Elder Guardians behave differently from other underwater mobs in Minecraft. They do not swim around as much as normal guardians and do not swim away when approached by a player it is targeting, unlike regular guardians. Like normal guardians, elder guardians attempt to attack both the player and the squid.
The elder guardian’s eye follows and stares at any nearby players, and always looks directly at its target. The eye still follows a player under the effects of Invisibility or in Spectator mode, but doesn’t attack.
Elder guardians are considered aquatic mobs and thus are affected by the Impaling enchantment. The elder guardian has three methods of attacking, including firing its laser, inflicting Mining Fatigue, and a defensive thorn-like attack.
Laser
The elder guardian’s laser takes several seconds to charge, doing no damage and allowing the player to move away in the meantime. As it charges, it turns from purple to bright yellow, thus acting as a warning indicator. Once charged, the beam flashes green, abruptly ends, and deals 12 hearts times 6 damage on hard difficulty. The elder guardian swims around for a few seconds before firing again. The beam cannot be dodged and has a maximum range of approximately 14 blocks. Once the player is out of range, or if the beam is obstructed by solid blocks, the guardian’s beam disengages from the player and deals no damage.
Inflicting Mining Fatigue
In Java Edition, immediately after spawning and once each minute thereafter, the elder guardian searches for any player within a spherical radius of 50 blocks to afflict with Mining Fatigue III. In Bedrock Edition, the elder guardian inflicts any unafflicted player within range immediately.
When afflicted, the player sees a ghostly image of the elder guardian and hears a ghostly noise. The effect decreases a player’s attack speed by 30% and decreases mining speed even more for 5 minutes. The attack targets players through blocks, even underground, and a potion of Invisibility offers no defense. This is not considered an attack in regards to the Thorn’s enchantment.
Spikes Defense
An elder guardian deals 2 hearts (3 hearts on hard mode) of damage every time it is hit while its spikes are extended, similar to the Thorns enchantment on the armor. If cornered by a player or axolotl, the elder guardian usually extends its spikes and fires at point-blank range.
