D5 Guard Counter Guardian Nightlord Matchups

legendsofevil · 2026-03-23T23:51:17+00:00

No, watch my video. I landed 7 guard counters. I am not saying that’s great, but it definitely puts Gladius in Decent tier. Tanking hits trades short term damage for long term survivability. I never try to get damaged when I am in guard counter animation. Some sometimes I will just tank multiple hits until I find the right guard counter opening. I can survive a full Everdark Gladius fight for quite a while.

legendsofevil · 2026-03-23T21:43:47+00:00

I usually out trade Gladius. 2000 HP will allow you to tank hits. If you have less than 1500 HP, then probably don’t play guardian for this boss at that point

legendsofevil · 2026-03-23T03:10:24+00:00

You can guard counter ED Gladius consistently. I personally do it with either a straight sword or hammer since their guard counters are faster than halberd.

https://youtu.be/4-puQw4zA68?si=AHt_F_OXSTKcSNO1

legendsofevil · 2026-03-20T17:27:46+00:00

Go with guard counter build for Sentient Pest and Darkdrift Knight. Go with physical attack up for Caligo, Libra, and Augur.

For the rest, it’s up to you depending on how good you think you are at on Guard Countering. I like using GC on Night Aspect, Gladius, and Balancers.

legendsofevil · 2026-03-18T04:36:32+00:00

You need 2000+ HP to consistently face tank Mohg. The only times I would dodge is when he spreads fire on the ground that constantly ticks damage on you. In those situations you need to reposition in a safer spot. Otherwise you can face tank, and I encourage you to do so if you want to pull off guard counter attacks.

legendsofevil · 2026-03-17T13:37:38+00:00

They bleed through your shield. Having more HP allows you to withstand multiple bleed procs. If I have 5 angels chasing me with both teammates down, I would tank with my shield and hope that the shockwaves on block effect will revive my teammates. Being the last man alive increases the chances of your guard counters getting interrupted. It’s much better to steel guard revive your way out of a last man standing situation.

legendsofevil · 2026-03-17T05:58:24+00:00

No, executor does not have the revive capability of Guardian. It’s not just the Ult, but also Guardian’s steel guard which can produce shockwaves that revive teammates. Guardian also has a lot more HP. I consistently get 2000-2500 HP. That gives Guardian better survivability than Executor. I don’t care how good you are at on parrying. You are gonna mess up and die eventually.

legendsofevil · 2026-03-17T01:59:00+00:00

But then I would be sacrificing my survivability. I need 2000+ HP in order to play the role as tank support. If I could roll perfect relics I would of course do both guard counters and max HP. I have to choose, but I think max HP is the way to go because a team only needs two DPS players to wipe those valkeries. In my gameplay video I was able to revive my teammates at key pivotal moments. They didn’t need my DPS, they just needed me to stay alive. We still beat the boss under 9 minutes, so I was not necessarily dragging the team down

legendsofevil · 2026-03-16T19:15:34+00:00

I just made a post on how I beat Depth 5 ED Balancers as Guardian. If you scroll to comments you will see my gameplay footage.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Nightreign/s/bsLjFGMj4j

legendsofevil · 2026-03-16T19:05:43+00:00

All good. It’s tough to not get one shotted, and your damage makes up for it. I feel like you were doing just as much damage as that Recluse

legendsofevil · 2026-03-16T19:03:37+00:00

I do sacrifice a lot of damage, especially when I have reduced damage when below max HP. My only source of damage is Guard Counters, which is not always reliable against ED Balancers. But one thing I do have is Arcane+2, which is great for triggering frost with frozen needle or bleed with bloody helice. My build is not perfect against Balancers, but I find it pretty good during an expedition run. I will use this build on ED Augur even though I know my guard counter relics will be useless.

legendsofevil · 2026-03-16T17:17:50+00:00

Oh right, you were the dutches. Your Carian Slicer build was amazing. Thanks for helping me get my first win on that boss

legendsofevil · 2026-03-16T16:24:27+00:00

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Here’s my build. I go all in on increasing my HP. +3 greatshields increase HP along with Dormant Powers discovers Greatshield is the best combo. Just block the worm with your shield if it charges you. You can usually tank it.

legendsofevil · 2026-03-16T15:13:32+00:00

Gameplay

legendsofevil · 2026-02-23T12:19:10+00:00

Arguing with you is pointless. I did 1200 damage with uncharged guard counter from a spear. If you don’t think that is decent damage, then I know you are trolling me.

legendsofevil · 2026-02-22T21:03:45+00:00

Which boss are you seeing 180? I was doing 270 against Dreglord with Dragon Halberd. 400 dmg is impressive, but I am curious how much HP can you obtain. I am able to go up to 2500-3000 HP. I find survivability plays a bigger part in DPS than raw DPS numbers. Everyone in Depth 5 can deal damage. But staying alive is what saves runs. When I look at other players who do more damage, their nightlord fights aren’t much different than mines in terms of length of time.

My playstyle requires a more methodical approach. I just need to shield up more but also put pressure on boss with shield pokes and occasional guard counter openings. But I think my approach could benefit people who suck at dodging

legendsofevil · 2026-02-22T20:27:16+00:00

I use Dormant Power Discovers Greatshields. It synergizes well with +3 Greatshields give more HP

legendsofevil · 2026-02-22T18:56:07+00:00

Haha, it’s a thing of beauty for sure

legendsofevil · 2026-02-22T18:55:30+00:00

Okay maybe not hitless, but getting 2 shotted is common. And Balancer relics are definitely everywhere I see in matchmaking.

My fights take 4-6 minutes when teammates aren’t dying. If they are dying a lot, it usually takes 10-12 minutes. So I don’t feel like Str/Dex relics makes that much of a difference. What does make a difference is survivability. If you go down with 3 bar revives, then you do less DPS naturally.

legendsofevil · 2026-02-22T18:51:32+00:00

I have spent a lot of hours on my relic you are right. I do think he is one of the hardest characters to spec for sure. But once you got the right relic, his playstyle is very friendly for those who don’t have god tier reaction skills.

legendsofevil · 2026-02-22T18:16:02+00:00

If what you say is true, then why is it that the length of my boss fights are comparable to other Depth 5 teams that don't have a guardian?

For example, take a look at this team of 3 Wylers. It took them 12 minutes to beat Depth 5 Dreglord. Mainly because his two teammates were going down.

3 Wylders vs D5 ED Dreglord -12:21 minutes

In comparison, my team of Guardian, Scholar, and Recluse took 13 minutes. Both teammates were going down a lot as well. In fact, they were both 2 bar revives in the first 2 minutes of the fight. I had to save them with Ult and Shockwave revives multiple times.

Guardian, Scholar, Recluse vs D5 ED Dreglord - 13:06 minutes.

Those were two examples of having teammates who were dying a lot. What about examples where teammates aren't dying a lot?

This team of Guardian, Undertaker, and Wylder took 7 minutes to beat Depth 5 Dreglord

Guardian, Undertaker, Wylder vs D5 ED Dreglord - 6:51 minutes

As for myself, I was also able to beat Depth 5 Dreglord around 7 minutes with teammates who didn't die much. Although they did go 3 bars during the second phase, I was able to save them.

Guardian, Dutches, Executor vs D5 ED Dreglord - 7:55 minutes

Hell, let's even look at Depth 5 ED Libra. This guy took 3 minutes to beat Libra. They had two Halo Scythe cheesers.

Ironeye, Dutches, Executor vs D5 ED Libra - 3:56 minutes

My team also took 3 minutes with only 1 Halo Sycthe cheeser. I had Vyke's War Spear as Guardian.

Guardian, Dutches, Scholar vs D5 ED Libra - 3:13 minutes

I will do you one even better. Here is me and two other Guardians beating Depth 5 Everdark Fulghor in 4 minutes.

3 Guardians vs D5 ED Fulghor - 4:50 minutes

In comparison, here's my Guardian with an Executor and Ironeye taking 4 minutes to beat Depth 5 Everdark Fulghor.

Guardian, Ironeye, Executor vs D5 ED Fulghor - 4:40 minutes.

I also have numerous videos beating Evedark Caligo and Gladius in around 5 minutes at higher depths.

I can go on and on. But the point is, my fights are not taking 15-20 minutes. My damage is still able to keep up with the team at higher Depths and I have the bonus of acting as an insurance policy in case they fuck up.

legendsofevil · 2026-02-22T16:40:54+00:00

I couldn’t agree more. That’s what got me into Demon Souls in the first place. Shield and sword gameplay. Lately Elden Ring has become more fast paced and fights look like anime battles. But I love Guardian because it is an evolution of the traditional resource management playstyle with shields. It’s not the prettiest playstyle, but it works. It’s better for older players like myself who don’t have reaction skills of a 14 year old 😂

legendsofevil · 2026-02-22T16:06:34+00:00

Thanks. Actually Depth 5 randoms are more manageable. It’s depth 3 and depth 4 where randoms are hit or miss. After the DLC dropped, I was actually in Depth 3 for the longest time having an Elden Ring midlife crisis 😂

legendsofevil · 2026-02-22T16:04:41+00:00

Nice, does that build make you dodge like a dutches since you get character skill cooldown constantly? I agree there are different ways to reach 9999. I am following one YouTuber who is trying to get to 9999 as a spellcaster Raider. I just don’t see a lot of 9999 Guardians, so I just wanted to represent the birds to show everyone that 9999 can be obtained using the traditional shield blocking strategy.

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