How to Get the Gladius Legendary Shortsword in The Blood of Dawnwalker

The Gladius is one of the easiest legendary weapons to walk straight past in The Blood of Dawnwalker. The chest that holds it is tucked on an upper ledge inside the Beast of Balaur’s cave, and the route up only exists while Coen is in his vampiric form. Clear the lair during the day and you will finish the fight, loot the floor, and leave without ever seeing the sword.

Quick answer: Arrive at the Mount Balaur shrine at night, follow the snowy path to trigger The Beast of Balaur, kill the psoglav miniboss, then use your vampiric claw climb on the glowing overhead ledge and follow the upper passage to the chest.

Gladius stats and level requirement

The Gladius is a Legendary Shortsword built around vampiric survivability and critical hits, which makes it a strong night-side weapon rather than a pure damage stick. It drops at item level 15, but you only need character level 11 to equip it, so it can be picked up well before it hits its power ceiling.

Property	Value
Type	Legendary Shortsword
Item level	15
Required level	11
DPS	220
Damage	127–163
Attack speed	Fast
Weapon Art	None (13s cooldown)
Damage against Mortals	+11.2%
Maximum Vampiric Health	+21%
Weapon Critical Hit Damage	+10.5%
Weapon Critical Hit Chance	+7%
Value / Weight	466 / 0.90

What you need before travelling to Mount Balaur

There are only two hard gates on this weapon, and neither of them is a quest chain. You need to be in the night cycle when you enter the cave, and you need a vampiric traversal skill unlocked so Coen can grab the ceiling anchor above the boss arena. Shadowstep, Planeshift, and Clawride all come from the vampire side of the skill tree, and none of them are available while the sun is up.

Mount Balaur sits on the far-left edge of the world map, past the snowline. The area is reachable early, so the fight itself is the main obstacle rather than the journey.

How to reach the Beast of Balaur cave

Open the world map and travel to the western mountains until the Mount Balaur shrine is discovered. The shrine notification confirms you are in the right pocket of the map, and the location becomes a fast travel point from that moment on.

Mount Balaur shrine discovery notification appearing on the snowy mountainside — Discovering the Mount Balaur shrine on the western edge of the map. Image: Rebel Wolves

Interact with the shrine and make sure you move into the night cycle before going any further. If you are already in daylight when you arrive, use the shrine first rather than heading up the path and hoping the climb appears later.

On-screen prompt to use the shrine before heading up the mountain path — Using the shrine at Mount Balaur to shift into the night cycle. Image: Rebel Wolves

Follow the snowy trail northwest from the shrine. Partway along the mountainside, The Beast of Balaur activity triggers on its own and an objective marker points you toward the cave mouth.

The Beast of Balaur quest active with an Explore the cave objective marker at 57 metres — The Beast of Balaur triggers on the path, with an “Explore the cave” objective. Image: Rebel Wolves

Beating the Beast of Balaur

Inside the cave you will pass scattered skeletons and picked-over remains before the arena opens up. The Beast of Balaur is a psoglav miniboss, and it fights like one: fast closing attacks and a lot of pressure in tight space. Because you are here at night, claw attacks and vampiric abilities are on the table, and the arena has enough room to circle rather than trade blindly.

Coen striking the highlighted Beast of Balaur inside the cave arena as damage numbers appear — Fighting the psoglav miniboss, The Beast of Balaur, deep in the cave. Image: Rebel Wolves

Note: killing the beast completes the activity, and that alone does not give you the sword. Do not fast travel out once the objective clears.

Climbing to the Gladius chest

With the beast dead, look up. There is a marked anchor point on the cave ceiling above the arena that is only interactive in vampiric form, so the prompt will not show at all in daylight.

Use the claw climb prompt to pull yourself onto the upper ledge, then take the follow-up prompt to swing around the corner and reach the higher passage.

Clawride and turn the corner button prompts shown while climbing the cave wall — The night-only Clawride prompts used to reach the upper level of the lair. Image: Rebel Wolves

Follow the upper path to its end. The chest is waiting there, and opening it hands over the Gladius along with a stack of denarii, a silver bowl, and a note called Faded Orders describing a patrol sent to investigate the peak.

You know it worked when the Gladius appears in your inventory tagged as a Legendary Shortsword with a required level of 11. If the chest is not there, you are on the wrong ledge — the passage is a dead end, so keep going until the path stops.

Also worth grabbing in the lair

The same area holds a Phial of Brencis’ Blood, a legendary consumable that teaches the Piercing Shriek ability. Since you already have to clear the cave for the sword, sweep the whole space before leaving rather than making a second trip.

Common reasons the climb does not appear

You cleared the cave during the day. The ceiling anchor is a vampiric traversal point and simply has no prompt in human form.
You have not unlocked a vampiric movement skill yet. Without a claw climb or shift ability, there is no way onto the ledge.
You left as soon as the boss died. The chest sits above the arena, not in it, so the loot on the ground is not the reward.

An item level of 15 will look modest by the time you are pushing south through Vale Sangora, but that is not a reason to shelve the Gladius. Blacksmiths can raise weapon levels for a fee, and the +21% maximum vampiric health and stacked critical hit rolls stay useful on a night-focused build long after the base numbers stop impressing.