Guard (Magnumiactus)

Guarding is a mechanic added by Magnumiactus, activated by the Guard hotkey. When the hotkey is held with certain equipment in use (most prominently Shields and Lances), the effects or usage of the equipment will change.

Shields

With a Magnumiactus shield accessory equipped, the Guard hotkey can be used to activate the shield's guard mode. Most shields increase a defensive aspect (such as defense or damage reduction) while possibly restricting or decreasing another aspect (such as movement speed or attack damage). For example, the Iron Shield increases defense by 10, but halves movement speed. Some exceptions to this exist, such as the Carpatus Defender having no downsides to its guard mode, and the Horrorshow Shield turning its user invisible while providing immunity. If you are hit by an enemy or harmful projectile while guarding, a sound will usually play to indicate that a guarded hit occurred. The exact sound depends on the shield used, but a metallic-sounding clang is the most common sound.

Guard effects for shields (sorted by whichShield value by default)

Accessory	Buff effects
Iron Shield	Defense increased by 5 + extra guard power Movement speed halved
Horrorshow Shield	Invincibility and invisibility + extra guard power general damage and attack speed divided by 4
Carpatus Defender	Defense increase by 50 + extra guard power * 2

Lances

Some (but not all) lances have a gimmick or ability that relies on the Guard hotkey to function. Most of the time, the hotkey is used to reload a secondary attack, as in gunlances. For example, if you were to right and left click at the same time with the Sea Diver, you would find that nothing comes out of it. However, if you hold the Guard hotkey and then right and left click at the same time, you will reload the weapon. From then on, you will be able to use the secondary shot function until you run out of shots again, at which point the Guard hotkey must be used to reload again. Reloading a reloadable weapon above a certain threshold of shots or shells (when the "chamber" is full) does not add to the number of times you can fire the weapon, but rather gives you a cue that the weapon is fully loaded via a harmless piece of ammunition flying out of the weapon with a sound effect accompanying it. Depending on which weapon you're using, the number of reloads to a full "chamber" can vary, but the number usually doesn't go over 10.