Guard
Intro
Guard frigates are designed to protect teammates from enemies and deny areas to the enemy. Guard frigates have strong shields and many defensive abilities, as well as one of the best area effect damaging abilities in the game in the Pulsar. They also have a mobility debuff that is very dangerous to interceptors. However their special abilities are all short range and they are slow to get in position and lack firepower with their primary weapons.
Used to protect areas such as beacons. It has the second most survivability in the game, after Destroyers.
Jericho are the main faction for Guard frigates, with the Federation also having some available. Jericho frigates are tougher while the Federation's are faster.
Features:
- Additional hull and shield generators (+30% to the volume of the shield and hull)
- The hangar of repair drones (if within 10 seconds the ship did not receive and did not cause damage, then the hull begins to recover at 200 pts per second)
- High weight (-15% to maximum speed)
- Difficult phasing (shield resistance to all types of damage is lower by 30 pts)
- Volumetric hull (125% of explosive damage)
Main tasks:
- Allied fire support
- Tactical weakening of the enemy
- Allied tactical defense
Strengths:
- Very high strength
- Ability to quickly regenerate
- Powerful modules of mass destruction and gain
Weak sides:
- Low mobility
- Low maneuverability
- Highly vulnerable to control effects
Counter-roles:
- Strong against: Recons, Covert Ops and Tacklers
- Weak against: ECM and Destroyers
It is best shown when defending or attacking in large groups of 4 pilots or more.
If you like to be a reliable team shield that inspires confidence in your allies, then this role is for you.
Special Module
Phase shield
Phase Shield increases the Guard's shield resistance to a single damage type by 120 pts. It is always on, and activating the ability switches the damage type it absorbs. In addition, whenever the Guard is hit by the damage type its Phase Shield is attuned to it grants a 15% damage bonus for 5 seconds. When activated, it gives a 70% speed bonus for 12 s.
Some guards have unique Special Modules.
Active Modules
- all
- unique and for premium ships of the same role
- Archelon
- Reaper
- Boremys
- Raven
- Naglfar
Mass Propulsion Inhibitor
The Mass Propulsion Inhibitor disables afterburners for any ships in a short range of the Guard. This ability makes Guard frigates very dangerous for agility based ships, inability to to use afterburners reduces maxim speed ships can reach forward speed and strafing speeds too, as well afterburners greatly affect acceleration in all movement vectors, making such targets much easier to hit.
Missile Shield
One of the Guard's signature abilities, the anti-missile shield shoots down enemy missiles on a short cooldown. It is especially effective against Jericho Long Range Frigate's torpedoes, but gives decent protection against other missiles as well. It is less effective against "swarm" missiles such as the firestorm or Octopus, since the AMS has internal cool down between missiles it can take down, so depending on range to the missile volley, it may not have enough time to take all of them out.
Pulsar
An area effect weapon that deals continuous thermal damage to any enemies that stick around. It's an excellent area denial weapon and will force all but the toughest interceptors to run away or die. It has a short range and is broken by line of sight, so most ships will try to outrange it or hide behind objects until it's over.
Emergency Shield Boost and Liquid Metal Injector
Two very powerful self repair modules that restore a large amount of shield and hull respectively to the guard, be aware of their energy consumption, if not accomodated for, can easily leave a guard dry and energy starving.
Signature Masking
Reduces weapon dmg of all enemies in range around the Guard, it only affects main guns, not the modules or missiles. Guard with such aura and a friendly command with resistance auras can significantly reduce amount of dmg enemy team can inflict.
'Spectre' Field
Makes you and your allies invisible. Increases host's shield and hull resistance for every ally.
Player Opinion and Gameplay
Guard frigates are among the slowest ships on the game. Once in a fight, they are not going to get away, so if you are losing a fight, don't try to run... just keep fighting to the end (often, staying in the fight to the end results in you winning). The name of the game for Guards is "Perseverance". Since you can't avoid getting hit, the idea is to take the damage and hit back in return. While you can't run, using cover is still extremely important, more so for a Guard. It is best, especially with Jericho Guards, to buff shield resistance as much as possible and to devote at least one active module slot to carrying a Shield Booster(replace with the shield injector later on) to keep your shield up, since this is what keeps you alive. Combine with a Command Fighter and an Engineer to make an unstoppable team!