Crystal Guardian

"Heavyset miner of the Crystal Peak overcome by crystal growth. Can discharge blazing beams of light from its crystallised limbs. How does the world look to this creature, gazing out from within its crystal prison? Does it see only light? Is that what drives it into a frenzy?"

The Crystal Guardian is an optional boss in Hollow Knight. The Enraged Guardian is its second, stronger and faster form. Both forms have to be beaten to unlock its Journal entry.

Lore The Crystal Guardian is part of the miners of the Crystal Peak who died from the Infection and were reanimated by it. It appears larger than the other husks, has crystal growing on its back and encasing both its arms and head. It also has more mastery over the crystal's light than the Crystallised Husks.

While encased in crystal, the Guardian shrieks similarly to the Radiance although at a higher pitch. When cleared of it, it has a normal bug voice. Like the other miner husks, it is obsessed with the light but has grown too tired to mine it relentlessly as they do.

In-game events The Guardian is first found on a Bench outside shacks in the middle of the Crystal Peak. It appears seemingly dead but keeps the Knight from resting. Striking it wakes it up and it engages the fight. If the Knight is defeated and returns, the Guardian will have regained its place on the Bench. Upon defeat, the Guardian's crystal growths shatter. Still animated by the Infection, it stands up and escapes by jumping through the ceiling.

The Guardian can be followed to the room above its abandoned resting place using the Monarch Wings. There, it has regained its crystal growths, but its first defeat made it mad with anger, triggering its second form, the Enraged Guardian. Defeating it a second time breaks again its crystal armour and kills it. This also gives access to a Mask Shard within a large crystal deposit.

Behaviour and Tactics
The Crystal Guardian has three manoeuvres:
 * Laser Beam: shoots a beam of crystal energy from their hand. It targets the Knight with its arm, firing a beam where they were when it started its attack. The beam is dangerous for only about half a second.
 * Sky Beams: the Guardian screams, and up to four beams of crystal energy simultaneously shoot down from the ceiling throughout the arena. These beams trigger at different times each and stay dangerous for about half a second. This attack can happen in conjunction with the Guardian's Beam attack. Each beam can be at a different angle between plus and minus 15 degrees of vertical.
 * Hop: hops to move within the arena, randomly on short or long distance.

It is possible to damage and defeat the Crystal Guardian before triggering the boss fight by having Defender's Crest or Dreamshield equipped.

The Crystal Guardian telegraphs every beam with a thin beam of light (or multiples in the case of the Sky Beam Attack). Pay attention to where the lasers are directed during the Sky attack. A combination of the Sky Beams and Laser Beam attacks limits safe movement the most.

The spells Desolate Dive/Descending Dark and Vengeful Spirit/Shade Soul are useful. The spell Howling Wraiths/Abyss Shriek is less useful because the Crystal Guardian is rarely above the Knight. One strategy is to slash at the Guardian with the Nail a few times in between Laser Beam attacks. Another strategy which is not mutually exclusive to the previous is during a Laser Beam Attack, jump and dash over the Crystal Guardian to avoid its attack and to safely strike it.

Location
The Crystal Guardian can be encountered for the first time in the Bench room in the centre of Crystal Peak.

Trivia

 * When standing close to the Crystal Guardian, it will sometimes shoot a laser straight into the ground. This is most likely a targeting glitch.
 * Beating the Crystal Guardian's first phase in Godhome will not contribute to unlocking its Hunter's Journal second entry.
 * Since the Lifeblood update, the Crystal Guardian has a voice when its growth is shattered.
 * Its voice is reused from the Sturdy Fool.

References

Кристаллический страж Guardiano Cristallino Kryształowy Strażnik