What can you do as a free member?

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and unlock all our premium features and tools to enhance your gaming experience.

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and save articles to your watchlist and get notified when they're updated with new information.

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and save your favorite games for quick access later, synced across all your devices.

Member benefits illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you'll receive instant notifications when someone replies to your posts.

Comment rating feature illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you can make use of convenient features in the comments section, such as rating and sorting comments.

Premium archive feature illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you can access Premium articles that are exclusively available to members.

Site Interface

Guest
Free Member
Article Watchlist
Game Bookmarks
Cross-device Sync
Light/Dark Theme Toggle
User Profiles
Direct Feedback
Comment Rating

Game Tools

Guest
Free Member
Interactive Map Access
Interactive Map Pins
Interactive Map Comments
Interactive Map Pins Cross-Device
Check List
Event Choice Checker
Deck Builder Cross-Device
Message Board Notification
Message Board Cross-Device
Build Planner
Stat Calculator
Diagnostic Tool
Weapon/Armor Wishlist

Want more information?Learn more

God of War PS4 (GoW 4)

List of Guardian Shield Skills

5
Add to Watchlist

▶︎ Check out the Best Builds and Recommended Skills for Kratos!
✫ Farming Guides: How to Level Up and Farm EXP, Money, and Mist Echoes
▶︎ Master the Trials of Muspelheim!
★ Done with God of War? Game8's God of War Ragnarok wiki is now live!

This is a list of all skills available for the Guardian Shield in God of War (2018) for the PS4. Learn about the effects of each skill, how to unlock them, additional bonuses, and more!

List of Contents

How to Unlock Guardian Shield Skills

Guardian Shield front top image.jpg

The Guardian Shield is one of Kratos's starting weapons and can be unlocked right at the first chapter of the story, The Marked Trees. The skill trees for the Guardian Shield will also be available at this point.

Guardian Shield Guide

List of Guardian Shield Skills

Shield Combat

Skill Weapon Lv. Effect
Block BreakBlock Break - Double Tap L1 to break an enemy's block.
Guardian SweepGuardian Sweep - While Bare-Handed, Hold R1 to sweep enemies off their feet and inflict a moderate amount of STUN damage.
Agile StrikeAgile Strike - While Bare-Handed and evading, Hold L forward and Press R1 to perform a quick attack.
GuardianGuardian's Justice - While Bare-Handed, Hold R2 to perform a shield slam and inflict a moderate amount of STUN damage.
Countering StrikeCountering Strike - Press R1 after a last-second block to counter the attack with a powerful shield strike.
Haymaker CrushHaymaker Crush - While sprinting Bare-Handed, Press R1 to perform a powerful running haymaker attack that sends enemies tumbling along the ground.
GuardianGuardian's Judgement - Press R2 after performing the Guardian's Justice shield slam to add a concussive blast to the attack that inflicts a massive amount of STUN damage on enemies.
Countering CrushCountering Crush - Press R2 after a last-second block to counter the attack with a shield slam.
Shoulder BarrageShoulder Barrage - While sprinting Bare-Handed, Press R2 to perform a powerful shoulder-ram attack that sends enemies flying back.
GuardianGuardian's Revenge - Switch stances by pausing momentarily after any Bare-Handed attack. Once in new stance, Press R1 to perform a powerful uppercut. Press R1 again to perform a follow-up slam attack.
Countering BlastCountering Blast - Blocking a projectile attack at the last second absorbs the impact and redirects a projectile back towards the attacker.
GuardianGuardian's Fury - Switch stances by pausing momentarily after any Bare-Handed attack. Once in new stance, Press R2 to perform a leaping shield attack. After the shield attack, Press R1 to perform a follow-up slam attack.

Rage Combat

Skill Weapon Lv. Effect
Fury StrikeFury Strike - (In Spartan Rage) Press R1 to perform a dashing punch to an enemy. Press again repeatedly to deliver a combo of rapid blows.
Raging SmashRaging Smash - (In Spartan Rage) Press R2 to jump into the air and slam back down with extreme force, blasting away enemies in front of you.
Fury DriveFury Drive - (In Spartan Rage) Hold R1 to deliver a forceful haymaker that knocks enemies backward at great speed.
Spartan StompSpartan Stomp - (In Spartan Rage) Press L1 to do a quick stomp that damages and disrupts all nearby enemies.
Raging UltimatumRaging Ultimatum - (In Spartan Rage) Hold R2 to perform a more powerful Raging Smash attack with a much wider area-of-effect.
Fury BeatdownFury Beatdown - (In Spartan Rage) Continue Pressing R1 to extend the length of punches after a Fury Strike.
Spartan SurgeSpartan Surge - (In Spartan Rage) Hold L1 to charge up a powerful stomp that can launch nearby enemeis airborne.
Seething EarthSeething Earth - (In Spartan Rage) Press L2 to pick up and hurl a large boulder from the ground that explodes on impact and deals massive damage.

God of War Related Links

Skill List and Guide

All Weapon Skills
Leviathan Axe Skills Guardian Shield Skills
Talon Bow Skills Blades of Chaos Skills
Skill Guides
Best Skills to Get First Best Skills to Unlock

Comment

See more comments (5 Comments)

Author

God of War PS4 (GoW 4) Walkthrough Team
This article was created by Game8's elite team of writers and gamers.
    Leave feedback(Login required)
    Please participate in our site
    improvement survey
    12/2025
    Would you assist in
    improving Game8's site?
    ×
    This survey will take about 1 minute.
    Your answers will help us to improve our website.
    We are listening to our users' valuable opinions and discussing how to act on them.
    The information collected through this survey will be used for the purpose of improving our services. In addition, the information will only be disclosed a part of a statistic in a format that will not allow identification of personal information.
    Begin Survey
    Not Now
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Advertisements.
    Amount of Ads
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Placement of Ads
    Timing of Ad Display
    Ad Loading Speed
    Safeness of Ads
    Content of Ads
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Quality of Articles.
    Amount of information
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Frequency of updates
    Speed of new information
    Accuracy of articles
    Understandibility of articles
    Readability of sentences
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Usability of the Site.
    Ease of finding information
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Loading Speed
    Use of Color
    Font Size
    Visibility of Images
    Easy to Understand Layout
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Message Boards, Comments.
    Ease of Writing
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Readability
    Ease in Finding Information
    Comment Quality
    Comment Quantity
    Admin Response
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Site's new design.
    Please rate our site's new design
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Do you think that the website's design change makes the site easier to use?
    Has the new design made it easier for you to find information on the site?
    Has the new design improved the overall visual appeal of the site?
    How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the new design of the site?
    ×
    How likely are you to recommend Game8 to someone you know?
    Very Unlikely
    0
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10
    Very Likely
    If you have other opinions regarding potential improvement to the website, please share them with us. We would appreciate your honest opinion.
    Note: This is a free response section, so you can proceed without entering anything.
    Note: Please be sure not to enter any kind of personal information into your response.
    ×
    Thank You
    ×
    Thank you for participating in our survey! Your answers will help us to improve the quality of our website and services.
    We hope you continue to make use of Game8.
    Close
    For other opinions or comments, go here.

    Rankings

    Popular Articles
    Message Board
    • We could not find the message board you were looking for.

    Gaming News

    Tides of Annihilation Gameplay Trailer Deep Dive: Dual Frontline System & More Analyzed

    Tides of Annihilation Gameplay Trailer Deep Dive: Dual Fr...

    Popular Games

    Recommended Games

    All rights reserved

    "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. PS3 is a trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. © 2017 Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC. God of War is a trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC.

    The copyrights of videos of games used in our content and other intellectual property rights belong to the provider of the game.
    The contents we provide on this site were created personally by members of the Game8 editorial department.
    We refuse the right to reuse or repost content taken without our permission such as data or images to other sites.

    God of War PS4 (GoW 4) Walkthrough & Guides Wiki

    Quick Access
    Guide Index

    News and Game Info

    Quest Walkthrough

    Story Walkthrough

    Favors

    Boss Battles

    Story Bosses

    Optional Bosses

    Realms and Regions

    Tips and Tricks

    Skills

    Weapons

    Armor

    Runic Attacks and Summons

    Pommels

    Talismans

    Bestiary

    Characters

    Enchantments

    Artifacts

    Resources

    Other God of War Wikis