Guardian

The Human Guardian is one of the Human starting classes in Urtuk: The Desolation. It is a tanky, utility-based class that defends allies and repositions enemies.

## Abilities and Focus

 Bash and Move (Ability)
 Shield Ally (Ability)

 Shield Ally (Focus Ability)

## Traits

 Light Weapon
 Stalwart

## Tactics

The Guardian is one of the classes on the Default Humans start, and while it is quite strong in the initial zones, it can falls off as time goes on (as later enemies become immune to your repositions and ranged foes-whose hits you can’t block-become powerhouses.) Guardian thus settles into a supplementary role, feeding shields and supporting the advance of your main melee champions.

There are 2 schools of thought in what mutators to give the Guardian. The first one builds him as a pseudo-Spearman, with (aside from Light Foot), Critical Counterstrike and on-hit Crit mutators (eg Vigorous, Immobilizing Criticals, Tiring Criticals). The second one focuses on maximizing shield output, giving him AGI-boosting mutators (eg Birdy and/or Athletic), and then survivability mutators (eg Strong Body). The second build is also a good candidate to carry Mark of Mockery if needed.

Guardian should level up VIT and AGI. The first build (pseudo-Spearman) should level Agility to go for Stamina breakpoints of 62, 122, 182, so as to perform Critical Counterstrikes after 60-Stamina Shields. The second build (Shield Bot) can use the same breakpoints, or can build his breakpoints around throwing an extra Mark of Mockery. The latter’s Stamina breakpoints would be 76, 152, and 226. Aside from that, VIT should be increased as much as possible. CON is at best a tertiary concern, and STR should never receive points.

Guardian should be positioned right next to your frontliners, feeding them shields and throwing Marks of Mockery to pre-empt engagements. The pseudo-Spearman build can take the role of a frontliner as well, but he should still be positioned near your allies to assist them with Shields. If there's a lot of enemies (especially ranged attackers) around, you can throw a Mark of Mockery and Bash an enemy into it to make him take tons of damage.

Some players replace the Guardian as the game nears the end, as he falls off and options for Valdor mercenaries (and other more esoteric potential allies) open up. That said, he is still a perfectly good champion to finish a game with on all difficulties, and he will have absorbed multiple mutators by the time options for a switch open up. Guardian is strong thoughout the midgame, especially against Forsaken. Guardian is particularly useful in team compositions with strong melee damage-dealers; eg a Bloodknight Urtuk.

Faction Matchups:

Scavengers: No tricks or surprises here, Guardian does well at blocking their melee attacks, and their ranged shots don't hit too hard.

Swampers: Armor serves you well at blocking their bleeds and poisons. Watch out for the Spearman's Taunt, which can lead to you being neutralized and killed over a few turns!

Forsaken: Guardian shines here, he can reposition everybody and protect your carries against the brutal attacks of their Berserkers and Axemen.

Necroreavers: You can only bash 3/5 of the enemy classes, but you can ensure that Abomination never hits someone. 2 people have Long Weapon Reach, which Guardian is useless against. On Desolation, watch out for the Necroreaver Spearman's Overfocus Taunt!

Valdor: You can only reposition Reapers and Assassins, and the latter doesn't matter because the AI doesn't know how to use Assassins judiciously. You'll have to play conservatively and protect your melee allies from utterly brutal attacks.

Beasts: Guardian does well against Beasts, and his shields are practically mandatory if you're going to send in a melee-heavy comp against the one-man-army Fleshbeast Elites that will wreck you otherwise.

Werebeasts: You can only reposition the Small one, but you can block a lot of otherwise troublesome attacks. Stalwart also helps you block Grab-and-Die.

Vampires: They can be repositioned, and Guardians shields are good for stopping their Leech engines.