Tackling baddies and Sujimon on the sunny shores of Hawaii is a big part of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. While the turn-based battles from the original game are still mostly unchanged, one new inclusion is the movement system, allowing you to reposition to catch opponents off-guard. The way you work and move as a team is a big part of determining your victory.
There are countless other factors, however, such as weapons, weaknesses, special abilities, guarding, and the whole Job-based class system that players of the original will be familiar with. That said, here are ten combat tips to help you triumph in Infinite Wealth, from how to position your team, to taking advantage of special abilities and buffs.
Position yourself for extra damage and combo attacks
One major addition to combat in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is the positioning system, letting you manoeuvre around a small area and gain bonus damage depending on where you hit enemies from. If you manage to sneak up behind an enemy, for example, you can perform a Back Attack for extra damage, and you'll also get a Proximity Bonus to damage if you attack enemies that are close by.
Since Kiryu's Rush style lets you attack twice in a row, this means you can use the first attack to approach the enemy, and the second to get that Proximity Bonus. Another way to take advantage of positioning is to smack enemies into other members of your party for a combo attack—simply align the arrow so it's pointing towards one of your characters and let loose.
Hit enemies while they're down
Most attacks knock enemies prone for a short period, during which time you can stomp or smack them on the ground for a guaranteed critical hit. It's worth noting that it won't take long for enemies to recover, so be sure to follow up quickly with your next character's attack to deal extra damage while you can.
Take advantage of Kasuga's healing and buffs
Ichiban's Hero abilities can recover health, boost defense, or buff crit rate for party members in an AoE. These abilities are super useful since they can provide an advantage at the start of a tough fight, or save you from eating into your limited stock of healing items. While you need to be close to whoever Kasuga uses the ability on to benefit, the good news is that you can buff most Hero ability AoE ranges by levelling their relevant Personality stat. Be sure to level Kindness especially, since this increases the health recovery of the Hero's Healing ability.
Make use of your environment
If you want your regular attacks to deal even more damage, make use of weapons in the environment. When readying an attack, you'll spot a hand and box symbol hovering over certain objects as you move around the space—launch an attack with one of these in reach to pick up the item and club the enemy with it. If you have to approach an enemy from a distance to attack, try to choose a path with cones in the way, since your character will punt them at the enemy as they run for extra damage.
Power up with books and boosters
Reading books is the best way to gain easy Job XP and level up your combat class quickly. Technical Manuals grant a whole level to specific Job types and you can generally get them through point rewards for activities like Shogi and Crazy Delivery. There is also a cheap and easy way to get Job XP via the Free Magazines you can collect from newsstands on the streets of Honolulu. These grant a small amount of XP for your current job, making them more immediately useful than manuals.
While exploring the city you may also find Health Boosters and Muscle Boosters. As you might gather, these items buff health and attack respectively for one individual party member. You can find some locked inside safes, but there are others in briefcases or just lying around in the street, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled.
Master Perfect Guard for extra survivability
Most special abilities—and Kiryu's Proximity Bonus regular attacks—involve a little quicktime event where you'll either have to mash a button or time your input in order to gain bonus damage. While these are important for maximising your beatdowns, successfully mastering Perfect Guard is even more valuable. If you press B on controller just as an enemy attack lands, you can deflect it, reducing the damage that it deals, though this can be quite challenging. Some enemy attacks have delays or long windups, but since each enemy only has a couple to use, these timings aren't too hard to learn.
Exploit weaknesses and use Kiryu to Guard Break
Enemies in Infinite Wealth are weak to certain elements and abilities, letting you deal extra damage to them when you achieve the ideal matchup. While character abilities offer different damage types so you can target weaknesses, the best way to cover your bases is to use weapons that deal elemental damage. You can tell what damage your weapon does via the little element icons on the gear screen; looting new weapons or crafting them at Julie's Gearworks will give you access to more element types.
As well as weaknesses, some enemies will put up a guard, reducing the damage you can deal to them. Some abilities, like Tomizawa's Jawbreaker, ignore guard completely, but your best bet is selecting Kiryu's Beast fighting style, represented by the yellow dude with his arms outstretched. This lets you grapple and throw enemies to break their guard, dealing extra damage and opening them to follow up attacks.
Build bonds with your teammates
Making friends with your party members by giving gifts and talking around town is a good way to get to know them, but it also grants advantages in combat. If you strengthen your teammate bonds enough, it'll buff combo attacks and even unlock Tag Team skills involving both characters. The best way to increase your bonds is by giving gifts and making small talk at Revolve bar, or when you spot gifts to immediately buy around Honolulu itself. You can also build your bonds by fighting battles or talking to your teammates at the Bond Bingo spots around town.
Use Battle Items and Poundmates in emergencies
Items such as bombs and grenades are exceptionally powerful, dealing massive damage with a specific element so you can target enemy weaknesses. However, these items are quite rare, so it's better to hold onto them until you're fighting a particularly difficult battle. The same is true for Poundmates—once you unlock them through the main story, these hireable fighters are strong, but they cost a lot of money to summon. It's better to keep them in reserve for when you're in dire straits.
