Celestial Wards

Some celestial enemies carry a Celestial Ward. A ward marks one of your three damage classes; damage of that class deals only 35% to the carrier (25% against the boss). The other two classes always deal full damage, and the ward changes nothing about the damage you take: wards never reflect, and they are mitigation, never immunity. In World 7 the regular carrier is the Prism Warden; the Astral Arbiter boss carries one too.

The three damage classes

• Melee — your hero's close-range strikes
• Ranged — bullets and other projectiles
• Power — active powers and spells; damage-over-time effects (poison, bleed) also count as Power
• Only ONE class is ever warded, so at least two of your damage classes are always fully effective

How the ward rotates

• A fresh carrier raises its first ward about 2.5 seconds after spawning, starting on Melee
• After that the ward rotates Melee → Ranged → Power on a fixed 6-second cycle
• Every switch is telegraphed 0.75 seconds ahead, so you can read the next ward before it lands
• The act HUD strip shows the currently warded class

The Astral Arbiter

The World 7 boss carries a stronger ward (the warded class deals only 25%) and rotates it on its own 12-second ability cycle instead of the regular 6-second one. While its Choir guard trio lives, the Arbiter additionally takes only half damage from everything — silence the guards first.