 3 sets of polearm and greatsword of equal
grade and polearm's average dmg is 6% superior to that of the greatsword. Not a big advantage here.

- One of my reader asked whether the high variance in damage made the polearm better for pvp or not. A very good question in my opinion. I've had logical answers from 2 people so far and I will quote Guildleader's:

''If we're dealing constant damage to an opponent, he is able to better react to our damage. If there is inconsistency, they will find it harder to react to.''

I tend to agree with Guildleader. For example, a healer only tosses a heal when he thinks the situation might be dangerous in a few moments. But how does he know when? By analyzing many factors such as his allies' current hp, focused targets, current positioning, his past experiences in pvp... All in all, he doesn't really know but he can PREDICT. So when you add a bit of chaos with the dmg numbers, you make it a bit more UNPREDICTABLE for him; and therefore he is more prone to mistakes such as healing too late. In a way, you gain a small psychological advantage to use the polearm.

- A polearm offers 40 crit rate more than the greatsword, which is 4% extra crit rate. You can also quantify it as 4-7 crit manastones. Also bear in mind that crit rate at lvl 30 is far from the cap (400-450 according to korean sources). I reached a crit rate of 225 at lvl30 with the gear I had and crit stone stack. 40 represents 17% of 225, definitely a big proportion. Critical hits are also a source for knockdowns. But this stat advantage is what makes the polearm deal more overall dmg than the greatsword at lvl30.

The disadvantages of a polearm:

- Slower attack speed of 0.2 (abyss polearm type, 2.6) or 0.4 (regular polearm type, 2.8). A greatsword has an atk speed of 2.4, meaning it attacks around 8% faster than an abyss polearm and 14% faster than a regular polearm on NORMAL ATKS ONLY. It is confirmed that base atk speed does not influence skill animation speed, therefore this stat advantage is hardly significant in PvP.

- 100 less accuracy than greatswords. Accuracy is not really a factor at lvl30 though, except against assassins who stacked evasion maybe. Besides, I had about 900 accuracy at lvl30. 100 extra accuracy would only represent about 10% extra accuracy. Hardly significant.

Conclusion

I believe that polearms, especially abyss polearms, are superior to greatswords of same grade in general (in general, because some greatswords can be better than polearms when you consider the extra stats) at lvl30 thanks to their psychological advantage of being more unpredictable and their higher plain dmg and crit rate making them have higher dmg per hit and higher chance of knockdowns.

Small note: Abyss polearms have atk speed of 2.6 while abyss greatswords' atk speed is still 2.4. Beta knowledge.

The best dualwields

Many people say that dualwield is only good for PvE because you lose your ability to AoE and knockdown when not using 2handers. They are partially right only.

Tests in version 1.2 by Xenogrant ( [ame=http://unmoderated.info/forums/showthread.php?p=11943#post11943]Gladiator: Visual Guide to DPS - Unmoderated Info[/ame] ) confirmed that dualwield deals about 30% more dmg than 2handers in general. Even if version 1.5 buffs the 2handers critical power and nerfs the single hand weapons critical power, we can still reasonably speculate that dualwields will still deal about 10-15% more dmg than 2handers. Else, why go dualwield?

Another test I've done in CBT5 revealed that flying reduced the gladiator's physical defense stat by 41% at lvl30. I didn't test the other classes but we can also reasonably speculate that flying does cut a good portion in physical defense, making all but the templar take heavy amounts of physical dmg when flying.

Furthermore, remember that gladiators lose their ability to knockdown when hitting a target in the air and instead stun... But Crippling Cut is still disabled, making 2handers lose some of their burst dmg power.

Conclusion

When you factor in those facts, you can see that indeed, there's a place for DW in PvP. Abyss PvP has a big aerial combat component. Not only does DW already deal higher dmg and has a faster animation speed than 2handers, the fact that everyone's physical defense attribute is lowered by a large margin (41% for my lvl30 gladiator) further amplifies your dmg output making you a KILLING MACHINE in aerial combat if you can keep a hold on your prey, which is easy to achieve with a well timed Ankle Snare or a decent pvp group.

Small note: note however that if you are having trouble locking on your target in the air, it is preferable to use a polearm so you can land more dmg the few hits you can score.

The best bow

The gladiator only has 2 ranged moves at lvl30: Wing blade and Ankle Snare. That is why the bow has a big importance. Most gladiators didn't have a bow during the CBTs. Not only will you have the psychological effect of surprise as ppl don't see glads with bow often, you will also deal some significant dmg when you are not in melee range of your prey.

Don't forget that sorcerers, rangers and spiritmasters gain a bigger and bigger amount of CC spells the higher lvl they are, therefore making the bow even more important to deal dmg when you cannot close the gap yet.

Conclusion

The gladiator has access to the most tools in the game. And one of the most critical ones is the bow. Even if you don't have money to spare, you MUST get a bow, even a quest bow will do, provided its not too low lvl. But not having a bow when you're a gladiator is not an option. The bow is sometimes the difference between a kill and wasted time.


1.2 Armory

The best plate suit

Why not chain for more magic resist!? Hell yeah, chain seems like a very suitable type because it offers a good balance between physical and magical protection. Sadly, the extra magic resist doesnt do much against CC at this level. The CCs will still land and screw you over. So, like someone else said, if you cant beat magic, lets at least make sure you will beat physical, hence why you choose PLATE! Another disadvantage for most chain armors is that they give magic related bonus stats.

Or perhaps leather for more evasion! Easy answer here, the gladiator evasion stats progression is way too bad for him to really take advantage of evasion, unless you plan on adding evasion manatones, which totally screws up your offensive build. My rational speculation says that if assassins hardly dodge my blows at lvl30, how would gladiators dodge them?

Then why not sexy clothes? Hmm, honestly I find metal chunks sexier!

Conclusion

There are two more important factors to not forget: first, when in fly mode you lose lots of physical defense, which means plate is definitely better as you want to get as much defense as you can get. And second, in version 1.5, there will be a new stat related to countering CC spells. This definitely makes magic defense even less important as it is no longer the sole attribute affecting CCs so theres even less reason to use chain or leather armors.


1.3 Consumables

Consumables are another cornerstone for the gladiators and all melee classes in general. Combat in Aion generally is never fair... whether it be uneven numbers, group coordination, level or equipment advantages, there will always be some sort of imbalance. Therefore, you must be as prepared as possible. Here's a list of all the consumables you will need to carry, by order of importance:

- healing potions: these remove most forms of CCs such as roots. Very cheap on the market.

- speed scrolls/raging wind scrolls: these make you run/fly faster. Quite expensive on the market... Very useful for anyone, but especially for kited ppl.

- flight time potions: gives you more flight time... Must have for Abyss PvP. Lowest type is quite cheap on the market. A good way to escape in the Abyss is of course to stay longer in the air than your opponents.

- secret remedies of life: these heals your hp, instantly. Average price on the market. Loses importance if you have a healer around of course.

- powershards: a good source of physical dmg (about 5%-15% extra atk, depending on your weapon and powershard quality). Average cost. Remember to deactivate when PvEing...

Conclusion

There are many more consumables that are useful... food for example. But the ones I pointed out are, I think, the most important to carry for the gladiator. Except for the speed/raging wind scrolls, the others are quite affordable.

1.4 Manastones

Usually for any class, the most efficient way to success is by seeking to boost its strengths and to counter its weaknesses, and this with consideration towards GROUP PVP as most pvp in Aion will be done in group. So lets see which manastones can play a part in that logic.

Attack power - a good choice since the gladiator is a physical offensive class. However, bear in mind that there are other and often cheaper sources of atk power. For example, a better weapon, enchantment stones, powershards... so in the end, do you really wanna socket atk power manastones when you can just get it from other reasonably accessible means?

Critical rate - my favorite. The gladiator class is the only class that relies on knockdowns to CC and burst dmg their prey. Critical hits being a source of knockdowns, I think it is only logical to improve this attribute. Plus, you cant improve your crit rate except if you use a very costly scroll at lvl30. And don't forget that you are far from the crit rate cap of 450 at lvl30. Crit rate will also give you some more dmg, althu not as much as if u socketed some atk power. But the extra knockdowns are a good tradeoff imo.

Parry - Worst manastone to ever choose. Think about the gladiator's status in a pvp group. Will the gladiator be targeted all that much? Yes and no.

NO, targeted for killing, they are fourth priority after priests, mages and scouts. So I think there's no reason to build on damage reduction attributes.

Targeted for disabling (aka CC skills/spells), YES, they are first or second. However, does Parry help here? NOT AT ALL.

If you're still not convinced about parrystones, the ones you will run into at lvl30 only give +16 or +19 (yellow ones). If you socket 15 x +16 parry, you only get +240 parry. Now consider these 2 skills: Increased Stamina (lvl20) which adds 100 parry and Defense Preparation (lvl25) which adds 250 parry. Clearly, you have enough parry boost there.

Final argument against parry: remember that it will never block as much dmg as a shield block and that it only applies to PHYSICAL DMG.

HP - Another defensive manastone. However, this one has more use than the Parry one, just by the fact that it also applies to magic dmg. Some people (among them, Mystic from Ragequit) argue that if they can survive longer, they can land more dmg and more knockdowns. I concede here, especially when the other big source of knockdowns come from the skill Wrathful Strike. Definitely a good manastone to mix with other offensive manastones for solo pvp or pvp without a healer.

BUT in a normal pvp group, usually there will be healers. And when you are in such a group, these manastones obviously lose a lot of their utility. Not to mention, you wont be the main target to be killed either, so better focus on your offensive capabilities cuz if your healers die, chances are the little extra survival you have wont make a difference.

Another point against HP stones is that there are other easily accessible sources of HP boost: food and mainly potions!

Evasion - There is a glad on Aionsource (I forgot in which thread) that claims these are better than Parry and HP stones. He wears leather and stacks these. Well, if such is the case, these can be good for solo pvp or pvp without a healer. By using leather, you automatically have higher magic resistance which makes you better against casters. However, I still don't recommend these for group pvp for the same reason as HP stones.

Conclusion

In my opinion, the best manastones for the gladiator at lvl30 are atk and crit stones. However, I advise stacking crit stones since atk power can derive from other easily accessible means (enchantment stones, powershards or just changing for a better weapon!) while crit rate only comes from manastones and very expensive buff scrolls.

Small note: I did not mention some other useful manastones since they don't appear at lvl30. These are the magic resistance manastone and the CC resist manastone (coming v1.5). These are made to counter CC spells, obviously very useful to the gladiator. However, we will have to see in v1.5 for more details.


1.5 Stigma Stones

At level 30, the gladiator has access to 3 stigma slots and 5 stigma choices: Advanced DualWield, Increased Stamina, Crippling Cut, Smash of Revenge and Ankle Snare.

- If you are very rich (you can afford all the quality versions of the weaponry/armory in sections 1.1/1.2), I advise you equip Advanced DualWield, Crippling Cut and Ankle Snare.

Adv DW (lvl20) is of course necessary for dualwielding in flight pvp. Crippling Cut (lvl22/28) is necessary for 2handers burst dmg in ground pvp and Ankle Snare(lvl28) is just one of the best tool of the glad (ranged root skill).

But why not Increased Stamina (lvl20)? First, because if you're that rich, your armory probably give you some nasty survivability already. On top of that, you don't need extra defensive capabilities if you're in a normal pvp group with healers. Finally, you are probably rich enough to afford the top quality and abyss HP potions.

And why not Smash of Revenge (lvl28)? Because it doesn't do that much dmg (177-181), requires a parry and has a 30 secs cooldown. One of the worst stigma abilities ever...

- If you're not so rich (like me ;P), you wanna give up on DW and take Increased Stamina which can serve you as an extra super potion when needed. It heals 20% of ur HP, boosts your HP and adds some block/parry. Definitely more nice than Smash of Revenge, plus it comes for FREE at lvl20 xD!

Conclusion

Same concept as with manastones, you want to boost your offensive capabilities as much as possible. However, you want to avoid Smash of Revenge since it is such a weak ability anyway.

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Section 2 - Solo Tactics

Now that equipment part is done (representing 75% of Gladiator ownage), let's talk about how to play a glad, lone wolf style. Being a lone wolf glad, it is important to know how to deal with every class on a 1 on 1 basis.

2.1 Templar

Templars at lvl30 aren't too scary; sure, they are hard to kill but they also have a hard time killing anyone. Of course, if they are as well equipped as you, they will beat you down in a long melee clash easily if you defy them toe to toe. However, if you choose to take on a Templar, there is a safe way to beat them:

First - You must be patient and exploit the Templar?s moments of weaknesses. At lvl30, he has 2 buffs that bolster his powers by a ridiculous margin. The offensive one is Indignation, it boosts his atk power by 30%, lasts 30 seconds and has a 3 minutes cooldown. The defensive one is Armor of the Empyrean Lord, it heals his HP by 25%, boosts his HP by 50% and his HP regen by 50 and on top of that, IT REDUCES PVP DMG... OMG IMBA! This one lasts for 2 minutes (AionArmory says 3, which is inaccurate) with 5 minutes cooldown. Usually, the Templars won?t make use of these abilities right away, so you must stay alert. As soon as they pop these, it?s time to run. If you don?t run, see what happens in the vid ;O!

Second - Once these buffs wear off, it?s time to turn around and fight! The Templar is still a formidable mountain of steel and hp without those buffs and can still beat you if you choose to go all out berserk. So you have to exploit another one of his weakness: no ranged attacks. That?s right, he can?t hurt you from afar BUT you can! You have a Winged Blade available every 18 secs and you can use your bow too.

Third - There are two melee skillchains worth using against the Templar, and that?s the Rage combo and the Wrathful Strike combo. There is however a particular instance to use the Rage combo and it?s after the moment the Templar uses his Stunning Strike to pull and slow you as he will be able to stay in contact with you for some time (10seconds slow from Stunning Strike). The Rage buff will ward off some dmg BUT it will also AUTOBLOCK any Stun moves such as Shield Smash. As for the Wrathful Strike combo, you want to use it whenever it is ready as it is your most damaging combo + it is a source of knockdowns.

But when that combo isn?t ready, you have to kite the Templar with Winged Blade and bow. Forget about the AoE combo and the Rupture combo as they do way too low damage; using them will only expose you more to the Templar and he will most likely win the melee clash.

Fourth - You also have 1-2 uses of Charge, Ankle Snare and Aerial Lockdown during the fight. All 3 of them are most efficiently used when you get pulled by Stunning Strike as a form of counter-move. Charge and Ankle Snare obviously work with your ranged attacks while Aerial Lockdown can ditch some extra dmg.

Here is the way to maximize your use of Aerial Lockdown vs a Templar: Aerial Lockdown -> Severe Strike -> Resolute Strike -> Forced Landing. This deals the most dmg possible and uses all 3 seconds of the Aerial Lockdown CC hold.

Do remember that Aerial Lockdown will be AUTOMATICALLY RESISTED if the templar is on the Rage buff (from the Rage combo... Gladiator has it too). Rage is the dmg shield skill and it autoresists Aerial Lockdown so don?t use it if you see the Rage icon under the Templar?s hp bar.

Conclusion

Even if the Gladiator can beat the Templar by being patient and cunning, the best thing to do when solo pvping is of course to avoid crossing blades with him as it takes a ridiculous amount of time to take one down. And as a lone wolf, TIME is of the ESSENCE! If you take too long to take down someone, you increase your chances by a lot to be ganked. And a ganked gladiator = a dead gladiator... you do not have the mage CCs nor the scouts stealth and speed to break away if your Charge ability is on cooldown.

Video of me vs a Templar

Yeah... I screwed up a lot but still I think it can be educative. It's in HD and I also analyzed what I did to a certain degree, shud be fun to watch ;P! And thanks to Verity of Nexus legion on Israphel for the educative duel ;D!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLH6Mn0iaSU"]YouTube - Aion Gladiator vs Templar lvl30 CBT5[/ame]

2.2 Gladiator

Fighting a fellow gladiator usually comes down to two things: the equipment and the luck on knockdowns. However, there are still some ways to give you a small advantage.

First, you must consider the initial status: is your opponent aware of you or not? If he is unaware, then you want to start straight away with the Wrathful Strike Combo. This will hopefully make you the first to score a knockdown and scare him right off!

However if he is aware and prepared for you, you want to start by using your ranged attacks and let him do the running towards you. And when he has closed into you, make use of the Rage combo because he might be the first to make the Wrathful Strike combo if you both start nearly at the same time. The Rage buff will make you immune to knockdowns and guarantee that you still keep the initial advantage.

Most glads when attacked at full hp will respond by charging at you... Glads are usually confident against other melee classes; so they will stand and fight most of the time ;P!

Second, when engaged in melee, make use of the arrow buffs by moving in synergy with your moves. When you do the Wrathful Strike combo or other moves, use the sideways arrow buff for + evasion/ + parry because Wrathful Strike is unaffected since you lose the arrow buff the moment that move goes off. When using the Rupture combo, use the forward arrow buff for + atk power/ - physical defense. Constantly moving around him will also help you run from him, should you wish so.

Third, using the AoE combo is a risk to consider. For one, the first move is weaker than a regular attack. And for two, it requires you to be stationary, losing your arrow buff. However, if the third move of this combo, Seismic Billow, triggers, then it is definitely worth it. This third move deals even higher dmg than Wrathful Strike and knocks your target down most of the time! I do it only in desperate situations or when im rooted by Ankle Snare, before taking the bow out if he is trying to flee as the AoE moves do have more range than your other melee moves. Can't give you a % but it doesn't trigger often.

Fourth, you have of course access to 1 use of Charge/Ankle Snare/Aerial Lockdown. These are key moves that can also tip the battle in your favor. Once again, it is important not to use Aerial Lockdown when he is on Rage. I recommend saving all 3 of the skills for later in the fight when at least 1 person is down by 1/2 or 2/3 hp and decides its time to bail or finish the fight...

Conclusion

Apart from the luck factor which you cannot control, gauging your opponent before and during the fight can be of use. If he tends to be berserker like, a popular trend among glads, he will throw out his Aerial Lockdown among his first moves and his Charge or Ankle Snare the first time you try to run from him. It?s important to notice and give him opportunities to waste his key moves. And also to be more wary of those that haven?t made use of their critical moves yet.

2.3 Ranger

Let's first be clear: there is no way to beat an experienced and potion using ranger. As far as my beta experience is concerned, killing an experienced ranger depends on the fact that he doesn't use potions and on a single move: Aerial Lockdown... Damn right, not much room for mistakes or bad luck. Well here are some tips to fight a ranger.

First, when encountering rangers... they will likely start with Entangling Shot to slow you before unloading their burst dmg power while running around you repeating the strategy. Some rangers will also keep their Stun arrow combo waiting for you to get closer. You must stay cool and use your ranged attacks to weaken him. I advise you switch from Attack Preparation to Defense Preparation to enhance your Parry Attribute by a good % with the bow.

Second, there usually comes a moment when you cannot stay in range mode anymore as you are about to break (when you reach 1/3 hp). You must then make sure he does not have the Stun Shot combo ready and make use of Charge to quickly close the gap, throw the secondary Aerial Lockdown combo (it's Aerial Lockdown -> Weakening Severe Blow -> Forced Landing) and finally apply Ankle Snare and smash the living shat outta him with the Wrathful Strike combo! If he is able to withstand all of this, you should be able to finish him off with your ranged attacks.

Third, Gravel01 from the Blackhand Order also has a great strategy which revolves around the Rage buff and I will quote him:
`
''So what would i do well lets say a ranger attacks you when your just about to attack a mob, and were assuming i have all my cooldowns and 2k DP skill since i allways save them for PvP.
I would attack the mob as soon as i spot the ranger i would use shout to bring out the damage shield and Run at the ranger with charge on asap. he will try to snare you its the first thing every range trys, but becuase i have shout on he can't, since his snare failed he will try to sleep me chances this will also fail if shout is up, when you get upto him you use wrathful strike combo in 1 jump since your playing CB you can do this, you can't if your in 1.5. but your playing CB so you can, when hes knocked down you cripplying cut, as soon as he gets up you aeriel lockdown his *** and then use your aos sismic combo line( Make sure you have good shards turned on) the shards count for every hit of each attack so x2 stacks of +50 damage shards will give sismic wave +400 damage, if this crits he will all ready be dead, if not use ankle snare he will put evade buff on and use CC pot to take off the snare but it can not take off the evation debuff so you will still hit him, becuase you have movment boots and a speed scroll you will move as fast or faster than him stay in range and use your DP skill to knockdown while knocked down re use shout for your bubble, As long as you have shout up the only thing he can do is run for his life.''

The Rage buff at lvl28 boosts your attack power by 23 which is around 8-10%, lasts for 10 seconds or until you take 298dmg and during its effect time will block most CC type skills and spells, albeit not all.

Conclusion

Of course, if he uses potions while in the ranged skirmish, this will not work since you won't be able to weaken him by much with your ranged attacks. However, unlike what people say, the Gladiator does have a way to counter CC skills such as Entangle Shot thanks to the buff skill Rage.

2.4 - Assassin

The sin class is the one class that no gladiator should have trouble defeating alone at lvl30. No need for any tactical approach in particular, even skillspam can beat down most sins. Your equipment and warrior nature makes you win against sins.

Basic tips: save your key abilities (Charge, Aerial Lockdown, Ankle Snare) for later. Your normal skills are enough until he starts running. A knockdown or two = dead sin. And use your AoE to break his invisibility.

Conclusion

Sins rely a lot on surprise attacks for success in PvP. You just need to play the way of a sin yourself (see section 3) when doing solo PvP and you won't ever fear a sin unless he is better equipped/higher lvl than you. While a glad stands a chance against a surprise attacking sin, the sin stands no chance against a surprise atk from the glad, at lvl 30.

2.5 - Cleric

It is obvious that you will lose in a long term fight against the cleric. Therefore, it is the best time to have a berserker mindset common to most gladiators ;D! and seek out every possible offensive power you can get. Against the cleric, Aerial Lockdown again plays the key part in the strategy.

First, it is important to have quick finger on the healing potion to remove their root.

Second, there is no use for the Rage combo as there is no point dragging on the fight. It will not be able to block the cleric's root anyway. You want to go for both the Wrathful Strike and Rupture combos for maximum attack output and knockdowns.

Third, save your AoE combo as a counter-move for the moment when the Cleric summons his Divine Energy (lil glowing crystal that shoots laser at you!). That way, you will hit both him and his summon. The summon will hit you less if it is dmged.

Fourth, put on Attack Preparation obviously and make use of the forward arrow boost for more dmg. I don't advise flying because it might advise the cleric to fly. A flying cleric, despite suffering a large physical defense penalty, heals better and can distance from you easier. Plus, you won't have access to Crippling Cut or Aerial Lockdown.

Fifth, use your Aerial Lockdown only when the cleric has at least 1/2 hp missing and has used Flash of Recovery (instant uber stigma ability heal), or 1/4 hp if he hasn't used it. You must kill with Aerial Lockdown. Your Aerial Lockdown combo should be like this: Aerial Lockdown -> Severe Strike -> Resolute Strike -> Wrathful Strike. The reason not to use Forced Landing is to maximize your knockdown probability. Knockdowns are key in interrupting, chaining skills and destroying healers.

Conclusion

Clerics, especially well equipped clerics, are kings of 1v1 PvP. However, if your luck on knockdowns is high, you definitely stand a chance against them. Therefore, it is important to maximize your knockdown chances by using Wrathful Strike and improving your crit rate as much as possible at lvl 30.

Here is a video of me vs Tagachi from TRICELL, a lvl30 cleric in CBT 5. I know it's not the best vid to show as we both made some pretty bad mistakes but it can still be fun and educative to watch instead of just read, read, read... :P

The vid also comes with the analysis I did back then. Enjoy!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjkzjRPQxpQ"]YouTube - Aion Gladiator vs Cleric lvl30 CBT5[/ame]

2.6 Chanter

Chanters are the other healer class but focus more on buffing and using physical attacks. This means that gladiators usually have an easier time against them as they neither have that crazy Flash of Recovery, nor the Divine Energy summon. And gladiators obviously resist physical attacks better than magical ones.

The main strategy against chanters is the same used against clerics. It is worth noting though that Chanters have a stigma ability called Protective Ward which will block dmg and Aerial Lockdown like the Rage buff.

Conclusion

Basically the same stuff as for clerics.

Sorcerer/Spiritmaster subsections under revision...

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Section 3 - Environment Skills

When you have a fair idea of what you can do and what ur opponents can do, its time to add a touch of environment skills. The following is mainly applied to solo rifting as it requires more patience since dying means game over.

3.1 Sneaking

Never walk in open areas or roads when in enemy territory. Instead, while rifting, move alongside mountains, between trees, near rocks or fortifications and best: move among aggroing monsters without aggroing them to train up that feat. The advantage of a trained lone wolf is the major decrease in aggroing monsters. When faced against 2 opponents, he can flee thru a monster field and suddenly become the predator once the outnumbering enemies aggro a monster or two...or just keep running. When in the abyss, hide on the tree branches or other high grounds. That way, you can see your prey while it has a harder time seeing you.

3.2 Jumping

Jump as in surprise attacking your prey. Being sneaky is not enough, you also need to be aware. To increase your awareness, you can go to Options and maximize your camera range. You can turn up your volume. And you can also take breaks in moving. Dont move for more than 2 minutes without stopping in enemy territory. You always want to take a break, hide somewhere and check your surroundings. By being sneaky and aware, you can have the first strike on people, just like the Assassin with his Hide ability. Also note that within a medium range, you can press Tab to autotarget... It can be useful if ur in blind positions (like under a big hill).

3.3 Mobility

Mobility is essential to survival. If you always hide in the same spot and await your prey there, eventually you will be ganked by a group. Never hide in the same place, always move around. Two obvious ways to increase your mobility: move faster or kill faster. Moving is faster when you glide, therefore learn to glide, especially downhill. Killing faster? Catch your prey engaged against a monster, injured or resting!

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Section 4 - Duo Group Tactics

I consider duos as the most efficient way to farm AP points while keeping the fun of commando PvP a la Metal Gear Solid (stealth PvP ;P), hence why my first group tactics share will pertain to them. There are also another couple of strategic advantages to go PvP as a duo:

To begin, you sneak much easier, the smaller your group is... especially in Rifts where you can't fly and can hide in quite a dense area except for deserts. Then, there's also less player aggro as people don't particularly like banding up in overwhelming numbers just to go after two people (although this is subject to change once you become popular for having annoyed too many... But it's quite easy to counter if you change hunting grounds often.

Finally, another advantage is the ability to be patient. While you may be a patient and meticulous lonewolf, when you team up with a larger group, chances are there are hotheads in the group that will not accept taking extra time to move around hidden and dangerous.

Section under construction...

[Vulkan]

Great Guide, along with amazing, educational, helpful videos! Thanks.

[Valcor]

Outstanding Guide and read! Very helpful! Thanks so much for this effort

[Wiggfield]

Very nice guide.

Quote

The gladiator class is the only class that relies on knockdowns to CC and burst dmg their prey.

Just as a note, staff-wielding Chanters rely on crits for knockdowns in the same way as a gladiator.

[Aionix]

Very impressive and very helpful. I will def be using some of these tips for my DW glad.

[Thr33]

Very useful info,thanks. :)

[Sinder]

Awesome thread :)

[NaJJ]

Thanks for your positive responses guys x)! Looking forward to complete this guide after OBT.

[Flaxx]

NaJJ said:

Thanks for your positive responses guys x)! Looking forward to complete this guide after OBT.

Looking even more forward for your Duo Section along with a cleric. However I'd love to see a comparison to duoing with a chanter, because that are the classes i intend to roll while my mate is set on gladi :>

[Slyist]

This guide was very comprehensive and well-written with lots of great tips and things I hadn't really considered. Thanks for the writeup (:

[sPLIFF]

awesome guide, thanks

[NaJJ]

A few things written in this thread have proven to be false or have been changed... Update coming shortly. Tonight, I will start editing new videos to be posted on Youtube. I will toss in some written commentary as it proved to be a success.

My channel is YouTube - tarmynastyr's Channel on Youtube if you are curious about the vidz. Currently, it features 3 commented vidz from CBT5 and 3 duels from OBT (analysis coming tonight for them).

The gladiator is no late bloomer and can defeat any class with the good gear/player skills/luck =)!

[Freiya]

I love you najj but a good sorc will roll a gladiator, especially being cap at 30 like the betas.

[Featherman]

Well detailed guide, thank you.

[Garash]

While watching your OBT videos, I thought that you should update your section on parry manastones lol.

[Surge]

Just a note: Empyriam Armor lasts for 3 minutes, the database is correct.

[BLooDCalibuR]

This was fairly informative. It proved useful to one who didn't get to play the earlier betas (aka me). This gives me just enough data to be intuitive about Gladiator PVP when launch comes. Thanks.

[Kirae]

Great guide. Would you mind if I post it on my legion's forum? With all credit going to you, of course.

[Zenshu]

Just wondering back when this was written did sins not have the ability to stun lock you to death? Because I tend to find Sins harder than rangers when they Hide their way behind me and then shut me down with stun lock.

This post has been edited by Zenshu: 12 January 2010 - 06:45 PM

[kidtaro]

Can the author update this guide to the current 2.1 patch. Thank You.