The Best Crewmates To Recruit First In Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii

Summary

• Recruiting the right crew members in Like A Dragon’s ship combat is crucial for success.
• Substories like If I Weren’t An Idol and The Captain’s Return provide useful crew members.
• Characters like Nickelle Kidman, Kamulop, and Misaki offer unique roles and traits for your crew.

With how many different facets are included in ship combat in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii, it’s no wonder that it can seem intimidating. With so many empty slots to fill, different stats, and variable options, it’s easy to not want to touch this side of the game at all.

However, ship combat is unavoidable, and to complete the main story, you’ll at least need to invest some time in this gameplay mechanic, and once you do, it can be surprisingly rewarding. One of the best ways to get a good head start towards assembling the best ship possible is finding the perfect crew.

8

Nickelle Kidman

Healer

During the second chapter of Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza’s main story, you’ll be required to bring your crew up to 15 members and are set loose on Honolulu to recruit. This is a pretty unassuming challenge, but once you discover how high some potential candidates’ standards are, you’ll realize your options are more limited than you might have originally expected.

Nickelle Kidman (definitely not based on a particular Australian-American actress) can be found hanging around the beach, and the only prerequisite for recruiting her is having a two-star reputation. You’ll almost certainly have this rank by this point in the game, or at least incredibly close, so getting this healer into your crew shouldn’t take too long.

7

Idol Otaku: Gu-San

Tank

During the Chapter 2 recruitment period, you’ll have the chance to take part in Pirate Yakuza’s earlier substories, and while some of these are just for the fun of it, others will net you some useful rewards, with Substory 15 If I Weren’t An Idol being a perfect example.

If you complete this mission, you’ll get three new members for your crew, making this part of the story a lot quicker. One of these members is the star of the substory, Idol Otaku: Gu-San, being a great tank to help with your boarding team in the early-game.

6

Dread Pirate Hook

Attack

Another substory that is worth going for if you’re looking to increase your crew numbers, or perhaps upgrade certain roles, is Substory 22 The Captain’s Return. It’s one of the quicker substories you’ll find around Honolulu, and for just a short stint as a litter-picker, you’ll be rewarded with Dread Pirate Hook.

Dread Pirate Hook (a former antagonist from a previous Like A Dragon title) stands out not just for being an aggressive attack unit, but also has a higher level cap than most of the substory crew members. This means that with the right experience he’ll become an above-average part of your team.

5

Kamulop

Support

It’s easy to overlook the support roles on your ship in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza since they’re off to the side when you’re setting up your squad, and since they take a more passive role, they don’t feel as important to invest in.

While you’ll automatically get Noah and Goro to fill two of the slots, there is still another empty, so if you want to fill it, one of the best options is Kamulop. You can unlock the strange mascot by exchanging points at his shrine by using fortunes you find lying around the city. He isn’t too expensive, so as long as you prioritize your fortune points on unlocking him, you can easily get him during your first Honolulu trip.

4

Alo-Happy

Attack

One of the first side objectives you’ll get in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza is the photo scavenger hunt set up by the Alo-Happy tourist group. There are plenty of fantastic rewards you can get by completing their photo sheets, so it’s worth picking up the challenge as soon as possible so you can get ahead.

As long as you complete one of these cards, you’ll unlock the (quite unenthusiastic) mascot of the Alo-Happy tourist group, Alo-Happy himself. All you have to do is find him in the business headquarters after completing your first card, and he’ll join your crew.

3

Misaki

Ranger

The second chapter of Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza is one of the longest in the game, and near its closing moments you’ll be introduced to Misaki, a young girl looking to avenge her father after his recent death at the hands of the Devil Pirate crew.

You’ll have to wait until the end of the second chapter until Misaki joins your crew, but she’s worth the wait. As well as having an above-average level cap giving her plenty of room for growth, she also has a particularly useful Squad Leader Trait, boosting your attack and voltage recharge rate.

2

Natasha

Healer

Outside of Honolulu, the other main spot you’ll find candidates to join the Goro Pirates is at Madlantis. While there are quite a lot of potential crew members here, one stands out for being available relatively early on, and also being a high value crew member as well.

Natasha, a veteran pirate who you’ll find on the boardwalk of Madlantis doesn’t need too much convincing to join your crew, and you’ll definitely want her as soon as possible. She has both a high level cap as well as useful Squad Leader and First Mate Traits.

1

Clark

Tank

As part of the Chapter 2 plotline, you’ll become acquainted with Clark, a retired (and then quickly unretired) shipwright. After you enlist his services to fix up the Goromaru, you’ll then have the option to slot him into part of your crew build as well.

Even though Clark is accessible so early on in the game, you’ll want to utilize him for most of its runtime, since he’s got plenty of room for growth with a high-level cap, as well as useful traits. His First Mate Trait in particular, First-Rate Mechanic, giving you an extra repair slot, will be useful in harder ship battles.