Goro Majima has access to two unique fighting styles in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and you can upgrade both of these with several abilities. So, we’ll go over them all and recommend the best Abilities in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.
Best Abilities to Unlock First in Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Here are the best skills you need to invest in early on:
- Knockdown Evasion
- Attack Boost
- Quickstep Strike
- Perfect Guard
- Quickstep Boost
- Essence of the Mad Dog: Blade Flash
Knockdown Evasion lets you recover from very punishing enemy combos. Attack Boost is the best Ability to invest into early as the best defense is a good offense. Quickstep Strike and Perfect Guard let you break enemy combos and Quickstep Boost makes evasion even more consistent. Lastly, Essence of the Mad Dog: Blade Flash is great for brutalizing bosses easily in 1v1 scenarios. Upgrade your Attack Boost first and then invest a bit into Health Boost once it feels cheap and affordable.
All Abilities in Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
There are a total of 87 Abilities in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii with several of them having multiple tiers of upgrades.
Stat Upgrades
You can upgrade your health and attack from the stat upgrades.
- Max Health Boost – 4 tiers
- Max Health Boost Plus – 4 tiers
- Max Health Boost Extreme – 10 tiers
- Attack Boost – 4 tiers
- Attack Boost Plus – 4 tiers
- Attack Boost Extreme – 4 tiers
Shared Abilities
Shared Abilities are skills you can use in both Mad Dog Style and Sea Dog Style.
| Ability Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Knockdown Evasion | Get up quickly by pressing A/X/Space right before getting knocked down. |
| Quickstep Strike | Attack immediately after a quickstep to punish enemies after they attack. |
| Grapple Counter | Counter Full Nelson Holds and Tackles by pressing Grapple when enemies grab you. |
| Perfect Guard | Perfectly time your Guards to create openings. Can block guard-breaking attacks. |
| Quickstep Boost | Gain the ability to Quickstep 3 times in Mad Dog Style and 2 times in Sea Dog Style. |
| Heat Gauge Auto Charge: Desperation | At low health, the Heat Gauge will charge automatically. |
| Ultimate Counter: Desperation | Increases Ultimate Counter damage at low health. |
| Goro Goro Booze Master | You can now brew Alcohol at cooking spots. |
| Increased Recovery at Restaurants | Exactly what it sounds like. |
| No Reservations | Order food from Restaurants even when you’re at full health. |
Mad Dog Abilities
Here are all the abilities you can unlock in Majima’s signature Mad Dog Style.
| Ability Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Mad Dog Trick: Savage | Follow a series of unarmed light attacks with dagger strikes. The more unarmed attacks you do, the more dagger strikes Majima follows up with (up to 4 light attacks). |
| Mad Dog Trick: Serpent | Charge up a powerful uppercut by holding X/Square to send enemies flying. Fully charging lets you dash to the closest enemy. |
| Serpentine Madness | Charges the Madness Gauge when you defeat an enemy mid-air after launching them with Mad Dog Trick: Serpent. |
| Mad Dog Trick: Chomp | Charge up a dash attack by holding Y/Triangle in a straight line that cuts through enemies. Charging increases distance and damage. |
| Chomping Madness | Charges the Madness Gauge when you hit enough enemies with Mad Dog Trick: Chomp. |
| Mad Dog Trick: Frenzy | Hold B/Circle to charge up a spinning knife attack. Charging increases rotation speed and spins. |
| Frenzied Madness | Charges the Madness Gauge when you hit enough enemies with Mad Dog Trick: Frenzy. |
| Ultimate Counter: Wild Blade | Perform an iconic series of stabs as your Ultimate Counter. |
| Mad Dog Trick: Demonfire Rain | Increases the number of daggers you throw mid-air with B/Circle. |
| More Majima | Increases the number of Doppelgangers summoned to 4 with the Mad Dog ultimate. |
| Essence of Howling Shadows | A Heat Action you can use with 4 Doppelgangers. Use your ultimate and then press RB/R1 + Y/Triangle. |
| Essence of Flowing Flight | A Heat Action that uses a Jetpack to blast up to 4 enemies into the water. Press Y/Triangle near a Jetpack. |
| Essence of the Mad Dog: Blade Flash | A Heat Action that brutalizes a single enemy with your dagger. After a quickstep dagger strike, press Y/Triangle. RB/R1+A/Cross followed by Y/Triangle and Y/Triangle. |
| Essence of the Mad Dog: Maul | A legendary Heat Action that cuts through multiple enemies. Press Y/Triangle near 3 or more enemies while at low health. |
| Mad Dog Master: Perfect Quickstep | Temporarily increases your attack speed after performing a perfect Quickstep. |
| Mad Dog Trick: Hannya Dance | Perfect Guard a guard-breaking attack then counterattack. Consumes Heat Gauge but charges Madness Gauge. |
Sea Dog Abilities
The Sea Dog Style has its own unique set of upgrades, Heat Actions, and skills.
| Skill Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Sea Dog Skill: Catch n Slash | Launch into a combo immediately after catching your boomerang Cutlasses. |
| Sea Dog Skill: Cutlass Heave n Ho | Increases attack range of Cutlass Boomerang. |
| Cutlass Madness | Charges Madness Gauge if enough enemies are hit with Cutlass Boomerang. |
| Sea Dog Skill: Charge n Shoot | Adds two additional levels of charge attacks for the pistol. |
| Pistol Madness | Charges the Madness Gauge when you hit enough enemies with the third-level pistol shot. |
| Sea Dog Skill: Chain Readiness | Reduces the time it takes to fire the Chain Hook. |
| Sea Dog Skill: Chain Reaction | Lets you slip behind a chained enemy or strike them with the cutlass. Press B/Circle to slip behind them or Y/Triangle to slice through them after a Hook Shot. |
| Chained Madness | Charges Madness Gauge if enough enemies are hit with the cutlass strike or if you take away a shield with Sea Dog Skill: Chain Reaction. |
| Ultimate Counter: Hook n Shoot | Perform an Ultimate Counter followed up by a Chain Hook and Pistol combo. |
| Essence of Piracy: Sidearm Shuffle | A Heat Action that uses all of your sidearms against a single enemy. Hook an enemy and press Y/Triangle. |
| Essence of Piracy: Rain of Blood | Fire a wild barrage of shots at five enemies. Perform a fully charged pistol shot and then press Y/Triangle near 5 enemies. |
| Essence of Piracy: Skip Rope Slash | A Heat Action that uses the Chain Hook and Cutlass on 3 enemies. Press Y/Triangle near a downed enemy with 2 more nearby. |
| Essence of Piracy: Deadly Skies | A Heat Action that has you swing from the Stern to Prow and shoot between 4 to 10 enemies. Press Y/Triangle while in a fighting stance near the ship’s wheel. |
| Sea Dog Skill: Triple Finisher | After performing a double finisher, unleash a sidearm attack. |
| Sea Dog Supremacy: Perfect Guard | After performing a Perfect Guard, increases your attack damage temporarily. |
| Sea Dog Skill: Snakebite | Perfect Guard a guard-breaking attack then counterattack. Consumes Heat Gauge but charges Madness Gauge. |
Those are all the abilities and the best ones to get first in Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. While you’re here, check out our list of all rings and the best ones to get, and all Pets and rewards.
Updated: Feb 19, 2025 04:58 am