Gladiator Mods

Gladiator Mods are a set of mods introduced in Update 22.0 (2017-10-12), which offers synergistic bonuses when multiple mods in a set are equipped on the player's Warframe and weapons.

Set Bonus: +60% critical chance, stacks with Combo Multiplier (10% per mod equipped), This effect stacks with  Blood Rush for a total of +100%.

The set bonus has certain unexpected behaviors. The Gladiator set bonus is shown by a stacking multiplier at the top of the screen. It will usually have one stack less than the current combo multiplier (for example, x5 when the user has a multiplier of 6.) However, the Gladiator buff cannot exceed eleven stacks, which is observable when the user achieves a multiplier of 13 with the Venka Prime. Additionally, the Gladiator set will work on an Exalted Weapon (such as Exalted Blade, Desert Wind, or Talons) even if the mods are equipped on the Warframe and/or melee weapon while not present on the Exalted Weapon. For example, if a user has three Gladiator mods equipped, all on a Skana, they will be able to stack the set bonus while using Exalted Blade, provided they hit with the melee portion.

Interestingly, the Gladiator set stacks will deplete when either weapon loses combo multiplier. They will also drop to the level of whichever weapon lost the multiplier. This is observable with Naramon's Power Spike ability: if one has 11x Gladiator stacks, achieved with a Venka for instance, and their Exalted Blade drops from a multiplier of 4 down to a multiplier of 3 when the combo depletes, the Gladiator stacks will drop from x11 all the way down to where the Exalted Blade is. Inversely, if Gladiator stacks exceed the current weapon's combo, it will still tick upwards when the combo increases. A stack of x9 will go to x10 if the user climbed to a multiplier of 2 from an empty combo with their Exalted weapon. Lastly, if an Exalted weapon is dispelled by cancelling the ability, the combo multiplier is lost, but the Gladiator stacks will remain unaffected. They will even remain permanently as long as the combo timer of either weapon never expires naturally. It is thus possible to maintain a stack of 11x if the base melee weapon has no multiplier and the Exalted weapon is dispelled.

In short, the Gladiator buff stacks increase whenever the user climbs to a new combo multiplier with any weapon, but it will drop (with varying degrees of harshness) if any combo multiplier is lost, regardless of which weapon lost it. It is therefore advisable to combine it with Power Spike to prevent a drop from any level down to zero, instead dropping it just one level; and to dispel an Exalted Weapon if the normal melee weapon is going to lose its combo.