The guardian is converted from an existing mutalisk. It has an anti-ground attack that out-ranges almost all ground-to-air weapons, and in large groups can be particularly devastating as a bomber unit, capable of quickly laying waste to an enemy base and ground force in seconds. While the guardian has a respectable attack of 20 (26 when fully upgraded), it has no defense against enemy air units and is vulnerable to ground-to-air units when on the run, so it should be closely escorted by units such as mutalisks or devourers. The slow speed of the guardian also renders it vulnerable to area-of-effect spells such as psionic storm and irradiate, or long range anti-air units.
