Gladiator Guide
Gladiator class guide for Cabal Online with recommended builds, combos, BM2 and BM3 advice, buffs, debuffs, and progression notes.
Contents
Overview
Gladiator is a STR-based melee class that fights with Chakrams and wears heavy armor. Its combat style is defined by Rage, a unique resource generated by many attack skills and consumed by certain abilities for added damage or utility. Some Gladiator skills also have slightly greater reach than the melee attacks of typical sword-based classes.
Rage is unique to Gladiator. Many Gladiator attack skills build Rage, and selected skills spend it for damage or utility.
Stat Distribution
Meet the weapon requirements first, then put everything else into STR. Gladiator naturally leans on STR for damage, while DEX is only a secondary consideration for comfort stats.
Rage
Rage is Gladiator's unique class resource. It is built by many attack skills and spent by selected skills.
Higher Rage increases Gladiator damage. It also increases the added damage on key finishers, especially Genocider Specialty Stage 3 in BM3 and Death Scyther Guillotine in BM2.
Rage management is mainly about timing the spenders. Moon Strike is a small spender. Moonlight Smash, Vital Charge, Death Scyther Guillotine, and Genocider Specialty Stage 3 are the main large spends. Genocider Specialty Stage 3, often called Fatality or Specialty III, is the main Rage finisher.
Main Rage skills:
- BM2 loop skill: Scyther Attack #1 gives `+1 Rage`
- BM2 finisher: Death Scyther Guillotine uses `10 Rage`
- BM3 builders: Genocider Attack A and Genocider Attack B each give `+1 Rage`
- BM3 specialty chain: Genocider Specialty Stage 1 and Genocider Specialty Stage 2 each give `+2 Rage`
- BM3 main finisher: Genocider Specialty Stage 3 uses `10 Rage`
Battle Modes
Gladiator has a split battle mode profile that changes with progression. In early and mid game, BM3 is usually the better DPS option and gives the class a straightforward burst plan. As gear and character stats keep rising, BM2 gains ground because the faster attack cycle scales better, and in higher-end setups it can become the stronger single-target choice.
General Passive Skills
Recommended Gladiator Passives
For Gladiator, the default six passive skills are both attack passives, both attack-rate passives, Mana Mastery, and one defense-rate flex slot.
Other Options
These are the remaining alternatives you can choose when you want to pivot away from the default passive recommendation.
Vitality Mastery is usually not recommended. You already gain a lot of HP from other progression systems, so spending a passive slot on flat HP is usually a weak trade compared to attack, attack rate, mana coverage, or a meaningful defensive flex.
Gladiator Class Passives
These are the class-exclusive passives for this class which you can purchase from any skill instructor. You max them all. Once you start increasing your Overlord Levels, these passive skills will improve even further.
Battle Mode 2
You unlock BM2 after completing the level 50 rank-up quest. Gladiator BM2 is Death Scyther. It becomes especially relevant later in progression because Gladiator can eventually lean on BM2's faster attack cycle for better single-target damage. Move your mouse over the skill icons to inspect the full skill stats.
Activates BM2.
Main BM2 attack to loop.
Part of the BM2 chain, but not the main loop point.
Part of the BM2 chain, but not the main loop point.
Part of the BM2 chain, but not the main loop point.
BM2 finisher and Rage spender.
Battle Mode 3
You unlock the BM3 at level 130 after completing the BSLV-Up quest. Gladiator BM3 is Genocider. It is usually the stronger DPS option in early and mid game, and its added damage scales heavily with Rage. Move your mouse over the skill icons to inspect the full skill stats.
Use this skill to activate BM3.
One of Gladiator's two regular BM3 attacks. Its damage depends on how many targets it hits, so check the Target Damage Multipliers page for the actual values.
The second regular BM3 attack. Its damage depends on how many targets it hits, so check the Target Damage Multipliers page for the actual values.
After building the correct A/B route, use Specialty 1 to cash out the synergy and start the finisher chain. Its damage also depends on how many targets it hits, so check the Target Damage Multipliers page for the actual values.
Specialty 2 continues the BM3 finisher chain after Specialty 1.
Specialty 3 is the final BM3 finisher. It consumes 10 Rage, its added damage scales with Rage, and its damage also depends on how many targets it hits, so check the Target Damage Multipliers page for the actual values.
Gladiator Buffs
These are Gladiator's main self-buffs and Rage-related support skills. Level them and keep the important long-duration ones active. Move your mouse over the skill icons to inspect the full skill stats.
Long-duration offensive buff. Like the heavy-armor burst buffs on Warrior and Force Shielder, it comes with a defense penalty.
Fills the Rage gauge immediately instead of building it through attacks.
Accuracy buff.
Defensive utility buff.
Strong defensive buff for PvE and PvP. Grants Barrier.
Strong survival skill. Reduces each incoming hit to 18 damage for the duration.
Short offensive burst buff.
Main defensive emergency buff.
Gladiator Debuffs
Gladiator has a limited debuff toolkit compared with some other classes. Move your mouse over the skill icon to inspect the full skill stats.
Main debuff skill.
BM3 Synergies
Gladiator BM3 synergies are triggered by specific A/B attack sequences after Genocider is activated.
Repeating the same BM3 synergy uses diminishing returns. The first application is x1, the second is x1.5, and the third is x2. Fractional results are rounded down. For example, if you use a +5% Critical Rate synergy twice, you will gain +7% Critical Rate and +10% Critical Rate if you use it three times.
| Synergy | Activation Sequence | Effects |
|---|---|---|
Extreme RageRecommended | → → → | Defense-10013sSelf Crit. DMG+20%13sSelf Crit. Rate+5%13sSelf Max Crit. Rate+5%13sSelf |
Extra DamageAvoid | → → → | HP-50013sSelf Add Damage+50013sSelf |
Amplifying AngerSituational | → → → | Defense-10014sSelf Defense-5014sOpponent Penetration+2014sSelf Resist Skill Amp.-15%14sOpponent |
Recommended Synergies
These are the default BM3 routes worth repeating when you want reliable synergy setups without overthinking the sequence order every pull.
Recommended
Combos
Normal combos are not the whole plan in PvE. Gladiator gets most of its burst from battle modes and Rage spenders, so normal skills mainly fill the time between those windows. If you still want to combo, use faster skills for single target and wider skills for AoE.
Equipment
Equipment builds coming soon — TBD.
Pet
Recommended PvE pet setup. Depending on your server and episode, this may be called the pet system or anima mastery, but the core stat priorities are the same. On newer servers, you can also have the extra 10 Transcendence slots on top of the older 30-slot structure.
Normal (Lv. 1-10)
Normal has no real alternative for PvE. Full Max Critical Rate is non-negotiable here and gives you the crit setup you need before moving into the stronger later tiers.
Covenant (Lv. 11-20)
Covenant is the clean crit-damage tier. Once the Normal row covers max crit rate, this row is the direct damage follow-up.
Swap every Covenant slot to Ignore Resist Critical Damage when you want this tier to help crack crit-damage resistance instead of stacking more raw crit damage.
Covenant Alternative
Trust (Lv. 21-30)
Penetration is the default here for general PvE. Ignore Resist Critical Rate can be a better option for maximizing DPS against certain ultra late game bosses.
Swap every Trust slot to Ignore Resist Critical Rate when the target has enough critical-rate resistance to make the default penetration stack less valuable.
Trust Alternative
Swap every Trust slot to Ignore Resist Critical Damage when you want this row to help break crit-damage resistance instead of staying on the broader penetration.
Trust Alternative
Transcendence (Episode 39)
Transcendence is the newer pet tier. The default recommendation is full Penetration, which gives +17 Penetration per slot.
Honor Medal
Honor medal recommendation copied into class-guide scope so it can diverge from planner defaults later.
Captain
DEX is the simplest default here. You can also use STR or INT, because those base stats can be compensated in the general stat distribution window. For example, if Captain gives you 40 STR, you can subtract 40 from the minimum STR requirement shown in the stat distribution section.
General
For General, go with Critical Damage. Ignore Resist Critical Damage only starts to matter later against very tanky bosses with high resist stats.
General Alternative
Swap the full General row to Ignore Resist Critical Damage for very late-game bosses with heavy resist stats.
Commander
For Commander, go with All Skill Amp.
Hero
For Hero, go with Penetration. Like General, the resist-ignoring alternative is mainly for very late-game bosses.
Hero Alternative
Swap the full Hero row to Ignore Resist Critical Damage for very late-game bosses. All 10 Hero slots give 7% each.
Legend
For Legend, go with Ignore Resist Critical Damage.
Crests
Formerly this was the costume system. Recommended crest setup for Gladiator.
Crest of Life
Keep the regular slots on Max Critical Rate and use All Skill Amp on the epic option. Penetration and Critical Damage are also good epic alternatives.
Recommended
Penetration Alternative
Use this when you want a stronger penetration-focused Crest of Life epic instead of the default All Skill Amp setup.
Critical Damage Alternative
Use this when Critical Damage fits your current ratio and you do not need the default All Skill Amp epic.
Crest of Earth
Use Ignore Resist Critical Rate on the regular slots for endgame bosses. Full Critical Damage at 3% per slot or full Penetration are also viable alternatives. For the epic option, All Attack Up is the default best pick, and Ignore Resist Skill Amp is also a strong endgame-boss alternative.
Recommended
Crest of Earth Alternative
Use this version when endgame bosses make Ignore Resist Skill Amp more valuable than the default All Attack Up epic option.
Crest of Sky
Use Penetration on the regular slots and Critical Damage on the epic option.
Recommended
Stellar Link
Recommended Stellar Link setup for Gladiator. The same baseline PvE route is used here as on the other class guides.
You gain these extra line bonuses when every node in the respective line shares the same color. For PvE, it is fine to start by settling for any Emptiness color in Lines 1, 3, and 5 because the reward for completing those lines is large, while Lines 2 and 4 mainly give PvP-oriented stats.
Daedalus of Emptiness
Icarus of Emptiness
Vulcanos of Emptiness
Minerva of Emptiness
Pluto of Emptiness
Myth Level
Recommended Myth Level setup for Gladiator. Prioritize the correct node stats first and treat rank as secondary. The same baseline PvE route is used here as on the other class guides.
Treat this as a BIS-node guide, not a holy-power race. The important part is locking the right stats on each node first. Any rank you naturally end up with is acceptable, and once the correct stats are in place you start rerolling for higher tiers on those same picks. If you want the full underlying values, rates, and node reference details, check the Myth Level Data page.
