The Gladiator PvE damage build in AION 2 (PvE, damage) is played around Overhead Slam 16, Rending Blow 16 and Ruinous Blow, with Lunge Stance 20, Zikel's Blessing 10, Rage Burst 5 and Focused Block 5 as stigmas; stats in order: Critical Hit > Combat Speed > Front Attack Damage Boost > Double Chance. From 12 player sources on Reddit, Inven (KR), Bahamut (TW) and 17173 (CN), updated Oct 17, 2026; every name checked against the client.
Everything is built around spamming Overhead Slam with Rending Blow as the second button, both on one right-click macro, while the left button holds Keen Strike to cut the animations short and refill MP. Lunge Stance at 20 keeps cooldowns rolling, Zikel's Blessing adds damage, and the rest of the stigma points stay cheap.
Gold numbers are past what skill points buy (level 10): the rest comes from Daevanion skill nodes, soul binding and arcana — how to get there.
Overhead Slam — About half of the class's damage by several players' meters. Its level-12 option makes every hit critical and level 16 removes the cooldown.
Rending Blow — The second button and the mana fix: its level-16 option restores 50 MP on every critical hit.
Ruinous Blow — Opens the burst: press it before a boss window or put it first on the macro.
Leaping Slam — Use on cooldown — its first option gives a short damage buff after the jump.
Keen Strike — Hold on the left mouse button, never on the macro: it cancels the macro skills' animations and returns MP.
Sword Aura Rampage — Korean players raise it to 16 through Daevanion and two rings and place it right after Rending Blow.
Stigmas
Lunge StanceLv 20Rush it before any other stigma: at 20 each critical hit has a 50% chance to take 1 s off every cooldown.
Zikel's BlessingLv 10Level 10 adds +10% PvE Damage Boost; some push it to 15 later.
Rage BurstLv 5Level 5 cuts its cooldown by 15 s; more points add little to the damage windows.
Gold numbers are past what skill points buy (level 10): the rest comes from Daevanion skill nodes, soul binding and arcana — how to get there.
Talents: skill specializations
What each level of the build's skills opens in the client — the options you pick at 8 (actives) and the ones that come at 12, 16 and the stigma levels.
Options and the levels that open them are the client's (SpecializedSkillParts); lit = reached at the level this build aims for (skill points buy up to 10, stigmas 20 — the rest are bonus levels).
Talents: Daevanion boards
All five boards with a computed build for this role already learned — lit nodes are taken. Then what players do on the boards.
Most skill levels: +35 skill levels · 88 nodes · 136 pts. Computed by us — again and again the cheapest path with the most of the goal per point, for the points levels give at the cap. Change it in the planner →
What players do
•Spend every point and use all four general boards — Nezekan, Zikel, Vaizel and Triniel: their skill nodes give +1 each, which with rings and arcana is the road to Overhead Slam 16.
•Skill nodes for your active skills first, defensive nodes last. Korean guides also take every Attack Bonus node early.
•Azphel holds PvP stats: it raises gear score but does nothing for dungeons.
Gear for the PvE damage build
The Gladiator's top pieces, and what this build wants rolled on each.
% = chance one soul binding gives that line on that piece — our calculation from the client's weights, as on the item pages. Skills listed are the ones this build raises past what points buy (Overhead Slam, Rending Blow); stats are the ones it ranks. Gear Transfer moves good lines onto a better piece.
Soul binding, as players put it
Weapon, guard, rings:These roll +1 levels to active skills: keep any Overhead Slam +1 line — several players reached 16 through a ring.
Critical Hit:until the 50% cap the game states; Overhead Slam and Rending Blow crit on every hit anyway once their options are open, so Critical Hit mainly feeds Lunge Stance and the other skills.
Front Attack Damage Boost:Gladiator fights from the front: back-attack lines are wasted. Korean guides rank it first once crit is capped.
2Give Overhead Slam its own macro line: players measured a 20–30% loss when it shares one with Rending Blow.
3Pull the boss yourself for an aggro head start and jump in with Leaping Slam whenever it is ready.
4Korean players fire stigmas by hand rather than from the macro, so none is wasted on trash.
Tips and common mistakes
Tips
✦Spread stigma points as 20 / 10 / 5 / 5 — not evenly over four stigmas.
✦Watch for a faint after-image of your character: that is the sign the left-click cancel is working.
✦Combat-speed scrolls, attack food and power shards inside dungeons are part of the damage.
✦Taiwanese players build a different loop on the left button plus Ruinous Blow, tuned to Taiwan's own macro and cancel rules (patches of 26 Aug and 16 Sep); their numbers are not global, so do not copy their timings.
Read on Oct 17, 2026 on Reddit, Inven (KR), Bahamut (TW) and 17173 (CN); the words are ours. Every skill, stigma and stat named here exists in the global client 2.0.6.0 hotfix 1 — a name it does not have stops our build.
Questions
What is the Gladiator PvE damage build?
Everything is built around spamming Overhead Slam with Rending Blow as the second button, both on one right-click macro, while the left button holds Keen Strike to cut the animations short and refill MP. Lunge Stance at 20 keeps cooldowns rolling, Zikel's Blessing adds damage, and the rest of the stigma points stay cheap.
Which skills to level first for Gladiator PvE damage?
Overhead Slam to 16, Lunge Stance to 20, Rending Blow to 16, Zikel's Blessing to 10, Rage Burst to 5 and Focused Block to 5, in that order. Skill points buy up to level 10 (stigmas 20); higher levels come from Daevanion skill nodes, soul binding and arcana.
What stats for Gladiator PvE damage?
Critical Hit > Combat Speed > Front Attack Damage Boost > Double Chance > Critical Damage Boost. The global client caps Critical Hit at 50%.
What is the Gladiator PvE damage rotation?
Stigma buffs, then Ruinous Blow, then Rage Burst, then Overhead Slam, then Rending Blow — one macro on the right mouse button, left button held the whole time. Give Overhead Slam its own macro line: players measured a 20–30% loss when it shares one with Rending Blow. Pull the boss yourself for an aggro head start and jump in with Leaping Slam whenever it is ready. Korean players fire stigmas by hand rather than from the macro, so none is wasted on trash.
Where does this build come from?
Strong agreement: more than ten players across eight Reddit threads name Overhead Slam 16 + Lunge Stance 20 as the turning point, and four Korean guides (Jul–Sep) build on the same skills. Disputed: whether Zikel's Blessing or Focused Block is the third stigma, and whether Blade Toss has a place at all. Taiwanese players on Bahamut run the same core: Lunge Stance, Zikel's Blessing and Rage Burst as stigmas, with Overhead Slam and Ruinous Blow as the main hits. Sources: People who say "make your own groups" don't play assassin or glad; And what am I supposed to do now?; State of 2100 gatekeeping in a nutshell; Re-rolling to Gladiator as an Assassin main.
Gladiator has no taunt: it holds a boss by out-damaging the party. The tank build is the damage build with more parrying — Focused Block keeps the boss facing you and refreshes Experienced Counterstrike, which players describe as a damage buff for the group after a block.
161620510
Thin evidence: four Reddit threads and no Korean tank guide — Korean groups run the class as a damage dealer.
A Taiwanese idea from April: play the Gladiator as the party's buff carrier. Lifestealing Blade shares lifesteal and a damage bonus with the group, Zikel's Blessing adds attack, and Murderous Burst is kept up as a passive. Focused Block cuts the recovery after the blade and Lunge Stance keeps the loop moving.
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Read off the Taiwan server, in April. Taiwan then cut Lifestealing Blade (28 Apr) and later pushed the class back to damage, so the group value is probably lower now; check the skill text in the global client before you commit points.
In Korea's Abyss the Gladiator is a 1-on-1 fighter: close in with Rush Strike, buy time with Defiance, then chain Overhead Slam with its lifesteal option while Armor of Balance keeps crowd control off you.
Read off the Korean servers (a June guide and October reactions). Korea cut PvP damage by 30% on 14 Oct; check before copying numbers.
Until Overhead Slam reaches 16, keep it simple: Overhead Slam then Rending Blow on the right-click macro, Keen Strike held on the left, and only those three damage skills raised. Stigmas get the minimum and every spare point goes into Lunge Stance.
Overhead Slam with 
Rending Blow as the second button, both on one right-click macro, while the left button holds 
Keen Strike to cut the animations short and refill MP. 
Lunge Stance at 20 keeps cooldowns rolling, 
Zikel's Blessing adds damage, and the rest of the stigma points stay cheap.
Rage BurstLv 5Level 5 cuts its cooldown by 15 s; more points add little to the damage windows.
Focused BlockLv 5Level 5 gives a second use. Parrying instead of dodging keeps the boss facing you and triggers 
Experienced Counterstrike.
Absorbs 0.7% HP
Changes to AoE Skill
Adds [Upward Strike] Chain Skill
Critical Hit on hit
Remove cooldown
+5% Double Chance for the duration
Ruinous Blowto level 10
Leaping Slamto level 10
Sword Aura Rampageto level 10
Murderous Burst are the ones Korean guides want.
Blade Toss has a place at all. Taiwanese players on Bahamut run the same core: 
Party tankPvETank
PvP duelistPvPDamage
Rush Strike, buy time with 
Defiance, then chain 
Armor of Balance keeps crowd control off you.
Before Overhead Slam 16LevelingDamage
