Hello everyone, Ponyo here!  This article is part of the “101” series, which gives an overview of each role and class in the game.  Please be aware that this is not an extensive how-to guide nor does it provide optimal skill rotations.  Instead, this is an introductory orientation to the class with some general hints and tips to get you started.

A Little Lore

Gladiators specialize in the handling of all manner of one-handed blades, from daggers to longswords, be they single- or double-edged, straight or curved. Tracing their roots to the Coliseum, where the roar of the crowd reigns supreme, these melee combatants have learned to seamlessly flow between attack and defense in a dance that delights the eye.  Making use of their skill with the shield, gladiators can also draw the attention and attacks of an enemy upon themselves, thereby protecting their comrades from harm.

Gladiator’s Role

See the Tanking 101 guide for an introduction to the tank role.

Where to Start

The gladiator class can be unlocked in Ul’dah at the Gladiator’s Guild.  Mylla will give you your first sword and shield, and then you can start gaining skills!  At every 5th level, you can go back to Mylla and pick up a new quest that will give you a new skill and new armor and/or weapons.

As You Level

The skills you get as gladiator may not mean much when you’re leveling in the open-world, but once you are level 16 and can enter dungeons, the mechanics of gladiator become more important.

Since you are a tank class, you will be taking a lot of damage – and you don’t want your healers to hate healing you!  So do them a favor and practice using your “buffs.”  These are skills like Rampart and Convalescence that make you take less damage and/or make it easier to heal you.  These skills make you “tankier” and able to sustain more hits without taking as much damage.  Practice popping these one at a time whenever you are fighting mobs and especially when you are fighting bosses.  Your healers will thank you (and you’ll stay alive longer!).

Flash and Provoke are two of the most important skills for a gladiator.  Skills like Flash, Savage Blade, Shield Lob, and Rage of Halone increase enmity, which means that enemies are more likely to attack you, which is what you want as the tank.  At lower levels, it can sometimes be difficult to hold aggro with just Savage Blade and Rage of Halone combos.  This is where Flash comes in.  Flash does not do damage – instead, it uses MP to increase enmity.  It is recommended to use Flash every couple of skills to make sure you hold hate.  Using Flash so much that you’re running out of MP?  Use the Fast Blade + Riot Blade combo to restore some MP.

Sometimes you can’t hold hate even when you use Flash consistently.  Sometimes you have an aggressive DPS in the party who just really, really wants to fight that jellyfish add themselves.  And that’s okay.  But if the DPS is stealing the boss away from you, or if something is trying to eat your healer, then maybe it’s time to use Provoke.  Provoke immediately tells a single target to “Hey! Look at me!”  You will now have the aggro for that target.  Like you’re supposed to.

Finally, when you’ve got solid aggro, do some DPS with your Fast Blade-Savage Blade-Rage of Halone combos and stun enemy attacks with Shield Bash.

Cross-Role Skills

Please see the Tanking 101 guide for more information about cross-role skills.

Acquiring Your Job

At level 30, you can evolve from gladiator to paladin.  This is like getting a promotion – you become a better tank, get new skills, new armor, and new weapons.  In order to unlock paladin, you must be a level 30 gladiator and have completed the gladiator questline. As of the release of Stormblood, it is no longer necessary to level a secondary class to unlock your job.

And that’s it, an introduction to the gladiator class.  Happy tanking!