Welcome to our comprehensive guide on the Guardian Challenge in DC Dark Legion, a league-wide game mode that tests strategy, coordination, and resource management. Whether you’re a seasoned player or a newcomer, this guide will walk you through the key mechanics, strategies, and tips to maximize your league’s success and secure valuable rewards.
What is Guardian Challenge?
Guardian Challenge is a competitive, league-based event where four leagues battle for control of a city and its resources. The goal is to capture and hold key objectives like cities, towns, and productive buildings, to accumulate resources and points for both your league and individual contributions. Success requires careful planning, coordination, and adaptability.
Getting Started
Registration and Setup
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Officer Requirement: An R4 or higher officer must register your league for the event.
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League Selection: Four leagues are assigned per city based on the power of their top four registrants. Stronger leagues compete for resource-rich cities, while mid or lower-tier leagues may benefit from targeting less contested cities for better chances of success.
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Champion Power Lock: Your champions’ power levels are locked at the start of the event. Any upgrades made during the event (e.g., in the War Room) won’t apply until the next Guardian Challenge. Plan upgrades in advance to maximize your squad’s strength.
Event Access
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Entering the Event: Access Guardian Challenge via the event icon and select your registered city (e.g., Blood Haven). You’ll be taken to a map where you can move squads and engage in strategic actions.
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Flexibility: You can leave and re-enter the event without penalty, allowing you to manage other account tasks (e.g., Crime Network or Crisis Response) while waiting for timers or stamina recovery.
Understanding the Map and Objectives
Spawn Points
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Random Placement: Each league is assigned a random headquarters on the map. Your spawn point can affect your strategy, proximity to the main city or resource-rich towns may provide an advantage, but you can’t plan for it. Adapt your approach based on your starting position.
Key Objectives
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City: The most valuable objective, yielding 90 resources per second for a full coordinated assault (five squads). Individual squads earn 15 resources per second. Capturing the city also grants significant rewards, including Mother Box Cubes for the first occupation.
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Towns: Each town provides 30 resources per 10 seconds for the league, with individual squads earning 6 resources per 10 seconds. Towns are less contested than cities but still critical for resource accumulation.
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Productive Buildings: These yield 5 resources per 10 seconds per squad. They’re ideal for passive resource gathering, especially for players with limited time or lower-powered squads.
Resource Acquisition and Rewards
Resource Acquisition and RewardsEarning Resources
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Resources are earned by capturing and holding objectives. A full coordinated assault (five squads) maximizes resource output:
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City: 90 resources/second (75 for the league, 15 per squad).
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Towns: 30 resources/10 seconds (24 for the league, 6 per squad).
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Productive Buildings: 5 resources/10 seconds per squad.
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Personal Points: Earn 10 points for defeating an enemy in battle and 2 points when your coordinated assault defeats an enemy. Points accumulate as you take objectives guarded by neutral or enemy forces.
Rewards
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League Placement: Rewards are based on your league’s final ranking.
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Personal Contributions: Individual rewards depend on your point accumulation.
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First Occupation: The first league to capture the city after its cooldown expires earns significant bonuses, including Mother Box Cubes.
Movement and Squad Management
Vehicles
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Movement: Squads move across the map using vehicles. You can travel to empty tiles, cities, towns, or productive buildings.
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Coordinated Assaults: Initiate your own assault to choose your destination or join an ally’s assault. Each squad requires its own vehicle.
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Free-to-Play Limitation: Free-to-play players typically have only one vehicle, limiting them to one squad. Joining others’ assaults is key to staying active. A second free-to-play ship (T-Jet) is expected by late January, but currently, additional ships are pay-to-win.
Garrisoning
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When you capture a city or town, your squad garrisons there, earning resources every 10 seconds until you withdraw it. Garrisons also strengthen the objective’s defenses with your squad and hired guards.
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Strategic Note: Avoid leaving objectives undefended. Contested objectives (e.g., cities) require constant garrisoning, while remote towns can sometimes be captured and left with minimal guards if uncontested.
Combat Mechanics
How Combat Works
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Strategic Focus: Combat is automatic and based on squad power levels, no direct control is required. The squad with the higher power wins.
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Locations: Battles occur at specific map locations (cities, towns, or productive buildings) when an attacking squad challenges a defending squad or neutral guards.
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Power Matters: Ensure your champions are at their maximum level before the event starts. Free-to-play players with underdeveloped epic or legendary champions may struggle against high-power opponents.
Stamina Management
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Stamina Drain: Each battle reduces your champions’ stamina and attributes. When stamina hits zero, champions enter a recuperation state for a few minutes, during which they regenerate.
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Optimization: Actively use your champions to cycle them into recuperation, ensuring they return to full efficiency. Idle champions don’t regenerate stamina passively.
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Tip: Balance combat frequency with stamina recovery to keep your squads active throughout the event.
Winning Strategies
Coordination is Key
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League Communication: Success hinges on teamwork. Use league chat to coordinate movements, call out targets, and assign roles. If no one is leading, step up or encourage officers to take charge.
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Pre-Planning: Discuss strategies before the event. Decide which objectives to prioritize (city vs. towns) and assign squads to productive buildings for passive resource gains.
Objective Prioritization
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Focus on the City: The city is the most valuable objective and often determines the winner. Capture it early, garrison it heavily, and defend it as long as possible.
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Balance Towns and Buildings: If the city is heavily contested, pivot to capturing multiple towns and productive buildings to accumulate resources and counter the city’s point advantage.
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Underdog Strategy: If facing stronger leagues, target less contested towns near weaker or absent leagues’ bases. Daisy-chain towns to build resources, then attempt a late push for the city when opponents’ stamina is depleted.
Efficient Squad Use
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Maximize Free-to-Play Impact: With only one vehicle, free-to-play players should join coordinated assaults to contribute to league efforts and earn personal points. Focus on productive buildings when not in assaults.
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Assign Roles: Stronger players should lead assaults on cities and towns, while less experienced or lower-power players can focus on productive buildings to ensure steady resource flow.
Timing and Persistence
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Early Game Dominance: Matches are often decided in the first 20–30 minutes. Secure key objectives early to gain a resource lead.
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Stay Active: Don’t rest after early successes. Continue capturing nodes and defending objectives to maintain your lead, as other leagues may give up if outpaced.
Avoiding Common Mistakes
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Initiate Assaults in-Event: Coordinated assaults must be started within the Guardian Challenge interface. Actions initiated outside (e.g., in Umbral Rift) won’t count.
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Protect Objectives: Don’t leave captured towns or cities undefended, especially contested ones. Even remote towns can be retaken if left with only low-power guards.
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Stamina Awareness: Monitor stamina to avoid overextending your squads. Cycle champions into recuperation strategically.
Tips for New Players
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Listen to Officers: Follow your league’s strategy and ask for guidance if unsure.
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Start Small: If overwhelmed, focus on capturing productive buildings or joining allies’ assaults to contribute without needing advanced strategy.
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Check the Map: Look for uncontested towns or abandoned league bases to capture easy resources.
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Upgrade Early: Maximize your champions’ power before the event starts, as upgrades during the event won’t apply.
The Guardian Challenge is a thrilling test of strategy and teamwork, offering substantial rewards for those who master its mechanics. By prioritizing the city, coordinating with your league, and balancing resource acquisition with stamina management, you can lead your league to victory. Whether you’re a free-to-play player or a veteran, every squad counts, so gear up, plan ahead, and dominate the battlefield!
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