Best Staff Members In Dave The Diver

Summary

• To maximize time spent diving in Dave The Diver, hire skilled staff like James, Tohoku, and Yusuke for kitchen and procurement tasks.
• Davina, Drae, and Raul are well-rounded employees who excel in different roles at Bancho Sushi, making them excellent managers.
• El Niño, Maki, and Yone offer specialized skills like cocktail serving and superior cooking ratings, enhancing the overall performance of Bancho Sushi.

While it’s fun to discover what treasures are hidden underneath the waves in Dave the Diver, you should also remember the other aspect of the game: sushi restaurant management. Splitting your time between venturing into Blue Hole and managing Bancho Sushi will probably be 50-50 at the start of the game; however, meeting new characters who can help you in your responsibilities topside will allow for more time spent diving.

As such, you will want to have the best employees and staff at Bancho Sushi if you wish to spend more time in the deep. You’ll meet a cast of colorful characters in Dave the Diver, and while all of them are pretty decent employee choices, some are just a step above the rest and will maximize productivity and profit without the need for you to micromanage everything.

Updated on April 1, 2025 by Marissa Fiore: The cast of Dave The Diver may not have grown, but, until you reach max level with each of them, the employees themselves have done a lot of growing. Growing in skill and training level that is. Here are a few more staff members for you to consider.

12

James

Maybe Don’t Let Him Pick The Music

You might do a double-take when you see James apply for the job. He is very much Jason meets cozy restaurant sim. But that murderous intent is the only thing that doesn’t get borrowed from the horror-movie icon. And those knives will be cutting through fish, not people.

That rings true thanks to James’ cooking skill, which greatly outpaces the rest of his talents. His point total isn’t the most impressive, but when he’s in the kitchen, you won’t have to worry about any of those other performance areas. His cooking gets bolstered further due to his skill set he learns along the way.

11

Tohoku

Always On That Cooking Grind

Tohoku talks a lot about his training, and that’s understandable if you take a look at his skills. While serving and Procure are lackluster, his cooking is phenomenal, getting both Cooking+ and Cooking++. Though, more impressive still is his appeal.

And that’s not a personal opinion; it’s backed up by math. At his max level, Tohoku has 808 points in the appeal part of his resume. While that’s less tangible than some of the other stats, it will help in the kitchen. Far more than it would if you had him hit the road, tracking down ingredients.

10

Raul

Pretty Good At Everything

You may have seen it when Raul applied for the job at your restaurant, but he has an even spread across cooking, serving, procure, and appeal. That trend continues, all the way through his max level where he goes from having 66 in each category to 541.

While that doesn’t make him an expert in any one thing, it does allow you to stick Raul in any role you have open. Is your kitchen staff carrying all the weight? Throw Raul out onto that floor so he can serve drinks and pass out dishes. If your cooks aren’t performing to your expectations, he’ll help out with prep and making the most of your fish.

With high stats in every category, Raul makes for an excellent manager once you’ve unlocked the second location.

9

Yusuke

Good At The Finding And The Cooking

There are two directions you should go in when it comes to Yusuke: cooking or procure. Both of his skills are based in cooking, which means you’ll most likely want to place him in the kitchen. However, his procure skill is at nearly 1,000 by the time you hit max level.

No matter which you choose, this means he’ll be helping you with ingredients. If he’s on the road, he’ll be able to find greater quantities of the land-based things you need, like salt, sesame, or the like. In the kitchen, he makes better use of your water-based ingredients, giving you a chance to make more servings with less fish needed.

8

Cohh

Help With Mixing Drinks And Socially

When you eventually unlock cocktails at Bancho Sushi, you’ll find them to be the most time-consuming task that Dave will have to perform. What would be far more useful is for someone to serve cocktails for Dave. Enter Cohh.

Cohh already has an amazing Serving score, making him a great waiter, but he also pours cocktails way faster than Dave ever could. Throw in Tip Master for an additional 10 percent on all food prices, and you’ve got one of the best servers in the game.

Pair Cohh with El Niño for an awesome serving combo.

7

Davina

Stock Your Cabinets

Davina comes with the highest procure rating once she reaches level 20. Add the Dispatch Master skill to her arsenal, and she is the best dispatcher in the game, Masayoshi being a close second. She also comes with the rare Irresistible Charm perk, which will help increase the number of loyal customers at Bancho Sushi.

Pair her up with Masayoshi, and you have the best dispatcher team in the game. You can rest easy and never worry about running out of ingredients when you have either Davina or Masayoshi on your team.

6

Drae

He Can Cook, Clean, And Make A Mean Cocktail

Drae is a well-rounded staff member that you can get once Platinum Rank employees become available. While he does seem like a jack-of-all-trades sort of dude, this is exactly why he is perfect for a manager position. You will need some solid workers for this position, and Drae fits that bill perfectly.

His special skills include Cleaning and Cocktail Serving, which will be a nice finishing touch for your team. Train Drae up to higher levels to fully benefit from him as a branch manager.

Raul and Kyoko also make good branch managers if you haven’t been able to find Drae while hiring.

5

Raptor

Just Don’t Look Under The Mask

Raptor is an excellent server who also holds a pretty unique set of skills. Additionally, you can also get him earlier than El Niño (the best server you can get), as he is a Gold Rank staff. You can pair Raptor up with El Niño once the latter becomes available for the dream team of servers.

Raptor’s skills are also pretty rare on their own, so imagine having one employee with both. Having both Cocktail Serving and Wasabi Refill on a single employee is the main reason why you should get this talented reptilian for Bancho Sushi.

Raptor is not actually a lizard—he just likes wearing a dinosaur costume to work, which explains his low appeal score. That said, he’s still one of the best servers in the game.

4

Itsuki

Have Your Guests Leaving Stealthily Charmed

With the ability to hire an actual dinosaur, hiring a ninja seems tame in comparison. However, Itsuki is another top-tier employee that you should put in the effort to get. Besides Drae, Itsuki is another outstanding choice for your branch manager position thanks to her incredibly high service and appeal ratings.

Plus, her special skills, including Drink Serving and the rare Irresistible Charm, are a combo that you will find advantageous in attracting more customers.

3

Yone

No Food Has Tasted Better

Yone is another top-tier staff member that you can hire with excellent cooking stats, which is second only to Maki. As she’s a Diamond Rank Staff, you will need to put in the time before she becomes available. Once you do, combined with Maki, you will have a duo that will blow the competition out of the water.

Once you get her to level 20, she will have one of the best cooking ratings in the game. Add in skills such as Ingredient Prep Expert and Cooking++, and Yone becomes an invaluable member of the Bancho Sushi family.

Ingredient Prep Expert provides an extra five percent prepared foods for the same amount of ingredients, which can really help with the more complex late-game recipes.

2

El Niño

Serving Up Some Whoop Bass

Booyaka! El Niño is the Diamond Rank ace luchador server of Dave the Diver. Don’t let his low appeal score fool you, as he more than makes up for that shortcoming with his two special skills: Cleaning Master and Drink Serving Master.

The Cleaning Master perk will allow El Niño to automatically clear up space and gather tips, while Drink Serving Master means every drink he serves will always get a perfect rating. Overall, he’s the best server that you can hire in the game.

Be sure to pair El Niño with someone with Cocktail Serving (such as Cohh or Raptor) to ensure Dave never has to do anything at Bancho Sushi again.

1

Maki

You’d Think It Wasn’t Her First Job

You will meet Maki and acquire her services early on in Chapter 2, your first hire. While her starting stats aren’t that impressive, she is a worthwhile investment to keep at Bancho Sushi. Leveling her up to 20 will give you the employee with the highest Cooking rating in the game.

In addition, her special skills include Cooking+ and Cooking++, which will speed up food preparation significantly. Just because Maki is the first employee you can hire in the game doesn’t mean you should replace her once you have more characters to choose from. Stick with Maki, and she will prove to be one of the best employees in the game.

Perhaps best of all, Maki doesn’t ask for a salary, so she’s also the cheapest employee to keep on staff at Bancho Sushi.