Guardians

“*In a world Fractured by Dark Magic, who will you choose to save the Mirrorverse?*”
―Choose Your Disney Mirrorverse Guardians
**Disney Mirrorverse Guardians** are the protectors of the Stellar Mirror, wielders of Stellar Magic, and defenders of the entire Mirrorverse and all the worlds within. By extension, they are the game's playable characters. Guardians fall into four categories (Melee, Ranged, Support and Tank), and can be summoned into a traveling party by Mickey Mouse's Crystals being tossed into the Stellar Mirror. They are responsible for defeating the Fractured and bringing peace to the Mirrorverse.

## History

“*Guardians are the uniquely amplified characters of the Mirrorverse that players collect, power up, and use to take on the Fractured enemies.*”
―Disney Mirrorverse Glossary
Described as "powerfully evolved", the Guardians of the Mirrorverse were first summoned by Mickey Mouse. Mickey, himself the first Guardian and greatest sorcerer, was drawn to the Stellar Mirror in the Mirrorforge Crater and learned how to harness its Stellar Magic. Mickey then used the mirror to travel between the worlds of the Mirrorverse, recruiting other Guardians, with the aim of them all being able to travel to and protect the Mirror.

The Guardians were called into action after the Fractured began attempting to attack the Stellar Mirror, with Rapunzel appearing first and proceeding to lead the others in their battles. After the discovery that the Fractured were created by the shattered Dark Mirror, which was now missing, the Guardians set off to defeat the Fractured wherever they appeared as they hoped to find a way to stop them for good.

## Classes

Guardians can be sorted into four categories:

* Melee: Offensive characters who focus on high damage dealt from close to their enemies.
* Ranged: Offensive characters who focus on getting extra damage effects while attacking from a distance.
* Support: Defensive characters who heal and help the abilities of their teammates.
* Tank: Defensive characters that are hard to defeat and protect their teammates.

Respectively, these guardians are color-coded Red, Yellow, Green and Blue.

Each character may only fit into one class.

## Gameplay

The first few Guardians are unlocked through gameplay, and the following through purchase or Crystal Summoning. The first character to be unlocked is Rapunzel, a Melee, followed by the player's choice of Hercules, Ariel and Mulan, of the same class. The next unlockable character will be the Ranged Mérida, and then Tank Sulley and Support Jack Sparrow.

Characters are moved through a "joystick" on the lower left of the screen, though they can also Dash with a finger swipe slightly above the joystick. These quick dodges are important, as they can avoid hits that deal your characters damage. If a Guardian takes too much damage, they will be defeated and exit the level; most levels require all Guardians to survive in order to get the highest amount of stars. If all Guardians are defeated, the quest is failed and the player will have to attempt it again. Defense can be granted through different power levels, as well as Armor, which is Temporary HP that absorbs damage for the character it is attached to. Several characters can also heal themselves, with Support characters being able to heal others.

Each character's **Basic Attack** is activated by tapping the large attack button on the lower right of the screen. Basic Attacks are quick, but deal less damage than heavy or special attacks. Melee and most Tank characters will have close-combat attacks requiring them to be near their opponent, while Ranged and most Support characters will have ranged weapons that can be fired from a distance, though that gives the enemy more chance to dodge. **Heavy Attacks** are a character's second and more powerful method of attack, though it takes some time to charge up. The attack button must be tapped and held; a white line will encircle the button, and once it is full, the heavy attack can begin. Often another white line will appear near the character, showing the area their attack is going to hit.

Enemy targets can be swapped on the top right of the screen, where the intended enemy portrait should be tapped and brought to the forefront; to be locked as a target, tap twice; targets are locked once the red crosshair is seen on their portrait.

Each Guardian, when all their attributes are combined, will have a **Power level,** a specific number determining their overall strength. Some levels are meant for more advanced power levels than others. Guardians and enemies can be given **Buffs** or **Debuffs**, respectively positive and negative temporary effects on a character's abilities. Duration and permanence vary. Similar battle tactics include **Roots,** which prevent a character from moving, and **Stuns,** which make the target completely unable to act for a period of time.

### Teams

While some levels have even tighter restrictions, there can be no more than three Guardians summoned into battle at a time. It is advisable to have a balanced team, with more than one class represented within in order to better build a battle that they can handle. Different teams are needed for different encounters.

Within the Story, the main team is Rapunzel, Jack Sparrow and Sulley, along with Mérida, Belle and Maleficent.

## Levels

When each Guardian appears from the portal, they will have a **Star Rating** between 1 and 5; 1 is the lowest rating, and 5 the highest, and stars will greatly increase the powers of the Guardian. If a duplicate Guardian is summoned by the Crystal, they will gain Character Shards, which are used to upgrade a character's star rating. At four stars, a Guardian will unlock their Signature Ability. At five, they will reach the maximum amount of stars, but their additional Character Shards can then proceed to leveling up their **Astral Rating,** which has ten levels.

Outside of stars, each Guardian will have a **Level,** represented by a number in their banner on the Guardians screen. Guardians can go up to Level 100, though they will need a gem and gold every ten levels to continue their progress. While Guardians can advance their level through battle experience, they can also be leveled more quickly through the use of Motes– depending on the level, Minor, Major or Superior Motes will be needed, and the motes vary depending on character class. Motes can be gained through levels and Supply Runs.

As mentioned, every ten levels will require a gem/diamond and gold in order to continue the character's progress. This also upgrades the character's **Rank,** which goes from 1 to 10. Each class has a different gem– Rubies for Melee, Topazes for Ranged, Emeralds for Support and Sapphires for Tank. There are also Diamonds, which are used for lower-level characters.

As characters level up, they will unlock **Talents** (see below) and **Milestones,** which grant a reward at different points of the character's leveling up.

### Attributes

Each character will have a certain power level under four attributes; as they level up, so do their powers in all stats.

* **Attack:** Determines the amount of damage a Guardian can cause with both Base and Special Attacks. Represented by a red sword, correlating with Melee. This includes their stats in **Base Damage.**
* **Defense:** Determines the percentage of Damage Resistance and Armor that a character can have when being attacked. Represented by a blue shield, correlating with Tank. This includes their stats in **Damage Resistance** and **Max Armor.**
* **Focus:** Determines the percentage chance that a Guardian's attacks will be Critical and the amount of Bonus Damage this can include. Represented by a yellow crosshair, correlating with Ranged. This includes their stats in **Critical Chance** and **Bonus Critical Damage.**
* **Health:** Represents the amount of HP a Guardian has. They will be defeated if their HP reaches 0. Represented by a green heart, correlating with Support. This includes their stats in **Max Health.**

Extra attribute bonuses can be given with the application of Relics.

### Abilities and Talents

Abilities are special powers that the Guardians wield which are unique to each of them. There are three ability types:

* **Core Ability**: Abilities that are always active when the Guardian is in combat. They will either work in the background, or activate in response to an action.
* **Special Ability**: Special Abilities will have to be activated; each Guardian's Special Ability will surround the attack button, and can be pressed after a certain amount of cooldown time. Some abilities deal harder attacks, some heal their teammates, etc.
* **Signature Ability**: These abilities unlock once a Guardian reaches four stars. They then work like Core Abilities, in the background.

Each Guardian also has their own talents, which are special buffs that unlock at certain levels and which have to be manually selected and added to each character. These buffs will improve one of the base Attributes and/or provide additional helpful effects. Each Guardian has six potential talents, three of which can be used at a time. The talents themselves can also be upgraded using books and gold, which in turn make them stronger. They are divided into two Basic Talents, three Advanced Talents, and one Elite Talent; the higher the level, the longer it takes to unlock and the more resources are required to upgrade it.

## Trivia

* While the story mode includes hostility between Villains and Heroes, Villains can notably be potentially unlocked for a team before or during a point in the story where they would still be fighting against the Guardians, depending on if a Crystal summons them or not. For instance, Maleficent or Oogie Boogie could be summoned while their characters are still controlling the Fractured.

## Sources

1. ↑ Discover the Mirrorverse - WebArchive, 6/29/2022
2. ↑ Mirrorverse Glossary - WebArchive, 6/29/2022