Guardian Den & Roster

“They were finished for different work. Ask instead what Valerius asks the young flame in his letter — what were you finished for?” — The Seamkeeper’s Codex, The Ten

The Guardian Den holds your roster: ten Guardians, each permanent, each leveling with battle experience. Unlike troops, Guardians are never lost in combat — they lead your marches, anchor your formations, and grow stronger for every fight (Growth).

The roster

Two archetypes divide the Ten. Vanguard stand in the front line — they take hits alongside your troops and are built for HP and defence. Mystics work from the rear — protected by the front line, built for attack and their special strike, which fires every third round.

Vanguard (front line)

Guardian	Element	HP	DEF	ATK	SPD	Special
Valerius	Earth	98	90	46	40	36
Boulderfast	Earth	106	94	40	32	32
Tidecaller	Water	94	84	44	50	36
Emberguard	Fire	90	82	54	40	42

Reading the spread: Boulderfast is the purest wall (highest HP/DEF, slowest). Emberguard is the aggressive wall (best Vanguard attack). Tidecaller is quickest to act. Valerius is the balanced anchor.

Mystics (rear line)

Guardian	Element	HP	DEF	ATK	SPD	Special
Oracle	Earth	58	46	74	80	92
Gaia	Earth	64	50	86	72	80
Nerida	Water	56	40	82	92	80
Maraval	Water	60	44	76	82	90
Kyra	Fire	52	40	94	82	84
Cinder	Fire	54	42	82	76	96

Reading the spread: Kyra has the hardest basic attack in the game; Cinder the hardest special. Nerida acts first almost always (SPD 92). Each element offers one attack-leaning and one special-leaning Mystic — Earth: Gaia/Oracle, Water: Nerida/Maraval, Fire: Kyra/Cinder.

Why elements matter twice

1. Synergy (your side): each Guardian in a formation boosts troops of its own element by +8%. Two Earth Guardians = +16% to your Ancient Guardians.
2. The triangle (their side): Earth→Water→Fire→Earth, +30% attacking into advantage, −20% into disadvantage — applied against the enemy’s dominant element.

So your Guardian picks shape both what your army is made of and what it’s good against. The formations page turns this into recipes.

Note

Guardians also lead every march — gathering columns included. A march’s hero picks influence its troop auto-assignment.