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And, like most classic JRPGs, there are ultimate weapons to be found/made that require an absurd amount of time invested. Now, the weapons, accessories, and armor in Yakuza: Like A Dragon might seem overwhelming, but there are really only a few “best” options for each category, at the end of the day. So, for players trying to get through either variation of the Millenium Tower, here’s how to get to go about getting the best gear.

Updated December 2, 2022 by Jacob Buchalter: With a total remake for Yakuza: Like A Dragon now confirmed as a possibility, it seemed like an apt time to look back and talk about this game again. Like A Dragon tries so many new things for the Yakuza franchise, and while not all of these new things were positively received by the dedicated fanbase, just about everyone admits that this game is ambitious and charming. Kasuga is such a new spin on a Yakuza protagonist, coming across as an anime protagonist in real life, and his half-real half-imagined adventure collecting pseudo-Dragon Quest gear and weapons is quite the story. But, which out of all the possible options is the best for Kasuga or anyone else on his squad? Well, let’s take a look.

Hold On To Everything

First and foremost, don’t sell any materials, weapons, or items if possible. Most of the time, the yen Ichiban makes from selling something is laughably small, so there’s no real incentive for doing this anyway. Just hoard everything, as most people tend to do in JRPGs anyway. The best stuff in Yakuza: Like A Dragon, is either stuff that is crafted or upgraded, and both of these methods require quite a bit of random materials that are a pain to go looking for.

Make Ichiban Confections The Best In The World

This could not be more important. Not only is this tip crucial for someone trying to get the best gear, but it’s just a good piece of advice for anyone playing Yakuza: Like A Dragon, in general. In just about every single Yakuza title, there’s a series of substories where the protag ends up managing a type of business. Kiryu usually does real estate, the “Mad Dog of Shimano” Majima had his own Hostess bar, and now Ichiban has his confectionary shop.

In Like A Dragon, getting all the way through the Ichiban Confections substory unlocks a method of generating around 3 million yen for about five minutes of time. There is quite literally no better method of generating money in the game. Honestly, people still haven’t found the 100% most efficient path for this management mini-game either.

Fully Invest In The Romance Workshop

The Romance Workshop, run by Sumire Sawa, is a location that players will unlock relatively early on. And, it’ll serve as the crafting hub for weapons and gear for the entirety of the game. In it, players can upgrade their weapons, craft new armor, craft accessories, buy new weapons/armor, and even chat up Sumire to lead to substories and even a romance option.

In Yakuza: Like a Dragon, upgrades work like this:

Ichiban starts with any weapon, then upgrades it to +1, then +2, and the third upgrade “changes” the weapon’s name, appearance, and default stats to another weapon of that type, one tier up. He can then upgrade that weapon a total of two times while keeping its appearance and overall stats. On the third upgrade, players should see before confirming the upgrade that doing so will “advance” the weapon to the next weapon in that weapon tier. For example, the Self-Proclaimed Hero’s Bat actually becomes the Hero’s Bat, then the Heroic Soul Bat, and so on. Once the player reaches the top Weapon Form in that upgrade path, such as the Legendary Hero’s Bat for Ichiban, instead of going to +3, it’ll upgrade to EX instead. After that, each additional EX upgrade will require a massive amount of both yen and materials, and instead of stopping at +3, It goes from EX to EX+1 and so on before eventually capping off at EX EX (which is EX+9).

But, to keep this upgrade chain going, Ichiban will need to invest in Sumire’s shop so that she can buy new tools and equipment. So, if there’s ever a point where the next upgrade doesn’t appear, that’s when the player knows it’s time to upgrade. Still, It takes quite a bit of money to do this, about 22,200,000 yen from Level 1 to 4, so fully upgrading the Workshop is usually a late-stage goal.

Figure Out What Each Job’s “Foundation” Weapon Is

Eventually, every weapon upgrade hits a wall. At this point, the final upgrade for it will be an “EX” upgrade, rather than a +1 or +2. But, certain weapons (one for all 21 Jobs in the game) can be upgraded all the way to EX+9 but, again, keep in mind the monetary investment to get there is unbelievable and the base game should be easily completable without even getting into the EX upgrades.

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Therefore, save Ichiban some time, and a ton of money, by either researching or figuring out which weapon for each job is the “foundation” for the eventual EX+9 variant. Luckily, there are plenty of other weapons in the game to hold whichever cast member over until their “ultimate” version can be built. While this may seem like it’ll ruin the fun of all the different weapons by restricting the player to only caring about one for each Job, this isn’t necessarily true thanks to the modern design sensibilities of Like a Dragon. The player will absolutely not be able to afford all the upgrades on their Job’s core weapon from EX to EX EX all at once. So, between each upgrade, they can invest in and mess around with all the other weapons that are much cheaper to upgrade.

Start That Grind For Materials & Money

Now that all the building blocks are in place, it’s time to start grinding, as this is a traditional mechanic of any real JRPG. Whether this is grinding for the materials to craft the “EX EX” weapons, the money needed to upgrade them, or just grinding for decent armor sets so that the player can then grind for money in a more difficult area. Though, be aware, by far the most optimal place to grind is the Sotenbori Battle Arena, so waiting until that gets unlocked might be a decent idea. After that, a lot of players tend to grind in the Millenium Tower, but because this area is much more difficult, especially considering the battle with Amon, it’s not as reliable as the Battle Arena.

This, along with the randomized sewer dungeons, are the main methods of consistently getting high-quality materials such as Golden Bugs in Like A Dragon.

Got All The Materials? It’s Time To Craft

Let’s hypothetically say that the player got to the Battle Arena and farmed everything they needed. They got all the Golden Bugs, Cough Drop Tins, Raw Ore, and more that they’ll have Sumire smush together to somehow upgrade their metal bat. So, what now? Well, it’s time to go back to the Romance Workshop and go about the repetitive process of upgrading them, one by one.

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Just remember, for the late upgrades, it’ll cost upwards of 15,000,000 yen for each rank-up, with the amount increasing with every level. This means it might be less frustrating to just do the math beforehand and walk into the Workshop overflowing with money, which again, should be easy to do by going along the Ichiban Confections route.

There Are Other Options For Non-Completionists

This is all good and nice to know, but what about the players that don’t want to spend all their time grinding in Like A Dragon for absurdly overpowered weapons? Well, for one, there are some other games they can try out as well. But, it can’t be overstated that going along this path of massive money investment and weapon upgrades is only for those who like to complete absolutely everything in a game and get their characters to the absolute peak of their possible power. For everyone else who just likes to play a game, experience the story, and do as much side content as they feel like, there’s no need to commit to any of these methods. Though, who knows if that’ll be true in Yakuza: Like A Dragon 8 given how big it’s speculated to be.

Honestly, these EX weapons are massively overpowered and are kind of just overkill in all combat situations. So, for those who want the “best gear” but don’t want to burn themselves out grinding, the higher floors of the Battle Arena or certain expensive shops like Le Marche are the best bet. This is where players can get gear like the Dragon Soul Bat, the Staff of the Five Wisdoms, and more that they can upgrade a few times and not worry about.

What About Crafted Armor?

With all that said, what about armor? This whole conversation seems to be entirely focused on the weapons and not the armor in Like a Dragon. Why is that? Well, there are two big reasons for that. One, armor in Like a Dragon isn’t “upgraded,” meaning players can’t keep improving their favorite armor piece to keep it relevant.

Two, armor doesn’t make nearly the same difference in combat that weapons do. They’re important, sure, but it’s more about the Job itself and the role they fill in the party than the armor they wear. So if the goal is the “absolute pinnacle” of armor in the game, then it would have to be the Quixotic-class gear Ichiban can craft at the Romance Workshop once it’s at max rank. There are light and heavy versions of the Quixotic armor for the head, body, and feet, with the major difference between them being the elemental or physical resistance they give. Otherwise, most of the armor players can earn from the Battle Arena will easily carry them into the finale and post-game content.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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