Gladiolus

Character Notes & Recommendations

Summon Board Passive selections:

• Shiva choose 3 / 5 / 7 (he wants to get hit)

• Ramuh choose 3 / 5 / 7 (he wants to get hit)

• Odin choose 3 / 6 / 7

• Bahamut choose 4 / 5 / 6

• Usuals: 

  • Ifrit, Brothers 4 / 5 / 7

  • Leviathan, Pandemonium, Diabolos, Alexander 4 / 5 / 6

• For more details and help with summons, check Summon Hub!

Sphere Recommendations

• A Sphere - Focus completely on BRV DMG & ATK, nothing else matters. Melee/Physical ATK boosts are fine, but not as good as equivalent ATK boosts since he has BRV gains based on his ATK specifically. Avoid triggers for AoE & evasion since Gladio’s counter is ST with splash, and he never likes to evade since he won’t counter! Iroha sphere can be a nice touch due to how much he loves to battery and the first thing that connects on his counter is an HP attack so he'd be setup for the 2nd HP ATK thanks to more battery.

• B Sphere - His own sphere is great for him to boost his party aura. The best alternative is Gabranth (or its refined version). Rounding out the rest of okay but not ideal options are Celes, Kimahri, & WoL.

• C Sphere - He has Encouragement Armor and a C slot for Pecil, however if you'd like him to heal as he counters Ceodore/Braska sphere can provide that utility. Otherwise, give him a party ATK boosting sphere like Maria.

How-To-Play Notes

• Feel free to open with Dawnhammer or HP Heal & Boost All as Gladio gets a free turn and skill use when starting a fight. With his C90 Rework, he starts out with all his important buffs including Blink so allies are protected and Gladio is ready to throw down right off the bat.

• Tempest will give Gladio refresh and raise stacks on his King's Shield buff while giving allies the Royal Guard buff allowing Gladio to cover them.

• Impulse also gives allies the Royal Guard buff, but also gives Gladio his Blink buff. This is what allows Gladio to counter and is the most important part of his kit.

  • Blink is particularly amazing with Keiss’ basic call. If an ally uses Keiss call targeting Gladio, and before Gladio’s next turn, he counters an enemy attack… The next turn your team takes, you will notice that enemies can now be launched. Once Gladio gets his turn, you’ll be able to set up more launches again! With more counter units available, you can use this technique with them as well!

• Dawnhammer maintains your Crownsguard’s Pride buff, which is the source of your last stand, so don’t let it fall off. This is otherwise a bit better for BRV shaving than Tempest, and is also the source of your mBRV debuff

• Maelstrom is an excellent BRV skill, but is single target BRV shaving only. It recharges quite slow, needing 3 skill uses to recharge.

• Don’t forget your AA if you need to heal him quickly, and this is the main reason why Gladio’s Survival Skills artifact is relatively useless for now. It also grants the party some added buffs so keeping it up is a good idea.