At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, inflicts Atk-4 and Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack during combat (only highest value applied; does not stack) and reduces damage from foe's first attack during combat by 30%.
Guard enables a unit to significantly slow down an enemy’s Special charge rate, if not completely shut it down. While it occupies a highly contested skill slot, Guard can be a completely game-changing skill when utilized properly. With the introduction of skills such as Heavy Blade and Bold Fighter, Specials are being fired off more often than ever. In particular, the unique specials Black Luna (exclusive to Black Knight and Zelgius) and Regnal Astra (exclusive to Ayra) are utterly devastating when activated; Guard is easily one of the best options to prevent units from getting torn apart by their power.
Thanks to the availability of powerful Sacred Seals such as Quick Riposte, Guard no longer requires a significant sacrifice to be run in a build. It works best on a unit who is supposed to be taking on the likes of Zelgius and Ayra; this means that tanky red and blue units are the best users of this skill. Combining Guard with the Quick Riposte seal on a unit with high defensive stats can result in a unit that is nearly immune to taking damage from enemies without color advantage.
The main weakness of Guard is that it does not protect against regular attacks - it won’t save a unit that gets taken out even without a Special activation. In addition, it only reduces Special cooldown charge by 1; enemies with skills that speed up Special charge like Heavy Blade and Bold Fighter will still gain 1 charge instead of 2. This is typically enough to delay a Special activation for a turn, but can cause problems if the enemy is able to attack further. It is also possible for Guard to get negated if the user falls below the HP threshold. As a result, it’s best suited for units with high defenses to prevent this. One last consideration is that Guard costs 200 SP - this means that it is unfortunately suboptimal in terms of Arena scoring compared to the more expensive 240 SP skills.
