Part of your duty as Captain Shinsengumi in Like a dragon: were! is to lead a team by making the most of their Soldier Abilities while recruiting better soldier cards.
Yakuza series games are quite similar in approach to the battle system, but Like a Dragon: Ishin! stands out from the rest thanks to the Trooper system. By recruiting and managing a team of soldiers, you can become a legendary samurai.
So, to leave your mark on Japanese history and powerfully annihilate your enemies in Like a Dragon: Ishin!, understand what are trooper abilities and trooper cards, how to recruit soldiersAnd which cards are good for each fighting style in the game.
On this page:
What are Trooper abilities and Trooper cards in Like a Dragon Ishin
After Chapter 5 ‘The Iron Code’, you have access to a small troop of soldiers to assist you during the game. In Like a Dragon: Ishin! each soldier is represented by a Trooper cardand by equipping one of them you have access to Soldier Abilities, which are special abilities and skills you can use during a fight.
There are five types of soldier abilities: offensive, defensive, medical, assist, and support. Because of this, you can find Trooper abilities such as a small damage buff for a specific fighting style, a heal over time skill, a powerful ability that causes an explosion around you.
Along with Trooper abilities, you also increase your health and gain access to passive abilities called Body Traits when you equip Trooper cards.
Each Trooper card not only has a different status, but falls into one of five rarity levels. While rarity determines the card’s maximum level – which ranges from 40 to 99 – a Troop card has a specific he alth and charge speed value. These will increase as the map levels up, which can be done by using them in battle. And while determining a card’s power isn’t crucial, they’re also divided into Sword Troopers, Spear Troopers, and Gun Troopers. The effects of some corporal traits are determined by the number of a certain soldier type in the squad.
Once you’ve progressed through the game’s story and become the captain of the third division, you can change your soldiers in the Pause Menu or by talking to the Mission Receptionist, an NPC you can find at is from the barracks. In this menu you can edit your Trooper squad as well as upgrade the cards you already have by merging or promoting them. You can even improve their corporal traits by giving them a specific item they are looking for.
Initially, you can form squads of up to three Troopers, but this number can increase as you progress through the game and acquire new Trooper cards. Each squad is tied to one of the four fighting styles used by Ryoma, so finding a good combination of soldier abilities and corporal abilities can give you the upper hand in many situations.
How to recruit soldiers in Like a Dragon Ishin
As you progress through the story and enemies get stronger, having new and better soldiers becomes a concern for most players. As it concerns finding new Trooper cards with better Trooper abilities willthere are three methods.
The first method of recruiting new soldiers is to defeat random enemies in the streets of Kyo. As you wander through the city, you’ll eventually come face to face with a group of men who will challenge you for many different reasons. When you win the fight, among the defeated NPCs there may be a man wearing a gold, silver, or bronze hood. Realizing how strong you are, they might ask you to join your team. The disadvantage of this method is the fact that it is difficult to find such hooded men to fight.
As for the second method you can use to recruit new Troopers, it is quite similar to the first. Every time you are complete missions in battle dungeons, you have the possibility of receiving a request from one of the enemies you have defeated to join your team. These missions can be accessed by speaking to the Mission Receptionist at the Barracks. Just like the first method, chance is a factor you need to consider. It is possible that you complete a mission and you do not receive any requests.
The third option is more certain that you get a new soldier, but it requires you to spend some of the money you have to recruit them. When talking to the Mission Receptionist, you can select the Enrollment menu. This method is a gacha system in which you choose a level to launch for a unit. Even though you can choose the cheapest tier and drop a rare or epic card, the odds increase when you pay for the more expensive ones. There are four levels with different prices – 5000 min 1 ryo, 5 ryo and 10 ryo – and each is unlocked as you progress through the story.
You can increase the number of soldiers you have by upgrading locations using virtue points in temples. Constantly recruiting new soldiers can be helpful as some of the soldiers you already have may choose to leave if you lose too many battles with them on your team.
Good Trooper cards for every fighting style in Like a Dragon Ishin
Since each card has its own characteristics, certain combinations synergize better than others depending on the combat style they are assigned to. To help you pick the right combinations of Trooper abilities for a particular fighting style, we’ve come up with the following squads:
Brawler style
- Ryudo Rikiya (Legend) – Soldier Ability: Essence of Explosive Impact
- Toyota Inasaku (Common) – Soldier Ability: Street Fighter
- Shinohara Kansaburo (Uncommon) – Soldier Ability: Medical Attention
- Hinada Kin (Rare) – Soldier Ability: Essence of Void
Swordsman
- Ryudo Rikiya (Legend) – Soldier Ability: Essence of Explosive Impact
- Tamura Seizo (Rare) – Soldier Ability: Essence of Lightning Spear
- Tsuruta Shuzo (Rare) Soldier Ability: Emergency Heal
- Hasabe Kanemitsu (Elite) – Soldier Ability: Boiling Point
Shooter
- Ryudo Rikiya (Legend) – Soldier Ability: Essence of Explosive Impact
- Tsuruta Shuzo (Rare) – Soldier Ability: Emergency Heal
- Mizoguchi Mitsumasa (Rare) – Soldier Ability: Faith
- Minami Daigoro (Elite) – Soldier Ability: Firebomb Essence
wild dancer
- Ryudo Rikiya (Legend) – Soldier Ability: Essence of Explosive Impact
- Tsuruta Shuzo (Rare) – Soldier Ability: Emergency Heal
- Ichikawa Hirabei (Uncommon) – Soldier Ability: Mania
- Kawano Kamematsu (Rare) – Soldier Ability: Try and Hit Me
Good luck experimenting with Trooper abilities and different card combinations!