H13 die steel often fails as a result of physical and chemical effects such as wear, erosion and cyclic stress. Accordingly, the study evaluates Co-based gradient coating on an H13 steel featuring a stress-relieving effect. Scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction were used to analyze the microstructure and phase of the coatings. A microhardness tester and friction and wear tester were used to compare the hardness and wear resistance of the coatings and the substrate, and the wear morphology was observed. A pendulum impact test was used to compare the impact resistance of the coatings and the substrate, and the fracture morphology was observed. Finally, a corrosion test was used to compare the corrosion resistance of coatings and substrate. The results show that the Co-based gradient coatings have good combinations with the substrate, the hard phase content gradually increases from the bottom to the top of the coating, and the crystal microstructure generally maintains a distribution trend from coarse to fine. The hardness of the gradient coatings is significantly higher than the substrate, and from the coating surface to the substrate, the hardness decreases slowly. The wear loss of the coatings is much lower than that of the substrate, the main wear mechanism of the substrate is abrasive wear, and the main wear mechanism of the coatings is brittle spalling. While the gradient coatings increase the surface hardness, the brittleness also increases, the impact resistance of the coatings is lower than that of the substrate, the fracture form of the substrate is a ductile fracture, and the fracture form of the coating is a brittle fracture. The gradient coatings effectively improve the corrosion resistance of the substrate surface, and the higher the content of the reinforcing phase, the better the corrosion resistance of the coatings.Coatings 2020, 10, 176 2 of 13 the surface [6]. In other words, improving the surface microstructure and performance can effectively increase the service life of the mold. Therefore, the necessary surface strengthening measures for hot work molds are an important means to improve the service life of molds.Compared with other surface modification technologies, laser cladding technology has advantages not available in other methods. Not only can it obtain a coating with an ideal thickness, but also the metallurgical combination of the coating and the substrate has a high bonding strength, which can effectively improve the wear resistance and oxidation and corrosion resistance of the tool surface and has great application and development prospects [7]. In addition, the Stoney equation and some specific devices are proposed to be used in coatings characterization, which can detect and measure stresses on fine layers [8]. Present and future works must use these new ideas. The development of these theories and methods has further promoted the application of laser cladding technology.Laser cladding materials mainly include self-fluxing alloy materials, ceramic materials, and composi...