The Guardian at a glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Type | Defense |
| Tagline | Land behind this shield rarely changes hands |
| Grid effect | When attacked, defense +18% |
| Weapon | Shield |
| Grid color | Blue |
| Disaster immunity | Earthquake |
| ARCADE bonus | Block |
| RPG strong genres | Breach · Rescue · Escort |
The official character write-up says the Guardian was born with a talent for keeping rather than taking. Land behind his shield changes hands so rarely that neighbors supposedly aim for the tile next to his first. Quiet, but the pioneer who lasts longest. In the app's story prologue, the Mountain episode "The power to hold on." leads to "Birth of the Guardian!"
How +18% defense works
When someone attacks your land, their win-rate breakdown gets an "Enemy Guardian -18%" chip. You don't press anything: while the Guardian is applied, it kicks in every time you are attacked, and it stacks with the other defensive factors:
- Land level: 1★ -24%, 2★ -28%, 3★ -32%, Capital -36%
- Enemy position: -8% if your character is standing on the attacked tile
- Distance: the defending tile loses 1 for every 1,000 tiles from your capital
So a Guardian's toughest land is high-level land near the capital, where attackers carry both the level deduction and the Guardian deduction. Land scattered far from your capital slowly gets softer because of distance, so even a Guardian struggles to hold an empire spread too thin. You will still lose a tile now and then; when that happens, you get a 1 gold defense reward.
Other defenses, and how they combine
| Tool | What it does | With a Guardian |
|---|---|---|
| Territory upgrade | Upgrading protects a territory; higher stars mean a bigger land-level deduction. | Adds on top of the Guardian's -18%. |
| Move Capital | The capital has a higher defense success rate, and the closer to your capital, the stronger you fight and defend. You can move it again after 24 hours. | Moving the capital near the land you want to hold also shrinks the distance penalty. |
| Shield | Protects all your territories for a set time. | While shielded, you can't attack others. A Guardian keeps attacking. |
Think of a shield as locking the door for a while, and the Guardian as standing firm with the door open. If you want to attack and defend at the same time, the Guardian fits better. It also blocks one disaster: lands hit by a disaster are reset and can't be claimed for 24 hours, but the Guardian is immune to Earthquake.
ARCADE Block and RPG missions
ARCADE: Block
In 1 VS 1 battles and the Gauntlet, the Guardian's job points go to Block, shown on the Practice Mode stat card as "Current job Guardian → Block." Each stat maxes out at 10, and overflow is split evenly among stats below 10.
RPG: advancing while protecting
The Guardian is favored in Voyages of Zheng He, Roman Roads, African Safari, Three Kingdoms, Antarctica and Arctic, giving more attack and less damage taken for the whole mission. Antarctica is the guide mission and the easiest, at step 1, so a new RPG player who picks the Guardian learns the mode with an advantage.
| Leg | Guardian advantage |
|---|---|
| Breach | Wider wall gaps |
| Rescue | Shorter cage unlock time |
| Escort | More companion HP |
In Defense mode, the Guardian card plays the Slow role: it hits one enemy and slows it by 45%, buying time for your other cards. Its Light Pulse is a series of blue arcs of light.
Getting the Guardian, and who it suits
Open the Job tab in your profile, pick the Guardian and tap "Apply." Changing jobs needs a Job Pass, charged in 48-hour blocks and also available for gold. One change is available right after recharging; after that, you can change again 24 hours after your last change. When the pass expires you switch to Starter automatically, so check the time left before a long break.
The Guardian suits players who log in irregularly, want a solid core around the capital, or anchor their clan's defense. In the clan battle Critical Hit chart, the Guardian lands big hits on the Assassin and takes big hits from the Warrior.
- Expecting stronger attacks. The Guardian does not change your own win rate or tickets.
- Expecting every disaster to be blocked. It blocks Earthquake only.
- Treating it like a shield. Attacks still come in; they just have lower odds.