Archetype Guide

Guards

Guards are the melee DPS archetype, which means there are a lot to remember. They have high attack and decently good defensive stats. The guard subclasses are incredibly diverse, with a variety of intended uses.

Dreadnoughts

Trait: Blocks 1 enemy
Also known as: Duelist guards
Difficulty: Beginner

Dreadnought guards have extremely high attack and HP and can only block one enemy (hence why they were called duelist guards by fans). They're also relatively cheap to deploy. They're stat sticks, meaning their job is mainly just to do a lot of damage, which they do very well. Many of them also have tools to increase their survivability even further.

Centurions

Trait: Attacks multiple enemies up to Block count
Also known as: AOE guards
Difficulty: Beginner

Centurion guards have strong defensive stats and can attack as many enemies as they can block, which is 2 at E1 and 3 at E2. (The game says "all blocked enemies," but they can attack enemies even if they're not blocking them.) This makes them a good choice for large mobs. The tradeoff is they have somewhat expensive DP costs, which increase further at E2.

Lords

Trait: Can launch Ranged Attacks that deal 80% of normal ATK
Also known as: Ranged guards
Difficulty: Beginner

Ranged guards are arguably the most well-rounded of the guards, with good attack, good survivability (including RES), average DP cost, and a large attack range that lets them hit aerial enemies. Many of them also have skills that allow them to do Arts damage. They can still struggle against heavy-hitting or tanky enemies, so it's a good idea to take advantage of their range by putting them behind another guard or defender.

Arts Fighters

Trait: Deals Arts Damage
Also known as: Arts guards
Difficulty: Beginner-intermediate

Arts guards have 1 block and slightly lower attack and survivability than the other guards, but are the only guard archetype that does Arts damage constantly. They also have RES that allows them to tank incoming Arts damage. Arts guards shine against tanky enemies that other guards might struggle with, and you get a lot of control over who they target because they only block one enemy.

Instructors

Trait: Can attack enemies from range; When attacking enemies not blocked by self, increase ATK to 120%.
Also known as: Support guards
Difficulty: Advanced

Instructor guards are very finicky compared to other guards because their main utility comes from their buffs to other operators. The passive effects aren't amazing on their own, so they require good skill timing to be effective. Their attack is fairly decent in spite of this, so they can be used as DPS in a pinch, but beginners would be better suited using dedicated DPS units.

Fighters

Trait: Blocks 1 enemy
Also known as: Brawler guards
Difficulty: Advanced

Fighter guards rely on cheap DP cost and extremely fast attacks to make up for lower base attack than other guards and 1 block. They also have ways to increase their own survivability like high dodge chance or self-healing. Fighters are pretty hard to use (with the exception of Mountain skill 2) and take a lot of careful timing and placement.

Swordmasters

Trait: Normal attacks deal damage twice.
Also known as: Dualstrike guards
Difficulty: Intermediate

Swordmaster guards have average stats and DP cost, but their attacks hit twice. This is great against low-defense enemies, but they can struggle against high-defense enemies because defense will be subtracted from each hit individually. The most notable thing about them is that they all have skills that can only be charged while they're attacking, so they need to be put on your frontline to be most effective. Their defensive stats are nothing special, so they need team support to stay alive. It's well worth it because their skills are incredibly strong sources of burst damage that can come pretty consistently if they're attacking constantly. Many of them can also hit aerial enemies with their skills (but not their normal attacks) as well.

Mushas

Trait: Can't be healed by other units. Recovers 30/50/70 self HP every time this operator attacks an enemy
Also known as: Enmity or zombie guards
Difficulty: Advanced

Musha guards boast very good attack and titanic HP, but are a little expensive to deploy. They can't be healed by medics, but they heal themselves every time they attack. Additionally, all of them get a massive ASPD boost the lower their HP gets, which means using them requires a delicate balance of maximizing their damage output while keeping them alive. They're usually used to assassinate difficult targets far from your frontline.

Liberators

Trait: Normally does not attack and has 0 Block; When skill is inactive, ATK gradually increases up to +200% over 40 seconds. ATK is reset when the skill ends
Difficulty: Advanced

Liberator guards take the "all or nothing" approach to an extreme: they can't block enemies or even attack most of the time, and they need to sit around and wait for a good while before their normally low attack can grow to a level that's serviceable. When their skills are active, though, they pack a huge punch with very high multipliers, a large range, and sometimes multi-target attacks. They also have very good defensive stats, which makes them ideal for tanking ranged damge while their skills are inactive.

Reapers

Trait: Cannot be healed by allies; Attacks deal AOE damage; Recovers 50 HP for every enemy hit during attacks, up to Block count
Difficulty: Beginner-intermediate

Reaper guards are a mix between Centurions and Mushas. They can't be healed, but they can attack every enemy in their range, and they'll heal themselves from each enemy hit up to their block count (which is 2). They're excellent for holding lanes on their own because they can outheal mob enemies easily and their attacks have no upper target limit. They pay for this with average stats compared to Juggernauts and Mushas, the other two classes that can't be healed.

Crushers

Trait: Attacks multiple enemies up to Block count
Difficulty: Advanced

Crusher guards are a strange case - they have some of the highest base attack and HP there is, at the cost of absolutely no defensive capabilities and very slow attacks. While they can attack multiple targets, their lack of defense means they're a poor choice for mobs. However, they can be a decent choice against enemies that do Arts or True damage because defense becomes irrelevant in those cases.