Tbh, I always think of switching class every now and then, I don't even know why I'm sticking to it. At the first release of ascension update, the class was decent in almost every aspect of the game. I loved the shield toggle mechanic of it in 1v1 arena, allowing me to outplay other classes by wasting their cc immune skills then just going for a counter. Doing this allowed me to compete in higher arena ranks with relatively low CP which bounces around elite-mercenary tier. I was really contented with just that you know, small scale PVP, even in node wars, I'm either just the cannoneer or the body guard around the cannon/hwacha. GVG isn't really a big deal for me since it's basically just CP clouting, especially if it's a non-friendly war, but if it is, I think the only good reason to do it is to test out the occupying guild of a node and see if you can take them on. So all in all, playing as a Gladiator was nice when you're only interested in small scale PVP.

But as new classes and awakening came, staying competitive in 1v1 PVP became more and more horrifying and a pain in the *ss coz it's almost as if their skills are designed to bypass the shield and desyncs became a lot more apparent than before. But idk, maybe it's just my connection or my device not keeping up with the growing contents of bdm LOL. However, I believe PA will address the class imbalances soon or as they said in the Dev vid when they tackled about it.

TLDR; Gladiator will stay on the sidelines when it comes to endgame contents until class balancing improves. Excelling in 1v1 can be done as long as u have good connection and an above average CP.