Gladio Mori guides, movesets and arena tactics

Gladio Mori is a physics-driven gladiator fighting game where every hit damages the body exactly where it lands. It is developed by Plebeian Studio, a one-person studio from Oulu, Finland, spent nearly two years in Early Access, and launched 1.0 on September 16, 2026 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S with full crossplay. There are no health bars anywhere in it.

The latest announced update is 1.0.4.2: Hallowed Dungeon. The full game gains permanent equipment and a new arena; the demo receives a rotating extra arena and moveset.

Hallowed Dungeon: where to start

Read weapons for the new two-handed Machete and demo rotation, armour for the 13-point mask, and how to play for movement on the arena's narrow stone bridges. The full-game additions remain after Halloween; the demo selection can change at a later update.

What the game actually is

• No health bars, three ways to break a fighter. Injured muscles weaken your strikes, severed arteries bleed you out, and vital organ hits can end the fight instantly. Hands, arms and legs can also be cut off entirely — and anything a lost hand was holding goes with it. See the damage system guide.
• Weapon families, shields and the new Machete. From gladius and spear to kanabo, halberd and guandao, every weapon ships with a basic moveset you can keep, edit or replace. See the weapons list.
• A move editor that is the real game. Build attacks one pose at a time — set the stance, position the limbs, adjust the timing and save — then chain moves into a complete moveset and take it straight into a fight. The move editor guide walks through the whole process.
• Community movesets. An in-game gallery lets you equip a complete moveset made by another player, or combine individual moves into your own style.
• Mod support. Gladio Mori added official mod.io integration in December 2025; the community already ships moveset, skin and texture mods. See the mods guide.
• Solo and online. A singleplayer campaign plus online arenas for up to four players, with crossplay between Steam, PS5 and Xbox.

Where to start

If you just bought the game: How to Play gets you through your first fights, and Controls & Settings covers the keybinds and the two or three settings that actually change how fights feel.

If you are coming from Half Sword or another physics fighter and want to understand what is different here: Damage System explains the body model — muscles, arteries, vitals and limbs — and how blade angle changes every strike.

If you want the thing that makes Gladio Mori unlike any other fighter: the Move Editor is where you build your own attacks, and it is the reason the community is still finding new tech two years after Early Access started.

New players usually want one number first: how do matches work? The solo campaign walks you through arena fights at your own pace, while online lobbies run everything from 1v1 duels to free-for-alls — the multiplayer guide covers match setup and crossplay.

Read the patch history for the Hallowed Dungeon release and the earlier Pugilist moveset revert.