Roblox tower defense games have a weird obsession with Berserk. It makes sense, honestly. If you're looking for a character that embodies raw, unhinged power, Guts is the guy. But in the current landscape of Anime Last Stand (ALS), the Guts Anime Last Stand unit—officially known in-game as "The Black Swordsman"—isn't just another flashy addition to your inventory. He's a meta-defining powerhouse that fundamentally changes how you approach late-game waves.
He's big. He's loud. He hits like a freight train.
If you’ve been grinding the game lately, you know that the "Last Stand" part of the title isn't a joke. The difficulty spikes are brutal. You need units that can handle massive health pools without breaking a sweat, and that’s exactly where this version of Guts thrives. Most players just look at the raw damage numbers and think they understand him, but there is a layer of mechanical complexity here that people often miss. It isn't just about the sword; it's about the placement, the timing of his Berserker Armor transformation, and how he interacts with the game's buffing system.
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What Makes the Guts Anime Last Stand Unit Actually Good?
Let's be real: some units in ALS are just "eye candy." They look cool, they have a couple of neat animations, but they fall off the moment you hit Nightmare mode. Guts is different. He is a Hybrid unit, which is already a massive win. Being able to target both ground and air enemies makes him versatile enough to anchor a defense.
His initial placement cost is manageable, but the real investment comes in the mid-to-late game upgrades. You’re looking at a unit that transitions from a standard "swordsman" archetype into a high-octane AOE (Area of Effect) monster. The developers at Anime Last Stand clearly did their homework on the source material. His "Eclipse" inspired upgrades don't just increase his stats; they change his swing patterns.
He starts with a relatively narrow slash. It's fine for early waves. But as you pour money into him, that range expands. Suddenly, he isn't just hitting the guy in front of him. He’s clearing the entire path. His Berserker Armor state is the literal peak of his utility. When this kicks in, his attack speed increases significantly, and his damage-per-second (DPS) rivals some of the rarest Celestial or Ultimate units in the game.
It's kinda wild how many people sleep on his bleed damage too. In Anime Last Stand, status effects are the difference between winning and watching your base health vanish in three seconds. Guts applies a stacking bleed effect that eats away at bosses. If you pair him with a slow unit like Blackbeard or a time-stop unit, the bleed damage has more time to tick. It’s a simple synergy, but it’s devastatingly effective.
Getting the Most Out of the Black Swordsman
If you want to dominate with Guts, you can't just plop him down at the start of the track and hope for the best. That’s a rookie move. Because of his massive swing radius in his final forms, you want him at a "U-turn" or a "Z-bend" in the map. This maximizes the number of enemies his Dragon Slayer sword touches with every single frame of the animation.
One thing you've gotta watch out for is his upgrade path. It's expensive. Really expensive. If you aren't running a solid economy unit—like Speedwagon or Bulma—you’re going to find yourself stuck with a mid-tier Guts while the enemies are scaling into the millions of HP.
- Focus on Economy First: Don't even think about maxing Guts until you have at least three or four farms producing high-yield cash.
- Placement is King: Look for corners. Guts’ sword has a "dead zone" right behind him, so make sure he's facing the longest stretch of the path possible.
- Buffing is Non-Negotiable: If you aren't using a buffer like Idol or Shining Knight, you're leaving about 40-50% of Guts' potential damage on the table.
The community is currently debating whether Guts is better than the "Flame Alchemist" or "Strongest Sorcerer" units. Honestly? It depends on the map. On maps with tight corridors, Guts wins every time. His AOE is just too consistent. On wide-open maps, he might struggle to catch every enemy, but his raw boss-killing potential remains top-tier.
The Berserker Meta Shift
Something shifted in the last few patches of Anime Last Stand. The developers started favoring units that have "multi-hit" properties. Guts fits this perfectly. Instead of one big hit that might over-kill a small mob and waste damage, his animations are structured to hit multiple times throughout the swing. This makes him incredibly efficient at clearing "shielded" enemies that require a certain number of hits to break down.
A lot of people ask about his Evolution. To get the most out of Guts, you need to evolve him. The base version is "okay," but the evolved version—often requiring specific items like the "Behelit" or specialized shards—is where he becomes a literal god. The stat jump isn't just a 10% increase; it's a fundamental rework of his scaling.
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You should also look at the Techniques you roll for him. If you get "Overlord" or "Gladiator" on Guts, you've basically won the game. "Overlord" increases his range and damage to a point where he can solo most of the intermediate maps. If you're low on shards, even a "Sturdy" or "Fast" technique will help bridge the gap until you can roll for the legendary ones.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Don't over-rely on him for air defense early on. While he is a hybrid, his air range is much smaller than his ground range in his early levels. If a fast-moving air unit flys by, Guts might miss the swing. Always have a dedicated sniper or a cheap air-targeting unit to catch the stragglers.
Also, stop putting him at the very beginning of the map. It’s tempting to want him to start killing right away, but you want your "bleed" units to hit enemies after they've been softened up or slowed down. Put him in the middle of your defense. Let your other units strip the shields, then let Guts finish them off with his massive AOE.
Final Tactics for Success
To really push your rank in the leaderboards with Guts, you need to master the "Sell and Replace" tactic for late-game waves. Once Guts has cleared the enemies in his range, if the wave is almost over and the remaining enemies are past him, don't be afraid to sell him and move him further down the track. It sounds crazy because you lose money, but in Wave 50+ of an Infinite run, that extra few million damage at the end of the track is the only thing that matters.
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- Priority One: Get him to the Berserker Armor upgrade as fast as possible.
- Priority Two: Ensure he is within the range of a 2x Damage buff.
- Priority Three: Watch his targeting. Sometimes setting him to "Strong" instead of "First" ensures he's chunking down the bosses while your cheaper units handle the trash mobs.
Guts remains one of the most satisfying units to use in Anime Last Stand. There's something inherently rewarding about watching a massive sword clear thirty enemies at once. Keep an eye on the update logs, as the developers often tweak the damage multipliers for Bleed effects, which directly impacts how viable he is in the Ultra-Nightmare stages.
To maximize your efficiency, start farming the necessary evolution materials in the Story Mode "Eclipse" stages. You'll need a decent stack of them to hit that final form. Once you have the evolved Black Swordsman, the game's difficulty curve flattens out significantly, allowing you to focus on the high-level strategy required for the top 100 leaderboard spots. Aim for a balance of speed and power, and don't get distracted by newer, shinier units that lack his consistent AOE output.