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Like A Dragon: Ishinreprises one of these series' most recognizable features via Mukurogai’s dangerous brawling club: The Arena. This underground fight club presents the chance for Ryoma to hone his skills against the best fighters in all of Japan.
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As you progress through your journey, the Arena will expand its available competitions and add more fearsome foes for you to battle. Participating in the Arena early on is possible, but you’ll only receive a taste of the true challenge that awaits. Despite the time it takes to access its most rewarding events, the Arena will bean excellent stop on your postgame tour through the city.
What Are The Rules And Rewards For Arena
Upon your first visit to the Arena, you’ll be able to speak with the clerk and browse the available competitions and rules.
There are two major types of battles in the Arena:
TheKnockout Matcheswill pit Ryoma againstfive fighters in a row, tasking you with defeating each one without being defeated.
TheOne-Hundred Man Beatdownwill line up a set of 100 fighters to try to defeat Ryoma.The fighters will enter in groups of about ten, and a special challenger will emerge about once every 20 knockouts.
Competition names refer to thetheme for the foes you will face;you do not have to use a specific weapon or style in any of the Arena battles.
Most of these rules speak for themselves,except for the one rule they don’t have listed: restrictions on healing.
You will not be able to use healing items of any sort during any Arena match, nor will you have a break between opponents to heal.
Using items is not the only way to heal in Ishin.Certain weapon types allow you to regenerate healthwith each hit but are difficult to acquire.
Despite the inherent difficulty you will face in these battles, the rewards are worth it and offer you an incentive for each fight, even if you are defeated before completing an entire set of five fights.
In addition to the individual rewards, you will receive an extra bonus at the end of a tournament the longer your win streak is against fighters within that competition.
Each fighter has a chance to drop one of their two possible rewards, but they are not guaranteed.
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How To Unlock Banquet Of Might
The Banquet of Mightis the premier tournament in the Arena andwill take quite a great deal of time to unlock.
According to the poster, you can access this tournamentonce you’ve fought the strongest men in Kyo.
to unlock the tournament, you mustcomplete the Wanted Men missions and then master each combat styleby exhausting the lessons of each major trainer:
The Wanted Men missions can be located around the corner from the Arena.This location is called Tachibanagumi HQ and will becovered with wanted posters.
Speak with the woman at Tachibanagumi HQand begin fulfilling her requests.
Keep in mind thatyou must leave Mukurogai to refresh these mission requestsafter you complete each batch.
How To Choose A Style
Since you’ve unlocked the Banquet Of Might, you’ve had time to try out all four combat styles, each with its own distinct strengths and weaknesses.
While you should choose the style thatyoufeel offers the highest survivability,two styles stick out due to their excellent balance between offense and defense: Gunman and Wild Dancer.
Each style possessesa number of powerful combat skillsyou’ll make fantastic use of, especially dodging maneuvers like the Texas Two-Step.
The Banquet Of Might rewards fighters who are hard to hit, as your opponents all deal a large amount of damage if you are caught in a combo attack.
Here are some key factors to consider when weighing your choice of style.
- Damage from a distance
- Must be stationary to sustain fire
- High burst potential
- Requires careful spacing
- Access to various elemental bullets
- Guns prefer more seals
- High mobility
- No defense
- Easy to attack and then dodge
- Requires constant movement and combos
- High staggering potential
- High risk/high reward
- Fantastic damage per swing
- Slow, clunky attack style
- Good defensive pivot
Hard to chain combos
Requires dodging and blocking
Low overall damage
- Solid defensive moves
- Requires perfect timing
- Good at counter-attacks
- Easy to miss your punches
While you may make any style work if you are well-versed in how to fight with it,it’s recommended to go with the Wild Dancer Style if you prefer melee or the Gunman if you prefer range.
Despite its lack of defensive moves,the Wild Dancer style allows you to avoid foes who try to combo their attacksand makes it easy to get behind your attacker to punish them with your own combo.
Similarly, theGunman will allow you to make excellent use of range as you create space and dodge your foe’s attacks.
Always prioritize avoiding damage over dealing damage, as you must conserve health if you hope to triumph.
Which Weapons To Use In The Arena
The Arena is an incredible challenge no matter where you are in the game, so it is highly recommended that youfirst craft some of the best weapons in the gameas you prepare for the challenge.
Since Arena battles don’t afford the time to heal, there are two major recommendations to bring with you to mitigate this:
These weapons both share the ability torestore HP to you every time one of your attacks hits.
Murmasa has two perks that each restore eight percent HP per hit, while Cuckoo has one of the same perks.
The Last Of The DragonsandBlossoming Budswords also have the ability torestore HP on hit.Any sword or gun with this effect can be used as a replacement.
Alternatively, you can opt for all-out offensive setups if you are confident in your abilities to avoid damage, but these are risky and open the door to failed runs.
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Bosses, Weapons, And Loot Drops From The Arena
Each tournament has a set of fighters that you face in a random order each time.Their possible rewards and weapons are all listed so that you can prepare for the fights ahead.
Barehanded
Gold Hammer / Silver Hammer
The Banquet Of Might competitorsoffer some of themost challenging fights in the game.Avoid being caught in combos,especially by Komaki Munemitsu.
While you should be able to progress through each tournament without much issue, your final challenge will not be a walk in the park.
The Banquet of Might is made up of rematches against some of the most formidable foes and superb weapon masters you have encountered thus far.
How To Beat The Banquet Of Might
to tackle these fights, you will need to carefully study your opponent’s patterns and exploit their weaknesses. These are the best strategies for each boss fight.
Jozo Tengu
Jozo is the easiest of the five men you fight in the Banquet as his style is predictable and slow.
He will attack with a well-telegraphed sword slash in front of him or with a combination of slashes.Simply dodge to the side or behind and unleash your attacks.
Tojiro
Much like Jozo, Tojiro is not likely to last very long in your fight. While this ninja is capable of some surprising counter-attack kicks,he is exceptionally easy to stagger and can be cheesed.
You will notice that Tojiro likes to create space by simply turning his back and running away.
If youpush Tojiro into a cornerwhile he tries to do this,he can get stuck running into an invisible wall, allowing you to begin an unending combo of attacks on his back.
Alternatively, you cancontinue to slash at him as he runs away, and he occasionally forgets to turn around, allowing you to win as he runs endlessly.
Yukimitsu
Yukimitsu has a similar style to Jozo but is much faster and has more HP.
Yukimitsu will walk toward you slowly and then suddenly slash at you with one or two quick movements.
His attacks are difficult to predict with their small windups, sokeep moving and stay behind or to his side when he attacks.
Ginryu
Ginryu is the best swordsman in the group and shares Yukimitsu’s unpredictability. He can attack with a sudden forward dash that can easily knock you down.
He likes to chain combinations together,so don’t stop moving until he misses; keep dodging until the next attack, then counter.
Komaki Munemitsu
Komaki is easily the strongest man in the Arena and perhaps one of the most difficult fights in all of Ishin.
The key here is maintaining space so that you canget Komaki to attackright as you’re dodgingto ensure you avoid his tracking punches.Essentially the idea is:
If you are using melee,allow Komaki to finish his combos before going for your counter. He can sometimes add an extra punch when it seems he is done with his three-punch combo.
Avoid getting knocked down or caught by Komaki’s fists, as he can easily remove chunks of your HP bar in an instant.
Keep your distance andnever go for more than five sword slashes at once, or he will block you and counter-attack with a devastating combination.
