this one is quite a lot to ask so forgive me in advance, but could you help me understand the difference between the guard archetypes?
I understand what aoe, arts fighter, ranged and duelist could be useful for, but brawler, crusher, dualstrike, enmity, liberator, reaper and instructor confuse me quite a bit, I can't figure out what their uses would be
First off, better to use the archetype names in-game instead of the fan names Gamepress insists on using for some reason, since Duelists in game are a Defender archetype, while Gamepress uses them to refer to Dreadnoughts. This will help you get less confused once you start playing the other game modes with interactions for specific archetypes.
Now I will explain each in the order that you gave (but with the correct in-game names for "Brawler", "Dualstrike", and "Enmity")
Fighter - Block-1, low damage, punch very fast. These guys are usually relegated to being pseudo-vanguards cleaning up trash enemies whenever vanguards are banned, because their DP cost is the smallest, though the 6 stars have more than a few extra features. Mountain especially, is an AFK laneholding god since he can become Block-2 and gains incredibly high HP regen.
Crusher - I'm going to be real with you, these guys were a mistake. The highest Max HP and ATK stats in the game don't make up for a very slow ATK interval and 0 DEF. They can act as meatshields for your other operators vs Arts and True damage because their max HP is so high, but otherwise don't bother with them. Unless you love them (like I do) then you can max them out, use them in battle, win anyway, and feel like a big brain.
Swordmaster - Swordmasters are funny because their trait isn't a real part of their identity whatsoever. They have low ATK compared to other guards, but hit twice per attack. This doesn't actually matter (because even with skills that charge per attack, they only charge 1 SP with both strikes). What they ARE known for, is being the technical Guard class with a wide variety of powerful nuking skills and weird talents while also tending to have anti-air capabilities. Each Swordmaster is very different in usage. Bibeak has a spammable stun, Tachanka uses a gun instead of a sword to hit from long range with a normal attack, Cutter is a cheap 4 star who either throws throwing knives or does an AOE slice around her (both skills can hit flying units), etc. They shine best in alternate game modes like IS where they tend to have hilarious interactions with the powerups there, but are able to hold their own in the normal game mode.
Musha - Musha can't be healed (not exactly true but this is for another time), but heal themselves with every attack and rely on their huge Max HP, big ATK stats, and talents that increase their ASPD the lower their health is to survive. Since they can't be healed anyway, there's no point keeping them near your team, so Musha are usually used to "plug" lanes by putting them right in front of the enemy gates and made to fend for themselves. Since they're only Block-1 they won't deal with hordes of trash so well, but if you learn which red gate is spawning the dangerous enemies that don't come in groups, a Musha strong enough to win a 1v1 with them can free up a whole defensive formation by themselves. Alternatively, their big stats and increasing ASPD also make them good drop-in assassins, especially Utage, whose S2 makes her start any deployment at half HP but in turn deals arts damage on attacks.
Liberator - They don't attack, have terrible ATK stats, and are block 0, but in exchange they slowly charge up their ATK stat for every second they aren't using a skill until they get +200% ATK after 40 seconds. When they DO use their skill and finally attack, they deal monstrous AOE damage and gain a wider range than most other Guards. Mlynar is a Liberator who is infamously regarded as one of (if not the) strongest operators in the game, thanks to his S3 having huge range and even more gigantic damage that instantly crumples anything lower than 3000 DEF. Not attacking, not blocking, and waiting to fully charge their ATK may seem inconvenient, but the extreme damage they deal can hard carry a squad through even very difficult stages.
Reaper - Reapers have a unique horizontal attack range that lets them do a sweeping AOE attack. They can't be healed like Mushas but don't have the giant stat heft that Mushas do, but they do have Block-2 and heal for every 2 units they hit (though they can hit way more than 2 enemies with their attack). They are tailor made for dealing with hordes meant to overwhelm you with sheer numbers, but thanks to their horizontal attack range I've found you can also put them into a melee tile out of the way of enemy paths. This can perfectly align enemy pathing with their horizontal attack range to get free damage on whole groups of enemies at once. You can also defend a big lane made up of two lanes by putting two Reapers side by side so their attacks overlap, which deals with most hordes well enough.
Instructor - Instructors have long-ranged attacks with their whips which lets them hide behind other, stronger units, but their real purpose is usually to provide said stronger units with support buffs, their own attacks only meant to be supplementary damage. I say usually, because the strongest Instructor, Pallas, is used as a primary DPS in alternate game modes like IS instead of being a buffer. This archetype is rather unpopular because most people would rather put a second DPS instead of a support, but they do have their uses now and then in funny meme strats involving gigabuffing one unit.
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