With how essential Naval combat is in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, it’s vital to upgrade the weapons of the Goromaru. Here is a guide on how to upgrade cannons in Pirate Yakuza, as they’re the most powerful and important in the game.
How To Upgrade Cannons in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
In Chapter 2 of Pirate Yakuza, players are introduced to the two big hub worlds of the game where you’ll be spending most of your time: Honolulu and Madlantis. Along with these new locations are plenty of new areas to explore and characters to meet, which is essential as your ship has to be upgraded, and new crew members are needed to progress the story and make a name for yourself and the Goro Pirates. When completing the main questline, you’ll meet Julie, a mechanic who owns the GearWorks shop and its locations in Honolulu.
Julie upgrades the Goromaru, and afterward, players can revisit the character at her shop (and even recruit her) to upgrade the various weapons on the ship, including cannons. Different materials are required depending on what type of cannon upgrade you want and can be collected by defeating enemies. Below is a list of the four different types that may be needed in different combinations depending on what cannon you want:
- Components
- Quality Components
- Superb Components
- Miscellaneous (animal parts, fruits, stones)
Go up to Julie, talk to her, and choose what cannon you want to upgrade. After they are upgraded, you can go to the crew formation menu on your ship and equip the cannons on whatever side of the Goromaru you want. The following are the types of cannons that you can upgrade to, as well as what is required for them:
Shark Cannon
The Shark Cannon causes some elemental damage to enemy ships and has a lower reload time than some of the other cannon choices; however, its damage isn’t that high, meaning that you should save your components and other ingredients for a more powerful cannon, and perhaps purchase this one later down the line just for the sake of recruiting Julie to your crew.
Egesta Cannon
This cannon slowly damages enemy ships and can be a good strategic choice, especially since you don’t have to have the same type of cannon on both sides of the Goromaru. The Egesta cannon can deal a different kind of damage than whatever else you choose to equip, as it fires two rounds at a time, more than making up for the slow reload time.
Laser Cannon
The Laser cannon is perhaps the best weapon for your ship in the game, and it’s highly recommended that you save whatever components come your way while progressing through the Pirate Yakuza story until the laser cannon upgrades become available. The long reload time is made up for with absolutely devastating damage, which can take out weaker ships almost instantaneously and also drain the health of boss ships.
Super Laser Cannon
The Super Laser Cannon is the greatest upgrade that can be achieved for the weapons of the Goromaru. However, it requires plenty of hard-to-acquire components, meaning that you can’t get this weapon until later in Pirate Yakuza’s story. The key difference between this one and the regular laser cannon is the long-range capabilities. With incredible power, the super laser cannon is the epitome of upgrades and well worth saving your components, especially as you complete the more challenging battles in the Pirate Coliseum and those with the Devil Pirates in the game.
And that is how to upgrade cannons in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is available now on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
Published: Feb 21, 2025 4:00 AM UTC