Garden Guardian

Garden Guardian =

Blood Fount =

Stone Shield =

"The very grounds themselves are animated by a deep-rooted evil, a cosmic hatred for all that thrive beyond its tainted grasp. Narration_cc_statue_start.wav"

- The Ancestor.

"Such is the strength of the Curse, and the Evil in the land, that the very ground itself is tainted and hateful. So much so, that a once innocent statue of a warrior has gained unnatural life, striking down any and all trespassers into the Old Gardens, and feeding their blood to the cursed soil. This hateful guardian is less of a creature, and more of a simple manifestation of the corruption that's tainted the Estate as a whole, and the Courtyard in particular. A deep-rooted evil, a cosmic hatred beyond time for all that thrive beyond its tainted grasp."

Behavior
The Garden Guardian is a Boss found within the Courtyard. It is a giant statue made up of three enemies; the Garden Guardian, the Blood Fount and the Stone Shield.

It is the objective of a renewable quest called "Defeat the Fallen Guardian", which becomes available after the defeat of the Countess.

This quest allow the player to earn 2 trinkets from a Trinket Set - one is obtained from defeating the Garden Guardian itself, and another from completing the quest. Shieldbreaker Set Trinkets, being exclusive to Shieldbreaker nightmares, cannot be obtained this way. If the player has collected all Set Trinkets, the quest's trinket reward will instead be a random Very Rare trinket.

Strategy
The Garden Guardian, his shield, and his spear, are all separate with their own actions and life bars, but the Guardian himself will not take any actions unless his shield is destroyed (if this occurs, he will use Hatred Beyond Time and Annihilating Gaze). For this reason, it is strongly recommended to not destroy it.

The shield will guard the Guardian every other turn. It will alternate between guarding him and charging its attack. Once the Shield uses "Skyward Shield", you may attack the Guardian. The Shield will come back down with another attack that strikes one or two heroes with heavy damage, stun, and move.

The Spear will also attack. It will strike with a move that induces bleed and high damage on two of your heroes (Feed the Soil). It does not have much HP, so when the shield is down, focus it, it's easy to quickly collapse it, and this would depreciate the damage suffered during the rest of the fight.

If the shield is destroyed, the Guardian will use two moves every turn: Hatred Beyond Time, a permanent damage buff that gets higher and higher every turn, and Annihilating Gaze, an AoE damage nuke that hits every party member. This will continue for the rest of the fight, and is extremely hard to counter. Once again, it is recommended you do not destroy his shield.

To sum up: When his shield is raised, focus on DPS. When it is lowered, focus on heals and buffs (or strike down the spear).

A marking party made up of an Arbalest, Houndmaster and Bounty Hunter equipped with Sculptor's Tools, along with an Occultist or Vestal in the back for additional healing should do well. While you won't benefit from marking debuffs, you'll still get the damage bonuses which are important to counter his high PROT. The Grave Robber is also a good choice since "Pick To The Face" pierces PROT.

On another note, the Shieldbreaker is an amazing class to bring to this fight for a multitude of reasons. Not only does she have an attack that pierces the Guardian's high PROT completely, she can also grant her team armor piercing with her camping skill. Probably her greatest ability for this encounter is Puncture, which will get rid of the Guarded status on the Guardian and allow heavier hitters to freely attack the Guardian without waiting for the shield to raise. Her Serpent Sway also lets her block the shield slam, allowing her to sit safely in the front.

Preferred Heroes
Since the Guardian has immunity to almost everything else, the most effective way to fight it is through DMG bonuses from Marks. Use the Sculptor's Tools and Vvulf's Tassel for more damage.
 * Shieldbreaker - Pierce is your bread-and-butter skill for the fight, and you can augment with the Fanged Spear Tip in a Mark party. Prepare Snake Eyes to give armor-piercing to the party, and use Puncture to break open the shield's Guard.
 * Arbalest/Musketeer - Have them focus down the Blood Fount first to reduce the damage the party's taking.
 * Bounty Hunter - Prepare Planned Takedown to increase his damage against the main body.
 * Houndmaster - Good Mark synergy, can guard or stress heal teammates if your in a pinch. Dog Treats make Houndmaster a good choice for most boss fights.
 * Man-At-Arms - In front position, equipping a stun resist trinket (Wilbur's Flag or Mirror Shield) as well as a move resist trinket (Heavy Boots) and guarding your other front position hero will almost completely nullify the attacks of the Stone Shield.
 * Occultist - If the Guard is active, take the opportunity to heal. Otherwise, use him to apply and maintain Mark.

Reasonable Choices

 * Leper, Abomination - Good raw damage against the Guardian, and frontline AOE to reach past the shield to the main body. Can't reliably reach the Blood Fount.
 * Vestal - Good healing if you end up taking too much damage at once. However, she will struggle with damage on the Guardian.
 * Grave Robber - Pick to the Face! can bypass the inherent PROT of the parts.

Discouraged Heroes

 * Plague Doctor, Flagellant - A lot of their offensive power stems from Blight and Bleed which doesn't work on the Guardian.

Abilities
Garden Guardian =

Blood Fount =

Stone Shield =

* Uses this ability at the end of the round

** Use this ability at the start of the round

Trivia

 * Unlike other Courtyard bosses, Garden Guardian's room placement is randomized rather than fixed. He also shares the shortest randomly generated Courtyard mission from all other.
 * The Garden Guardian is one of the only enemies to have the Stonework type, along with Gargoyles.