The A28-Gladiator is a powerful android soldier made to stand on its own in combat. Built with highly durable Special armor and high health, and armed with a high frequency pulse rifle, these menacing machines can stir trouble for the opposition all on their own, and even moreso with proper support. They are also capable of firing at air units, unlike the A25-Romans.
A28-Gladiators are equipped with a high frequency pulse rifle that inflicts similar damage to that found in Special Operations and Black Queen missiles, thereby giving it a form of Missile damage. Their pulse rifles can target both ground and air units, and although its firerate and shot speed is reduced for air units, it deals more damage per hit and has further range. Anything with Light, Titanium, or Chronite armor will melt in its presence.
A28-Gladiators tear apart all infantry units within range even if greatly outnumbered. Snipers are unlikely to strike them down due to its high health and speed, allowing it to reach engagement range in time to blast them away. With sufficient healing, a single A28-Gladiator is all that is needed to kill all infantry units on the field.
With their incredibly high health and Special armor laden bodies, A28-Gladiators can tank 4 whole Special Operations missiles before perishing from the fifth one, making them one of the best units to serve as an anti-missile shield. Black Queens will also do little to them, although A28-Gladiators cannot do much to them in turn.
A28-Gladiators devastate most standard air units that use Titanium armor, such as Scouts, Phantoms, and supportive Angel units. They will easily destroy these units, even outnumbered, and continue to keep fighting.
Bearing Missile equivalent damage from their high frequency rifles, A28-Gladiators struggle to put down units like Hover Tanks, Saints, Black Queens, and A27-Prides. For some units like Black Queens and A27-Prides, this makes awkward standoffs with no clear winner, but this is especially dangerous for facing Hover Tanks and Saints that will eventually destroy the A28-Gladiator.
When facing against the experimental Tachyon damage, A28-Gladiators will suffer severe damage, making Eidolons and Jötunns potentially lethal encounters. They generally fare better against other units using Kinetic or Pulse/Positron damage since they need to be overwhelmed to die quickly, but even just 1 or 2 Eidolons and Jötunns is enough to eliminate them.
A28-Gladiators are a form of perfection that cannot be rushed or made cheap, each one of them takes significant Money and Energy to create, and with a deployment time of up to 12 seconds, they cannot be easily made to counter an incoming assault. Plan the use of A28-Gladiators accordingly.
A28-Gladiators are so powerful of a unit that only one is needed to make an impact. Pairing one of them with a group of Meditecs makes an effective walking tank that won't die from most late-game units, allowing steady pushes and ensured victories.
Getting pushed in by excessive numbers of Chronite Tanks, Scouts, Phantoms, or infantry? Just 1 or 2 A28-Gladiators will make a huge difference, stalling incoming damage and tearing through the large numbers to allow for recuperation. This is only effective with enough resources and if you already have a Mechanics Terminal.
Even if A28-Gladiators cannot destroy Black Queens and A27-Prides on their own, they do make effective stalling walls. They can bait Black Queen missiles and take very little damage from them, and against an A27-Pride, they'll fire at each other for an excessive amount of time. This can allow you to develop a counter-offensive against the enemy, alongside maintaining a field presence for Influence gain.