Even when you are struck, your armor protects you from some harm. While wearing medium or heavy armor, you gain resistance to physical damage equal to 1 + half your level. In addition, you can rest normally while wearing medium and heavy armor.

You gain the Shield Block general feat, a reaction that lets you reduce damage with your shield.

Often, the best way to protect your allies is to have the enemy want to attack you instead. You gain the Taunt action.

As a guardian, you have learned certain techniques to help keep your allies safe.

Ever Ready

You always gain a reaction whenever you roll initiative for combat, but you can use it only for reactions from guardian feats or class features. The GM might still rule that you can use other reactions before your first turn based on the situation, as normal.

Intercept Attack

You keep your charges safe from harm, even if it means you get hurt yourself. You gain the Intercept Attack reaction.

The protectiveness of your armor ensures that even if you fall, you take longer to die. You gain the Diehard general feat. If you already have the Diehard feat, you can retrain it when you get Tough to Kill. Additionally, the first time each day you'd be reduced to Dying 3 or higher, you stay at dying 2 instead.

You've studied in a wide variety of weapons and learned to apply their principles in combat. Your proficiency rank for martial weapons, simple weapons, and unarmed attacks increases to expert. When you critically succeed at an attack roll with a weapon you are at least an expert with, you apply the weapon's critical specialization effect.

You're always on the lookout for danger and can react to it in an instant. Your proficiency rank for Perception increases to expert. At the start of each of your turns, you gain an additional reaction that you can use only for reactions from guardian feats or class features (including Shield Block). If you have the Ever Ready class feature, you also gain this additional reaction when you roll initiative for combat.

You've developed a knack for dodging danger. Your proficiency rank for Reflex saves increases to expert.

Guardian Even in the heaviest of armors, you can brace yourself against widespread effects. Your proficiency rank for Reflex saves increases to expert.

Your experience in battle helps protect you against magic and toxins alike. Your proficiency rank for Fortitude saves increases to master. When you roll a success on a Fortitude save, you get a critical success instead.

Your armored form is more imposing. Your proficiency rank for your guardian class DC increases to expert.

When clad in steel, you fend off most attacks. Your proficiency rank with medium armor and heavy armor increases to master. Your proficiency rank with light armor and unarmored defense increases to expert.

You've learned how to inflict greater injuries with the weapons you know best. You deal an additional 2 damage with weapons and unarmed attacks in which you are an expert. This damage increases to 3 if you're a master, and 4 if you're legendary.

You have become an almost-impenetrable bulwark. Your proficiency ranks for medium and heavy armor increase to legendary. Your proficiency ranks for light armor and unarmored defense increase to master.

Your damage from weapon specialization increases to 4 with weapons and unarmed attacks in which you're an expert, 6 if you're a master, and 8 if you're legendary.

Stalwart as your armor, you refuse to break. Your proficiency ranks for Will saves increases to master. When you roll a success on a Will save, you get a critical success instead.

You are known for your suit of armor more than the person inside. Your proficiency rank for your guardian class DC increases to master. While wearing armor, when you attempt a Reflex save to avoid a damaging effect, such as a Fireball, you can add your armor's item bonus to AC instead of your Dexterity modifier; if your armor has the bulwark trait, increase this bonus by 1. If you get a success when you do this, you get a critical success instead.