Gladiator

Gladiator is a Cosmic Champion. Being a Cosmic Champion, he has a Class Bonus against Tech Champions, but has a disadvantage against Mystic Champions.

Bio[]

After proving his worth as a mighty warrior, Kallark of Strontia took on the mantle of Gladiator and became the renowned leader of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard. Despite the Strontian’s near limitless power, he is one of the last of his kind and honors his people’s memory by serving as personal bodyguard to the Shi’ar Majestor and Majestrix. He is one of the galaxy’s greatest heroes, provided you are aligned with the goals of the Shi’ar Empire.

Mechanics[]

Gladiator is a heavy hitting and tanky Cosmic Attacker with a short but impactful ramp that can be extended to increase his potency even further. Confidence Buffs are gained when he hits the Opponent with a Heavy Attack or strikes them when they are Intimidated, these increase his Attack and Armor Ratings and unlock new abilities as he crosses certain thresholds. Once these thresholds are crossed, Gladiator gains powerful burst damage effects and fight manipulation abilities that interact with his Unblockable and Unstoppable effects.

Abilities[]

Always Active – Strontian Physiology

Strontian physiology grants 200% increased Ability Accuracy to personal Buffs, plus Immunity to Power Drain and Power Burn effects.

Dev Notes: Strontian’s are among the strongest beings in the galaxy, and Gladiator is potentially the most powerful of them all. This is signified by Gladiator’s personal Buff Ability Accuracy being high enough to negate most Neutralize effects.

Heavy Attacks – Stunning Intimidation

Charging a Heavy Attack after landing a non-Combo ending Basic Attack inflicts a Stun Passive for 0.60 seconds.
On hit while the Opponent has less than 2 Bars of Power, inflict a non-stacking 30% Intimidate Debuff for 2 seconds. This Intimidate is paused for 0.20 seconds each time Gladiator Dashes forward, strikes the Opponent, or hits their Block

Dev Notes: Charging Gladiator’s Heavy Attack Stuns his Opponent and leaves them open to follow up Attacks. The Intimidate effect here may seem short but it’s just long enough to capitalize on without impeding your ability to special bait the Opponent in the long run.

Confidence Buffs

Confidence Buffs are indefinite and have 3% potency. Potency is increased by +1% flat when fighting on a Final Boss Node. New Confidence Buffs cannot be gained while at the Confidence Limit.
Striking the Opponent with a Heavy Attack grants 2 Confidence Buffs.
While the Opponent is suffering from Gladiator’s personal Intimidate Debuff, gain 1 Confidence Buff each time the Opponent or their Block is struck by a Light or Medium Attack.
As a Defender, gain 1 Confidence Buff every 2 seconds. Being knocked down by a Special Attack pauses this for 8 seconds.
When struck by any attack other than the final hit of a Special Attack, remove 1 Confidence Buff.
When struck by the final hit of a Special Attack, remove 4 Confidence Buffs per level of the Special. This removal will not trigger while Gladiator is Unstoppable.

Dev Notes: Confidence Buffs increase Gladiator’s Attack and Armor Ratings by the given percent. Keep in mind that the Armor Rating component is still subject to the same Diminishing Returns as a standard Armor Up effect. These also serve double duty as a resource for unlocking new abilities but manage them carefully because Gladiator gains and loses Confidence in a multitude of ways.

Super Confidence – With 12 or more Confidence Buffs

On Special Attack activation, gain an Embolden Passive for 5 seconds, paused until the end of the Special Attack.
Striking the Opponent with a Heavy Attack grants an Unblockable Buff for 2 seconds, paused during Gladiator’s Special Attacks. Cooldown: 5 seconds.
While benefiting from an Unblockable Buff, Heavy and Special Attacks deal an additional 90% of the damage recently dealt as a burst of Physical Damage.

Dev Notes: Embolden Passives provide temporary immunity to Nullify, Stagger, and Fate Seal effects caused by the Opponent.

When Gladiator reaches 12 Confidence Buffs he unlocks Super Confidence and gains potent abilities that dramatically increase his safety, utility, and damage. Throwing a well timed Special Attack while his Unblockable Buff is still active truly emphasizes his Strontian might.

Ultra Confidence – With 24 or more Confidence Buffs

Personal Unstoppable Buffs are paused during the Opponent’s Special Attacks. While this pause is active, Gladiator is immune to the Opponent’s Stun effects.
While attacking the Opponent within striking distance during or immediately after their Special Attacks, incoming damage from hits is reduced by 80% and Basic Attacks deal bursts of 7930 Physical Damage.

Dev Notes: When Gladiator reaches 24 Confidence Buffs he gains Ultra Confidence and some spicy new abilities for the truly bold. These allow him to punish the Opponent’s Special Attacks with vicious bursts of damage during or immediately after their Special Attacks.

Signature Ability[]

Even Further Beyond

Winning a fight as an Attacker with more than 49.8% Health adds 4 to Gladiator’s Persistent Confidence Limit. Max: 8. When starting a fight, increase Confidence Limit by that value.
While benefiting from a personal Vigilance effect, all hits deal Passive True Damage and the Opponent’s Armor Up effects suffer 100.45% reduced Ability Accuracy.

Dev Notes: The first clause of this Signature Ability allows Gladiator to increase the limit of his Confidence Buffs by up to 8 for the entirety of a quest, increasing his Attack and Damage potentials significantly. But you have to earn it first.

The second clause greatly increases the utility of the Vigilance Buff Gladiator gets from his Special 2. Being able to ignore the Opponent’s Armor and Resistances is very impactful, plus impairing their ability to get new Armor Ups makes a lot of his match ups much more favorable.

Special Attacks[]

Special Attack 1 – Blue Shift

On activation, gain an Unstoppable Buff for 4 seconds, paused until the end of the Special Attack.
Each Frost Breath hit inflicts a Coldsnap Debuff dealing 3965 Energy Damage over 12 seconds. As a Defender, Coldsnaps can also be inflicted through Block but at 25% potency.

Dev Notes: Keeping this Unstoppable Buff up is an important part of Gladiator’s dominant playstyle, especially if you’re playing into Ultra Confidence. Keep these Coldsnaps in mind for their sneaky Evade negation, and watch out for them when fighting him as a Defender.

Special Attack 2 – Red Shift

On activation, gain a Vigilance Buff for 20 seconds, paused until the end of the Special Attack.
Each Eye Beam hit inflicts an Incinerate Debuff dealing 7930 Energy Damage over 20 seconds. As a Defender, Incinerates can also be inflicted through Block but at 25% potency.

Dev Notes: If you’re fighting a tricky Opponent that relies on Miss, this Vigilance is for you. These Incinerates are also very potent and can be inflicted through Block on Defense just like the Coldsnaps before, but this Attack is much harder to escape with the Dexterity Mastery.

Special Attack 3 – Limit Breaker

Increase Confidence Limit by 4. This can only trigger once per fight.
Gain a Power Gain Buff granting 100% of a Bar of Power over 5 seconds.

Dev Notes: This Power Gain is very effective for restarting Gladiator’s loop after throwing this Special Attack, but the real chase here is the increase to Gladiator’s Confidence Buff limit. This increased value is great for establishing a buffer of Confidence Buffs while playing into Ultra Confidence.

Synergy Bonuses[]

Synergy	Partner(s)	Effect(s)
Great Guys		Synergy Champions: While far from the Opponent, gain an indefinite Unstoppable Buff. This Buff will not trigger while being struck by the Opponent, and is removed if either Champion re-enters striking distance. Unique Synergy: Does not stack with duplicate synergies.
Flarking Annihilators		Synergy Champions: When gaining a Bar of Power, gain a non-stacking 5% Fury Buff for 10 seconds. Each other living Synergy Champion increases this potency by +5% flat. Unique Synergy: Does not stack with duplicate synergies.
Punk's Pizzazz		Synergy Champions: Heavy Attacks are Passively Unblockable if Gladiator is alive, and they gain +10% Attack Rating if Sorcerer Supreme is alive, +750 Critical Rating if Hulk (Ragnarok) is alive, and +400 Critical Damage Rating if Spider-Punk is alive. Unique Synergy: Does not stack with duplicate synergies.
Enemies		Synergy Champions: All Champions gain +155 Critical Rating. Unique Synergy: Does not stack with duplicate synergies.
Praetor Of The Imperial Guard		All Champions except Gladiator: Gain 5% Attack Rating and 5% Armor Rating. Unique Synergy: Does not stack with duplicate synergies.

Strengths and Weaknesses[]

Strengths[]

Fight Control
- Gladiator has a comprehensive set of utilities that allow him to manipulate a fight in his favor, with easy access to effects like Unstoppable, Intimidate, Vigilance, Coldsnap, Incinerate and more.

Easy Openings
- Unblockable and Stun effects allow Gladiator to break through even the sturdiest defenses. After landing a Basic Attack, simply charge your heavy attack to passively stun them and reap the rewards.

Short But Extendable Ramp
- Gaining Confidence is key to Gladiator’s success, massively impacting his Attack and Armor Ratings and unlocking powerful new abilities. You can also increase his Confidence Limit with his Signature Ability and his Special 3.

Weaknesses[]

On Demand Nullify
- Gladiator struggles if he can’t maintain a healthy stack of Confidence Buffs, easy to access Nullify abilities like those found on prominent Mystic Champions will make it very hard to hang onto these Buffs.

Special Attack Knockdowns
- Getting knocked down by a Special Attack shatters Gladiator’s confidence and removes large amounts of Confidence Buffs, you want to avoid this at all costs. Keep in mind though that being Unstoppable prevents this removal.

Fate Seal and Stagger
- These Effects are less common but provide excellent Buff control and slow Gladiator’s progress to a crawl. If you can manage to gain at least 12 Confidence Buffs, it will allow him to gain Embolden Passives after his Special Attacks that negate this somewhat.