# Guardian (race 3)

**Identity:** the capital-hull race. Median unit PR of 41,636 — an order of
magnitude above Marauder's 2,052 — built at BR 1–3. In exchange for the lowest
damage per PR of any real combat race it has **the best build economy in the
game by a wide margin**: #1 on ppt, #1 on dpt, and a 90-turn bank worth 5.74M
PR against a roster median of 3.47M.

**Verdict: not weak — traded.** This is the most important correction in the
knowledge base. With Special hulls in the pool Guardian reads **94.8 at equal PR
(5th) and 121.2 at equal turns (1st)** — average 108.0, the highest of any race.
It reaches roughly 114M PR from 2,500 turns where Viral reaches ~77M. An earlier
balance draft proposed buffing five Guardian hulls on the equal-PR reading
alone; that was measuring one side of a deliberate trade.

*(Without Special hulls the same run gave 86.3 / 130.9 — a starker version of
the same shape.)*

| | Median | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| ppt | **63,805** | **1 / 7** |
| dpt | **29,603** | **1 / 7** |
| dmg/1kPR | 499 | 5 / 7 |
| EHP/1kPR | 1,396 | 4 / 7 |
| bank90 | **5.74M PR** | **1 / 7** |

## Roster

| Ship | Archetype | Unit PR | BR | ppt | dpt | dmg/1kPR | EHP/1kPR | E/K/M/C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tourmaline | Elite | 6,510 | 6 | 39,060 | 50,811 | **1,301** | 867 | 0/6000/3800/0 |
| L.Emerald | Tempo | 41,636 | 2 | 83,272 | 50,743 | 609 | **279** | 0/0/30000/0 |
| Ruby | Elite | 11,268 | 4 | 45,072 | 45,542 | 1,010 | 1,193 | 0/13000/0/0 |
| L.Garnet | Tempo | 16,303 | 5 | 81,515 | 33,829 | 415 | 1,274 | 0/0/8000/0 |
| K.Hun-Li | Growth engine | 87,273 | 1 | 87,273 | 33,127 | 380 | 2,280 | 0/12000/0/24000 |
| G.Amethyst | Glass cannon | 18,018 | 2 | 36,036 | 29,603 | 821 | 808 | 15000/0/0/0 |
| G.Fluorite | Growth engine | 69,768 | 1 | 69,768 | 29,603 | 424 | 2,549 | 30000/0/0/0 |
| G.Corundum | Line | 55,028 | 1 | 55,028 | 27,435 | 499 | 1,396 | 12500/10000/7500/0 |
| K.Hun-Zen | Growth engine | 80,316 | 1 | 80,316 | 26,875 | 335 | **3,072** | 11000/0/0/17000 |
| K.Hun-Xe | Glass cannon | 8,749 | 4 | 34,996 | 25,033 | 715 | 749 | 0/0/3500/3500 |
| G.Quartz | Growth engine | 31,108 | 2 | 62,216 | 21,251 | 342 | 2,064 | 0/12132/0/0 |
| L.Topaz | Growth engine | 63,805 | 1 | 63,805 | 21,143 | 331 | 2,253 | 0/0/25000/0 |
| G.Agate | Line | 13,135 | 3 | 39,405 | 20,717 | 526 | 1,345 | 0/7885/0/0 |
| G.Diamond | Growth engine | 101,858 | 1 | **101,858** | 18,626 | **183** | 2,058 | 10000/10000/0/0 |

**Six Growth engines — no other race has more than three, and Guardian has zero
Walls.** The archetype mix is the cleanest expression of race identity in the
game and is a direct opposition to Marauder (six Elite, zero Growth engines).

## G.Diamond: the extreme of the trade

| | G.Diamond | Roster median |
|---|---|---|
| Unit PR | 101,858 | 2,136 |
| ppt | **101,858 — highest in game** | 38,610 |
| bank90 | **9.17M PR** | 3.47M |
| dmg/1kPR | **183 — lowest in game** | 526 |

One full 90-turn bank buys 9.17M PR of G.Diamond, twenty times what the same
bank buys in C.Aries. It is the fastest score-accumulation hull that exists, and
the worst hull in the game at a fixed bracket. Whether that is a legitimate role
or a dead option is the single open question about this race — it depends
entirely on how much raw PR accumulation is worth, which the combat model alone
cannot answer.

## Notable

- **Tourmaline has the highest damage per PR in the game (1,301)** and the 5th
  highest dpt (50,811). It is the one Guardian hull that is elite on the fixed-PR
  axis. Note that raw observed win-lift flagged it at +10.5, but controlled
  within Guardian it measures **−5.8** — the raw figure was race confounding.
- **L.Emerald** has the lowest EHP per PR in the game (279) attached to the 6th
  highest dpt (50,743). A genuine glass cannon at capital scale.
- **K.Hun-Zen** carries +0.99/+0.99 energy and kinetic shields — an incoming
  multiplier of 0.31, the best defensive profile in the game, nullifying 99% of
  60% of all damage types. It measures −3.6 observationally, because durability
  per PR does not predict wins (r = −0.04). Its shields are spectacular and
  worthless. **Do not "fix" this by nerfing the shields — there is nothing to
  nerf.**
- **The `K.Hun` line is chem-heavy** (Hun-Li 24,000 chem, Hun-Zen 17,000) in a
  roster where chem is only ~11% of the global weapon mix. That makes their
  damage unusually well-targeted against under-shielded chem profiles and
  unusually swingy.
- Guardian is the race most punished by the fixed-PR framing and most flattered
  by the equal-turn one. Any balance judgement about it must state which lens it
  is using.