Warden

The Warden is the specialisation that protects what the room threatens. Under the rule that a lost neuron fails the room, protecting neurons and connections, not the Ranger itself, is the Warden's job.

How it works#

The Warden's flex choices are Engulf and Glide.

Strengths and weaknesses#

• Strong: severe fronts on one connection; holding a line in the Quiet Tracts; linking endfoot astrocytes quickly in Vessel Margins. Its identity is making support reachable.
• Weak: it has no Survey, so quiet fronts surprise it. Claude B set a rule that at tiers 1–2 a quiet front must be survivable without Survey. Claude A checked all 28 tier-2 rooms with quiet fronts, and a Warden's blind plan cleared every one.
• Bots: the Warden took 12 of the 13 hard expert failures in one run. After a bot bug was fixed (the bots searched Ward rings only to range 3), Warden expert failures fell. Claude A's solver clears every flagged room as a Warden. All of this is SIMULATION.
• Run upgrades: Wide Ring (a 5×5 Ward lasting 1 round) and Deep Roots (Stand Fast for 2 rounds). See Upgrades.

In the brain#

The Warden reflects shared support: protection spreads a load but never abolishes it. That is why a Ward holds back 60%, not 100%. The user ruled: "go for the 60% ring Warden".

Development#

• 27 October: the Warden was the first unlockable class, with Hold rings, Brace and a Guard passive.
• 29 October (kit v4): Hold and Brace became Ward and Stand Fast, so the Warden had a job in every family.
• 31 October: the user fixed the Ward share at 60%.
• 1 November: turn-based version. Lesson 7a teaches the Ward. Playable in the alpha.

See also#

Sentinel · Coordinator · Kit history · Upgrades

Sources#

1. b89f778c2:src/main-game/alpha/public/encounter/src/skills/turns/catalog.jscopy
2. 215bfbf88:docs/game-balance/31-turn-based-encounters.mdcopy
3. 215bfbf88:docs/game-balance/22-v4-reassessment.mdcopy
4. 215bfbf88:docs/game-balance/28-recruits-rest-stops-economy.mdcopy