Bake or Die Gladiator
S-tier melee at 75 Gold Nuggets: Steel of Mars, Blood stacks, Death Wish. You cannot pick up guns.
Gladiator is Bake or Die’s 75 Gold Nugget melee S-tier. You buy it in the lobby Class Shop, you spawn with Steel of Mars, and the restriction is not flavor text: you cannot pick up guns. Dual Revolvers, the SMG, the Minigun, the Ray Gun — none of them mount if this kit is equipped. Blood stacks pay you for getting hit. Death Wish at level 3 pays you for dying once. That is a diner-door class, not a facility sniper. Big Bakers launched on 5 April 2025. Servers still hold 32 players. Cash still buys walls and pies. Gold Nuggets still buy this row. There are still no codes that waive the gun ban.
Pro Game Guides, Deltia’s, and this wiki’s class tier list keep Gladiator in S next to Bombastica and Gunslinger. Gunslinger is 65 and uses every firearm you will ever buy. Gladiator is 75 and deletes the gunsmith from your hotbar. If you keep walking to the revolver shelf out of habit, you bought the wrong S. Perk paragraphs live on the class roster. The filter lives on the class picker.
Steel of Mars and the gun ban
Every match with Gladiator equipped puts Steel of Mars in your hands. Creator showcases call it a sword that can explode swings at high level. Treat the steel as your only ranged-adjacent tool: it is still melee. Funnel one door so the pack walks onto the blade. A wide street is how Gladiator looks C-tier in someone else’s clip.
The gun ban is the wipe condition people ignore. Food Factory rooms that want a Minigun lane are a problem. The Mutated Scientist at Evergreen is a problem if your squad expected you to hold a rifle. Squads should not all buy Gladiator. One melee S plus one Gunslinger plus one Doctor is a composition. Four steel portraits is a wipe with extra blood particles.
Keep a butcher knife only if the kit allows a second melee. Do not park $1,250 on an SMG you cannot equip. That Cash belongs on walls, turret plates, and pies.
Level perks
Level 1 — Blood For Blood. Taking damage grants Blood Stacks (max 6). Each stack: +6% melee damage and +0.5% lifesteal. Six stacks is +36% melee and 3% lifesteal. You want to be hit by the funnel, not by a boss breath you stood in for fun. Stacks are why a packed Night 8 door is the kit’s home and a single runner in the parking lot is a chore.
Level 2. Surrounded by 3+ enemies: +67% melee damage and +50% wider swings. Surrounded by 6+ enemies: 50% chance for Blood Shockwave. This is the diner-door breakpoint. If level 2 feels weak, your door is too wide or you are fighting the chicken in an open lot. Shockwave is a packed-room button, not a sniper proc.
Level 3 — Death Wish. The first time you die each game, enter Blood Frenzy: +100% move speed, +200% damage, +1000% knockback. You have 10 seconds to kill an enemy and recover 50% HP, or you stay dead. This is a once-per-run clutch, not a second health bar. Miss the window and the Doctor is your only story. Hit the window on a clump and you look S. The video on this page is a maxed Gladiator clearing named fights; it is not a promise that level 1 steel beats the factory closer solo.
S-tier melee versus Gunslinger
Gunslinger at 65 reloads 35% faster at level 1, saves ammo at level 2, and at level 3 adds +24% gun damage with 67% less recoil. It makes dual $150 Revolvers a plan. Gladiator at 75 makes getting hit a plan. Both are S. They are not interchangeable.
Buy Juggernaut at 30 first so the HP exists. Then choose: guns (Gunslinger) or steel (Gladiator). Most solo beginners should take Gunslinger because bosses at range exist. Take Gladiator if you already like the door, you accept the ban, and you will play to Death Wish instead of rage-buying a Revolver you cannot hold.
Bombastica at 250 still out-clears both with explosive pies. Gladiator does not need Explosive Meat. That is the melee argument in one line.
How to play the class
Day: bake anyway. Melee does not print Cash. Six-slot pies still buy turret ammo for the people who are not you. Rescue NPCs. Walk the map in the morning, not after sundown. You are worse at facility peeking than a Gunslinger; let a gun kit take the fence while you hold the street later.
Night: be the door. Stack Blood, swing wide, let shockwave eat the back rank. Blood Moon nights (every five) are why S-tier melee exists. Named bosses: kite into a clump so stacks stay up, or let Bombastica chip while you peel adds. Beat Bosses still applies. Death Wish is for the down you already ate, not a planned suicide on Day 6.
Squad: say you cannot gun. Say it in lobby. A Technician turret covers what your steel cannot snipe. A Doctor makes Death Wish a backup instead of the raid plan. Exterminator poison on the same door is greedy but playable; four melee bans are not.
When 75 Nuggets is a mistake
You wanted the SMG. You play mostly solo into the scientist. You never hold a funnel. You bought Gladiator because S-tier sounded like Gunslinger with a cooler sword. Ninja at 55 is the melee sidegrade that still lets you pick up guns. Butcher at 40 prints ingredients with a chainsaw. Gladiator is the commit.
The 6 September 2026 stamp did not remove the gun ban on a public note. If a patch ever lets Gladiator mount a Revolver, this page will move. Until then, treat the restriction as the class.
Steel of Mars is a 75 Nugget receipt for a doorway you actually stand in. Stack Blood, spend Death Wish on a clump, and stop walking to the Gunsmith like the ban was a rumor. Melee S that buys an SMG is just a locked hotbar on a 32-player night.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers for diner nights, classes, and pie sells.
How much does Gladiator cost?
75 Gold Nuggets in the lobby. It is an S-tier melee kit with Steel of Mars. Cash cannot buy it and there is no promo code.
Can Gladiator use guns?
No. You cannot pick up firearms. If you want Revolvers and an SMG, buy Gunslinger at 65 instead.
What does Death Wish do?
On your first death each match you enter Blood Frenzy for 10 seconds: huge speed, damage, and knockback. Kill an enemy to recover 50% HP, or stay dead.
Is Gladiator better than Gunslinger?
It is the better melee S. Gunslinger is the better gun S and the better beginner S. Pick based on the gun ban, not the letter.
Should solo players buy Gladiator first?
Usually no. Buy Juggernaut at 30, then Gunslinger at 65. Take Gladiator when you accept melee-only and will play to level 3.
Does Gladiator work on Food Factory bosses?
Packed rooms yes, ranged rooms no. Bring a gun teammate for Dr. Vincent Green and the scientist. See Food Factory.