Beast of Reincarnation: Find Mirror Guard Armor in Chapter 5

The Mirror Guard is the strongest chest piece you can wear during Chapter 5 of Beast of Reincarnation, and it is easy to walk past. It sits inside a Strongbox in the deepest part of the Library Hall, tucked away in the Matsukawa Colony interior on the western side of the Matsukawa Zone, guarded by an elite enemy and a pair of ranged Golems.

Quick answer: From the Upper Matsukawa Colony Front campsite, head right across the platforms, climb the overhead pipe to the Library Hall campsite, then grapple and vine across to the far high platform inside the library. Kill the elite enemy and the archer, then open the Strongbox with the code Left, Right, Up, Up, Down.

Mirror Guard location: Library Hall, Matsukawa Colony

Chapter 5 sends you south into the Matsukawa Colony, where an elevator drops you into a huge circular chamber ringed with pipes, platforms, and rooms. The Mirror Guard is not on the main path to the objective. It is in the upper-back section of the library, reachable only after you climb the platforms on the right side of the hall and cross a gap using a vine.

The nearest safe point is the Library Hall campsite, which sits just outside the library door on a pipe landing. Rest there first. The run to the chest involves a grapple, a bridge, and a fight against an elite enemy backed by an archer and a ballista-operating Golem, so you want your Stimpacks topped up before you go in.

Route from the Upper Matsukawa Colony Front campsite

Fast travel to the Upper Matsukawa Colony Front campsite and open your map to confirm your position in the Matsukawa Zone. The Mirror Guard lies to the west, and the objective marker for “Matsukawa colony: Reach the inside” points you in roughly the right direction.

Matsukawa Zone map screen with Emma's current position marker centered before the run to the library — The Matsukawa Zone map, centered on your current position at the Upper Matsukawa Colony Front campsite. Image: Game Freak

Leave the campsite and run to the right, then jump down and across the lower platforms. A few weak enemies patrol this stretch, and none of them need to be cleared to keep moving.

Emma running through a dark industrial section of the colony with the Reach the inside objective active — Running through the dark industrial stretch of the colony while the “Reach the inside” objective is active. Image: Game Freak

Look up for the large overhead pipe and climb onto it. Following the pipe takes you along a narrow route into the interior and lands you at the Library Hall campsite.

Narrow flooded passage leading deeper into the Matsukawa Colony interior — The narrow flooded passage that leads deeper into the colony interior toward the library. Image: Game Freak

Rest at the campsite, then open the door and clear the enemies inside the library. There are plenty of Books to collect on the way, so sweep the shelves as you push toward the deeper part of the hall.

Climb the platforms on the right side of the hall until you can see a separate platform sitting high in the back, to the south-west. Use the vine to swing across, or place a bridge if the grapple point is out of range.

Emma crossing the dark temple-like upper interior of the library toward the high back platform — Crossing the dark, temple-like upper level of the library toward the high back platform. Image: Game Freak

Defeat the elite enemy on the platform along with the archer and the ballista Golem supporting it. The ranged attackers do most of the damage here, so break their line of sight or close on them first.

Head to the very back of the platform. There is a Document to read and the Strongbox holding the Mirror Guard.

Strongbox code and how to confirm the armor is yours

Interact with the Strongbox and enter the directional code below. Each input is a single tap on the D-pad or stick, and the box opens as soon as the last one registers.

<  >  ^  ^  v
Left, Right, Up, Up, Down

The Strongbox screen opens with Mirror Guard listed as its contents, alongside Take and Take All controls. Use either one and the armor drops into your inventory. To finish the job, open the equipment screen and slot it onto Emma, since picking it up does not equip it automatically.

Strongbox loot screen listing Mirror Guard with the Take and Take All prompts — The Strongbox screen listing Mirror Guard, with Take and Take All available. Image: Game Freak

Mirror Guard stats and trade-offs

Stat	Value
Defense	45
Acid Resistance	80
Spirit Stone Slots	4
Enemy Awareness	High

At 45 defense, the Mirror Guard is a big jump over anything else available at this point in the story, and 80 acid resistance blunts one of the nastier status effects you run into. The cost is flexibility. Four Spirit Stone slots is on the low end, and High Enemy Awareness means Golems and Malefacts notice you from farther away, which makes stealth openers and assassinations harder to land.

Mirrors have the power to protect. This one in particular is inlaid in the chest and shields the wearer’s heart.

Why players miss the Mirror Guard chest

Two things account for almost every missed pickup here. The first is stopping at the ground floor of the library, since the objective never asks you to climb, and the chest platform is only visible once you are already up on the right-hand ledges. The second is the gap itself. If the grapple point will not register, place a bridge instead of trying to jump it.

Note: the elite enemy and the archer respawn if you rest at the Library Hall campsite, but the Strongbox does not refill. Once the Mirror Guard is in your inventory, there is no reason to return.

Chapter 5 has a second armor piece worth grabbing while you are in the zone, the Scale Coat, which sits in a Strongbox on the eastern side of the map near the Ruins: Approach campsite. It trades raw defense for poison resistance and an extra Spirit Stone slot, so it is a reasonable swap depending on what the next Nushi throws at you.