Gamer Corner Guides

In simplest terms, Guards shouldn't be particularly nasty enemies. However, almost all of them have a full 255 HP and they only appear in towns, meaning they all do ridiculous damage. Everything in towns deals nearly as much damage, but Guards are the most likely to actually attack you, since they'll come after you if you're caught stealing from or attacking anyone in town.

Adding insult to injury, every town has exactly one invincible Creature, and that Creature is almost always a Guard. If you're going to try to fight Guards, make sure you know which one is invincible. It's easy to tell since you can't hit them, but it's best not to waste the actions figuring that out.

Guards are the only source of Keys in the game, so as unethical as it may seem, you will have to kill a few at some point. Once you have a Key, getting more is a lot easier—just use that Key to steal a Frigate, then turn the cannons on the Guards. You'll still take damage, but not nearly as much, and you can collect a nice collection of Keys quickly.