Naval Combat in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Explained

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii shifts the Yakuza series into an exciting new direction with Naval Combat. This latest fighting system is integral to succeeding in the game, and given that there are multiple aspects to controlling your ship, here is how Naval Combat works in Pirate Yakuza.

How Does Naval Combat in Pirate Yakuza Work?

The beginning of Pirate Yakuza quickly sets players up with a small Pirate ship (named the Goromaru) that can later get upgraded. Still, for the early chapters, the vessel is given only two cannons on the right and left sides of the ship and a machine gun turret at the front of it. When sailing in the open waters, random enemy ships are almost always within your vicinity. Like other combat encounters in the game, players have the option to either fight them or attempt to run away.

However, the Goromaru (and ships in general) move a lot slower than when you’re in hand-to-hand combat on land, making attempts to escape risky, especially as some of the stronger ships later in the game have ranged attacks that will cause you to take damage while running. When encountering enemy ships, it’s best to face them head-on and begin firing as soon as you can. In Naval Combat, there are three kinds of attacks that can be done:

• Turret Gun Attacks: The Turret gun is located at the front of your ship, and should be your first option whenever you’re in mid-range of an enemy ship. This attack can do damage while you’re approaching the enemy, so by the time you get to close enough range, you can use the more powerful cannons. Players can also stop the ship and control one of the turrets themselves, although that is a riskier move.
• Left and Right Cannons: The cannon attacks are the most powerful that the Goromaru has, and can be activated using L2 or R2 depending on what side of the ship you want to fire your cannons from. Keep in mind this attack only works when you’re in close range, and the cannon symbol will light up letting you know that firing the cannon will have a sure-hit. After firing it once, the cannon takes some time to reload, so it’s best to maneuver your ship to fire the cannons on the other side of the ship.

• RPG Missle: When in naval combat in Pirate Yakuza, you can shift the camera perspective to the ship’s deck, where you can freely move Goro. This is a risky move if enemy ships are in close proximity, so it’s best to do this only when you’re far enough away, as the ship will stop moving when you change perspective. However, when romaing the deck during battle, players can equip an RPG to deal damage from a greater distance. This is often the best way to start a battle, as you’ll already have the advantage of weakening an enemy ship.

Pirate Ship Traversal

When in the wider camera perspective of the ship, players can control the Goromaru using the left stick, and activate a boost that briefly increases the speed of your ship. The boost is best used to either close the distance between you and an enemy ship or to drift by pressing a button (O on the PS5 Dualsens, B on the Xbox controller) at the same time as the boost, allowing you to spin your ship around to either dodge cannon fire or switch which side of your ship is facing the enemy to do double damage with both sets of your cannons.

Related: The Best Order to Play the Yakuza/Like a Dragon Series

Boarding Parties

Some Naval battles in Pirate Yakuza have two stages and are usually reserved for either boss battles in the main story or to advance in the PIrate Coliseum in Madlantis. Either way, it usually involves the Goromaru going up against multiple ships, with the objective being to destroy the main one, which has larger health than the rest. For the sake of completing the battle, it’s best to avoid the smaller ships and focus all of your attacks solely on the boss ship, as that will allow you to progress to the second stage of these naval combat levels.

Once the ship’s health has been drained, players will get a notification asking them to press the action button to begin the boarding party, at which point the naval battle will transition to a more typical beat-em-up style of play the Yakuza series is well-known for. However, depending on which boss battle, it will be a large number of crew members, plus a boss character versus however many of the crew members that you assigned to the boarding party. More often than not, you’ll be outnumbered.

The best bet is to level up your crew members by boosting morale and engaging in lower-level fights so that when the time comes, the outnumbered Goro pirates are usually stronger than whatever ship you are boarding. Moreover, the captains of the crew you’re fighting have stat boosters that can be activated, such as damage or defense, making battles that much more difficult. Players can assign their own support crew to provide boosters as well to boos their respective stats, and the name of the game is to take out all the opposing crew before you or all of your party is knocked out.

The Pirate Coliseum and major story battles in the second half of the game all comprise of the two-stage naval battles, making them important to master. Moreover, when fully completing the game and exploring various islands for treasure, you will often run into other ships, making your fundamental understanding of Naval Combat essential. The Yakuza series has always thrived on occasionally switching up the formula for its titles, and the new pirate ship mechanics and combat are a refreshing change of pace that even gives Sea of Thieves a run for its money. With the right crew members, upgrades, and even customization, the Goromaru can easily become the deadliest ship in the sea.

And that is naval combat in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, explained

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is available on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.