How to find Gladius in the Mount Balaur cave

Reach Mount Balaur at night

Head for Mount Balaur in the western mountains. KhrazeGaming’s 1:42 map places it near Parlita; the recorded route uses the cave associated with The Beast of Balaur.

All Things How describes starting at the Mount Balaur shrine and following the snowy trail northwest until the cave objective appears. Arrive at night so that the vampiric traversal route is available. If you need to wait, inspect the shrine’s time advance before confirming.

Stay after the fight and climb to the chest

1. Enter the cave and finish the beast encounter. Stay in the arena after looting the body.
2. Move toward the back of the arena and look up at the gold-highlighted overhang, shown below. All Things How’s chest guide identifies the overhead interaction as Clawride: use the climb prompt to reach the ledge, then the next prompt to go around the corner.
3. Follow the higher passage to its end and open the chest. The 2:39 chest view is the destination checkpoint.
4. Check your inventory for Gladius. The arena loot, upper chest and nearby blood phial are separate pickups.

Arrive at night with the displayed vampiric climb available. If there is no overhead prompt, check your form and learned traversal abilities; looting the arena floor does not reach this chest. One other guide calls the ledge action Shadowstep, so follow the overhead Clawride prompt described for this route, rather than assuming an ordinary jump or a specific unverified skill rank is enough.

Check the nearby Brencis blood phial separately

KhrazeGaming also points to a phial of Brencis’s blood on a table in the cave’s upper area. The creator says it opens access to Piercing Shriek.

Obtaining the phial, using it, and learning an available ability are distinct checks. Look at the ability’s gate and learned state in your own menu; this footage does not demonstrate a complete purchase-to-use sequence. The displayed Piercing Shriek panel is marked Night Only.

Read your own Gladius item panel

The video shows Gladius as a Legendary Shortsword with a Fast label. Its demonstrated bonuses cover damage against mortals, maximum vampiric health, critical-hit damage and critical-hit chance.

The recorded item is level 24, while another guide displays a different example. Do not use either as a universal pickup level. Check your own level requirement, damage and bonuses. Returning to Parlita for the wider Beast of Balaur investigation is separate from collecting this chest; this page covers the weapon detour.

Related guides

• Weapon directory
• Skills and learning
• Quest directory