Guard

Lore & Background

In the world of Dahna, where the four continents are bound by the ancient Arts and survival often means standing between your allies and a wave of enemy steel, the ability to brace against a blow is as fundamental as the ability to swing. Every fighter in Tales of Arise—whether a swordswoman raised in the slums of Renne, a masked assassin from the empire of Curious, a young artificer from the floating nation of Caelum, or a healer from the desert kingdom of Terus—learns to guard not as a crutch but as a discipline. It is the breath between strikes, the moment a warrior plants their feet and says *not today*.

The Counter that follows a perfectly timed Guard reflects the broader combat philosophy of the game: defense and offense are two halves of the same motion. A fighter who merely blocks is a fighter who is losing. The narrative framing of each character's journey—Dohalim protecting her friends, Kyuuketsuki dismantling enemies with surgical precision, Alvin shielding his companions with ingenuity, Rihana defending her people with faith—gives the mechanic a thematic weight that goes beyond a button prompt. Guarding is an act of will, and the Counter is the will made manifest.

Within the game's broader Arts system, Guard sits at the foundation of the action layer, beneath the more spectacular Burst and Chain attacks. It is the quiet, reliable skill that separates a player who survives a dungeon from one who clears it with style intact.

In Their Own Story

The corridor of the abandoned Caelum outpost smelled of ozone and old blood. Dohalim pressed her back against the corroded railing, sword low, watching the two Kradia soldiers crest the stairs above. The first one lunged, blade screaming through the thin air. She didn't dodge. She didn't flinch. She met the edge with her guard—just as the steel kissed her guard—felt the impact shudder up her forearm, and in that single heartbeat of contact, the world went still. The soldier's eyes widened. His blade locked. And Dohalim's counter-arc painted a line of blue-white light across his chest plate, sending him tumbling backward down the stairs. The second soldier hesitated. That was all the time she needed.

Reader's Guide

Guard is the hold-button defensive action available to every playable character. While held, incoming attacks deal significantly reduced damage, and your character enters a braced stance that also prevents being knocked back. The key layer is the Counter: if you activate Guard within a tight window just before the enemy's hit connects, the attack is fully negated, the enemy is staggered, and your character automatically fires off a bonus-damage counter strike. The counter damage scales with your character's attack stat, so it is not a free hit—it is a *bonus* hit.

All four characters—Dohalim, Kyuuketsuki, Alvin, and Rihana—share the same Guard/Counter framework. The in-story justification is straightforward: each is a trained combatant in a world where Arts-fueled warfare is the norm, and bracing against a blow is basic soldiering. Kyuuketsuki's assassin training, Dohalim's street-fighting grit, Alvin's tactical discipline, and Rihana's protective instinct all make the mechanic feel native to them.

Build tip: because the Counter scales with attack, characters with higher base ATK (Dohalim and Kyuuketsuki) get the most value from a well-timed Guard. If you prefer a safer playstyle, keep Rihana or Alvin in the party and use Guard as a damage-reduction shield while your burst-damage teammate follows up with a Chain attack. Practicing the Counter window in a single-enemy arena before tackling multi-enemy rooms will build the timing muscle you'll need in later dungeons.

Did You Know?

• The Counter triggered by a perfectly timed Guard is not a separate skill or Arts move—it is baked into the base Guard action itself, meaning even a brand-new character with zero skill points can land it.
• Guarding does not make you invulnerable; it reduces damage, so a sustained hold against a high-damage boss will still chip your HP over time, encouraging you to break the hold and reposition.
• The stagger window after a successful Counter is the same regardless of which character lands it, making Guard a reliable crowd-control tool in multi-enemy encounters.
• In the game's real-time flow, Guard and the offensive Arts/Chain system share the same action gauge, so spamming Guard can leave you without the stamina to burst—making timing and discipline as important as raw damage.