LIKE A DRAGON: ISHIN! (2023): ALL 10 SKILL CHALLENGES

LIKE A DRAGON: ISHIN! (2023): ALL 10 SKILL CHALLENGES These are the rule-based battles in the post-story Ultimate Challenge menu. Before attacking, check what actually counts as damage. Several stages deliberately make your usual approach useless. Controls below use PlayStation/Xbox notation. Triangle/Y is the heavy-attack and Heat Action button, Circle/B is grab, and R2/RT activates special moves. Follow your own bindings on keyboard. SKILL 1: DIFFERENT HEAT ACTIONS ONLY Defeat everyone using Heat Actions. Each distinct action can hurt enemies only once, and your Heat replenishes. Repeating the same animation is the trap. Work through several styles and situations. Try a Brawler grab action, a ground finisher, Gunman's grab-and-shoot action, a Swordsman action, and Wild Dancer's quickstep action. When a move offers different follow-up prompts, pay attention to them instead of pressing the same button automatically. Ordinary attacks are useful for creating knockdowns or positioning, not for dealing the finishing damage. SKILL 2: SPECIAL MOVES ONLY The R2/RT special moves are what count here, not ordinary Heat Actions. Heat refills, so you do not need to ration it for the whole stage. Wild Dancer's Dragon God Dance is the simple crowd option: hold the special-move button and steer into the group. For armored opponents, use Swordsman's Dragonfang Flash. Hold the button until the sword is sheathed, release for the first strike, then press light attack to chain further strikes. Keep an eye on the remaining enemies before launching the next move. SKILL 3: DESTROY THE SCARECROWS IN 3:30 Advance through the course and clear every target. Use your sword on the tough black scarecrows if the supplied pistol is taking too long. Switching between Swordsman and Wild Dancer during a combo is another way to keep attacking rather than waiting through recovery. Move behind durable targets when possible. Shoot the two gold scarecrows behind barriers, where melee cannot reach. Red shooting targets deserve attention before they repeatedly knock you down. For a dense row, Wild Dancer's special move can spend the Heat you have built on several targets at once. If a run is failing, notice where it slows down. Missing a target, shooting tough scarecrows from a poor position, and repeated knockdowns need different fixes. SKILL 4: A 99-HIT COMBO IN ONE MINUTE Use Wild Dancer and keep enemies within reach. Phoenix Frenzy, the Circle/B sequence, builds hits quickly. Dodge out of the end and resume attacking rather than letting Ryoma pause. Watch the combo counter. Taking a hit or leaving too long between hits can end the chain. Your goal is one uninterrupted 99-hit sequence, not 99 attacks spread across the attempt. SKILL 5: REACH DEADLY RANK If the objective text says Godly, keep going: Deadly is the required rank above it. Use variety. Mix last-second dodges, parries or counters, sustained combos, different Heat Actions, and different styles. Repeating one comfortable attack can leave the rank stuck even while you are winning. If you stall, change the kind of action you are performing, not merely the enemy you are hitting. A practical order is to get some clean evasions first, build combos, then rotate through distinct Heat Actions. Add counters or special moves if the rating still needs a push. SKILL 6: KEEP AKIMOTO ALIVE Protect him for two minutes, or end the danger sooner by defeating all 12 attackers. He runs toward trouble instead of staying safely behind you. Stay near Akimoto. Use Wild Dancer's mobility and sweeping attacks to interrupt enemies surrounding him, then move with him when he changes position. Do not chase a nearly defeated soldier across the arena while two others are attacking your escort. His health, not your combo, is the priority. SKILL 7: 100 ENEMIES WITH THE CANNON IN 90 SECONDS Use the mounted cannon and keep firing. Aim until the reticle turns red rather than relying on vague shots into the crowd. Give armored enemies repeated direct hits; nearby ordinary soldiers can be caught in the blast. If a durable target survives several shots, correct your aim before wasting more time. SKILL 8: RED, THEN YELLOW, THEN BLUE Defeat those three ninjas in that order without harming anyone else. There is no reason to rush into the whole group. Lock onto the current target and separate him from the others before attacking. Short, controlled attacks are safer than wide Wild Dancer combinations or loose gunfire. Stop attacking if another ninja moves into the line of fire. Correct target selection matters more than damage per second. SKILL 9: EIGHT ENEMIES, PICKED-UP WEAPONS ONLY, 90 SECONDS Start with the tuna weapons, then use the lumber and bamboo beneath the tables. There are more useful objects beyond the starting area, including another tuna. Try to catch several enemies in each swing. Durability is limited. Blocked hits waste your weapon, and missed swings waste the timer. As soon as a weapon breaks, move to another instead of slipping back into unarmed combos. Keep the fight near the objects you intend to use next. SKILL 10: CLEAR THE ARENA There is no time limit. Clear the ordinary swordsmen, then deal with the large armored club users. Use sword attacks to remove armor and finish with your preferred style. Keep moving if a giant starts winding up beside you. Do not build your plan around the mounted guns: your normal weapons are enough for this stage.