Slaves having extreme health variation based on their immutable age is honestly obnoxious, and it's even worse that I don't believe it's even mentioned anywhere so you won't find out except through observation, though forgive me if I'm wrong. Even a difference of 10 can be large in a close battle so you're basically never going to want to try and make anything other than a Milf into a gladiatrix unless you want extra frustration/difficulty. Might rectify that in the code for my own game since I think I've found the section.
Milfs having a nonsensical buff is also where the Slaver somehow being a worse fighter comes from in the roadmap I guess.
Also, was I misunderstanding in the Bull Ring doubling your health in combat? It might increase your stamina but my health remains 50.
Chimaera gem boosts health. Not bull ring.
Slave health in battle is based on endurance attribute, (lack of) wounds, and age. Mature get +10 compared to young (so at S+ endurance, young has 50, mature has 60), and L slaves get 2/3 of young. So yes, L slaves have 1/3 less health in combat, but that's to be expected really... And, even so, it's entirely possible for them to become arena champions, though it can take some luck (and armor helps).
As for slaver comparison, if he isn't wearing the chimaera gem, his health is equivalent to a young slave (based on his strength attribute). He doesn't get the mature slave's baseline +10, but if he wears the chimaera gem, he gets +10 and an additional bonus based on his aura, which gets bonuses from other attributes, artifacts and equipment. You could argue that he should have the +10 in his baseline formula even without the chimaera gem, to be on par with a mature slave, but, you know ... he doesn't have as much "padding" ...
Anyway, with the chimaera gem he comes out well ahead.
Yes, it's incredibly bullshit. On my playthrough I was easily beating training girls in the colloseum barehanded, as long as I was fighting with a barely trained slave. But a maxed out slaver, armed and armored, I had to savescum to survive the fights.
Specifics please. Is your slaver losing fights because he is running out of
health or one of the other combat stats (
stamina, morale)? Which training opponent were you fighting, with which armor and weapons?