Guardians

Guardians are hostile Enemies that will defend both themselves and Mines from attacks made by a player.

Guardians will spawn in groups of 1-9 in a circular position around Mines. Guardians will attack if:

* The players Exocraft comes within range of them.

* The player attacks the Guardian or the Mine that they are protecting.

* The player attacks any other Guardian in the area.
* The player passes over any guardians.

## Types

An incredibly easy way to tell what Drone is strong against what is just hovering over the Enemy, a Drone icon at the bottom of your screen with start flashing, indicating that is the one that is strongest against that type. It is recommended that you use the right drones when attacking guardians, as weaker drones deployed will deal less damage and take more damage and faster.

 Aqua
 Spark

## Strategies

Each Guardian and Drone type has its own elemental alignment which has strengths and weaknesses against other types. It's similar to a game of Paper, Rock, Scissors, or Pokémon. For a guide on what Drone to use on which Guardian go to Drones.

* Aqua Guardians are blue-green and loosely resemble crabs with Night Visions Goggles for eyes.
* Lava Guardians are  orange-red and look like magma with volcanic rocks sticking out of them.
* Spark Guardians are pink, purple and resemble a cluster of shards. There may also be some light blue in the mix.

* A Lava Guardian
* An Aqua Guardian
* A Spark Guardian
* The mine that Guardians protect, not to be confused with Shipwrecks
1/4Guardians can heal each other, with Guardians of the same type being able to heal each other faster, Mines are also able to heal Guardians. A Guardian is only able to heal one other Guardian at a time, healing Guardians are unable to attack.

This means if there are a lot of Guardians, especially of one type, you may be unable to out DPS their regeneration, in this case it is recommended to either give up and find another Mine or attack the weakest Guardian.

The bigger a Guardian is, the more dangerous it is. It will do more damage and will have more health and defense. So, it is strongly recommended sticking to Mines that are protected by 1 or 2 small Guardians for solo players, at least until level 4 Drones and a well-defended ship with leveled up parts are acquired.

Another method recommended for more experienced players who have enough Drones is, when facing a group of Guardians with the same type and, you can target each guardian using different Drones for each, which causes every Guardian to be preoccupied and be unable to heal their allies. This is can be more effective than focusing on one guardian only, since sometimes guardians can all focus on healing their single ally you are attacking, which outpaces your DPS.

Guardians attack by shooting homing projectiles that change according to their type, these are unable to be dodged.

If you are facing a group of Guardians that have different types, make sure to recall certain Drones before they get destroyed, in the event of a Drones' demise see Drones for details about how to revive them.

Guardians can also destroy parts of an Exocraft, so be wary. you can tell how low each part is on health either by clicking on it in the Hangar or by how blackened it is, the further away from it's original color the more damage it has taken. You can tell when parts are on critical health when they get set on fire.

## Trivia

* Guardians attack with a projectile that is relative to what element they are. Waterballs for Aqua Guardians, fireballs for Lava Guardians and a pink electric bolt for Spark Guardians

* You must destroy them before excavating the Mine they are defending, It takes a while but pays a lot of gems.

* The Aqua Guardian, despite having a claw, doesn't use it for anything.
* Guardians often emit a roaring noise when attacked.

## References

1. ↑ Not always the case, sometimes they do not attack even if you are right next to them. This may be a bug.
2. ↑ Taken from Drones.
3. ↑ Unless you warp to a Trading Post or Beacon.