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Like A Dragon: Ishin brings mainstay features of the series together with clever innovations, such as Trooper Cards. Once Ryoma takes his first steps into the world of the Shinsengumi, you can venture over to the Mission Receptionist in the right-hand corner after entering the Shinsengumi HQ.
At this point, you have full access to both the Battle Dungeon and Trooper Cards, which will thus allow you to recruit further members to join the Shinsengumi ranks. However, recruiting an army takes time, effort, and money – you will need to hone your skills and build up your bankroll during the main story before you can hope to defeat the Battle Dungeon.
What Are Battle Dungeons & Trooper Cards?
Diving straight into the menu for Battle Dungeons and Trooper Cards at the Mission Receptionist at Shinsengumi HQ can be extremely overwhelming, so it's important to grasp the basics before you take on the challenge.
You must reach the point where you become a Shinsengumi Captain in Chapter Five: The Iron Code to fully access these features.
Trooper Cards
Trooper Cards feature cameos from several Yakuza characters whose models were not used for NPCs. In addition to their references to the other games in the series, these Trooper Card characters each provide a Trooper Ability and a Corporal Trait.
Content Creators and prominent Yakuza community members were given special Legendary Trooper Cards that can be acquired via the free DLC "Elite Generals Trooper Card Bundle."
Each Trooper Card can be assigned to a team, and each team can be assigned to a particular combat style. Some Trooper cards can only affect a given style, while other cards serve to augment your combat skills regardless of style.
Once you have selected a team of Trooper Cards and assigned them to a combat style, then you can begin using them in battle.
In order to use a Trooper Card's Trooper Ability, you must first charge up energy in combat by landing attacks and performing combos. Once fully charged, your Trooper will be ready to use their Trooper Ability. This can be activated regardless of which slot the Trooper Card is in.
In order to activate a Trooper's Corporal Trait, they must be placed in the first slot of a team, known as the Corporal slot.
Keep in mind that Corporal Traits can be completely ignored if the card is not in the first slot, so focus on the Trooper Ability sections on your regular team members.
The Battle Dungeon
Once you have fully set up your Trooper Card load-outs, you can head into the Battle Dungeon and prepare for the long road of bloodshed ahead.
Each dungeon will offer rewards throughout the rooms and at the end of the route once you defeat the final room's enemies. The rewards scale according to the difficulty, so the rarest crafting materials can be located at the Sanada Stronghold.
Dungeon Name |
Number Of Missions |
Difficulty |
---|---|---|
Bandits' Cave |
10 |
Easy |
Bandits' Mine |
10 |
Medium |
Sanada Stronghold |
20 |
Hard |
In order to complete a dungeon, you will need to progress through each room, searching for levers to open doors while defeating enemies in your path. Eventually, you will face a final room of more difficult enemies in order to reach the final location, the Sanada Stronghold.
At the end of the Sanada Stronghold, you will face a powerful opponent in Sanada (Sodachi) Nobuyasu, so come prepared with your best weapons and plenty of healing items.
How To Recruit New Troopers
Trooper Cards can be acquired in one of four ways:
- Paying to recruit at the Mission Receptionist.
- Defeating groups of enemies can award a Trooper Card when a defeated foe requests to join.
- Completing certain substories.
- Purchasing or Downloading DLC.
Each method is very straightforward, but some unique characters require you to invest time into completing substories like the Wanted Men missions to acquire them.
Once you complete the main story, Legendary Troopers will be available as possible rewards for defeating roaming groups of enemies around the map.
If you are only interested in collecting the Legendary Troopers that feature several notable characters from the series, then your best bet is to recruit Troopers for ten Ryo each at the Shinsengumi Mission Receptionist.
How To Choose Trooper Cards
The best way to build your teams is to sort by rarity and then narrow down your options based on the type of Trooper you need.
The five Rarity Tiers from best to worst are:
- Legendary (Gold)
- Epic (Purple)
- Rare (Blue)
- Uncommon (Green)
- Common (White)
In addition, there are five types of Troopers to consider:
- Offensive
- Defensive
- Medical
- Assist
- Support
In general, Legendary Trooper Cards offer the best effects regardless of their type. Aside from Legendary Troopers, there are several named characters in Ishin who have Epic Trooper Cards that can be exceptionally useful.
Here are some powerful Trooper Card recommendations for each combat style:
Best Brawlers
Trooper Name |
Rarity |
Type |
---|---|---|
Sumi Bozo |
Epic |
Offensive |
Kuroikazuchi Yuya |
Epic |
Assist |
Jozo Tengu |
Epic |
Offensive |
Ryudo Rikiya |
Legendary |
Offensive |
Best Gunmen
Trooper Name |
Rarity |
Type |
---|---|---|
Kasuga Ichinojo |
Legendary |
Offensive |
Sayama Kaho |
Legendary |
Defensive |
Uta Hortiemon |
Epic |
Offensive |
Tom |
Epic |
Assist |
Best Swordsmen
Trooper Name |
Rarity |
Type |
---|---|---|
Tojiro |
Epic |
Offensive |
Tendo Yojiro |
Legendary |
Offensive |
Minami Daigoro |
Epic |
Offensive |
Kasuga Ichinojo |
Legendary |
Offensive |
Best Wild Dancers
Trooper Name |
Rarity |
Type |
---|---|---|
Yukimitsu |
Epic |
Offensive |
Makimura Mako |
Legendary |
Medical |
Ishioda Denji |
Legendary |
Offensive |
Shinada Tatsunosuke |
Legendary |
Offensive |
Battle Dungeon Tips
With your Trooper Cards now set, you can head into the Battle Dungeon areas with unwavering confidence in your newly formed team of Shinsengumi. While the Bandit's Mine and Cave are essentially warmups, your real test will come in the Sanada Stronghold, which houses one of the hardest bosses in Ishin.
You will need to craft some of the game's strongest weapons if you hope to make it through this gauntlet alive.
Come equipped with plenty of healing items and at least one weapon that has the Bewitched seal, which will allow you to regenerate HP with each hit.
Each area is a marathon, not a sprint, so be careful to conserve as much health as you can, and only use healing items once your health is low to get the most value from your medicine.
Many of the rooms will feature both ranged and melee attackers – focus on ranged foes first to avoid absorbing damage from stray bullets.
If you are unsure of where to go next, check your minimap as there will be a small purple dot leading you in the direction you need to go next.