Gladiator
Tier List
Villain, Cosmic, Bio, Protector, Annihilator
| Arena | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Alliance War Offense | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Alliance War Defense | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Blitz/Real-Time Arena | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Raid | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Dark Dimension | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Cosmic Crucible | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
Iso-8
Gladiator is a Protector, and his main task is to support his Annihilators team, so to help him with that, we can equip him with a Fortifier or Healer class. Fortifier will provide him with more Barrier so that he can survive for longer as a Taunter, and Healer will provide a lot more Healing for his entire team so the choice can depend on what your team needs most, in some cases he can be a good Skirmisher or even a Striker, although a supportive Class fits him best.
T4 Priority
P – Passive ability
U – Ultimate ability
S – Special ability
B – Basic ability
Passive – will allow Gladiator to Spawn with Safeguard and Immunity, considering that he already will Spawn with Taunt, having Safeguard and Immunity will be crucial, so it’s an essential upgrade. As a bonus, he will also apply 2 Turns of Defense Up to himself and Annihilator allies (instead of 1)
Ultimate – if his Health is below 50%, he will generate 3 Ultimate Ability Energy to himself. If the Health is above 50% health, he will instead reduce the Speed Bar of the primary target by 50%. This ability can provide a big heal for Gladiator and will reapply Taunt and Immunity, so having faster access to it (if health is below 50%) or more control (if above 50%) can be instrumental to victory.
Special – will allow Gladiator to clear all Barrier from all enemies. If his Health is above 50%, he will then clear all positive effects from all enemies (instead of 2), and if the Health is below 50%, he will apply 3 Regeneration for 2 turns to self and all Annihilator allies (instead of 1 turn)
Basic just provides a slight damage increase
Infographics
Theory Craft
Gladiator, born Kallark, hails from the Strontian race and serves as the Praetor of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard, sworn to defend the Shi’ar Empire with unwavering loyalty. Endowed with superhuman strength, speed, flight, invulnerability, and the ability to shoot heat vision, his powers are directly linked to his confidence and self-belief. Renowned for his incredible feats, Gladiator has faced cosmic threats and emerged victorious, solidifying his reputation as one of the galaxy’s most formidable warriors.
Gladiator is a Pre-Taunt Protector who also excels in supporting his own team by applying Safeguard, Immunity, and Regenerations or by directly Healing them. He can also clear all positive effects from all enemies and control their Speed Bar (more so in Arena). All of his active abilities have a two-sided mechanic, where the effects can vary depending on whether he has more or less than 50% Max Health.
Basic – Meteoric Slam
This will attack all enemies for damage. If Gladiator has more than 50% Health, he will apply Offense Down for 2 turns to them. If he has less than 50% – the attack gains 25% Drain.
Iso-8/Counterattack/Assist
The safety attack will only hit the primary target for slightly less damage, but it will still apply Offense Down or Gain Drain, depending on his Health.
Special – Tectonic Lift
Energy Cost: 5/5
This ability will clear Barrier from all enemies, then it will flip all negative effects into positives on all Annihilator characters.
After that, Gladiator will attack all enemies for damage and will apply Safeguard for 2 turns to all Annihilator allies.
If Gladiator’s Health is more than 50%, he will clear all positive effects from all enemies, if it’s below 50% – he will apply Immunity for 2 Turns and 3 Regeneration for 2 turns to self and all Annihilator allies.
This attack is unavoidable and cannot be blocked or counterattacked.
Gladiator will be able to use this Ability on his first turn and in most cases we would probably want him to have less than 50% Health because he’ll provide more protection for the team, and as for the Positive Effects, his Annihilator ally – Thanos, can remove them shortly after.
Ultimate – Shi’Ar Showdown
Energy Cost: 5/5
This Ability will Heal Gladiator for +50% of his Health, and all Annihilator allies for +40%. Then it will attack the primary target for damage, this attack gains +30% Crit Chance.
If Gladiator’s Health is above 50% Health (before he uses this ability), he will reduce the Speed Bar of the primary target by 50% and will gain Taunt and Immunity (both for 2 turns). If his Health is below 50% – he will gain Barrier for 30% of his Max Health, and will generate 3 Ultimate Ability Energy to himself.
This is a perfect ability for a Protector because it can either be damaging to the opponents or life-saving for Gladiator. And if he did have low Health, he would generate Ability Energy to himself so he would be able to use his Ultimate again soon.
Passive – Shi’Ar’s Rage
On Spawn, Gladiator will gain Safeguard, Immunity, Taunt and Defense Up. This alone makes him the best pre-taunt Protector in the game. He will also apply Defense Up to his Annihilator allies (for 2 turns)
On any turn, if his Health is below 50% Health, he will heal self for 5% of his Max Health. This is a very potent survival mechanic since it will allow Gladiator to get back to above 50% mark quickly.
When Gladiator drops below 50% Max Health, he will Gain 2 Regeneration and if he has Taunt, he will drop that and slip into Stealth. This is a fairly standard mercy mechanic for Protectors.
If Gladiator has 2 or more Annihilator allies and his Health is above 50%, this character and all allies cannot gain Exposed or Vulnerable. This is one of the most important parts of his kit because a lot of powerful characters (including Mythic characters) can heavily rely on Exposed. Preventing Vulnerable will also be a big benefit, especially when using these characters in Dark Dimensions, where enemies can often eliminate your characters with their Striker attacks.
In Arena, Gladiator also has a few big tricks:
- All Annihilator allies cannot gain Slow
- When Gladiator’s Health is above 50%, enemies cannot fill or reduce Speed Bar for themselves, their allies, or enemies.
The Speed Bar manipulation won’t affect any Speed Bar gain through normal means, but it will prevent any bonus Speed Bar gains or reducing the Speed Bar of his allies, this makes Gladiator (including all other Passive abilities) a crucial member of his team. One of the most important tasks will be sustaining his Health, ensuring that it’s always above 50% Max Health.
Conclusion
Gladiator is a perfect pre-taunt character, he can Spawn with Safeguard/Immunity/Taunt, and he can even regain that same combination of positive effects if by chance it was cleared from him.
The Health mechanic he has that can change the effect of his abilities is a nice reflection of his lore but may be slightly inconvenient during gameplay mainly because it may often lead to situations where we want him to be below 50% and he will be above, or vice-versa. Not to mention that his Passive loses a lot of value if he drops below 50% Health so our options will be even more limited. Other than that, Gladiator will be a great addition to the MSF and while he is slightly more locked to Annihilators or Arena, he can still be the number one pre-taunt in all game modes.
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