Guardian

The Guardian is a hostile mob first introduced in 1.8. It is hostile and only spawns underwater, in Water Dungeons. Its eyes will always look toward the camera.

This mob is released in the 14w25a snapshot.

The Guardian spawns in the new Water Dungeons. It also has a larger grey variant called the Elder that spawns in the top floor of the dungeon. The larger ones appear to rule over these dungeons, as when approaching a dungeon, a ghostly image appears of the elder one.

The Guardian attacks by sending out a large laser beam which harms the player.



Behavior
Guardians will swim around in water, attacking any players or squids that come into sight. They swim in abrupt charges, moving their tail rapidly when doing so. When out of water, they will jump and flail around making wet noises. They will quickly move towards the water, at which point they swim away. When swimming, their spikes retract and they don't deal damage when attacked. They are also lavaproof.

Guardians' eyes will follow and stare at any nearby players, and will always look directly at who they're attacking.

Attacking
The guardian has only 1 method of attack, firing its laser. The laser will need a second or so to charge, doing no damage in the mean time, and changing from purple to bright yellow. Once charged, the beam abruptly ends and deals damage and the guardian will swim around for a second before refiring. If the target come near the guardian while it is firing its beam, the guardian will stop firing and run away until it is at a comfortable range, at which point it will continue attacking. The beam cannot be dodged, but can be blocked by solid blocks. Although, the larger guardian when you are near it, it will cast an effect on you that will give you Mining Fatigue III for 5 minutes.



Combat
Guardians are very resistant to melee attacks when under water, as the player will not be able to quickly approach the guardian due to the water's slowing effect, the guardian will run away when approached by a player it is targeting, and the guardian will deal 1 heart of damage every time it is hit then its spikes are extended. If cornered the guardian will usually extend its spikes and fire at the player even at point blank range, so cornering it is not an option to avoid the spike damage.

If the player must fight a guardian with melee, they should try to corner it and hope for the best, or else try to maneuver it into swimming within melee range repeatedly.

The guardian cannot shoot as fast as a player with a bow can, so a skilled player will be able to shoot the guardian, and then hide to break the beams lock, then shoot it again, then hide, repeating until the guardian is dead. If the guardian is in shallow water the player can use a fishing rod to pull it out of the water onto land where the players can then kill it with melee without being shot at or hurt by the spikes.