Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii: Ability Costs, Unlocks and What to Buy First

# Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii: Ability Costs, Unlocks and What to Buy First Majima’s ability menu has 87 purchases: 36 stat upgrades, 12 shared upgrades, 21 Mad Dog upgrades and 18 Sea Dog upgrades. Repeated levels count separately. Here’s the price list, what each branch does, and a purchase order that leaves room in your budget for the ship. Four entries have an unresolved price or prerequisite, clearly marked below. ## Before spending - Open the main menu and select Upgrade Abilities. It becomes available during Chapter 1. - Later purchases use money and Reputation. Below, “R” means Reputation points. - Pirate Rank becomes available early in Chapter 2. Rank 3 means Pirate Rank 3, not Chapter 3. - Buy repeated levels in order. You cannot jump straight to the last diamond or skip from a basic stat boost to Extreme. - Sea Dog’s equipment arrives through Chapter 2 story progress. The boomerang comes first; the pistol follows your first departure from Madlantis. For the chain hook, finish the introductory bounty and follow Julie’s call to her shop in Anaconda Shopping Center. These are story unlocks, so progress the mission when an equipment requirement blocks you. - The listed combat abilities do not require skill books. Their requirements are money, Reputation, rank, previous upgrades and story equipment. If you mean **The Basics of Shogi**, that is a separate minigame item: exchange two Fortune Points with Kamulop at Ryukai Shrine in Little Japan. It provides move suggestions in shogi and does not unlock Majima’s combat abilities. ## A practical purchase order **Start with this $545 package:** 1. Max Health Boost levels 1–3: $125 total. 2. Attack Boost levels 1–3: $125 total. 3. Knockdown Evasion: $50. 4. Mad Dog Trick: Savage: $20. 5. The first levels of Serpent, Chomp and Frenzy: $75 each. That buys 11 upgrades without spending Reputation. The early health levels take Majima from 7,500 to 18,500 HP, and the three charged attacks give you options for launching, moving through a group and attacking around yourself. **Once Reputation opens:** buy Quickstep Strike, then More Majima’s first level. Add Grapple Counter if grabs keep interrupting you. Those three purchases total $3,250 and 5,050 R. Pick up Goro Goro Booze Master when you want to cook combat drinks or finish the recipe list. **At Rank 2:** prioritize Perfect Guard. Then decide whether your problem is survival or slow kills, and advance Health Boost Plus or Attack Boost Plus accordingly. You must finish the basic four-level branch first. **At Rank 3:** Quickstep Boost helps both styles. Then focus your spending: More Majima and the charged Mad Dog attacks, or the Sea Dog sidearms you actually use. A broader move list is more useful when you know the inputs and can trigger it reliably. **At Rank 4:** add the Madness-generating upgrades for those same attacks. Buy Howling Shadows if you have completed More Majima. Hannya Dance and Snakebite suit players already comfortable with Perfect Guard. **At Rank 5:** Demonfire and Perfect Guard Reversal are expensive timing-based counters. Buy them when you want to learn those counters. You do not need to empty your wallet into them before improving basic damage, health or your ship. Leave No Reservations and the restaurant-recovery levels until you want their specific benefits. None adds a new combat move. ## Stats: all 36 purchases Health and Attack use the same price ladder. Each has four basic levels, four Plus levels and ten Extreme levels. Prices below are **per purchase, per stat**. **Max Health Boost / Attack Boost** - Level 1: $5. - Level 2: $20. - Level 3: $100. - Level 4: $1,500 + 3,000 R. For health, those levels give 11,500, 15,000, 18,500 and 22,000 maximum HP. **Max Health Boost Plus / Attack Boost Plus** Finish the corresponding basic branch and reach Rank 2. - Level 1: $5,000 + 7,500 R. - Levels 2–4: $7,500 + 10,000 R each. The health totals become 25,500, 28,500, 31,500 and 35,000 HP. **Max Health Boost Extreme / Attack Boost Extreme** Finish the corresponding Plus branch and reach Rank 3. - Levels 1–2: $10,000 + 25,000 R each. - Levels 3–4: $20,000 + 50,000 R each. - Levels 5–6: $50,000 + 125,000 R each. - Levels 7–8: $75,000 + 150,000 R each. - Levels 9–10: $100,000 + 220,000 R each. Each Extreme health level adds 1,500 HP, ending at 50,000. The final levels cost far more than the early ones, so finish useful moves before treating every remaining stat diamond as urgent. ## Shared abilities: 12 purchases - **Knockdown Evasion:** $50. Use evade as Majima falls to recover sooner. - **Quickstep Strike:** $750 + 50 R; Rank 1. Attack after a quickstep. - **Grapple Counter:** $1,500 + 3,000 R; Rank 1. Counter tackles and full-nelson holds. It is not a universal escape from every grab animation. - **Perfect Guard:** $3,000 + 5,000 R; Rank 2. Guard at impact. It also works against guard-breaking attacks, though strong enemies may need more than one successful guard before opening up. - **Quickstep Boost:** $5,000 + 7,500 R; Rank 3. Allows three consecutive quicksteps in Mad Dog and two in Sea Dog. - **Heat Gauge Auto-Charge: Desperation:** $5,000 + 7,500 R; Rank 2. Builds Heat while health is low. - **Ultimate Counter: Desperation:** $7,500 + 10,000 R; Rank 3. Strengthens Ultimate Counters at low health. - **Goro Goro Booze Master:** $1,000 + 50 R; Rank 1. Opens alcohol preparation at cooking spots, including Goro Goro Awakening Beer. - **Increased Recovery at Restaurants:** three levels costing $1,000 + 750 R, then $3,000 + 5,000 R, then $10,000 + 25,000 R. Starts at Rank 1; buy sequentially. Improves healing from eating out. - **No Reservations:** $10,000 + 25,000 R; Rank 1. Lets you order while already at full health. Useful for restaurant completion. ## Mad Dog: 21 purchases **The charged-attack branches** - **Mad Dog Trick: Savage:** $20. Adds dagger follow-ups to your unarmed combo. - **Mad Dog Trick: Serpent:** first level $75. Hold light attack to charge a launcher. Second level costs $5,000 + 5,000 R, requires Rank 3 and the first level, and adds a leap toward the target when fully charged. - **Serpentine Madness:** $1,500 + 3,600 R; Rank 4 and fully upgraded Serpent. Launch an enemy with Serpent, then defeat them in the air to gain Madness. - **Mad Dog Trick: Chomp:** first level $75. Hold heavy attack for a forward dagger lunge. Second level costs $5,000 + 5,000 R; Rank 3 and the first level. Improves its reach and damage. - **Chomping Madness:** $1,500 + 3,600 R; Rank 4 and fully upgraded Chomp. Rewards connecting with several enemies. - **Mad Dog Trick: Frenzy:** first level $75. Hold grab for a spinning dagger attack. Second level costs $5,000 + 5,000 R; Rank 3 and the first level. Extends the spin. - **Frenzied Madness:** $1,500 + 3,600 R; Rank 4 and fully upgraded Frenzy. Hit at least three enemies with the spin to build Madness. **Clones, counters and aerial attacks** - **More Majima:** first level $1,000 + 2,000 R at Rank 1, increasing the summon to three doubles. Second level $7,500 + 15,000 R at Rank 3, after the first, increases it to four. - **Essence of Howling Shadows:** $10,000 + 20,000 R; Rank 4 and both More Majima levels. Summon four doubles, then use the Heat Action prompt while in fighting stance. - **Ultimate Counter: Wild Blade:** $7,400 + 15,000 R. Adds a follow-up to the Mad Dog Ultimate Counter. **Rank gate unresolved:** listed as Rank 2 in English tables and available after rank unlock in Japanese tables. Check the ability’s requirement panel. - **Mad Dog Trick: Demonfire Rain:** $7,500 + 15,000 R; Rank 3. Improves the dagger volley used by pressing grab in the air. - **Mad Dog Mastery: Perfect Quickstep:** $15,000 + 35,000 R. A precisely timed dodge briefly raises attack speed. **Rank gate unresolved:** Rank 2 or Rank 3 is reported. Check the menu at Rank 2 before delaying the purchase. - **Mad Dog Trick: Hannya Dance:** $10,000 + 16,000 R; Rank 4 and Perfect Guard. Counter a guard-breaking attack with Perfect Guard, then follow the heavy-attack prompt. Uses Heat and builds Madness. - **Mad Dog Trick: Demonfire:** $20,000 + 50,000 R; Rank 5. While in fighting stance, time heavy attack against an incoming hit for the dagger counter. **Other Heat Actions** - **Essence of Flowing Flight:** $1,000 + 850 R; Rank 1. Use the prompt near a jetpack to attack up to four enemies and send them into the water. - **Essence of the Mad Dog: Blade Flash:** $3,000 + 3,000 R; Rank 1. Trigger it from the heavy version of Quickstep Strike. Buy that shared move if you intend to use this action. - **Essence of the Mad Dog: Maul:** $3,000 + 3,000 R; Rank 1. A low-health Heat Action against a group of three enemies. ## Sea Dog: 18 purchases **Cutlass boomerang** - **Sea Dog Skill: Catch ’n’ Slash:** $50; requires access to the boomerang. Press light attack as it returns to continue into an attack. - **Sea Dog Skill: Cutlass Heave-Ho:** $5,000 + 5,000 R; Rank 3 and Catch ’n’ Slash. Expands the boomerang’s attack area. - **Cutlass Madness:** $2,000 + 13,000 R; Rank 4 and Cutlass Heave-Ho. Hit at least five enemies with a single throw to gain Madness. **Pistol** - **Sea Dog Skill: Charge ’n’ Shoot:** requires the story pistol. **First-level price unresolved:** English tables list $50; Japanese tables list $800 + 350 R. Budget the higher amount and confirm on-screen. The second level costs $5,000 + 5,000 R and requires Rank 3 plus the first level. These unlock the second and third charge stages. - **Pistol Madness:** $2,000 + 13,000 R; Rank 4 and both Charge ’n’ Shoot levels. Hit at least three enemies with a third-stage charged shot to gain Madness. **Chain hook** - **Sea Dog Skill: Chain Readiness:** $1,000 + 350 R; requires the story chain hook. Makes the hook fire sooner. - **Sea Dog Skill: Chain Reaction:** $5,000 + 5,000 R; Rank 3, the hook and Chain Readiness. After hooking a target, use grab to move behind them or heavy attack to drive through with your cutlass. - **Chained Madness:** $2,000 + 13,000 R; Rank 4 and Chain Reaction. Build Madness by hitting three enemies with its cutlass attack or pulling away an enemy’s shield. - **Ultimate Counter: Hook ’n’ Shoot:** $7,500 + 15,000 R; requires the hook. Adds a second attack to the Sea Dog Ultimate Counter. **Heat Actions** - **Essence of Piracy: Sidearm Shuffle:** $10,000 + 20,000 R; requires the hook. Hook an enemy, then use the heavy-attack prompt as you close in. - **Essence of Piracy: Rain of Blood:** $3,000 + 3,000 R; requires the pistol. Use heavy attack after a fully charged shot when five enemies are available. - **Essence of Piracy: Skip Rope Slash:** $3,000 + 3,000 R; requires the hook. Look for the prompt beside a downed enemy with two more nearby. - **Essence of Piracy: Deadly Skies:** $1,000 + 2,000 R; requires the hook. In fighting stance near the ship’s wheel, use the heavy-attack prompt. It can hit four to ten enemies. **Finishers and defensive upgrades** - **Sea Dog Skill: Triple Finisher:** $10,000 + 25,000 R. Adds a sidearm follow-up after a double finisher. **Minimum prerequisites unresolved:** Japanese lists name the hook; English lists add Cutlass Heave-Ho, Charge ’n’ Shoot and Chain Reaction, with one also naming Pistol Madness. Check it when you receive the hook. If locked, follow its menu requirements rather than purchasing every suggested prerequisite blindly. - **Sea Dog Supremacy: Perfect Guard:** $15,000 + 35,000 R; requires Perfect Guard. Raises attack damage temporarily after a successful timed guard. - **Sea Dog Skill: Snakebite:** $10,000 + 16,000 R; Rank 4 and Perfect Guard. Timed-guard a guard-breaking attack, then counter with heavy attack. Uses Heat and adds Madness. - **Sea Dog Skill: Perfect Guard Reversal:** $20,000 + 50,000 R; Rank 5 and Perfect Guard. Hold guard and time heavy attack just before a frontal hit lands. ## Put the upgrades to work For Mad Dog, practice Serpent into an aerial finish, Chomp through a line and Frenzy inside a group. Their Rank 4 upgrades make those same actions feed your next Madness activation. More Majima gives that activation more doubles, and Howling Shadows supplies the four-double Heat Action. For Sea Dog, keep groups together for the boomerang and charged pistol. Use the hook to reach a target, take a better angle or remove a shield. Buy the matching Madness upgrade once you can meet its hit requirement consistently. Heat and Madness are separate gauges. Owning a Heat Action does not make its prompt appear everywhere: you still need Heat, the correct style and the required enemy or environmental setup. Highlight an ability to check the controls for your platform. If a purchase is still locked, check four things in order: Pirate Rank, the previous level, the required shared ability, and story equipment. There is no reason to search Hawaii for a combat manual to bypass those gates.