Weird to mention a Lv50 Ability in the beginner's guide, but this is worth a write up. Unlike other Types where their high level abilities are a simple beneficial buff that doesn't really change your playstyle all that much, Ignited Arts is instead the absolute endgame for Vanguards that fundamentally changes how they work.
Ignited Arts costs 7 slots, and increases the level limit of all player Photon Arts from 20 to 25 (with the exception of Zalure, Jellen, Shifta, Deband, Anti and Resta). This may sound like a massive cost for something that seems insignificant, so let's go through what exactly it covers.
First, 5 more levels constitutes around a 5% increment to all Photon Arts damage. This is a decently sizable boost for Skills and Technics, although not so much Bullets.
Second, going from Lv20 to Lv25 moves the PAs up a tier, which gives them additional properties.
For Technics, this means an expansion in size, range, and even hit count in some cases. The most notable of which being [[Foverse]], which upgrades from 2 hits to 3 hits, with a much longer duration, upgrading it from a good chaining tool to one of the best chaining tools in the game.
For Skills, getting a skill to above Lv25 usually reduces some of their stages' PP use by 10. Some Skills, such as [[Assault Crush]], has both Stage 1 and Stage 2 reduced by 10 PP, which reduces its total PP use by 20. This is a huge help to PP economy, and improves the viability of high PP weapons, which are very common at high levels.
The most important part of obtaining Lv25 bullets, meanwhile, is an additional bullet to [[Cards]] and [[Shotguns]], which becomes a 50% damage bonus to Cards, and a 25% damage bonus for Shotguns. Shotguns are already one of Vanguard's most powerful chain break tools even at Lv20, and is absolutely nuts at Lv25.
'''When put together, an Ignited Arts Vanguard is someone with the potential damage of Hunters and Rangers, while retaining all of the best chaining tools of Forces.'''
However, Ignited Arts costs an insane SEVEN slots, which can be a huge issue for some cases.
The player has a maximum of 12 slots. 7 is allocated for Ignited Arts, and 1 is for Full Charge Shot (if you are using Shotgun), and there's only 4 slots left, which isn't enough room to fit all of the great abilities, such as PP Skill Save (2 slots), PP Tech Save (2 slots), Half Defense (3 slots), Damage Convert PP (2 slots), various technic hi-speeds (1 slots each). Most notably, Deumans' viability with Ignited Arts is severely hindered, as they really want both PP reduction abilities and defensive abilities, which they can't fit with Ignited Arts.
[[File:Sample Vanguard Palette.png|thumb|200x200px]]
Sample Palette on the right:
* Twin Claws ({{Triangle}} Sougacho Sekka)* Crossbow ({{Square}} Yak Longa {{Triangle}} Charge Shot I) + Wand ({{Square}} Foverse, {{Triangle}} Zalure)* Shotgun ({{Square}} Baraga Maga {{Triangle}} Charge Shot II)* Twin Handguns ({{Square}} Attack {{Triangle}} Charge Shot I)* Machine Gun ({{Square}} Meseta Fever {{Triangle}} Charge Shot I) + Wand ({{Square}} Sazonde, {{Triangle}} Zalure)* Rod ({{Square}} Anti, {{Triangle}} Resta, R+{{Square}} Shifta, R+{{Triangle}} Deband)Foverse combos right into either the melee weapon, Shotgun for single target break, or crossbow for mob control. Twin handguns is used while approaching, for FPS sniping, and, if you are using the [[T. Heaven Punishers]] (I can assume you have that by now, right?), deals with multi target enemies and grouped mobs from a distance. It also plays well with Sazonde. Meseta Fever once again returns for PP management (feel free to drop that if you are newman).
While Vanguards ultimately still has less damage than the other types, since they miss assets like lv21+ Shifta, Hi-speed charge, Burst Shooter, Attack Booster, and just less room on their ability slots, Vanguards are unique in that they can get the most out of every weapon and almost every technic, at the same time. And traps too!
