# Guardians & Classes

Your guardian and your equipment class are two different parts of your build. A guardian brings companion bonuses; your class comes from the gear you wear.

## Guardians in the story

In the published lore, Guardians are spirits of those who once lived, called by the otherworlders through Lumina’s gift of Summoning. Her other gift, Growth, lets the summoned surpass ordinary mortal limits. Read [Chapter 4 of the chronicle](lore.md#chapter-4-isekai-guardians) for the origin of these powers.

In play, your active Guardian provides passive combat bonuses. The story describes why these companions exist; the sections below explain how to use them.

## Unlock a companion

Use a guardian shard from your inventory to permanently unlock its guardian. Then open **Guardians** and set an owned guardian active. Unlocking a companion does not automatically activate it.

You can collect many guardians, but only one is active at a time. Compare their Power, Defense, Accuracy and Evasion bonuses and choose one that supports the way you play. The collection lets you inspect companions and their descriptions without having to equip them first.

Extra shards of a guardian you already own remain useful: spend matching shards to upgrade that guardian. Review the upgrade preview and required shards before confirming.

## Rarity and growth

Guardian rarities are **Basic, Rare, Mythical, Legendary, and Ethereal**. Rarity is useful context, but compare the actual bonuses and the stats your build needs before changing your active companion. The upgrade panel shows each Guardian’s available levels and the improvement from matching shards.

## Your equipment defines your class

Equip at least five matching pieces across your weapon and five armor slots to activate a specialization. Accessories are separate from this set.

| Class | Combat character |
| --- | --- |
| Warrior | Helps overcome both enemy defense and evasion. |
| Mage | Specializes in overcoming enemy defense. |
| Archer | Specializes in overcoming enemy evasion. |
| Adventurer | Your class while no specialist set is active; it has no specialist combat bonus. |

Changing equipment can change your active class. Each class keeps its own progression, so you can experiment without starting every class over.

## Remember class advancement

Earning character XP also progresses your current class. Class levels improve weapon efficiency. Specialist advancement can require matching skillbooks, and you must confirm the level-up in the class progression panel. When an advancement is waiting, class XP stops accumulating until you complete it.

Continue with [Equipment](equipment.md), [Training & Skills](training.md), or [Combat](combat.md).