Guardian Tales basics

Elements & type advantage

Every Hero and weapon carries one of six Elements, and Guardian Tales runs two separate rock-paper-scissors triangles rather than one big wheel: Basic beats Light, Light beats Dark, and Dark beats Basic; separately, Fire beats Earth, Earth beats Water, and Water beats Fire. An attack from the advantaged Element deals 130% damage, the disadvantaged side deals 70%, and anything outside the two triangles trades at a flat 100%.

Two details matter for building a Hero: your attack Element is decided by whichever weapon is equipped, not the Hero's own Element, while your defense Element always follows the Hero regardless of their weapon. Equip a weapon that matches the Hero's own Element and you also pick up a flat +10% Attack bonus on top.

• FireBeats Earth, loses to Water.
• WaterBeats Fire, loses to Earth.
• EarthBeats Water, loses to Fire.
• LightBeats Dark, loses to Basic.
• DarkBeats Basic, loses to Light.
• BasicBeats Light, loses to Dark. The catch-all Element for Heroes whose kit doesn't fit the other five.

Hero grades & Ascension

A Hero's rarity is really two numbers: a star count (1★–6★) and a grade — Normal, Rare, Unique, or Myth, roughly in that order of power, plus occasional Collab-grade guest Heroes that slot in around Unique/Myth.

A handful of Rare-grade Heroes can Ascend into a genuinely stronger Myth form using a dedicated upgrade material, rather than staying capped at their starting grade forever — the wiki's own data shows this affecting Heroes like Craig, Coco, Fei, and Mei. That's why some Heroes list a combined grade (e.g. "Myth (Rare)") — it's recording both the Hero's starting point and their upgraded ceiling on one line, not an error.

Practical takeaway: don't write off a Rare-grade Hero on rarity alone without checking whether they're one of the Ascend-eligible names — a well-built Ascended Hero can outperform a lazily-built Myth.

Roles

Every Hero is one of four Roles, which describes how they fight more than how strong they are — a Myth-grade Hero and a Normal-grade one can share a Role.

• WarriorMelee-range fighters — most of the game's front-line physical damage.
• RangedAttack from range — bows, rifles, staves, and similar kits.
• TankerBuilt to absorb hits and hold position rather than deal damage.
• SupportBuffs, heals, and utility rather than raw damage — often the Hero whose Leader Skill you're building a Party around.

Weapon types

Weapons come in ten types — One-Handed Sword, Two-Handed Sword, Bow, Rifle, Staff, Basket, Claw, Gauntlet, Shield, and Accessory — and a Hero's page lists exactly which type(s) they can equip. Several Heroes can swap between two or more compatible weapon types, which also lets them swap their attack Element (since attack Element follows the weapon, not the Hero — see Elements above).

Shield isn't a stand-alone weapon type so much as an off-hand pairing some Heroes can equip alongside a one- or two-handed weapon, trading some offense for survivability.

Point Hero & Party

You control one Hero directly at a time — the Point Hero, seated in Party slot 1 (The Knight by default on a new account) — while up to three more Heroes fill the remaining Party slots and contribute automatically through their Leader Skills rather than being directly controlled.

The game lets you save up to eight different Party combinations at once, and a single Hero can sit in more than one saved Party — useful once you're juggling separate line-ups for the story, Colosseum defense, and Arena.

Building a Party in specific combinations can also unlock a Team Combination Skill — an extra button that appears once every requirement for that combination is met, on top of each Hero's own kit.