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As you embark on Majima’s journey of treasure hunting and self-rediscovery in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii, you’ll be pushed to upgrade your ship to survive the more challenging battles. The Goromaru is in rough shape when she first falls under your command, so the responsibility falls on Majima, as the captain, to upgrade the vessel.
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Adding naval combat into Like a Dragon is a bold move that pays off incredibly well.
Several parts of the Goromaru are crying out for proper maintenance and improvement from the hull to your weapons, but these cost plenty of money and materials to unlock. Luckily, materials are earned at a frequent rate by simply sailing the proper channels on the open seas, and farming money is best tackled at the Pirates’ Coliseum.
How To Unlock All Goromaru Weapons
To unlock every weapon for the Goromaru in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii, you’ll need to do three things:
- Farm Money
- Farm Materials
- Visit Julie
Luckily, you meet Julie very early on in the story, and she has two convenient locations in Honolulu for you to visit. Furthermore, money is easy to earn if you take advantage of the Pirates’ Coliseum and rise the ranks.
The biggest challenge will be amassing enough raw materials to trade with Julie so she can build you new cannons.
Remember to equip the Mysterious Net and claim your rewards from them often. This will allow you to earn additional uncommon rewards, like Ethereal Egesta, and Sharkstones – necessary components for crafting.
Merchant ships are also possible sources of these rare materials.
Purchasable Weapons
The following weapons can be purchased directly from the Change Equipment screen while at a lighthouse or harbor.
To change your weapons, go to the Change Equipment tab while docked, at a lighthouse, or via the Pirates’ Coliseum menu.
From here, click on each weapon to select it and equip it in the appropriate slots. Remember that you must buy and equip Port and Starboard cannons separately.
|
Weapon Name |
Cannon Power / Firepower |
Ammo (if applicable) |
|---|---|---|
|
Cannon |
200 |
N/A |
|
Bronze Cannon |
250 |
|
|
Silver Cannon |
300 |
|
|
Gold Cannon |
400 |
|
|
Flamethrower |
800 |
|
|
Silver Flamethrower |
1,050 |
|
|
Gold Flamethrower |
1,400 |
|
|
Energy Cannon |
1,400 |
|
|
Flame Cannon |
325 |
|
|
Beginner Gatling Gun |
200 |
|
|
Bronze Gatling Gun |
250 |
|
|
Silver Gatling Gun |
300 |
|
|
Gold Gatling Gun |
400 |
|
|
Frost Machine Gun |
300 |
|
|
Super Frost Machine Gun |
400 |
|
|
Captain’s Rocket Launcher |
55 |
10 |
|
Silver Captain’s Rocket Launcher |
60 |
30 |
|
Gold Captain’s Rocket Launcher |
70 |
50 |
|
Captains Meteor Launcher |
350 |
10 |
|
Captain’s Toxic Launcher |
55 |
60 |
In terms of bang for your buck, the best thing to do is to buy an Energy Cannon as soon as possible. Despite their relatively short range, these weapons will inflict massive damage, and help you shred through the early competition.
Next, you should immediately max out either your Gatling Gun or Frost Machine Gun. Both of these weapons are excellent choices and come with the bonus of either setting opposing ships on fire (Gatling) or freezing enemy ships (Frost MG).
Flamethrowers are decent options as well, but they aren’t really better than Energy Cannons, and will eventually be replaced anyway.
The Rocket Launchers are nice to have, especially in the later fights where you’ll be putting out fires or dealing with other issues on deck.
However, it’s entirely possible and likely that you can beat every naval battle in the game without really using your rocket launcher. Leave these for last on your completion list, as there are better ways to spend Majima’s hard-earned money.
Julie’s Gearworks-Exclusives
The following weapons must be unlocked at Julie’s Gearworks before they can be equipped with the Goromaru or Majima.
These special weapons become available once you advance the story and receive Julie’s offer to make cannons for the Goromaru.
|
Weapon Name |
Cannon Power/Firepower |
Ammo / Reload Time |
Materials Needed |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Shark Cannon |
200 |
Seven |
|
|
Super Shark Cannon |
300 |
Seven |
|
|
Egesta Cannon |
250 |
11 |
|
|
Super Egestaa Cannon |
350 |
11 |
|
|
Coconut Machine Gun |
350 |
Five |
|
|
Super Coconut Machine Gun |
450 |
Five |
|
|
Laser Cannon |
1,500 |
13 |
|
|
Super Laser Cannon |
2,000 |
13 |
|
|
Captain’s Squid Launcher |
40 |
80 |
|
The only weapons you’ll definitely need to have from Julie’s Gearworks are the Laser Cannon and, eventually, the Super Laser Cannon, as these weapons will help you secure victories in the toughest naval battles in the game.
Since most of the other cannons pale in comparison to the raw damage you get from the Laser Cannons, you can skip out on them and go straight for the strongest.
The other cannons are still good in certain scenarios, as they can inflict additional effects, like poisoning your foes (Egesta Cannons), which is helpful if you enjoy that playstyle.
The Coconut MGs and Squid Launcher are also nice to have, but far from required in any of the fights throughout the game.
What Are The Best Ship Upgrades To Buy First?
Ideally, you will want to max out most if not all of your Goromaru Ship Upgrade categories, but there are a few that earn priority over others.
If you want to efficiently level up the Goromaru, you should purchase upgrades in this order.
- Port & Starboard Cannons
- Durability Boosts
- Boarding Squad Increases
- Further Durability Boosts
- Additional Repairs
- Fuel Tank Increases
- Finish Durability Boosts
- Additional Smokescreens
Cannons are the keys to finishing fights quickly, and this is the best strategy for most of the ship battles in the game. Speed is usually the best path to victory, as it leaves fewer possibilities to be overwhelmed and defeated by the weaker ships flanking bosses.
Generally, the Hull Durability Boosts are going to be too expensive to level up all at once, so you should invest in them at a few points throughout your playthrough, keeping cash on hand to fund these increases according to the difficulty of the fight you encounter.
The difficulty spike in the Tournament of Champions is one occasion you’ll want to save some cash for, so you don’t get stuck.
Additional Repairs and Fuel Tank Increases are interchangeable, though it’s usually best to secure your survival by increasing health, rather than relying on excellent timing using your Fuel Tank to escape tight situations.
Additional Smokescreens are also entirely optional, as it’s possible to beat all naval fights without these, but you might get out of some sticky situations with them. Still, it’s unlikely you’ll ever need more than one smokescreen unless something goes seriously wrong.
Focus on a strong offense and gradually build your defenses to guarantee success with the Goromaru’s best upgrades.
Next
Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii Review – Goro-nies Never Say Die
We see Majima at his lowest, but then get to witness him rise to his finest.