Parry Styles

[Team Kaos]

This is true in theory...however, with the current state of the game, I am encountering an ever-increasing number of opponents who are simply decked out in Attack Power Purple, particularly the Rage and War fighters, and at that point Counterattack simply cannot hold it's own unless, as you alluded to, the defender is also decked out in Defense Purple

As would be expected in this game type platform, the gladiator with the big trophy gear will always have the advantage between 2 evenly skilled fighters.

As for "good defensive skills", there really aren't any available to the Theatrics gladiator with the exception of Iron Jaw....which has proven to be almost as worthless and broken as Finishing Blow in my experience...unless you go outside the Theatrics tree

Armor gear is the defensive nuetralizer for a theatric fighter. But this is a debate that falls upon my long ago hissy fits that Theatric fighters are outclassed vs the Rage and War gladiators within thier respective skill tree's.
I will defend Iron Jaw though, it does help tremendously in not getting stunned even when getting rocked by a 300+ Rage blast. But then again it only takes 2 of those to end the fight anyway, stunned or not. And again it falls back on being a defensive wiz, high defense doesn't allow the big shots to land, instead of 200+ blasts, you can tune the hits down well under 100 for the most part while picking the Rage or War fighter apart.

"High agility is certainly a benefit, but it is by no means a mitigating factor when using Counter-Attack against a skilled Rage gladiator....particularly if he has pre-purchased his wins in the form of epic level items. The idea behind Counter-Attack, and certainly the way it has been run in my experience, is that you are trying to match your opponent blow-for-blow...which is a fatal decision if your opponent "blows" much harder than you do."

Agility helps out in eluding some of the bigger hits it seems but like you say cannot be counted on soley to best a Raging beast and his mace's or 2 handed weapons.

In theory I would also believe you go punch for punch with Counter Attack, but I have not seen it exactly that way. I see more of the opponent getting 2, 3 even 4 swings in a row and then you counter with 2,3 or 4 swings of your own. And whoever is in better shape after that flurry tends to get the upper hand. Which brings us back to Iron Jaw, if you can resist being stunned you have a good chance at getting the advantage by stunning your opponent with one of those hits.

[Blackwill]

I will defend Iron Jaw though, it does help tremendously in not getting stunned even when getting rocked by a 300+ Rage blast. But then again it only takes 2 of those to end the fight anyway, stunned or not.

I'm not convinced that Stun is even working as it should, to be honest. I've been stunned/blinded for multiple rounds, and have seen no reduction in the number or strength of my attacks. In a typical Stun, it is administered in the last one or two hits of the round, and is removed at the beginning of the next, anyway. Perhaps there is an issue with current attacks not being removed from the attack queue? I'm not sure. In any case, it seems to me that a Gladiator is just as likely to resist a stun effect without Iron Jaw as he is with it. Your mileage may vary...

As you mentioned, it all goes back to gear....if a Theatrics fighter wants to stand a chance against an offensive Rage gladiator, his only recourse is Epic level armor, and even that can't withstand a +505 hit (which I took from a low-level gladiator this morning).