Titanfall Guardian Chip - Is it any good?

Posted in titanfall

The Guardian Chip is a high level unlock, part of the Tier 2 Kit for pilots. As it's one of the last level unlocks in Titanfall you'd expect that the Guardian Chip would be one of the best unlocks in the game. Having already unlocked the item I wanted to let you know how good it really is.

First, the basics about auto titans which newcomers might not be aware of.

Auto Titans are Titans which are controlled by the computer AI rather than a human pilot. New players usually experience Auto Titans by mistake, usually because they're killed before boarding their Titan. There's a small time limit (10 seconds) that Titans will wait for you before they go into auto mode.

Once in auto mode, Titans are supposed to scout the map killing enemy pilots and other Titans for you automatically. For the standard Auto Titan this principle is usually not very impressive and the auto Titan soon becomes cannon fodder and easy pickings for the enemy.

So with all that in mind, the Guardian Chip is supposed to transform those standard auto Titans into a more intelligent version. Does that really work? Well, at such a high level unlock I was expecting much more from the Tier 2 Kit. Although the Titan does appear to be better at picking off pilots it's still pretty pathetic against other Titans because of it's cumbersome movement and limited use of dashes.



Follow mode is slightly more impressive and gives you the chance to continue your killing spree while the auto Titan provides bonus kills. With the Guardian Chip I found that the auto Titan does provide a sufficient amount of pilots kills to make it worth while, but when faced against other Titans it's soon destroyed.

What does the Guardian Chip improve

From my experience I found that an auto Titan with the Guardian Chip was more reliable at getting pilot kills, even at a greater distance. It's fire rate appeared to be faster with the Titan less inclined to stop and wait.

It was also better 1 vs 1 against another auto Titan.

Experienced players will know that auto Titans on Attrition are a waste but on domination game modes such as Hardpoint, they can serve a defensive purpose well. With the Guardian Chip they are effective counterparts to helping you hold Hardpoints and keep enemy pilots at bay.

How to put you Titan in Follow mode

Once your Titan has been called, you have the choice to board the Titan or put it in auto mode. Simply letting the countdown timer expire (shown in the bottom RHS of the screen) your Titan will go into auto mode.



Once in auto mode you can force the Titan to follow you by pressing down on the D-Pad ('V' on keyboard). The Titan will follow you around the map, taking down enemy pilots and hopefully trampling on grunts along the way. It stays close by, making it possible for you to kill enemy pilots attempting a rodeo.

The screenshot below shows the Titan icon thats displayed when the auto Titan is in Follow mode. As you can see the Titan looks like its running:

How to put your Titan in Guard mode

The Follow and Guard modes are mutually exclusive, the Titan can only be in one of these modes at a time. So pressing down on the D-Pad again ('V' on keyboard) will switch your Titan to Guard mode. You'll hear an audio confirmation when changing modes.

The icon changes to a Titan standing still:



In Guard mode the Titan doesn't move, instead it just aims at targets within range. Because it doesn't move much it makes the perfect target for enemy Titans and a very unwise choice for you.

Titan Icons and Explanations

Titan building


Titan deployed and in Dome Shield. Countdown timer until Titan goes into auto mode.


Auto Titan in Follow mode


Auto Titan in Guard mode


Titan with half shield remaining.


Doomed Titan

Downsides of the Guardian Chip and Auto Titans

• An auto Titan with Nuclear Ejection doesn't detonate causing NO nuclear explosion
• Auto Titans in guard mode are easy targets for the enemy
• Auto Titans generally don't use Electric Smoke but they do use Vortex Shield
• Even with the Guardian Chip, auto Titans are ineffective against human controlled enemy Titans
• The Guardian Chip is unlocked close to the 2nd Generation meaning most players will skip its use