Gauntlets landed in Throne and Liberty as the third weapon added since launch, following the Spear and Orb, bringing the roster from the original seven weapon types up to ten. Because every weapon in this game pairs with a second one to define a build, that single addition did not just add one new option, it opened up nine fresh two-weapon combinations against every weapon already in the game. Split each of those across a tank-leaning setup and a damage-leaning setup, and the realistic build count for Gauntlets alone already runs past twenty before anyone touches skill specializations or runes. This guide covers how the weapon's stance switching actually works, which second weapon early community builds converge on, how to split stat points between a tank and a DPS Gauntlets build, which armor weight to farm, and how the whole kit should differ between Nix dungeon content and Castle Siege PvP.
How the Gauntlets Stance Switching System Works
Gauntlets ship with two combat states built into a single weapon, something no other Throne and Liberty weapon currently does. The developers' own breakdown of the weapon describes the default state as a melee tank built around heavy, high-impact strikes and strong front-line survival, a rhythm that rewards standing in place and absorbing damage rather than chasing a target. The second state, Eclipse of Blood, shifts that identity completely: attack power and combat speed increase sharply, the weapon's appearance changes into fierce claws, and the playstyle moves from anchoring the frontline to infiltrating the enemy's rear and disrupting it from behind.
Activating Eclipse of Blood is not a simple toggle. The developers describe the aggressive state as requiring skill combos optimized within a limited window, calling it a mode that "demands split-second judgment and focus," compared with the default stance, which the team designed to "deliver solid efficiency without any special mechanical burden." The practical risk sits on the way out: once the window closes, Gauntlets snap back into the tankier default stance, so a player who spent Eclipse of Blood diving deep into enemy territory can be caught without an escape tool the moment that happens.
Which Second Weapon Community Builds Converge On
Gauntlets launched on June 25, 2026, so no official tier list or major outlet review has ranked the weapon's pairings yet, and the developers themselves have only confirmed that every existing weapon was tested for synergy with Gauntlets rather than naming a best partner. What early community build guides do agree on, independently and consistently, is a rough four-way split. Sword and Shield keeps the tank identity that makes Gauntlets useful to a group in the first place, stacking defensive backbone and threat generation onto the default stance while leaving Eclipse of Blood available as a bonus rather than something the build depends on. Dagger is the pairing most guides point to for aggressive, single-target PvP, since its gap-closing tools address the one real weakness of the aggressive state, actually reaching a target before the Eclipse of Blood window runs out. Greatsword is the common pick for sustained PvE damage in a group that already has a tank covered, trading some personal survivability for area damage and crowd control. Wand shows up as the narrowest pick of the four, aimed at solo and open-world play where no group is backing up the frontline.
Treat this as the current shape of early theorycrafting rather than settled fact. Bow, Crossbow, Staff, Spear and Orb pairings are mentioned even less often in early guides, and the whole ranking is likely to move once more guilds clear Nix content and post real parses.
| Weapon Combo | Community-Projected Role | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Gauntlets and Sword and Shield | Durable bruiser tank | Main tanking Nix dungeons and Archboss encounters |
| Gauntlets and Dagger | Mobile diver / burst | PvP backline dives and Castle Siege flanks |
| Gauntlets and Greatsword | Frontline melee DPS | Sustained boss damage with AoE and crowd control |
| Gauntlets and Wand | Self-sustain skirmisher | Solo open-world play |
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Stat Priority for Tank and DPS Gauntlets Builds
Throne and Liberty splits character growth across four stats, Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom and Perception. Strength raises Max Health, Defense and Health Regen, and its 50-point milestone adds Heavy Attack Chance. Dexterity raises Attack Speed, Critical Hit and Evasion, but only boosts Max Damage rather than Min Damage on its own. Perception raises Hit Chance, status and crowd control chance, and Buff Duration. Wisdom governs Mana and Cooldown Speed, and it is the stat most guides across the game agree can be safely left near its base value on any build that is not casting mana-hungry spells, which covers both Gauntlets stances.
| Stat | What It Boosts | Tank Build Priority | DPS Build Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | Max Health, Defense, Health Regen, Heavy Attack Chance at 50 points | 1st, pushed to 50 | 2nd |
| Dexterity | Attack Speed, Critical Hit, Evasion, Max Damage | 3rd | 1st |
| Perception | Hit Chance, Status/CC Chance, Buff Duration | 2nd | 3rd |
| Wisdom | Max Mana, Mana Regen, Cooldown Speed | Skip | Skip |
This split is not a Gauntlets-specific discovery, it is the standard tank-versus-DPS logic that applies across every weapon in the game, applied to a weapon that genuinely needs both versions depending on the pairing chosen. A main tank build leads Strength because its milestones land Max Health, Damage Reduction and Heavy Attack Chance in that order, keeping a Sword and Shield pairing alive through boss mechanics before Perception's buff duration becomes relevant. A DPS-leaning build cannot lead Dexterity alone without a Strength floor underneath it, since Dexterity only raises Max Damage and a pure Dexterity line leaves Min Damage, and therefore average damage, lower than it should be. Perception sits third on both builds because it supports accuracy and crowd control rather than raw output.
Armor and Combat Power to Check for a Gauntlets Build
Armor in Throne and Liberty comes in three weights, and the choice changes which stats a piece is likely to roll. Plate leans toward Strength and Max Health and fits a Gauntlets main tank, since it reinforces the same Strength-first stat line the build already wants. Leather sits between Light and Heavy, mixing in enough Dexterity and Evasion to suit a DPS-leaning Gauntlets build that still wants to survive a hit during the default stance before switching into Eclipse of Blood. Cloth is built for Wisdom and mana users and does not fit either version of a Gauntlets build.
| Armor Weight | Stat Lean | Best Gauntlets Build |
|---|---|---|
| Plate | Strength and Max Health | Main tank (Gauntlets and Sword and Shield) |
| Leather | Mixed Dexterity and Evasion | DPS-leaning (Dagger, Greatsword or Wand) |
| Cloth | Wisdom and mana | Not a fit for either Gauntlets build |
Since Update 4.0.0, traits no longer come pre-rolled on drop, according to the official patch notes. Each armor and weapon piece holds up to three trait slots, unlocked individually with Trait Unlockstones, then grown using Trait Enhancement Stones matched to the gear's item level, and finally refined through Trait Resonance, which rolls across four slots up to a maximum of ten each to raise the piece's overall score. Exactly which named traits, runes and artifact sets end up best-in-slot for Gauntlets specifically is not yet confirmed by an official source or a major outlet review, since the weapon has only been live for a few weeks, so treat any specific trait or set name found elsewhere as an early guess rather than a settled answer. What the patch notes do confirm as a hard number is the Combat Power gate for Nix content, worth checking a build against before committing a week's worth of runs to it:
| Nix Difficulty | Minimum Combat Power |
|---|---|
| Normal | 5,000 |
| Expert | 6,500 |
| Extreme | 8,000 |
Gauntlets PvE Build for Nix Dungeons and Archboss Fights
Inside the two new Nix co-op dungeons, Stone Grave Cradle, home to the boss Fellinex, and Frostbreath Cave, home to the boss Vulcanus, Gauntlets fill three roles depending on how a group builds around them. The two Archboss-tier encounters coming later in the season, the Dragon Knight Ramux, arriving July 30 riding her dragon Atirat, and the Colossus Vegamor arriving in August, ask for the most demanding of the three, since resilience and sustained melee output matter in the same moment rather than in separate phases.
| Role | Weapon Combo | Stance Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Main Tank | Gauntlets and Sword and Shield, Plate armor | Default stance throughout, absorbing mechanics and holding threat |
| Off-tank / Flex DPS | Gauntlets and Greatsword | Default stance early, Eclipse of Blood during burn phases |
| Archboss Frontliner | Either pairing, built for both stances | Resilience and sustained melee output at the same time |
The itemization overhaul that shipped alongside Nix gives players more direct control over which traits and progression path a piece of gear follows, which matters more for Gauntlets than for single-role weapons since a tank-leaning and DPS-leaning build want different priorities from the same base gear. Building toward the main tank role first and reforging into a flex or Archboss frontliner setup later is the more efficient path for guilds still gearing up through early Nix content.
Gauntlets PvP Build for Castle Siege and Remnants of Nix
Officially, Gauntlets are described as built to "dominate the front lines" for players who thrive in close-range combat, and Remnants of Nix, the new high-stakes PvP mode confirmed in the developers' own Frozen Divide reveal, is one of the places that identity is meant to matter most. Early community builds lean on Gauntlets and Dagger for aggressive PvP, using the Dagger's mobility to close distance before switching into Eclipse of Blood for the burst window on an isolated target, while Gauntlets and Sword and Shield plays a slower, more disruptive role, tanking a push into the enemy line and using Eclipse of Blood to flank once the fight is already underway.
The same positioning caution from dungeon content applies here with higher stakes. Exiting Eclipse of Blood deep in a contested Remnants of Nix fight or a Castle Siege push without an escape tool built into the loadout is a fast way to lose the character that was supposed to be initiating the fight in the first place.
Final Thoughts
Gauntlets did not just add a tenth weapon to Throne and Liberty, it added a genuine role-switching mechanic that most of the game's existing weapons never needed to solve, and that part is confirmed directly by the developers rather than pieced together from guesswork. Sword and Shield is the pairing early community builds converge on first, Strength and Perception are the stats that carry a tank version of it, Dexterity and Strength carry the DPS version, and Plate versus Leather armor is what separates the two in practice. Exactly which traits, runes and gear sets end up best-in-slot is still an open question the wider community has not settled three weeks into the weapon's life, and any guide, including this one, should be read with that in mind until an official tier list or a major outlet's tested build data says otherwise.
