Dominus Gladiatus Wiki: Systems & Terms

This page is the reference sheet for the Dominus Gladiatus release build: the terms, the numbers that are documented, and the systems that connect them. It is not a walkthrough. Use it when a tooltip uses a word you have not seen, or when you need the exact value behind a guide's advice.

Quick answer

Dominus Gladiatus is a 165-day Ludus management sim with auto-battler arena fights. The core loop is recruit, train, manage Fatigue/injuries/morale, and schedule arena purses. The key numbers are 1 coin per day plus 1 per gladiator, Fatigue 0-5 with 25/50/100% injury risk at 3/4/5, and a 165-day campaign against six rival Domini.

Core systems at a glance

The guide hub → explains how the systems interact; this page defines them.

Glossary of terms

Ludus - your gladiator school. It holds the roster, buildings and staff, and it charges daily upkeep.

Dominus - the owner/manager of a Ludus. The six rival Domini are Titus Aurelian, Khepri Setekh, Cassius Lysandros, Aurelia Zahara, Livia Calpurnia and Decimus Amborix.

Gladiator - a fighter recruited from the Slave Market. Each has Health, a class, a talent, a temperament, skills and a Freedom Goal.

Class - Murmillo, Secutor or Scissor for the player; Retiarius and Hoplomachus appear as opponents. Class determines the shield profile and class skills.

Talent - an innate trait such as Fast Learner, Rapid Recovery, Charismatic, Harden or Failed.

Temperament - a behavioural tendency such as Balanced or Hot-Blooded.

Fatigue - a 0-5 counter. Wins add 1, losses add 2. At 3/4/5 the arena injury risk is 25/50/100%.

Health - the damage pool. Base Health is shown on the recruit card and grows with level-ups and Veteran bonuses.

Morale - the mood stat. High morale unlocks positive traits; low morale causes theft, refusal and a suicide risk.

Readiness - the combined state of Fatigue, injuries, Health, morale, crowd and matchup before a fight.

Crowd favor - the audience mood: Liked, Indifferent or Disliked. It determines how many of your two crowd calls help.

Freedom Goal - the number of victories a gladiator needs to earn freedom (for example 0/12 or 0/16).

Veteran - a gladiator with seven victories who chooses a permanent Health or Damage bonus.

Injury - a combat wound that requires Infirmary time. Injuries are revealed on return to the Ludus.

Infirmary - the healing building. Early exit removes only the injuries covered by the time served and restores pre-admission Fatigue.

Quarters - the Gladiator Quarters, a building that speeds Fatigue recovery. Purchase 30, usage 2 in the build I checked.

Palus - a training post that raises training speed by 20%. Purchase 60, construction 1 day.

Pleasure House - the morale recovery building.

Temple - the prayer/morale building and the source of the Favor of the Gods achievement.

Doctore - the training staff hire (80 coins). The whip doubles training speed for two days.

Procurator - the contract staff hire. Patch 3 lets the Procurator choose a contract.

Ordinator - the exhibition staff hire, added in Patch 6.

Faber - the equipment-protection staff hire, tied to the Built to Last achievement.

Venator - the hunt staff hire (45 coins), tied to The Hunt Begins achievement.

Agent - a staff hire whose exact effect was not captured in the build I checked. Read the hire card before spending.

Slave Trader - the staff hire that enables a Sword for Hire.

Contract - an arena fight with a purse, rules, crowd and opponent. Post-game contracts come in batches of ten.

Exhibition - a low-stakes fight arranged by the Ordinator. Base reward 20 coins plus 3 per arena victory.

Grand Tournament - the end-of-campaign final after 165 days against the six rival Domini.

Beast spectacle - a post-game contract featuring lions or elephants, with a higher purse and a different risk profile.

Retire as Dominus - the post-game ending summary.

Key numbers

Values marked from the build panel are UI observations; values marked from patch notes are official changes. The game may rebalance after this page's last update.

Official source: Dominus Gladiatus patch notes ↗

Buildings and staff reference

Buildings:

• Gladiator Quarters - Fatigue recovery.
• Infirmary - injury healing.
• Palus - +20% training speed.
• Pleasure House - morale recovery.
• Temple - prayer and morale.

Staff:

• Doctore - training speed.
• Procurator - contracts.
• Ordinator - exhibitions.
• Faber - equipment protection.
• Venator - hunts/commodities.
• Slave Trader - Sword for Hire.
• Agent - support hire; effect not captured.

The staff and buildings guide → explains the purchase order.

Classes reference

The classes guide → covers matchups.

Arena rules reference

• Until Surrender: the fight ends when one side yields. Safer for your main fighter.
• To the Death: the fight continues until a fighter dies. Higher risk, higher narrative stakes.
• Crowd calls: two per match. Liked answers both, Indifferent answers one, Disliked answers none.
• Ruthless crowd: starts Indifferent or Disliked, never Liked.

The arena readiness checklist → turns these rules into a pre-fight routine.

Source hierarchy

This wiki uses three source types:

1. Official: Steam store text and patch notes. Highest confidence.
2. Observed: values read from the release-build UI or a full-run video. High confidence for the build date, but may change.
3. Inference: matchup logic and strategy derived from the systems. Useful, but not a hidden formula.

When a guide says "in the build I checked," it is an observation. When it says "Patch X," it is an official change. When it says "the natural counter," it is inference.

Official source: Dominus Gladiatus store page ↗

Official source: Steam achievements ↗

FAQ

Is this an official wiki? No. It is a player reference for the release build, with sources listed on each page.

How often is it updated? After major patches or when a documented value changes. The last update is shown in the page metadata.

Where do the numbers come from? Steam patch notes, the release-build UI and a full 165-day Ruthless run. Each page labels the source type.

Does the wiki cover post-game content? Yes. The endgame contracts page covers the 10-fight batches, beast spectacles and retirement.