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, and, once killed, may respawn in other areas of the temple. The larger one appears to never respawn after it is killed thrice. The larger ones appear to rule over these dungeons, as when approaching a dungeon, a ghostly image appears of the elder one. When this happens, the player is given Mining Fatigue for 5 minutes. To spawn the Elder version: /summon Guardian ~ ~ ~ {Elder:1b}

The Guardian attacks by sending out a large laser beam which harms the player. In addition, Guardians can target and damage players who are riding in boats; however once the player is out of range, the Guardian's laser will disengage from the player, and deal no damage.



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. This makes them the first mob with dynamic eyes.

Attacking
The Guardian have two methods of attack, firing its laser and a thorn-like attack. The laser will need a second or two to charge, doing no damage in the meantime, 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 firing again. If the target comes 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 Elder Guardian, when near, will give you Mining Fatigue III for 5 minutes.



Guardians also have spikes on their bodies. Although these spikes don't do any direct damage upon contact or as a melee attack, they act similar to the Thorns enchantment. The Guardians can extend and retract their spikes. If a player attacks the Guardian when its spikes are extended, the player takes a small amount of damage.

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 when 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.

The Guardians are resistant to fire damage, but if somehow are brought to land, they might take some fall damage from their swift movement.

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.

The Elder Guardian has a monstrous amount of HP (80) and can also inflict Mining Fatigue III for 5 minutes. This makes melee attacks even harder, as well as shooting lasers which do slightly more damage than the normal guardians, as well as the spike attack. This makes combat extremely difficult and will require many arrows, recommended diamond armour and diamond sword to kill.