Guarding Skill

This is a Combat Skill that Monks and Puppetmasters have. It decreases the amount of damage that the player takes from a melee hit when it activates, similarly to a Shield Trigger.
There is no log message for guarding an attack; the only reliable way to tell is the absence of blood after an attack on your character.
Guard only works when the player is using a Hand-to-Hand weapon (or barehand).
The higher your Guarding Skill, the better the chance that it will activate. Adding AGI was thought to increase its activation rate, but has not been shown definitively to do so.
* Guard Activation and Effect
** Opponent's attack must bypass the character's evasion, shadows (Blink/Utsusemi), and counter for this trait to trigger.
** Guard reduces damage by reducing the pDIF of the attack by 1.0. 
** This trait can activate on enemy TP attacks, completely nullifying the damage. The log will say "(Monster) uses (TP move), but misses (Player)". It is also possible to get a guard skillup from an AoE TP move targeted at someone else in the party (as long as Hand-to-Hand weapons/bare hands are drawn and facing the enemy).
** A guard proc on multi-hit TP moves will NOT nullify the full damage; it nullifies only 1 hit of a multi-hit TP move (though it is possible to proc on more than one hit).
** If under Petrification, Sleep (Status Effect), Stun (Status Effect), or Terror, characters will still be able to guard attacks just like any other defensive skill. If attacked and a character guards for "0" damage, the character will not wake up.
===Job Ratings===
Job 	Skill Rank	Cap at Lv.1	Cap at Lv.29	Cap at Lv.43	Cap at Lv.47	Cap at Lv.55	Cap at Lv.95
Monk 	 	6 	90 	132 	144 	178 	389
Puppetmaster	 	5 	84 	138 	? 	? 	370
Category:Combat Skills
==Equipment that enhances this Skill==
===By Amount Added===
{| border=0 cellspacing=1 cellpadding=2 width=80%	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Name 	Skill Increase	Skill Increase	Skill Increase	Skill Increase	Skill Increase	Skill Increase	Skill Increase	Skill Increase	Skill Increase	Skill Increase	Skill Increase	Skill Increase	Skill Increase
Name 	+232 	+162 	+15 	+14 	+12 	+10 	+8 	+7 	+6 	+5 	+4 	+3 	+2
Oatixur 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Ninzas +1 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Temple Hose +1 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Melee Gaiters +1	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Melee Gaiters 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Boxer's Mantle 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Temple Hose 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Gnole Crown 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Guarding Torque 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Feral Mask 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Black Adargas +1	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Busker's Earring	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Tiger Mask 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Black Adargas 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Adargas +1 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Guarding Earring	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Adargas 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
===By Equipment Slot===
====Weapons====
:{|class=sortable border="0" width="60%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"	 	 	
Level	Name 	Jobs 	Bonus
47 	Adargas 	MNK/PUP	+2
47 	Adargas +1 	MNK/PUP	+3
60 	Black Adargas 	MNK/PUP	+4
60 	Black Adargas +1	MNK/PUP	+5
99 	Ninzas +1 	MNK/PUP	+162
99 	Oatixur 	MNK/PUP	+232
====Head====
:
Level	Name 	Jobs 	Bonus
70 	Tiger Mask 	WAR/MNK/THF/BST/NIN/DNC	+5
70 	Feral Mask 	WAR/MNK/THF/BST/NIN/DNC	+6
72 	Gnole Crown	WAR/MNK/THF/BST/NIN/DNC	+8
====Neck====
:
Level	Name 	Jobs	Bonus
65 	Guarding Torque	All 	+7
====Legs====
:
Level	Name 	Jobs	Bonus
60 	Temple Hose 	MNK 	+10
74 	Temple Hose +1	MNK 	+15
====Feet====
:
Level	Name 	Jobs	Bonus
71 	Melee Gaiters 	MNK 	+12
75 	Melee Gaiters +1	MNK 	+14
====Back====
:
Level	Name 	Jobs	Bonus
70 	Boxer's Mantle	All 	+10
====Earring====
:
Level	Name 	Jobs	Bonus
35 	Guarding Earring	All 	+3
60 	Busker's Earring	All 	+5
|}
==Cheers that enhance Skill Gain Rate==
*Cheer: Dhalmel Calf - Increases mind by 2 and guarding and shield skills gain rate by 10%.
*Cheer: Sapling - Increases guarding and shield skills gain rate by 10%.
*Cheer: Sea Monk Larva - Increases dexterity by 2 and guarding and shield skills gain rate by 10%.
==Guard Video==
This video shows high guard activation and damage reduction:
425px
==References and Guides==
* Things you probably didn't know about Guard
* The Quest for Guarding Skill
* Let's Level Guard Skill! Puppetmaster video guide
* Guarding with Tetsu - A Puppetmaster's Guide