Epic Seven Guild War Offense and Defense

Guild War is the guild-versus-guild mode that runs alongside World Boss every week. Each side picks three defenses, three players from the opposing guild run three single-unit offenses at those defenses, and the guild that wins more single-unit fights takes the flag. The format is offense-favored: with three copies of any strong offense, you can copy an attacker and crush a defense that only has three slots. The trick is reading the AI well enough to bait it into the wrong skill.

If you have never opened Guild Wars, finish getting started and clear one Hunt. PvP modes still expect you to have a built Speed set and a cleanser. New accounts contribute by attacking with whatever single-target carry they own, learning the AI rules, and not donating flags.

How the format works

Each guild sets three defenses. Each player on the attacking side picks one defense, brings a squad of three single-unit offenses, and runs them one at a time. If your first attacker dies, your second attacker comes in. If your second dies, your third comes in. The side that knocks out all three enemy attackers, or the side whose attackers survive at the end of the round, wins the flag.

Three flags is the win condition for the weekly war. Most guilds split their strongest PvPers across the war days so they have fresh offenses for each flag.

Epic Seven Guild War defense and offense setup

Defense picks

A defense is three single-unit slots, not a team. AI behavior governs how the unit picks a target, which skill it opens with, and whether it will switch targets after a clutch kill. Some rules are universal:

• Bring a cleanser. AI does not respect your opener; if the AI lands Defense Down on your opener, the AI dies. Cleansers survive AI mistakes and turn the round.
• Bring an immunity-bot or self-cleanse. Knights with Aurius, Adamant Shield, or Elbris Ritual Sword are the common picks because they live through three offenses on average.
• Bring a single-target DPS, not an AoE nuker. AoE on a defense wastes its turn on a dead opener. AoE openers are offense, not defense.

A common cheap defense is Fallen Cecilia, Aurius Knight, and single-target bruiser DPS. A common expensive defense is Moonlight 5-star bruiser, strip Knight, extinction nuke. The expensive version is better but not by enough to lose sleep over it if you only own the cheap version.

Offense picks

The offense is where the format is broken. Three attackers, no team synergy required. Pick three strong single-target nukers, copy them across three squads, and run them at the defense one at a time.

The copy-attack habit:

1. Pick your strongest PvP carry. The list of common carries includes Specter Tenebria, Arbiter Vildred, Ravi, Luna, and — in the anniversary window — Lisette if you have not already drafted her in RTA.
2. Build a squad around that one carry. Two supports that let the carry survive long enough to use its S3 twice.
3. Copy that squad three times. You now have three offenses that all run the same opener.

Why three of the same opener beats three different openers: AI targeting is predictable. If the defense opens with a cleanser, your carry dies on round one. If the defense opens with a Speed buff bot, your carry lives long enough to S3. Three copies means one of them will face the bad opener, but two of them will face the slow opener. The math works out.

AI baiting

The AI picks its first target based on positioning and threat score. Stack the threat by parking a glass cannon on a slot the AI loves (front-and-center, opposing your first slot) so the AI wastes its S3 on the glass cannon instead of your carry. Bring the glass cannon as the third attacker; if the AI kills it, you have not lost the round yet.

A common bait set is Song of Stars Ranger on slot 2 (the AI prioritizes Rangers in slot 2). The AI burns its S3 on the Ranger, your actual carry lives, and you win the round.

Targeting rules

AI targeting is published in the official Epic Seven community. Common rules:

• The AI opens on the highest threat score if it has a skill that targets one enemy. Otherwise it goes for the element it has advantage against, then for the highest base Speed, then for the leftmost slot.
• The AI swaps targets if its current target is dead, on cooldown, or invulnerable. If your carry is a Fragment of Life (Lisette’s crystal), the AI will switch to another target.
• The AI does not predict soul-weaver bursts. If your opener is an Angelica (slow heal) and the AI’s DPS is a burst carry, the AI will not save its burst for your heal cooldown. The AI just kills.

Reading the AI list before you queue is the difference between winning and donating flags.

What to do with a bad defense

If your guild’s defense roster is too weak to win three flags, focus on offense. Three strong offenses can win a war even if the defense is mostly story units. Bring the units you would bring to RTA and skip the defense meta entirely. Newer guilds run offense-heavy and let veterans hold the defense roster.

If your guild is losing more than it wins, look at the kill feed. The AI is killing your carry because the carry is too slow. Fix Speed first; the speed tuning tool matters in Guild Wars as much as it does in RTA.

Cross-link to PvP mode

Guild War is the simplest PvP format in the game. It is also the format veterans use to test PvP units that they are not yet ready to take into RTA. Build notes for PvP staples live on:

• Lisette — the anniversary rewind Soul Weaver. Strong if not banned by extinction.
• Tamarinne — used as offense cleanser when the defense has heavy debuffs.
• Sigret — the cheap hunt DPS that doubles as a PvP opener.
• Briar Witch Iseria — the extinction answer that everyone brings against Lisette.

If you came here from the heroes hub looking for the PvP team builder, this is the format to start with. RTA comes after.

Rewards

Guild War pays the same currency as World Boss — Skystones, Mystic Medals, charms, bookmark fragments — split by weekly contribution. The guild also earns Guild Tokens that buy permanent upgrades in the guild shop. The shop is the slow, steady source of bookmarks that veterans rely on; do not skip it.

Common mistakes

• Three AoE carries on offense. AoE does not win single-target fights.
• Three slow openers. If all three of your attackers die to the defense’s opener, you lose the round before your second attacker comes in. Speed-set your opener.
• A defense with no cleanser. The AI’s debuff opener kills your carry. Bring a cleanser, even a cheap one.
• Skipping the AI rules list. Every patch the AI rulebook shifts. The veteran who last read it in patch 1.0.940 loses flags in 1.0.951.
• Burning Skystones on flag refreshes. Same rule as World Boss. Use what you have.

Guild War is one of the few modes where a 5-star carry with Hunt gear can win flags without a Moonlight roster. The format is offense-favored by design. Show up with three copies of your best carry, read the AI rulebook once, and let the kills land in the contribution log.