Like A Dragon: Ishin Reveals Trooper Card Abilities and Squad Formations

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Sega has revealed the Trooper Card Abilities and Squad selection mechanics in Like a Dragon: Ishin.

These game elements have a massive impact on combat. In this full remake of the original game, players can now use Trooper Card Abilities in the main story battles.

Trooper Card Abilities

ishin trooper card

After Ryoma joins the Shinsengumi and makes some allies among its members, they can aid him in battle in the form of cards and provide support with their Trooper Card Abilities.

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ishin trooper card

Trooper Cards have a variety of unique abilities. Some of them can enhance Ryoma’s strength through a buff-like effect, restore his health, allow him to activate powerful abilities, and much more.

There is a huge, diverse cast of troopers in the game, including familiar faces from the series, beloved characters from the more recent Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and even animals like bears. Mix and match to make the perfect squad!

Bringing In The Squad

Ryoma can assemble a squad of up to four troopers, with one being assigned the role of Corporal. A Squad and its Troopers must be linked to one of your combat styles. The way you fight will be heavily influenced by your Corporal and squad formation.

Varied and Powerful Trooper Card Abilities

There is a great variety of Trooper Card Abilities in “Like a Dragon: Ishin!”. The Troopers are largely divided into categories based on their characteristics. Offensive Troopers can increase Ryoma’s attack and direct attack, Defensive Troopers with their high stamina can give Ryoma a defense boost, Medical Troopers can provide healing while Assist Troopers and Support Troopers can provide a variety of additional buffs.

You can gain access to explosive techniques by allying with powerful Troopers. Some Troopers also have abilities that create supportive, buff-like effects or even restore your health. How you combine different Troopers will have a huge impact on how they can support you. You can explore and consider how each Trooper can work to your advantage to fit with your combat style and strategically adjust your Squad combinations to match your style!

Some Trooper Card Abilities

ishin trooper card

Ishioda Denji – Essence of the Dimensional Blade. Compresses heat into a blade and then unleashes it in a spinning area-of-effect (AoE) attack that damages nearby enemies.

ishin trooper card

Ryudo Rikiya – Essence of Explosive Impact. This fierce technique explodes Heat around Ryoma, burning nearby foes while knocking them down. It’s a good way to create space when surrounded by many enemies.

ishin trooper card

Toranosuke – Essence of the Sovereign Tiger. A powerful move that sets a ferocious tiger pouncing on the enemy, which damages them with its sharp fangs and flings them far away.

Trooper Card Abilities

By cleverly combining and lining up your squad’s Trooper Abilities, you can unleash powerful attacks with great impact, massively reduce your ability cooldowns, and use one ability to compensate for another ability’s weak spots, all making your Trooper Abilities even stronger.

For example, you can use Yonashiro Shozo’s “Essence of the Void” to gather surrounding foes in one place, and then strike them all with a piercing attack through Tendo Yojiro’s “Essence of the Unyielding Wave”. This combination makes it easy to deal heavy damage to large numbers of enemies.

Kasuga Ichinojo’s “When Words Fail” is a powerful ability that causes all attacks to deal critical damage. However, the effect’s short duration makes it difficult to use efficiently. On the other hand, Shinada Tatsunosuke’s “Time is Fleeting” slows down time. You can activate his ability when enemies are in attack range, and then follow up with Kasuga’s Trooper Card Abilities. This lets you land more hits and use Kasuga’s ability more effectively.

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Like A Dragon: Ishin will launch on the 22nd of February 2023 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

For more information on the game check out our interview with the game’s Producer Masayoshi Yokoyama.