Yakuza Kiwami: Combat, Upgrades, and Komaki's Training

Yakuza Kiwami: Combat, Upgrades, and Komaki's Training All right, I want to cover the combat properly, because telling somebody to get Tiger Drop doesn't help much when they're still early in the game trying to understand why a boss keeps knocking them down and healing. Tiger Drop is excellent. There is also a whole game to play before you get it, and three other fighting styles that can make that trip a lot easier. The four styles Brawler is a good place to learn the basics. It gives you ordinary combinations, grabs, throws, and plenty of ways to use the environment. Against a small group, grabbing one enemy and throwing him into another can give you room without committing to a long combination. Rush is for movement and quick attacks. Use it when you need to get around a boss, escape a crowded corner, or close the distance on somebody with a gun. Its speed doesn't mean every attack string is safe. If a boss stops reacting to your punches, get out instead of finishing the entire combination into his counterattack. Beast is particularly useful when the environment gives you something heavy to swing. Bikes, signs, and other objects can hit several enemies and make space quickly. It is slower, so don't use a long windup directly in front of an enemy who is already attacking. Move into position first, then make the object count. Dragon is a long-term project. It begins with a badly reduced moveset, and the game expects you to restore it through Majima Everywhere and Komaki. Don't judge the completed style by how it feels immediately after Kiryu gets out of prison. Equally, don't force yourself to use the incomplete version for every fight just because it's Kiryu's signature style. You can switch styles during a fight. There is no reason a battle has to be all Rush or all Beast from beginning to end. What I would unlock first Your experience goes into the Soul, Technique, and Body trees. The Dragon tree has its own requirements. Money is still useful for recovery items and equipment, but this isn't Yakuza 0's system of pouring cash directly into the ability wheels. The first things I would look for are: • Essence of Extreme Brawler, Essence of Extreme Rush, and Essence of Extreme Beast in Soul. These give you the special finishers for the corresponding boss-recovery phases. • Health and attack increases in Body. More moves are useful, but surviving an extra mistake and dealing better damage with ordinary attacks both matter. • Extra Quickstep Distance in Body if you're using Rush regularly. It increases the distance and reduces the Heat cost of extra quicksteps. • Black Tortoise Spirit in Soul for building Heat while successfully guarding in Brawler. • Swallow Spirit in Soul for building Heat through Rush's evasive play. • Change Up (Evade) in Technique. This makes it easier to dodge into position and switch to the style you want to attack with. Later, look at the extended Rush combinations, additional quicksteps, guard recovery, and the other Change Up abilities. Pick moves that solve a problem you're actually having. If you keep getting caught after a guard break, that is a better reason to buy a defensive option than simply choosing the next impressive-looking attack. Read the style and Heat conditions on the ability. Some upgrades only operate in one style, some need Heat, and others need Kiryu to be calm. Buying a move doesn't mean every version of Kiryu can use it at every moment. Dealing with a boss's guard Start by watching a full attack sequence. Let the boss show you how many swings are actually in it. A first punch missing doesn't always mean he's finished. Quickstep around the end of the attack and use a short combination from the side or behind. If he turns, blocks, or starts another sequence, leave yourself enough room to get away. You can also use Rush to get into position, then switch to Brawler for a stronger punish. Change Up (Evade) makes that transition smoother. Once Dragon is properly rebuilt, it becomes another good choice for that opening. A blocked combination is information. If the boss is standing there guarding every hit, continuing to press the same attack button is usually giving him time to counter. Change your position, use an appropriate guard-breaking move, or wait for him to commit to an attack. In group fights, pay attention to enemies outside the one you're hitting. Move so the group stays mostly in front of you. Take out gunmen when you have a safe opening, use throws to interrupt nearby enemies, and use Beast's environmental attacks when the room provides them. Heat and the healing phases Heat Actions are powerful, but they are also useful for interrupting a dangerous situation. Don't think of them only as extra damage at the end of a combination. When a boss kneels and starts recovering, the aura tells you which Kiwami finisher to use: • Blue: Brawler. • Pink: Rush. • Yellow: Beast. • Red: Dragon. Switch to the matching style, get close enough, and use the heavy-attack prompt. You need the matching Essence of Extreme ability and enough Heat. The Dragon finisher specifically requires Climax Heat and arrives late through Majima Everywhere. That means a red recovery phase can appear before you have the special Dragon finisher. Use an available ordinary Heat Action to interrupt it instead. A weapon can help provide one. You don't have to let the boss recover his whole health bar just because one particular upgrade is missing. If the prompt won't appear, check four things: the style, the ability, the Heat level, and your position. Don't assume a full-looking blue gauge is the same as being in the red Climax section. Bring both health recovery and a way to recover Heat. Toughness items restore health, Tauriner restores Heat, and Staminan items restore both. Read the exact amount on the version you're buying. Having a few strong recovery items is more useful than discovering mid-fight that your inventory is full of small drinks you forgot to replace. Komaki's training Komaki begins teaching Kiryu in Chapter 6 around the fountain in the surface area of Purgatory. There are eleven lessons, covering substories 59 through 69, and you do them in sequence. Most require paintings bought with Coliseum points. The paintings are in the prize shop at the Coliseum counter, not an ordinary street shop. Buy them in the order you need them: • Image of an Asura: 200 points. • Image of a Cat: 400 points. • Image of a Snake: 600 points. • Image of a Kamaitachi: 800 points. • Image of Dharma: 1,000 points. • Image of Four Gods: 2,000 points. • Image of an Elephant: 4,000 points. • Image of a Tiger: 8,000 points. • Image of a Dragon: 10,000 points. That is 27,000 points for all nine paintings. You also need a Wooden Katana for the sword lesson. You can buy one at Ebisu Pawn or spend 500 Coliseum points on one. You don't need to save up for every painting before beginning. Do the early lessons, earn more points, and come back with the next image. The moves you learn can make the later fights easier. Shot Stopper No painting is needed for the first lesson. Accept Komaki's training and follow the prompt against the two armed men. This teaches a firearm-related Heat Action. It is useful because a gunman can otherwise keep interrupting you while you're dealing with somebody else. Get into the required position with enough Heat rather than standing at a distance pressing heavy attack and expecting Kiryu to cross the arena automatically. Swordsmanship Bring the Wooden Katana, equip it, and speak to Komaki. Use the sword attacks he asks for during the exercise. This is the wooden practice weapon, not a requirement to buy an expensive real katana. Finish the training instructions rather than stopping after landing the first hit. The lesson changes the way Kiryu can handle sword-type weapons in the appropriate style. Roundhouse Attack Bring Image of an Asura. Defeat the seven opponents within three minutes, then practice redirecting your combination as Komaki instructs. Try not to chase one enemy into a corner while the others crowd behind you. Use the space and the group-fighting tools you've already unlocked. The move you learn lets you turn attacks toward enemies around you rather than staying committed to the one directly ahead. Cat-Like Reflexes Bring Image of a Cat. Defeat the man with the bat and complete the recovery exercise. This teaches you to regain your feet as you're knocked down. Watch the landing and use the quickstep input at the right moment. It is a recovery technique, so repeatedly pressing attack while Kiryu is falling won't demonstrate what the lesson wants. Clear-Minded Mystery Bring Image of a Snake. This is the lesson involving Hannya-man. Majima must be active in the city. If Komaki says he's making preparations, check Majima Everywhere. A pending rank-up event or a chapter-based break can stop this lesson from proceeding. If you've reached the Chapter 6 limit for Majima, the next opportunity normally comes when he becomes available again in Chapter 8. Resolve the active rank-up event, then return to Komaki before putting Majima into another unavailable state. This is why buying the Snake painting alone doesn't always make the training begin. You haven't necessarily missed a conversation or bought the wrong item. Take the Hannya-man fight patiently. Keep recovery items available and punish the ends of his attacks. The lesson can still conclude if you lose, though winning gives the additional benefits of actually beating him. Evade and Strike Bring Image of a Kamaitachi. Komaki tests your evasion with a shotgun for a minute. Watch his aiming animation and dodge the shot rather than endlessly circling and hoping. If you move too early, you can finish your dodge before the shot arrives. Give yourself enough distance to see the cue clearly, then repeat the same timing. Afterward, practice the attack that follows a quickstep. The useful part is turning an avoided attack into your own opening. Dharma Tumbler Bring Image of Dharma and defeat Isamu Kumada. The move adds a roll after a quickstep. Use the second evasive input after the first movement rather than confusing it with a normal attack. The extra movement can help you clear an enemy's follow-up or get farther around his side. Fist Reversal Bring Image of Four Gods. Defeat the four opponents, then complete the demonstration of the countering Heat Action. Don't stand in the middle trying to land a long combination on one person. Throws can knock enemies into each other and give you room, while Heat Actions remove health without leaving you exposed through an ordinary attack string. Fist Reversal is a Heat Action. It is not the same input situation as the ordinary Tiger Drop counter you'll learn later. Knock Back Bring Image of an Elephant. Survive the one-minute guard exercise without attacking, grabbing, or quickstepping. You can reposition by walking. Keep your guard up and don't reflexively press dodge when he approaches. Breaking the lesson's rules is the problem here, even if the move would have been sensible in a normal fight. The reward is a counter out of a successful guard. Once you've learned it, use the heavy-attack input as you block to push the opponent back. Tiger Drop Bring Image of a Tiger. Defeat Raizo Shiba, the masked fighter. He has strong attacks and can punish you for hitting straight into his guard. Let him commit, move around the end of the sequence, and keep your punish short enough to escape his next attack. If he starts spinning, give him room instead of assuming another punch will stop it. After you win and learn the move, switch to Dragon style. Hold fighting stance and press heavy attack just before the enemy's strike lands. On the standard PlayStation controls, that's R1 and Triangle. On the standard Xbox controls, it's RB and Y. If you've remapped controls, follow fighting stance and heavy attack rather than the printed buttons. You don't need Heat to perform Tiger Drop. You do need the timing and the right position. If Kiryu simply throws an ordinary attack, you've pressed too early or failed another condition. If you get hit first, the counter was too late or the attack wasn't lined up correctly. Practice against one recognizable attack rather than trying to counter every movement at once. A slow, obvious swing gives you a much better starting point than a crowd of enemies attacking from different directions. Parry Bring Image of a Dragon and fight Komaki himself. This is the final lesson, and Tiger Drop is now available to use against him. Watch him rather than constantly charging in. Give him an attack to commit to, then counter or evade and punish. He is also capable of punishing predictable offense, so don't make every approach the same long combination. Winning earns Komaki Parry and completes Komaki Style Master. In Dragon style, hold fighting stance and use the grab input just before the attack connects to parry. On standard controls, that's R1 and Circle on PlayStation or RB and B on Xbox. Tiger Drop emphasizes the counter's damage. Parry gives you an opening to follow up. They're different tools, and getting comfortable with both is worth more than treating one as the only move left in the game. Restoring the rest of Dragon Komaki accounts for eleven abilities. The remaining Dragon progression comes through Majima Everywhere. Some especially important milestones are the ability to use Dragon Heat Actions, the restored combinations and finishers, Dragon's Speed Reborn from the third Majima Pocket Circuit race, and the later speed and counter options. Keep checking the actual locked nodes. Reaching SSS rank doesn't automatically complete every condition, and the final Majima showdown waits until you've unlocked the other 47 Dragon abilities. Komaki's lessons are part of that requirement. Don't neglect the other three ability trees if you're working toward Amon. His unlock requires the other substories and the completed ability progression, not simply owning Tiger Drop. A few equipment checks that can save frustration Read the effect of an accessory before equipping it just because its numbers look higher. The Charismatic Photo can make enemies more aggressive. The Calming Towel prevents Heat gain. Those effects can be useful for a particular purpose, but they can also make an ordinary fight feel very different from what you're expecting. Also check your loadout before entering the Coliseum. Normal recovery items, gear, and accessories aren't available in the tournament fights. Heal before you register rather than planning to use your inventory halfway through. When you reach the later Soul abilities, Time for Godspeed and Time for Destruction give you another use for Climax Heat. They trade the gauge for a temporary benefit, so activate them with a plan rather than immediately wondering where your Heat went. You can use a speed or damage window to attack aggressively, then return to safer movement when it ends. The thing I would keep coming back to is this: use the move that fits the opening you actually have. Rush can get you out of trouble, Beast can clear a group, Brawler can handle a lot of the ordinary fighting, and a rebuilt Dragon gives you excellent counters and finishers. You don't need to make the entire game harder while waiting for one late ability to solve everything. Useful references are the [official combat manual](https://manual.sega.jp/ryu-kiwami/en/index.html), the [ability list](https://yakuza.fandom.com/wiki/Yakuza_Kiwami/Abilities_and_Upgrades), [Komaki's lessons](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps4/181171-yakuza-kiwami/faqs/75194/chapter-6-substories), and the [Coliseum prize list](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps4/181171-yakuza-kiwami/faqs/75194/coliseum).