Good addon to a great game. It adds multiple new strong buildings who can be build only once worldwide, reminiscent of Civ's world wonders. Though many of the buildings are based on objectives, such as who builds 4 extractors first. My problem so far is that while the buildings offer great boosts, they can greatly slow down the development of your city because they cost a lot of resources. Especially in the beginning, being slow to develop can lose you the game. So the math wizards will have to find out whether the building boosts outweigh the slowdown of development of a city. The giants are also game changing, and add another layer to strategy and diplomacy, similar to nuclear weapons in Civ. There are also numerous other buildings that everyone can build added that boost things like food output. All in all a good addition to the base game that diversifies its core mechanics.

As others, I'd wish there was more of a "neutral" option- do not take this red thumb as a recommendation to avoid this DLC. Now I shall explain why, for each change brought by Guardians.

- The Guardians themselves. They have a fancy look and can easily change the tide of a battle, with their combat abilities (mind control...), outstanding stats and worldmap abilities (like teleporting : hello, sudden reinforcement !). For these reasons, they can't join an army, as they are quite a little army of their own. You unlock 1 at era III, 2 at era IV and 2 at era V.
The downer side is, lore-wise, they do not fit in very well. One could have thought there would have been a need for special actions ; like a quest to take control of them. Instead, every civ can "build" them once they have researched the proper tech- wich is also a bit weird. No special prerequisites, apart from some strategic ressources to awaken the Guardian. It might have been more interesting to obtain a specific Guardian per civ, through an unique, optional faction quest. Like if there were dormant entities who could be reshaped...

- Legendary deeds. The title is partially misleading, unless you judge that, for example, having a really profitable trade route is the stuff of legends. Likewise, the boosts obtained are more or less significant. Being the first to pacify eight villages to obtain an unique tech giving +10% initiative to your units is noticeable. Being given a nice armor for having three high-level heroes probably won't make a difference, as it happens in the late game.
It also adds some inequality : you will naturally have hard time to be the first to accumulate a set quantity of titanium and glassteel if you do not have both in your starting region...
At the very least, it spices up the game by providing more optional goals, albeit not always neither very rewarding nor really legendary.

- Global events : for a few turns, a boost or a malus (more influence, less dust...). A pity that you can't modify the outcome, like in... Endless Space. That way, it is difficult to "make the most of it".

- Cooperative and competitive quest : in the two playthroughs I did with Guardians enabled, the AI didn't seem interested in those. The rewards seem nice, but I cannot truly judge that.

- Legendary buildings : one per era, barring the sixth. They double as districts and are seriously powerful : for instance, the industrial megalopolis adds a whopping 25 to industry, wich can go further if the district goes up a level. Like wonders in Civilization games, they are an interesting feature- more than five wouldn't hurt.

- Unique buildings : resembling national wonders from Civ IV, except no prerequisites with other buildings. Allows to specialize a city's production or to help a city crippled in one domain. Pretty neat !

CONCLUSION

Guardians do not change the core way of playing EL. It is a decent DLC, for a just price- but let's not be engulfed by the tendancy of overpriced DLC, more than 10€ wouldn't be quite worth it. Some features could be better implemented (guardians...), some could have been in the base game (like global events), others work well : in my opinion, the result is a bit mixed.
Still, it makes an already great 4X a bit better in the end !

This is a standalone review for this DLC, parts of this review will also be integrated into my main review for Endless Legend:

Man oh man, this really is good stuff. For the price you pay it adds so much depth to the game I would've happily choked up twice as much.

As usual, a TL;DR for the lazy:
+ A lot of added depth to passive gameplay
+ Added units and buildings are very cool
- Balance Issues
- Still some much desired features, especially more custom traits (though these are on the way!)

So, what is there? The most notable features we get are legendary godlike units and buildings. Cooperative and Competitive challenges for further interaction beyond diplomacy and combat also add a lot to the game.

Firstly, the ultimate buildings- these can be broken down into what are essentially wonders from CIV:V. Such an addition is welcome even if somewhat uninspired- they are most definitely added spice to what was primarily quite a boring passive play. CIV:V had something EL didn't and that was competition for development- that nagging feeling that someone might build that wonder before you and your gameplay altering into something riskier as a result. Well now, EL has that! And arguably in an even better form- as these wonders require strategic and luxury resources as opposed to just industry and building speed (though the latter are also essential). Whilst this concept is great and relatively functional in implementation, what generally is the issue is that starting cities are almost unanimously limited to a single resource, some can spawn on none whilst others multiple types. What disadvantages of a procedurally generated map we had before are extrapolated further by this feature- though personally I believe this to be somewhat insignificant.

Now for the challenges- they serve the same purpose as wonders- except this time limited by scientific tiers (ages). Whilst they are generally facing the same prospective uses and difficulties as the buildings, I have found that some are frankly underwhelming whilst others are so easy to obtain without any direct efforts that they should have been perhaps thought through a little (4 strategic resources is somewhat of an active goal for most competent players). Naturally, I expect amplitude to fix these in the future.

Finally- the units. Aside from the fact that the artwork and background lore for these are so phenomenally beautiful, there isn't really much to say. There are neutral Guardians as well as those you can unlock, and they most definitely add further spice to the game's combat- the issue I have is that without mods, the game's combat is somewhat underwhelming compared to the rest of the content available. Regardless, there are few complaints in this department.

Overall, I'm pleased with the purchase and thankful for Amplitude to continue providing free content along this DLC- we're getting more faction traits in the future for free! Yay! As usual, they are proactive in fixing problems persistent in the game and we can expect to see further improvements as time passes.

For £7 it's worth the buy- for those reluctant, do wait until a sale because at that point you're passing up what I would consider in practise to now be 1/4 of the game. Enjoy!

Looks like, due to Steam's little quirks, it says I've clocked zero hours on this thing. I can assure you, I've spent the last few weeks since its release poring over game after game of this expansion. I'm sure some people have played more and have a more technical-minded way of assessing it, but I thought, hell, I might throw my frustrations into the ring.

Speaking as a fan of the Endless games, Guardians is a rather disappointing package, overall. The changes seem large and intriguing at first, but ultimately they're just distractions that detract from the main game experience. The Legendary Buildings are interesting at first, but they're costly and time-consuming, and innately inclined towards completion by factions that have had a leg-up on the competition since Day One. Their benefits are nice-sounding, but ultimately marginal, perhaps as much as the 'wonders' from Civ: Beyond Earth.

On the flip-side, the other Legendary tasks available to complete are HILARIOUSLY beneficial. Happen to be the first to produce one of each strategic resource? Fantastic, have TONS of them! Happen to reach 2000 cumulative Influence? Good job for choosing Drakken, now here's your magic upgrade that prints Dust faster than a Broken Lord can swallow it. Happen to defeat ten armies first? Splendid, have this military tech, because, ♥♥♥♥ I don't know, just take it.

And then there are the Guardians. Good Lord. Forget all that novelty and craftsmanship that went with each faction having unique units - here are five generic resource hogs for you to waste time constructing. They're intimidating enough and whenever the first one emerges in a game, there's a nice little pop-up with some goofy art, but their unique buffs and abilities are ultimately negligible at best and farcical at worst. You are, sincerely, better off devoting your time and resources to an equal-strength amount of regular units. They will be more versatile, faster, easier to get off the ground, and I guarantee more than powerful enough to take on whatever Guardian the buggers throw your way.

Look, there are nifty little ideas rattling around in this 'expansion,' but their effects on your Endless Legend sessions will ultimately be marginal. You're still going to get plastered by Broken Lords. You're still going to be outbuilt by the Wild Walkers (only now they'll have fancy little towers to PROVE they did it). You're still going to have to colonize like a frantic, deranged madman as the Roving Clans or risk complete obscurity. You're still going to have little to no fun playing as the Vaulters. If you really, despite all that, enjoy Endless Legend as much as I do, then yes, grab this for $5 on a good sale day. The next expansion is almost assuredly going to build upon these ideas, and you'll need it as a foundation. But if you've got $10 and only $10, save your money, or buy a proper game.

Hell, buy Endless Space and Disharmony. Those have to be down to $10 by now, right?

Fleshes out the base game with a bunch of new units, buildings, and technologies, and makes the game a lot more meaningful in picking out where to build a city and specialize.
Also has a lot of random events, quests to do, and also deeds to accomplish so you can be superiror to your dirty pig disgusting neighbors. Gr8 value for ten bucks!

Very nice DLC with new victory type, quests, units and buildings, adding even more way to tweak your empire.

Guardians - cool looking "titan" units; a one man army, if you wish; strong on their own, excellent in supporting other army stacks. There is five kinds of guardians and each has one unique special ability (teleportation, for example)

Legendary deeds - each research era, three deeds are available for completion; only one race can complete the deed, thus making you focus your research based on what deeds you want to compete for. Obviously, certain races are more capable to reach certain deed first, but it is a fair game for everyone.

World wonder buildings - they are basically a district you can build in your city. They cost a lot of resources and again can be built by only one player, but the effects are worth it. Also, as a normal district, they can be leveled up, yielding even more bonuses and FIDS.

"National" wonders - similar to Civ buildings of the same kind, these wonders can be built once per race, giving substantial bonus to the city you build them at. Extra trade routes, extra food, extra research... You name it.

New victory type - the "Quest" victory. After finishing your faction quest, new quest line opens for you, granting you a Quest victory upon completion. It is basically a more indepth continuation of the Auriga lore, kind of a "single-player" campaign.

Global events - a worldwide event giving random buffs and debuffs. Very nice idea carried over from Master of Orion 2 and Endless Space, though I would prefer some options - like how your faction reacts to the event, the "selfish", "hostile", "altruistic" kind of reaction like in ES.

Co-op competitive quests - quest any faction can participate at and be rewarded upon completion based on the contribution. Interesting idea, but from my experience, computer AI is not very "cooperative". I would expect them to try and get highest contribution, but they mostly ignore those quests.

Still waiting for a bit more competent AI military-wise, but hopefully that will come with additional (free) patches.



Overall, a DLC worth the money, which is sadly something rare to see these days.

Solid expansion pack, don't play it on easy though or the AI will be a pushover and you'll get all the wonders easily.
Guardians could be a little harder to get but overall make decent one man armies. Legendary deeds are once again something you don't want to be on easy for (The AI sucks at prioritizing the wonders) but it still adds a new layer of achivement and reward to the game, overall, it was worth $10 and I feel more DLC should follow this pricepoint (Looking at you Civ V and 20 different DLCs(Never mind, the 80 dollar deal sorta puts you off the hook, but ONLY sorta).

Also I do NOT have 0 hours on the expansion(Steam just hates DLC), I played about 30 hrs with it and have played 120ish hours of endless legend in general.

Now, for a pros and cons! (For those who hate heavy reading)
Pros:
-Guardians are a cool new feature, and are good at mass murder.
-Wonders look great and are massive boosts to your empire
-Other deeds can give you unique items and tech, making them interesting.
Cons:
-Air guardian is too over powered, it murders everything by itself and can teleport. It's an abomination of a Guardian, and should be toned down.

Would like the ability to toggle off unliked parts (Guardians, ect.) but keep some of the other things, but other than that, a great add-on!

Excellent DLC if you enjoy the game itself. They probbayl could have gottne away with charging $15-20 instead of $10 for the DLC.

The new wonder buildings added are level based and build just liek a district adding land exploitation. They level just like a district levels in your cities. So every level of the wonder district makes the wonder give a bigger bonus. Wonders are available to everyone, there is no technology requirement, only the resource requirement of that age.

There are also new wonder techs. Meaning the first to accomplish the goal gets to learn that technology exclusively.

Some new unique buildings were added to the existing technology. These buildings help a city specialize. For example there is a food building that adds five food per worker production. Also ones for other resources like science.

New quests were added as well. As well as new events such as diseased minor faction that make them more hostile and gives them a damage buff.

In my opinion, this is the beefiest expansion for Endless Legend, adding many new unique features. As the DLC's title implies, there are several huge Guardian units that can be constructed, each with their own unique abilities. These Guardians are very expensive to construct, but can easily turn the tide of any battle to their owner's favor. Also, the DLC adds several Legendary Buildings, similar to the wonders from the Civ series: there can only be one of each type in the world. These Legendary Buildings provide lucrative bonuses and also look fantastic in game, so competition is fierce to construct them. Unique one-per-empire city improvements are also new, providing large bonuses to a certain FIDSI in any city you build em in. Lastly, global events and cooperative/competitive quests are added into the game, helping to add more depth into the gameplay. All in all, this DLC is worth the 10$ and is a must-have for any Endless Legend Player.