The Gladiator build is a straightforward but aggressive build that relies on cold-infused Highland Axe for damage. The main key point of this build is the Stamp ( Upward Cut ) Ashes of War which lets you mitigate incoming damage and allow your character to go under hyper armor. Meaning you will not be interrupted in the middle of the Ashes of War animation. You will receive mitigated damage but 90% of the time, an upward cut will connect, dealing a considerable amount of raw and stance damage. Repeat this strategy to break the stance of the enemy and dish out critical hits.

Guard Counters are at your disposal, dealing decent damage with the use of Redmane Shield. Perfect in countering heavy hits when not using Stamp (Upward Cut). The talismans suggested for this build are the Shard of Alexander for further damage increase, and Assassin's Cerulean Dagger for FP refunds since you will be spamming Stamp (Upward Cut) a lot leading to stance breaks, followed up by critical strikes hence this talisman will mitigate the FP usage. Bull-Goats Talisman to raise your Poise further. Lastly, is Millicent's Prosthesis, as you do have the option to spam R1 attacks and this talisman further boosts your overall DPS when dealing attack combinations. This talisman greatly enhances your Highland Axe capabilities as it is cold-infused. The more attacks you connect, the more frost builds up. Frost is one the best status effects in the game, not only the proc damages the enemy, but it also increases the damage received by the target. Another suggested talismans are Dragoncrest Shield for more damage mitigation as it can provide you more leeway when tackling bosses.