Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1957688-20130205221442/@comment-5385039-20130227010315

The first encounters of the guardian ghosts (where you meet them 5, 10 levels before their actual level) are probably scripted. I'm not sure, but I think it was, as one of them reduced my attack into the negatives but I still one.

When you actually reach their level, you do have to indeed beat their defense to negotiate. If you can't, you'll be stuck at that guardian until you can.