3.28 Bleed Lacerate/Splitting Steel Gladiator Leaguestarter

This is not a full build guide up to high tier gear.

For endgame gladiator look at poe.ninja or other build guides, i have a lvl 100 gladiator with 30m+ dps as well. I may add a new endgame version but since some changes (exceptional gems, new Corrupted Support...) need to be proper tested, i will only include it after leaguestart.

Pros and Cons:
Pros:
Cheap
Good defenses
Decent clear/single target

Cons:
Not the best clear (no bow/prolif etc.)
Feels a bit clunky to play
DOT build


POB: https://poe.ninja/poe1/pob/875eb
Short Video, showcasing a T15 map with ghosted boss and multi-essence rare in SSF Keepershttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZM3-WHeSw4

Reasons to go for Splitting Steel/Lacerate combo:

So there are several build guides out for bleed lacerate gladiator (Goratha for example), most go from slams to Lacerate/Eviscerate endgame.

I don`t like sunder but lacerate has sufferable clear, so i just went with splitting steel for clear instead.

Why splitting steel:
Splitting steel is actually quite decent for bleeding, since it is a physical skill that can be used with Axes, same as lacerate. We mostly scale physical damage (with axes) and not melee damage. Splitting steel fires a projectile which explodes and then autotargets enemies around it with its secondary projectiles. These explode as well on the enemy they target. All of the enemies affected by the first/secondary projectiles or their explosions bleed. So with splitting steel we can easily trigger bleeds and (after 1st lab) bleed explosions.

For single target of more difficult monsters we use Lacerate (of haemorrhage).


Why not eviscerate:
Eviscerate has better damage than splitting steel and clears a big area, but only after you have been hit shortly before and in my opinion therefore its not very reliable for clear. But you can 1to1 switch splitting steel and eviscerate and see which one you like better.


Progression Campaign:
We start in A1 with Splitting Steel/Chance to bleed+Faster attacks or Maim (dependent on link colors).
We use a 2h weapon (Sword or Axe with the most physical damage we can get)
Before Merveil we get Lacerate as well, which helps with single-target.

Movement: Leap Slam with faster attacks helps with getting through the acts fast.
Auras: Pride/Herald of Purity/Flesh and Stone (Haste if you have a good weapon and do not need damage, Purity of Elements for QOL if you prefer that).
Curse: Vulnerability, is a nice to have but not mandatory.


1+2 Lab: Bleed Explosions/Aggravate for first and second lab -> Clear gets comfy after first lab because of splitting steel+bleedsplosions, Single Target gets good after Aggravate, since many bosses don't move.

We use a 2h Axe and the above mentioned combo (Splitting Steel for clear, Lacerate for Single Target) up to A10, when we get the 3rd lab.
3rd Lab: Block Chance
After 3rd lab we switch to 1h axe+shield and get block chance on the passive tree as well. Pick whatever 1h axe has the highest physical damage (gambling is decent to get one), if you want to craft reaver axe is the best base.

Early maps tips:
For early mapping we basically need just life/resists and a decent physical axe (20% quality base and a couple shrieking/defeaning essence of contempt with the exalted increased physical damage craft is fine).
4th lab gives us lucky block, as soon as we get that, the build feels really tanky, so 4th lab is important.
Lacerate of haemorrhage is also important to get asap.
A blood sap tincture with DOT multi affix and 20% quality increases our single target by ~30% early on and is basically free. Ryslathas coil gives us 30-40% more damage as well, so is highly recommended as well (if cheap).
This is enough to do most of your atlas without much investment (<50C). In the above video i did not have a 6link, good axe or ryslathas coil.

After that i would recommend T6 essence farming/blight or Delve to get some currency. If you reach ~5m dps with lacerate, maven invitations become a decent option. This requires some investment though.