Guardian Shield

The Guardian Shield is a retractable shield seen in God of War present inside a gauntlet on Kratos' left arm. It is used to parry and block enemy attacks and can also be used offensively in combination with the Blades of Chaos and Kratos' fists. It has its own skill tree and can be upgraded.

Skills

Kratos can unlock various skills linked to the Guardian Shield, including counterattacks, move-sets, and more.

• Block Break - Double tap L1 to break an enemy’s block.
• Countering Strike - Press R1 after a last-second block to counter the attack with a powerful shield strike.
• Countering Crush - Press R2 after a last second block to counter the attack with a shield slam.
• Countering Blast - Blocking a projectile attack at the last second absorbs the impact and redirects projectile back at the attacker.

• Guardian Sweep - While Bare-handed, Hold R1 to sweep enemies off their feet and inflict a moderate amount of Stun damage.
• Guardian’s Justice - While Bare-Handed, Hold R2 to preform a shield slam and inflict a moderate amount of Stun damage.
• Guardian's Judgement - Press R2 after preforming the Guardian’s Justice shield slam to add a concussive blast to the attack that inflicts a massive amount of Stun damage on enemies.

• Agile Strike - While Bare-Handed and evading, Hold L Stick forward to press R1 to perform a quick attack.
• Haymaker Crush - While sprinting Bare-Handed, Press R1 to perform a powerful running haymaker attack
• Shoulder Barrage - While sprinting Bare-Handed, Press R2 to perform a powerful shoulder ram attack that sends enemies flying back.

• Guardian’s Revenge - Switch stances by pausing momentarily after any Bare-Handed attack. Once in a new stance, Press R1 to preform a powerful uppercut. Press R1 again to perform a follow up slam attack.
• Guardians Fury - Switch stances by pausing momentarily after any Bare-Handed attack. Once in a new stance, Press R2 to perform a leaping shield attack. After the shield attack, Press R1 to perform a follow-up slam attack.

Trivia

• The Guardian Shield is a gift given to Kratos by his beloved wife on the anniversary of the night they met.
• While playing in "Give me God of War" difficulty, combat with the Guardian Shield can be much more effective than using weapons in the early game for several reasons:
  • Guardian Shiled's entire moveset are completely unlockable by default given players accumulated enough xp.
  • It is much easier to kill enemies by filling their stun bar in early game than to rely on exhausting their health. This advantage slowly fades as players base Strength attribute increases from upgrading Leviathan and getting better gear/enchantment.
  • As an extension of the point above, since enemies can get powered-up in GMGOW, granting them increased power level and stagger resistance, killing them as fast as possible is usually priority to survive. Early in the game, the only effective means to do this is to fill up their stun bar by striking from behind and pushing enemy to a wall surface, or to kill them by pushing them off ledge. Leviathan in early levels lack the effective moveset versatility, Runic attacks or speed to accomplish this cleanly.
  • In GMGOW, advanced varieties of Reavers (who can regenerate health) and Hel-Walkers (who are resistant against Leviathan) appears much earlier in the game, whilst Leviathan and the supporting ability of Atreus is very underdeveloped and constrained. The ability to counterattack, push, stun and deflecting projectiles are invaluable in the absence of ideal and more direct offensive options.
• This shield takes the place of the Golden Fleece, used by Kratos long before and was destroyed. Like the Golden Fleece it could absorb attacks and redirect them back.
  • Similar to the Fleece, the shield could deflect projectiles back and helps Kratos execute counter-attacks after well-timed parries
  • However, unlike the Golden Fleece which could absorb all types of attacks, physical, long range, to even magic, The Guardian Shield can only redirect some attacks before Kratos defences are breached.

Gallery

The Guardian Shield in action.

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