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  1. Games
  2. Action RPGs
  3. Elden Ring Nightreign

Elden Ring Nightreign's worst character is The Guardian, or he might be one of the best depending on who you ask: "Guardian is top 3 you can’t change my mind"

News
By Issy van der Velde published 13 June 2025

The Marmite of Nightreign

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the bird-headed guardian blocking behind a greatshield as fire swirls all around
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
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The Elden Ring Nightreign community is completely divided on how good The Guardian is. Depending on who you ask, he's either the absolute bottom of the barrel or sits comfortably in the top three.

The Guardian is the bird-headed tank class in Nightreign. I think the discourse surrounding his usefulness ultimately comes down to how well you can play the role without getting the urge to run in and start whacking things. As one player puts it, "Guardian is the best character when used in the right hands."

Another redditor writes, "If I waste my stamina attacking, I won't have enough left to block anything." This is an archetype that requires patience and teamwork. With the right relics, you can use The Guardian to aggro enemies and simply block all their attacks while your teammates go to town on them. "Big bird doesn’t get the respect he deserves," writes another.

You may like
  • Highguard Warden characters posing on stairs with horse mounts All Highguard characters, abilities, and the best Wardens to pick for victory
  • Slay the Spire 2 character in a skull mask looking shocked Slay the Spire 2 players are torn on one Elite who can break your deck, but whose "debuff will be more of a buff"
  • Elden Ring Nightreign Elden Ring Nightreign was a bold yet flawed Soulslike experiment, but I think it could shape the industry's future

If your friends die, The Guardian's ultimate will send them flying into the sky before they crash back down, dealing area of effect damage to foes and simultaneously reviving your team. It's the kind of ability you don't think about until you really need it, then you'll wish you had it on your side.

All that being said, no one wants to rely on their teammates sucking for their own character to be useful. And you could argue that it's better to simply deal more damage to bosses than it is to distract them, so I can see why the community is so split on this.

One player likes to use the Jellyfish Greatshield two-handed thanks to the strength bonus and its scaling. They claim it makes it better than any halberd, The Guardian's weapon of choice, so maybe give that a go if you're struggling to get utility out of the character.

People are beating the game using just bare fists, though, so clearly The Guardian has to be at least somewhat good.

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Check out our own Elden Ring Nightreign tier list if you want an idea of which class to try out next.

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Issy van der Velde
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I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.

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