LIKE A DRAGON GAIDEN: GANGS AND THE GOLDEN SAMURAI

LIKE A DRAGON GAIDEN: GANGS AND THE GOLDEN SAMURAI Gaiden's gang requests need to be done in order. You won't find the Black Swallowtails finale by wandering around looking for a harder street fight before you've finished the Red Peacocks and White Knights. The Golden Samurai works differently: you accept his request, then look for him roaming the city. I'm putting both routes here because these are the requests where a missing marker can make it seem as if you've overlooked a chapter deadline. There isn't a permanent deadline. You can finish these in Premium Adventure. What matters is the previous job and your Castle rank. THE RED PEACOCKS Vanquish the Red Peacocks becomes available after you obtain Hornet during Chapter 2. Accept it from Akame, then go to the marked parking lot in West Shofukucho. Defeat the first group in red. Three more groups appear: southeast Shofukucho near Akame's area, East Shofukucho, and the Sotenbori footpath. Clear all three. When Akame calls, go to the southwest Shofukucho parking lot for the leader and his men. This is a good place to practise Agent's crowd control. Pull ordinary enemies together with Spider and use Firefly when they are close enough for the blast to catch several. The leader's charged attack comes out quickly, so don't spend the entire fight watching the enemies behind him. At Silver rank, return for Final Showdown: Red Peacocks. This fight is near Four Shine, close to Akame's part of the city. The gang arrives in much greater numbers than in its earlier encounters. Remove the ordinary enemies so they can't keep interrupting you while you handle the boss. Winning recruits Akira Guren and opens the next gang's chain. That recruitment is part of the request reward; you don't need to find and pay a separate recruiter afterward. THE WHITE KNIGHTS Vanquish the White Knights follows the Red Peacocks finale. Start at Hiratai on the southern Sotenbori footpath. The first group is made up of large opponents, so tactics that easily yank smaller enemies off their feet won't work as consistently here. After that fight, clear the three new groups: - Bunzaemon Outdoor Mall: hammer users. Attack or interrupt them before they settle into a synchronized series of swings. - Central Shofukucho: watch the quicker enemy and his grapples. - South Shofukucho: clear the group and its stronger member. Then head to the eastern end of Sotenbori Street for the leader and his remaining men. Accept Final Showdown: White Knights after completing that request. The rematch is outside Kinryu Ramen on West Sotenbori Street. You are facing another large group, with a tougher leader and hammer attacks that punish standing in place. Use the space around the fight. Move away from an incoming hammer swing, then attack during the recovery instead of trying to trade damage with several large enemies at once. Finish the request to recruit Koji Shiranita. THE BLACK SWALLOWTAILS You need Gold rank and the White Knights finale before Vanquish the Black Swallowtails opens. Start near the coin lockers by Wild Jackson. This gang brings more weapons, including guns, so I'd deal with the ranged attackers before settling into a long exchange with a boss. The three follow-up groups are near Riichi Tower Mahjong, Kushikatsu Daruma, and Shigano Cigarettes. Expect a sword user near the mahjong building, durable bat and hammer users near Daruma, and gunfire around the cigarette shop. After all three, enter Yotsudera Kaikan and go to the second floor for Keita Kuroyanagi's group. There are several weapon types in the room. Clear the shooters early, then give yourself enough room to dodge Kuroyanagi's quick knife attacks. Final Showdown: Black Swallowtails comes next. Meet the gang at Iwao Bridge and finish the large final fight. Winning recruits Keita Kuroyanagi. His Bullet Storm ability is particularly useful when you move on to the harder team battles, so this chain has a practical payoff beyond checking off another substory. THE GOLDEN SAMURAI The Golden Samurai request opens at Silver rank. Accept it from Akame before trying to find him. He is a roaming encounter rather than a person who waits forever under one fixed request marker. Look for the purple enemy arrow on the map while moving through Sotenbori. He has four health bars in the first fight. The sword does enough damage that I wouldn't go in nearly empty on health just because he is standing on an ordinary street. Dodge a committed swing, punish the recovery, and avoid getting trapped in a long combo while he prepares another attack. Defeating him completes that stage without an elaborate return-to-Akame scene. The Golden Scourge requires Gold rank and the first Samurai request finished. Accept the new job and look for him roaming again. The general pattern is familiar, but he now has five health bars and hits harder. If you're winning slowly but safely, keep doing that rather than turning the fight into a damage race. Golden Gauntlet Throwdown requires Platinum rank and The Golden Scourge completed. This time he gives you a fixed destination: the roof of Yotsudera Kaikan. Speak to him there to begin the last challenge. He now has six health bars, more attack power, and armor that makes careless attacks bounce. Use your developed Yakuza finishers and Heat Actions when an opening is real. Bring recovery supplies. You can return with better upgrades if the fight is taking too much out of you. IF ONE OF THESE ISN'T APPEARING Check the request you actually completed, not just the gang's name. Vanquish and Final Showdown are separate jobs. Check Castle rank next. Gold requires Network Level 10 and three Silver wins; Platinum requires Network Level 20 and three Gold wins. Both promotions need a return to Akame. For the Samurai, make sure his current request has been accepted before searching for the purple arrow. For the last fight, stop hunting random streets and go to the roof. These chains cover six gang requests and three Samurai requests. They also add three recruits along the way. Finishing them early enough to use those recruits is more useful than leaving every encounter until the rest of the Coliseum is already over.