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{{see also|DLCs}}
==Introduction==
Several months after the release of Final Fantasy XV, the public was treated to the very first major piece of DLC for the game; at least the first major piece of DLC that actually had some form of impact on the story and in gameplay. Throughout Episode Gladiolus I’m sure you can imagine that you’re going to be playing as Gladio the entire time and as a result it will involve many mechanics that you’re already used to – just a little bit changed around for Gladio to use, that’s all.
==The Well-Tempered Gladio==
Here you will embark on your trial to become the “King’s Shield” and it is Gladio’s quest to become stronger so that he can protect the future king of their world. When the quest starts off you’ll have a fair amount of linearity to endure as you basically hold forward on your controller, but before too long you will come into your first instance of combat with Gladio; hence why it’s recommended that you do the tutorial as Gladio before you start, just to make things easier on you. Anyway, the first group of foes don’t require much effort and the only real task that you’ll be faced with is the Brunnrsormr.
This snake-like demon doesn’t have too much up its metaphorical sleeve, but it does have an unblockable attack that you’re going to want to keep an eye out for. The way to know whether or not they are about to do it is when they start to glow red, at which point you’re going to want some distance between you to not lose a chunk of your health. Other than that, you don’t have too much to concern yourself with on this boss fight.
After the serpent has been defeated, you’ll go up against the Blademaster in a fight that you literally cannot win. You can choose to indulge him if you please, but simply standing there and waiting for it to be done and over with is certainly a quicker way to speed up the inevitable one way or the other.
When you’re ready, make a start on the waypoint up the cliff and get some rest at the campsite and receive a quick cutscene to go along with it. Once you’ve made a move, be careful about the next group of foes that you come into contact with, as they are Thunder Bombs – enemies that don’t tend to keep your health bar exactly where it once was. Take your time on these guys and they should go down without a hitch!
Shortly after that fight you’re going to come to a split in the road, with two potential outcomes depending on where you go. Choose to go right and you will lead to a dead end, but there will be a potion waiting for you for your trouble. Decide to go to the left and you will come out the other side and be able to follow the waypoint in whichever direction it points to.
As you follow the waypoint you will encounter a short spiral that will lead to some easy to defeat reapers and then a drop to follow. Follow around the linear path until you come to one more cliff, get climbing, and prepare to go against another boss: the Nergal.
When it comes to the Nergal you’re going to want to keep a fair amount of distance from him most of the time, mainly because of his poison attacks that are going to melt your health bar. There are a couple of small moves that you’ll want to keep an eye out for, but they can be easily blocked and defended, so you shouldn’t have much to worry about. After every successful block, be sure to punish for a bunch of extra damage and you will quickly slay this boss.
For the remainder of this quest you are basically tasked with following along a linear pathway that is hard to get lost in. As you go along you will be taught the column mechanic which has you pulling a column from out of the ground and using it as a weapon, but that’s very little else to it other than “it’s a really big weapon, so use it”!
You will soon find a set of stairs; follow them up and turn around the corner to move onto the second part of Gladio’s trials.
==Path to Perdition==
At the start of this trial you are going to be faced with quite the formidable foe by the name of the Enkidu. This is not a boss to be taken lightly, as the amount of damage they can do in one fell swoop is terrifying and awe-inspiring all at the same time. Just like the last boss, taking a defensive approach is an idea that I would recommend - all so you don’t have to restart the fight once more.
To get a little bit of extra damage in when it’s not expecting it, run around to the back of the Wyvern and you’ll be able to get some nice damage against it without putting yourself in too much danger. When the beast has plans to attack you, be sure to put up your shield and walk backwards to decrease the impact of any potential AOE abilities. Basically, rinse and repeat, and before long the beast will finally fall to your blade; even if you did use a fair amount of your items trying to get through the fight – but trust me on this, it’s normal.
==Know Thine Enemy==
Almost as soon as you finish off the boss you will be expected to fight against some smaller, much easier enemies; head down the stairs once they have been defeated and keep moving forward. After you reach the bottom there will be some more enemies for you to swing your sword at or one of the columns that you will find around you.
When they’re defeated, head through the wall near the side of a cliff and a wooden bridge in sight. Exploring around this little area will get you some potions that might be worth the effort in the oncoming fights, so it might be an idea to pick them up while you’ve got the chance. Head down the path and keep on going until you reach the bottom – be aware that when you step off of the path that you will be introduced to a number of enemies, one of which is a Bandersnatch, a creature that is not going to make your life easy. Despite this, leave the Bandersnatch for last, as the remaining enemies are easier to deal with; yet harder to ignore if you don’t do something about them.
Once the battle is over, look towards the left and you should notice a staircase that will provide a linear path to your next objective. Climb all the way up to the top, take out some easily dealt with enemies, and then get some rest at the next campsite. When you’re ready, keep on moving along the linear path, defeat any small-fry that come your way and look out for a crawl space that you can just barely fit through; on the other side is a boss.
This fight has you going against a creature known as the Inannaduru, but he has a couple of friends to help him out. Thankfully, these friends of his don’t take much to deal with, which is why you should focus on them first before you go for the boss. A lot like the other boss fights, taking a defensive stance is for the best and a fair amount of distance is recommended the whole time, due to the fact that this fellow can in actual fact poison you. The moment his HP reaches 0 a wall behind him will fall down and you’ll be expected to have another fight before you can move on; yet thankfully this little battle isn’t quite as challenging as the previous boss fight, not even in the slightest.
If you thought Inannaduru was the boss for this trial you would sadly be wrong, as the Humbaba is the actual boss of the area and while he may be able to deal some serious damage if you’re not careful and blocking when you should be; with just how slow he is, he’s a pretty straightforward fight. For the most part it boils down to: “he charges up an attack, you get in a few strikes before he swings, and then you proceed to block and rinse and repeat”. There’s not much to this fight, so a slightly more aggressive approach can actually work in your favour here.
==To Serve as Shield==
The fourth and final trial is the hardest, which should surprise no one. When you walk and follow along the path there’s going to be a campsite that you can rest and a few steps away from it you will be treated to a cutscene when you approach the waypoint. This brand new cutscene symbolises the start of your fight with the final boss of the trials to become the Shield for the king – the Blademaster known as Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh manages to announce his attacks rather easily, so that makes your life easier, but since they come in the form of combos, blocking and parrying is the only way to deal with them. Blocking is going to help mitigate the damage; whereas parrying is going to deal a nice chunk of damage to this rather tanky boss. There aren’t a lot of opportunities for you to strike against Gilgamesh, but one of the best weapons comes in the form of him changing his weapons because it’s one of the very few times where he can’t punish you for striking against him.
After you deal enough damage to Gilgamesh he will fully heal, become stronger and faster, and is a lot more likely to kill you in one quick burst! As a result of this, though, he has a number of new openings for you to strike against and if you manage to keep that up for long enough and play smart, Gilgamesh will eventually be struck down and your trial will be complete.
Thus, it will lead to the final cutscene for Episode Gladiolus – treating you to the end of Gladio’s ordeals and coming out even stronger as a result.
==Tips for Easily Getting 1 Million Score on Episode Gladiolus==
A tip I have and I'm not sure how many people know about this is when holding square/x to block, tap it again when you see an attack. This is safe to prevent yourself from getting hit and dropping the chain, and an easy way overall to make sure you'll get a counter without getting hit. A visual glitch will sometimes make gladiolus' shield go away even though it's being held, but will bring it back up when getting hit.
