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Stamina in The Relic: First Guardian behaves differently from many games in the soulslike space, and it is one of the combat system's signature ideas. The short version: stamina is for staying alive, not for attacking.

Attacks Cost No Stamina

Attacks are relinquished from any form of depletion. Swinging a weapon does not drain stamina, so a player can keep pressing an offensive without the meter emptying mid-combo. This removes the usual penalty for aggression and is central to the game's goal of unrestricted, flowing combat.

Stamina Is Reserved for Defence and Dodging

Instead of fuelling offence, stamina is reserved for defence and dodging. Blocking and evading draw from the stamina pool, so survival becomes the place where resource management matters. The intensity of an encounter comes from deciding when to spend stamina on a dodge or a block, rather than from rationing how often you can attack.

Why It Matters

This split keeps offence and defence on separate budgets. Because skills also run on cooldowns rather than a resource pool, the only thing the stamina bar gates is the player's ability to defend. The developers present this as a way to let each player set their own rhythm: lean fully into attacking when the moment allows, and hold stamina in reserve for the dodges and blocks that keep the Guardian alive.