Guard (PvP)

This article is about the PvP action. For the pet action, see Guard. For the emote, see Guard (Emote).

Guard (PvP)

Acquired

Any

Level

30

Type

Ability

Casting

Instant

Recast

30s

Range

0y

Radius

0y

Targeting

Self

Patch

6.1

Reduces damage taken by 99% and grants immunity to Stun, Heavy, Bind, Silence, Deep Freeze, and knockback and draw-in effects.
Duration: 4s
Movement speed is reduced by 33% for the duration of this effect.
Effect ends upon reuse, using another action, or when the effect duration expires.

— In-game description

Guard (PvP) is an action unlocked at level 30. It is available for any class or job.

Notes

• Due to the greatly increased damage reduction effects of this action in conjunction with the lengthy cooldown, clever players may note the opponent(s) who has this action on cooldown, making them vulnerable targets.
• Any DoT effects that were inflicted before the usage of Guard will still tick at full strength. For example, a player afflicted with many Biolysis effects will not have their damage reduced by using Guard. Conversely, DoT effects that were applied during Guard will tick at 1% of their strength even after Guard expires.

Actions that overwrite and prevent GuardActions that ignore Guard when dealing damageExceptional interactions with Guard

Job	Action	Limit Break?	Additional Notes
	Contradance	1	Inflicts seduced to nearby opponents, drawing them towards the caster.
	Full Swing	0	Is a tank role action. Inflicts a 30-yalm knockback if the target is not Guarding, instead.
	Meteodrive	1
	Primal Scream	1	The warrior is also unable to Guard while under the effect of Inner Release.
	Tenebrae Lemurum	1	Inflicts hysteria to nearby opponents, making them walk away from the caster.

Job	Action	Limit Break?	Additional Notes
	Assassinate	0	Deals additional damage that ignores Guard if under the effect of Bunshin.
	Chaotic Spring	0	Heals the dragoon for 200% of the damage inflicted.
	Drill	0	Damage is doubled when under the effect of Analysis.
	Eagle Eye Shot	0	Is a physical ranged DPS role action.
	Enchanted Riposte, Enchanted Zwerchhau, Enchanted Redoublement	0	Grants a stacking shield to the red mage for every enchanted melee weaponskill.
	Fate Sealed	0
	Pressure Point	0	Is inflicted by Wind's Reply.
	Seiton Tenchu	1	If the target is under 50% HP, incapacitates them instead.
	Smite	0	Is a melee DPS role action. Recast time is reset on assist or KO.
	Serpent's Tail	1 and 0	Every execution adds three seconds to the limit gauge.
	Wreath of Fire	0
	Zantetsuken	1	If the target is under the effect of Kuzushi, deals damage equal to 100% of the target's base HP.

The following actions will halve the defensive bonus of Guard. This is indicated by the bubble color changing from blue to orange:

Job	Action	Limit Break?	Additional Notes
	Shield Smite	0
	Chain Strategem	0

---

The following actions will ignore Guard to deal an instant KO when the correct conditions are met:

Job	Action	Limit Break?	Additional Notes
	Perfectio	1	The opponent must be under 25% HP. Barrier effects are ignored for this threshold.
	Seiton Tenchu	1	The opponent must be under 50% HP. Barrier effects are ignored for this threshold.
	Zantetsuken	1	If the target is under the effect of Kuzushi, deals damage equal to 100% of the target's base HP. Barrier effects absorb damage from this limit break.

History

• Patch 7.5 (2026-04-28): Reduction to damage taken has been increased from 90% to 99%.
• Patch 7.18 (2025-02-25):
  • Effect duration has been reduced from 5 to 4 seconds.
  • Movement speed reduction has been decreased from 50% to 33%.
• Patch 6.11 (2022-04-25): Fixed an issue wherein execution of this action together with other damage reducing actions prevented all incoming damage.
• Patch 6.1 (2022-04-12): Added.