I ask this because as far as what's been said and shown, passive abilities that were once attached to artifacts will be integrated into the game permanently for Destiny 2. For instance, people can sprint and slide as much as they want now in Destiny 2; no more hidden sprint cooldowns. And the ability to see who has their supers ready, which you could use via the Memory of Perun, will now be shown in the new crucible's HUD.
This makes me wonder if they have done the same thing for the Memory of Radegast's perk that allows swords to reflect projectiles and made it a permanent passive ability. If this is the case, I feel that they will tweak the ammo/energy consumption when guarding in order to balance them.
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It could possibly be its own ability. As in, some swords have offensive abilities, like Razelighter's Uppercut, and some might have defensive/support abilities. It's a possibility.