Summary
There are a lot of skills to purchase inLike a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii.Some skills apply to Majima’s core stats, others apply to the two specific combat stances. Shared abilities are another category of skill that can be used across both combat styles, and the category also includes some skills that apply to out-of-combat healing and cooking.
Not all skills are equal, and with so much to spend money on in the game, players should invest wisely. All these skills are useful in some way, but some skills stand out above the rest as the ones that players should get first.
10Heat Gauge Auto-Charge: Desperation
Heat Gauge Charge At Low Health
This is probably the least useful skill in the shared skills category. Heat Gauge Auto-Charge: Desperation causes the heat gauge to rise automatically when the player is on low life. It only activates when health is low enough to flash red, and the heat gauge gain is slow, so not only does it not often activate, it barely does anything when it does activate. There’s always that one time across a playthrough where it’ll get players the last bit of heat needed for a clutch finishing move, though.
9No Reservations
All You Can Eat
No Reservation is a skill that only 100% completionists are really going to get the full use out of. This skill lets Majima eat at restaurants when he’s already at full life. This can be used in two ways: to gain buffs from menu combos, and to help complete restaurant menus for challenges.
This will save considerable time in completing menus, as players don’t have to lose health to continue eating. It’s not much use beyond that, though, when players can get buffs from their own cooking and items.
8Knockdown Evasion
Get Back On Your Feet
Knockdown Evasion might be the cheapest and most basic skill on the shared abilities list, butplayers shouldn’t skip this early on in the game. The mere $50 to unlock this skill is well worth it, as it lets players get up quickly when knocked down, avoiding taking more damage while on the floor.
Executing the quick recovery requires pressing the dodge button when hitting the ground after being knocked down, so the timing can take some getting used to.
7Quickstep Strike
Evasive Counter
Quickstep Strike isn’t a strong move by itself, but it will help players to flow back into their combos after dodging an enemy more easily. This skill lets players attack out of a quickstep with a heavy or light attack, which often allows players to hit opponents while their guard is down and transition into a regular light or heavy attack combo.
This works well with the later skill quickstep boost, as multiple quicksteps can allow players to quickly move behind an opponent and then transition into an attack move.
6Grapple Counter
Break Enemy Grabs
Getting grappled inLike a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaiiis one of the most frustrating things that can happen in combat. It breaks players' attack flow and leaves them highly vulnerable to hits.
Players can guarantee that most tough enemies in the game will bring their minions, who just love tograb Majimaat the worst moments. This skill lets players break grabs more easily by pressing any attack button, so it’s a borderline essential shared ability that all players should pick up.
5Boost Recovery Amount At Restaurants
Better Health & Heat Recovery From Eating
There are restaurants dottedall over Honolulu, and eating to restore health and heat can be a relatively cheap and effective way to heal up between fights. This group of skills increases the amount of health recovered from restaurant food by 10% per level, up to 30%.
It’s not necessarily a skill that players need to rush for, but it does make a big difference to healing efficiency over a full playthrough.
4Goro Goro Booze Master
Brew Your Own Beer
Who doesn’t want to brew their own beer? Players might not see the value in this skill initially, as it simply states that it unlocks the ability to craft beer at cooking stations. The beers that can be created with Goro Goro Booze Master can offer somepowerful buffsonce players get better at crafting, though.
The quality of the brew determines the strength of the buffs it will give, and these can range from increasing attack power to filling the heat gauge and more. It’s a cheap and easily available skill that provides good value throughout the game, and the bespoke beer is also needed for somerecruitment side quests.
3Quickstep Boost
Dodge More Times In A Row
Being able to dodge more often is a powerful buff inLike a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Aslarge-scale fightscan include a lot of opponents, being able to reposition is more vital than ever. Quickstep Boost lets players dodge twice in a row when in Sea Dog stance, and three times in a row in the more mobile Mad Dog stance.
This gives players a lot more room to maneuver in combat and further differentiates the two fighting styles. It’s a fairly costly skill, and only available at pirate rank 3, but it’s well worth pursuing for players who want to master the brawling combat.
2Ultimate Counter: Desperation
Low Health Counter Damage Boost
This skill is the definition of high-risk, high-reward. Ultimate Counter: Desperation increases the damage of Ultimate Counter follow-up attacks when health is low enough to flash red. As players have to dodge straight into the enemy’s toughest attacks to counter them, this comes with a high element of danger.
Yet, Ultimate Counters already do a lot of damage, so the boost is devastating - and it also applies to the additional follow-up attack that can be purchased in theSea Dog skill tree.
1Perfect Guard
Timed Guard To Break Enemy Combos
Perfect Guard is a shared skill that every player should make a priority purchase. This skill makes well-timed guards stagger opponents, allowing the player to counter-attack. Once players reach pirate rank 2, they’ll need toaccrue 5000 reputation and $3000to unlock this skill, but it’s a necessary investment.
This helps players stay on the offensive in fights against multiple or single opponents, rather than having to weather long combos of blows with guards and dodging.
