Sands of the Coliseum - Advanced Guide (Lvl 50+)

Introduction
So there are many builds and team set-ups that work efficiently, I will start each segment by listing a few different
useful set-ups, and then explain in detail how each should be used, how stat/skill points should be distributed,
and variations of these builds that have further purposes.
Before that though, Ill tell you a little bit about how I started.
!bout two months ago, I began playing on "ongregate, I used to always be a hardcore gamer and so when I set
foot into a new game, if I dont see a potential in it for expansion and mastery, its often disregarded. Sands of the
#oliseum did indeed have much potential however. $hen I first started playing, I was a noob like everyone else,
new games, new things to learn. I tried a few builds and reached level %& or so in the first day. 'he next time I
logged on, I saw a few people chatting who seemed to know what they were talking about. Soltel and Sleepy()
were the main ones that stood out to me. I *uestioned them and found that there was much improvement to be
made on my gladiators. Soltel was kind of like my mentor. !nyways, I continued leveling up, two days from then I
was level &(, and Sleepy() said I had one of the best teams for my level hed ever played against haha. Before I
knew it, I was level +, and thats when I began to brainstorm and be creative. It allowed me to have the skill
points to work with, and for end-game testing to be done. I didnt play multiplayer much at that point, -ust lots of
preparation, I wanted to be fully suited before going to war in multiplayer. Ive now learned -ust about everything
there is to know about this game, and wish to share my knowledge with all of you before my departure, and
hopefully improve your gaming experience in Sands of the #oliseum. /ettuce begin0
Screamer (Provocatores): 'hese are support gladiators, meant for controlling 12 during the match. 'hey
can also cure if needed, but often it will be a big mistake to waste a turn curing, as if the other team has a
screamer as well, youll lose the upper hand. 'hey are very versatile and can be used in almost every team.
'hey are especially useful in multiplayer fights lvl &,3, and when facing 4ome #ontenders. 'hey disable the
enemys use of skills which re*uire 12, and are limited to passives.
'he most important stat for a Screamer is seed. 5ou want..... you 6778 the first turn. 'he team whos
screamer intimidates all first, is often the winner. If the enemy team does not have +),3 12 on their gladiators,
then (9,mp skills cannot be used, as intimidate all removes +&: of the targets max 12. Second to speed, is
vitalit!. ;itality is especially important if you do not have a protector on your team to guard him. It also increases
the amount that you #ure/#ure !ll -< =(,: of your total >2.?
'he stats, with nice e*uips should be at minimum0 5"5 seed# $0 vitalit!% 'his re*uires you to pump every
single stat into speed, with a full set of perfect e*uips. 3%, speed on each piece, and three of those 3%, speed
pieces must be on a Blade Shield =3@speedA3&speed?, and the boots must be #hain mail boots =-@ speed? 'his
will likely take B3 hours of shopping in Clympus =refreshing page continually after checking shop and saving? to
ac*uire a full 3%, speed set. 'he vitality comes from e*uips, if youre lucky you will find e*uips with 3%, speed,
and also 3vitality as well. 'he more vitality, the better.
-Screamer ;ariants-
sCreamer: 'his is a very new build, created by myself, and a close friend of mine, Cnslaught. 'he idea behind a
s#reamer =# for #harisma? is based on the fact that intimidate all removes +&: of the max 12. 6ow if you are
familiar with the legends of SC!#, it was considered to be of utmost importance that your gladiators had
+B,12 base. It was assumed that the higher 12 you had, the better. But after some brainstorming, Cnslaught
and I came to the conclusion that this old idea was undoubtedly flawed.
#onsider an example0 In a fight between two Screamers, which ever gets to go first has the obvious advantage.
>e intimidates the other team, leaving the enemy Screamer with (&,-(9,12 leftover =assuming they have +,,-
+),mp max?. 'hen the enemy Screamer has enough 12 to intimidate back once. 'hen they both have to crowd
appeal, but since the Screamer who got first turn is ahead, he crowd appeals first, and intimidates back first,
pinning the other Screamer at ,12, with the only choice to #rowd appeal each turn in hopes that the first
Screamer will let off the Intimidate !ll spamming. 'hey are pinned at ,12 because their crowd appeal cannot
recover more than the intimidate all removes. In order to crowd appeal back ),,3 12, it would re*uire over %D,3
#harisma. !nd thats nearly impossible to reach while maintaining a full &(&speed set. &he ans'er( Lo'er ma)
*P% 5es, @@,12 is the magical number for a s#reamer. 'his is because +&: of @@, is ((,. ((,12 Is how much
the Intimidate !ll skill re*uires to be used. 'he reason this works, is because it re*uires less #harisma to recover
@@, 12 with crowd appeal than it does to recover ),,3. !round %,, #harisma is needed for this, which is very
achievable with the right e*uips while maintaining &(&speed and high vitality. !s a result of recovering EF// 12
every single time you crowd appeal, and the enemy screamer only intimidating away +&:, you are left with
((,mp every single time you crowd appeal. 5es, the tables have turned. 6ow it no longer matters if you get first
turn or not. !fter the first two turns, you immediately have the upper hand, and instead of being pinned at ,mpG
'he enemy is the one suffering. Henius, ehG
S+ill set for ,oth t!es of screamers are: 5-"0 ,oost morale# "0-"0 intimidation# ".-"5 Charisma ,oost#
"-5 cro'd aeal ,oost# "0-"0 morale all# 5-5 intimidation all# 5-5 cure all# 5-"0 /) com,o# "5-"5 seed
,oost%
Protector (*urmillo): 2rotectors are also support gladiators. 'heir main role is to defend your other two
team-mates by -umping out in-front of them and tanking the hits, blocking as many shots as possible with their
shields. 'hey are most useful when paired with glass-cannons =>igh-82S based gladiators with little to no ability
to defend themselves.?
'he stats may vary depending on the type of 2rotector you wish to build. "eep in mind, each support gladiator is
created with the intent to work as a team, never alone, and so building gladiators specifically to work in
con-unction with other builds is almost always superior than if you were to try and make each gladiator self
reliant.
-2rotector ;ariants-
0efense based 2rotectors are -ust as the name says, high defense. 'hey are usually slower than other types of
protectors because to ac*uire high defense, there must be sacrifice. 'hey rely on their fre*uent blocks using
their shield, rather than having high vitality. 'here is however a flaw with defense. 'here is a general rule of
thumb often applied when comparing 8exterity =your ability to hit or miss an opponent?. ( 8exterity A % 8efense.
'his means if you have &, dex, and your opponent has (,, defense, you can still hit them, But if they have
higher than a (0% ratio, you will continually miss forever and ever. Since it re*uires half as many stat points in
dexterity to counter high defense, it could be seen as a waste to pump all your stat points into defense, because
the enemy only has to work half as hard, pumping half as many stat points into dexterity to overcome you. Eor
this reason, when building a protector, I prefer to rely on e*uip stat bonuses for extra defense, rather than
investing valuable stat points into it. 'his leads me to the next type of 2rotector.
Seed-1italit! based protectors, as an old friend of mine would say, Imeat shields.I 'hey take hits, -umping out
in-front of your team-mates relying on their high vitality =and ability to recover lots of >2 through cure? to
withstand enemy attacks. 'hey block less often since they have less defense, but their high vitality and speed
easily makes up for the extra hits they take. Speed is important for two reasons. Eirst, it allows you to get the first
turn, in order to protect your most valuable ally before the enemy damage dealer has a chance to take out any of
your teams limbs. Second, the more fre*uent your turns, the more often you get to cure. 'his is my favorite
protector build, and its also the one I used in my first team that led me to many victories in 1ultiplayer mode.
'hey are also very useful when facing 4ome #ontenders, as you will find the last handful of matches, the
contenders have incredible amounts of speed. If your speed protector doesnt have high enough speed to get
first turnG 'hen whatG 'heir over powered dual wielders inflict up to @,,,, damage on one of your poor
gladiators. !nd we cant have that can weG !lso, they clearly have around @,, dexterity for such a high crit rate,
and so it would take how much defense to counter their @,, dexG 5ep. D,,3. !nd that is unachievable.
1oving on to skills and stat distribution for Speed/;itality based protectors0
Stats: 250 Seed# /00 1italit!# "/0 0efense as minimums% An! e)tra oints should ,e used to'ards more
Seed or 1italit! - !ou ic+%
S+ills: "0-"0 Shield ,ash# "0-"5 0efense ,oost# "0-"0 Protect# 5-"0 /) com,o# "5-"5 seed ,oost# 5-"0
thro'# 5-"0 life ,oost# "0-"0 cure%
J5ou probably noticed that after 2rotect in the 1urmillo tree, you branch off into other skill paths. 'his is because
everything 6orth of 2rotect is rather useless. Counter Attac+ aims strictly for the chest, which is often the last
body part you should aim for. It can however be useful on a self-reliant defense based 1urmillo- but self-reliant
defense based 1urmillos are not recommended as anyone with B,,3 dexterity would tear you to shreds.
3e4eneration is a set number based on how many skill points you placed into it, which I will inform you is an
extremely low number in comparison to the amount of >2 that #ure/#ure all restore.
5etters (3etiarius): 'hese gladiators are best known for their ability to use nets, unlocked at level @,. 6ets
entangle the enemy gladiator of your choice 'ith a "006 hit rate for the first net from !our team in each
match% !fter the first net, the miss rate increases dramatically for a few turns, but once the first net as ended, the
nets accuracy increases from there onwards. ='his is an observation that Ive found to be incredibly consistent.?
6etters also have the ability to cure, and the ability to boost morale a small amount of 12 to a team-mate when
in faced with emergencies. ! small amount of 12 sent to one gladiator at a critical point in the game can easily
determine whether you win, or lose.
Speed is their most important stat. 'hey are very similar to Screamers, but they have a different skill set. 'hey
too re*uire &(& speed, and a good amount of vitality, while maintaining +),3 12. 'hey need such high 12
because if the enemy has a screamer and uses intimidate all before your netter gets a turn, then you need to
have enough 12 leftover to still use your net once.
S+ill set is as follo's: 5-"0 thro'# "5-"5 life ,oost# "0-"0 cure# "-"0 dod4e lus# 7-"0 ,leed reduce# 5-5 net#
5-"0 /) com,o# "5-"5 seed ,oost# 5-"0 ,oost morale%
5ou may wonder why dod4e lus is only at (/(,. 'here are two reasons why other skills in the tree are more
important. $hen using cure, the more total >2 you have, the more >2 you will recover =(,: of max hp?. It would
then make sense to have life boost maxed, to cure more efficiently. But why choose bleed reduce over dodge
plusG 'he higher >2 you have, the more you will bleed. Since netters will aim to have high vitality for their cure
and durability, they bleed high amounts of >2. 'he more you can reduce this, the better. So it makes sense to
pair #ure with /ife boost with Bleed 4educe.
5ote: Fp to this point, weve discussed different types of support gladiators. Ive included all those of which I
believe are worth mentioning. Im sure you can get creative and mix and match things however you like, but
these are the main cookie-cutter builds which I have found most useful in my B,,3 hours of experience with this
game. I will now proceed to discuss a few versatile in-between builds. 'hey work as support for other gladiators,
but also have a fair share in dealing damage to the other team.
&hro'ers (3etiarius): 'hrowers have a very similar skill set to 6etters, but differ in stat distribution. 'hey
keep their ability use nets, however they sacrifice speed for more dexterity and strength. 8exterity is always
more important than strength. If your dexterity is less than (0% to the highest defense enemy gladiator, then no
matter how much strength you have, or how many times you try to hit them, you will fail. Strength is only useful
with dexterity. 1any experienced players would agree that it is actually better to rely on high dexterity, for the
increased critical hit rate for dealing high damage. Speed is also a factor in dealing damage. 'he more speed
you have, the more often you get to attack, so you deal more damage over time since you get more turns.
A useful coo+ie-cutter ,uild 'ould loo+ somethin4 li+e this: 250 seed# /00 de)terit!# "50 stren4th% "0-"0
thro'# "0-"0 dod4e lus# 5-5 net# 5-"0 shield ,ash# "5-"5 seed ,oost% 'his is -ust an example, take it upon
yourself to figure out what works best for you and your team.
Cnce again Ill repeat this0 7ach gladiator should be built to work at its best when paired with your other two
allies. If there is a particular skill in reach that you feel would assist your team in a certain situation, then by all
means make the needed ad-ustment.
!n example of this was stated above when I wrote about 6etters. Since after they max net3speed boost, they
still have a remaining & points leftover, &/(, boost morale can be very helpful in some situations. Say you look at
the turn list on the right side of the screen in multiplayer, and you see that the next two turns are for your 6etter,
and then your protector. Say your netter has &,mp, and your protector has only B,12. 5our third character is un-
protected and on his last limb. If only your protector had more mp. If he doesnt protect the third ally, he will die.
$ell if your netter has &/(, boost morale, youre in luck. Send your protector the (&,12 he needs to use protect
on your third team-mate, and voil, youve kept your third character from dying.
8i,rid: 'his is the second build accredited to Cnslaught and I, and was created around the same idea as the
s#reamer. 'his is perhaps the most versatile gladiator of all, and was created to work in con-unction with a
s#reamer. !s you may have guessed by its name already, the Eibrid has skills from all five skill classes. It can be
a very useful gladiator on its own, as it is very self reliant, but it works even better when placed into the right
team. 5es, when used with a s#reamer, the enemy must deal with not one, but '$C gladiators that cannot be
pinned at ,12 with intimidation. 'his gives your team a huge advantage, to consistently have 12, while the
other team has none. 'he Eibrid works as a part-time screamer, and part-time damage dealer.
9is s+ill set loo+s li+e this: 5-"0 thro'# 5-5 o'er attac+# "5-"5 de) ,oost# 5-"0 ,oost morale# "0-"0
intimidation# "0-"0 shield ,ash# 5-"0 /) com,o# "5-"5 seed ,oost% ------- &hro' is used onl! if !ou lose a
le4% If not# al'a!s use shield ,ash for dealin4 dama4e% If !ou 'ant# !ou can "-"0 thro' and ut " ut into
Armor ,rea+# and 2-"5 critical ,oost% &his allo's for more fre:uent critical hits 'ith shield ,ash%
Stats: 250 seed# /00 de)# "50 str# "00 vitalit!% ;;;*ust have /$0-2.0*P ,! lvl <0;;;
'he amount of 12 for this character is determined by how much he crowd appeals. Suppose he has (&,
charisma =e*uips so happen to give this much? 'hen he should have around B%,-BB,12. (&, #harisma at
B%,mp should allow him to crowd appeal around BB&12 =give or take a few.? 'his means he recovers to full 12
every single time he crowd appeals, and every time someone intimidates him, he still has D,123 leftover. 'his
means he can use two skills still. =Shield bash or intimidation? Simply ad-ust his 12 to fit the amount of #harisma
he has. =ou must ,e careful# not allo'in4 !our *P to continue levelin4# once !ou reach ,orderline 'here
!ou can no lon4er full! recover !our ma) *P from cro'd aealin4 once% =ou 0>5& 'ant !our *P to
level u on !our sCreamer-fi,rid ,ecause if !our *P 4oes u# it means !our Charisma has to 4o u
alon4 'ith it# and if !ou don?t have the Charisma to suort !our *P levelin4 u# then !ou?re scre'ed% &o
avoid this# once !our 8i,rid-sCreamer are lvl <0# don?t comlete matches@@@ &hese are ,uilt for end-4ame
PvP (,ut still 'or+ amaAin4l! in all situations)% If !ou 'ant to avoid !our *P levelin4 u# siml! clic+
?3efresh? at the to of !our ,ro'ser a4e ,efore 4oin4 ,ac+ to the ma screen after 'innin4 a 4ame%
=es# At the loot screen# ress 3efresh% &he onl! time !ou should comlete a match after 'innin4 in
multila!er is if !ou 'in a Gold metal# as it is 'orth the small *P 4ain%
5ote: 'his brings us to our final type of gladiator. 'he one youve all been waiting for0 82S-based gladiators.
=82SAdamage per second? !s an opening comment for this section... Thraex builds are useless. So are two-
handed weapons. $hy, you askG 'here are many reasons. Cne reason is that if you are holding a two-hander
weapon, you are missing out on stat bonuses that a second e*uip could give you. Cne two handed sword with
3%, str 3%, speed 3(, dexGGGG >3 '$C Cne handed swords that B>&9 provide 3%, str 3%, spd 3(, dexG
=es# thats 50 e)tra stat oints lost if !ou choose to use a /-hander rather than t'o one handed 'eaons%
'he second reason is because Berserk/Strike of the $ill suck. Berserk re*uires you to waste ( turn to use the
power-up, which could have been used to deal %,,,,-B,,,, damage with a single @x combo. Cften times the first
person to get to attack first can determine the outcome of a match. !nd if you waste your first turn powering up
with Berserk, the enemy will have already destroyed your leg before you can attack. Strike of the $ill on the
other hand does not suck away enough 12 to be useful. Kust trust me on this. Ive tested both berserk/strike of
the will exhaustively. 1oving on.
0ual Cielders (0imachaerus): 'his gladiator is known for its ability to deal insane amounts of damage
using its @x #ombo unlocked at level @,. It has the potential to inflict anywhere from (&,,-@&,, damage per turn,
depending on your stat distribution. Kust remember though, greater numbers dont always translate to greater
effectiveness. 'his is likely the most straight forward gladiator to build and use in the arena. 'heir three most
important stats are speed, dexterity, and strength. 'hey usually work best when paired with Seed ,ased
Protectors due to their low defense and vitality. $ithout a protector, they will lose a leg in a matter of seconds,
making them entirely useless at that point, and so its important to keep your 8$ alive. If you lose him, youve
likely lost the battle as well.
5ote: ALCA=S 9A1D <E0+ *P CI&9 A 0C% If !ou don?t# then a sin4le intimidate all 'ill
leave !ou 'ith an insufficient amount of *P to use !our .) com,o%
-8ual $ielder ;ariants-
0e)terit! based 8$s are built to destroy enemies with high defense. 6ot only do they destroy enemy tanks
with high defense, but their crit rate is off the charts. 1ore dexterity A more fre*uent critical hits A more damage.
'hey rely on their critical hits, not high strength, for their damage output. A t!ical coo+ie-cutter ,uild for a
de) ,ased 0C 'ould loo+ somethin4 li+e this: /50 seed 250 de) "50 str% 'here is not much use to have
more than BD,-@,, dexterity because following that rule of thumb, ( dexterity A % defense, &() is the greatest
amount of defense that can be achieved without hacks, and at BD,3 dexterity, youre making B-@ crits per @x
combo every single time. 2umping more than @,, dex would be considered wasted stat points better used for
speed/strength.
Seed based 8$s have the first turn on their side. 8espite dealing lower damage per turn, they get more
fre*uent turns. 'his often correlates to higher damage over time as well as more versatility. A t!ical coo+ie-
cutter ,uild for a seed ,ased 0C 'ould loo+ similar to this: 250 seed# /50 de)# "50 str% 5es, they crit
less, and deal lower damage per hit, but they can have twice as many turns as a strength based 8$. Speed
based 8$s are great for eliminating enemy teams with a protector 3 8$. If youre faster than the enemy
protector, you can attack before they get the chance to protect their own 8$, leading to your victory. Speed
based 8$s also dont have to worry about wasted over-kill damage. Ima4ine a Seed ,ased 0C ar4uin4 'ith
a 0e) or Stren4th ,ased one0 I$hats the point of taking someone to -%,,, >2, having to wait forever to get
another turn again, when I can take them to -(,, >2 and have my next turn way before you.I
Stren4th based 8$s sacrifice speed for strength. 'his can be useful in certain situations, but is often far less
effective than other types of 8$s. Say for example youre facing a team with two screamers. If youre pinned at
,12 before you get a turn, youre stuck with Strong attacks. If you have high strength, you can still deal high
amounts of damage without your @x combo. Seeing D,,-(@,, dmg crits coming from your ,12 gladiator will
surely wake your enemy up and keep them on their toes. 'he draw-back is when facing a team with more speed
than you... it takes !H7S to get a turn. 'hese are best used against teams with %3 screamers where you simply
cant use your @x #ombo. A t!ical coo+ie-cutter ,uild for a stren4th ,ased 0C 'ould ,e: .00 str "50 de)
"7< seed%
! significant amount of testing has been done in regards to 8$s and damage output, and it seems Strength
based 8$s have a higher average damage over a period of time, than dexterity based or balanced 8ws. 'hanks
to eicd+e!s efforts, it has been decided that Strength-based 8$s are likely the best for end-game 2v2. $hen
combined with high vitality L to use without a protector, while maintaining (9+ speed, (B,3 dex, and @,,3
strength, along with +),12, these 8$s can be a real threat. 'he goal is to survive while decapitating the
enemies most valuable gladiator. If you can achieve this early-game, your chances of winning greatly increase.
5ote: $hen building a 8$, its advised not to go below (9+ speed. If you are below this number, then &(& speed
screamers will get not one, but '$C turns, before you go once. !nd as you know, two intimidate alls will have
you at ,12.
JIf you want to deal @&,, damage, you need much luck on your side. @D, str, (&, dex, (&, speed, and a luck
shot with @ critical hits on your @x combo will allow you to achieve such high damage, but this isnt very useful in
matches. Kust use it to show off to your friends.J
-Kust remember, these are only the main builds used for setting up effective teams. 'here are many more useful
=and often situational? builds to play around with, but Ill leave that up to you all to discover.
To conclude... I'd just like to thank you, BerzerkStudios, for making such a wonderful strategy
game for all of us to enjoy, and thank you to all of you gamers who I've met over the last two
months. It was a leasure!