Like a Dragon Ishin: Battle Dungeon mini-game Like a Dragon Ishin guide, tips

Battle Dungeon is a large optional activityin Like a Dragon Ishin. This guide page explains how to unlock the mini-game, how to play the dungeon missions, how to obtain loot and Trooper Cards, how to develop Troopers and how to use their abilities.

Last update: 09 March 2023

On this page of the Like a Dragon: Ishin guide, you will learn about unlocking Battle Dungeon and completing dungeon missions. We discussed the most important assumptions of the minigame, as well as how to unlock Trooper Cards and how to use them, and what rewards are provided for exploring dungeons.

• Unlocking Battle Dungeon
• Setting up and using Troopers Cards
• Unlocking new Troopers
• Playing Dungeon missions

Unlocking Battle Dungeon

You will learn about Battle Dungeon in chapter 5. Todo will show you around the Shinsengumi Barracks and meet the Battle Dungeon Receptionist NPC.

You have to learn the basics of Battle Dungeon and do the first mission. From now on, you can return to the Receptionist whenever you want to complete new missions.

Location: Minigame - Battle Dungeon

Setting up and using Troopers Cards

From the moment you gain access to Battle Dungeon, you will also unlock Trooper Cards. They provide unique actions and passive bonuses. By default, you can have 3 Trooper Cards assigned to each of the 4 combat styles at any given time. You have a lot of freedom of choice here. However, we recommend that each set includes:

1. A card that increases the effectiveness of a given fighting style. It can be, for example, dealing more damage while having a given style active.
2. A card for healing or protecting Ryoma. They can, for example, heal you for free without using up any medicaments from your inventory.
3. A card with an AoE or special attack. They come in different forms - you can, for example, throw fireballs or shock enemies with electricity.

Assigned cards can level up until they reach a maximum level. In the case of starting cards, it can be level 40 and the game will not allow you to develop them further. Rare cards can be developed, for example, up to level 60 or 99. Each new level increases the card's stats.

There is an option to increase the number of cards assigned to a fighting style from 3 to 4. To do this, you must have a Trooper card with the Increases the number of trooper slots trait.

Placing said card in the active slot will unlock the fourth slot for that combat style. When using this style, you will be able to use 4 cards.

The cards assigned to a given style appear on the left side of the screen. Using attacks and defeating opponents gradually charges cards and will eventually allow you to activate them. This is done by default via the L2/LT + card button combination (e.g. right on the d-pad).

Trooper Cards are also available outside the Battle Dungeon - while exploring Kyo and doing quests. You can then charge and activate them in the same way and they can be helpful, for example, in weakening and defeating bosses from the main story.

During your first mission, you can choose whether card abilities should be activated manually or automatically. The first option is definitely better, because you will be able to use them when you want. For example, heal Ryoma after taking more damage, or do an AoE attack after encountering a group of enemies.

The choice from the tutorial mission is not final. You can go to Formation and Ability Activation in the Battle Dungeon menu to set your preferred activation method for each card set separately.

Trooper Cards extend Ryoma's health bar. The red part of the bar is Ryoma's main health obtained by developing his skills. The orange part results from having selected Trooper Cards - the better the cards, the longer the orange bar can be (so Ryoma will have more HP in total).

Red and orange regenerate in the same way, such as using medicine and food or visiting Ryoma's room in the Shinsengumi Barracks.

Unlocking new Troopers

The card pool is very limited initially, but you can acquire more. The simplest method is to play Battle Dungeon missions - at the end of each mission, the game draws 1 new card. You can accept it or reject it (e.g. if it is weak).

Another method is to search for candidates - the Enlistment option in the Battle Dungeon menu. You can decide how much Mon/Ryo you want to spend on searching, and a rarer or more common card will be drawn based on that.

From the moment Battle Dungeon is unlocked, enemies from random battles may want to join Ryoma - such a dialogue can trigger after winning the fight and you can agree or refuse.

You can also recruit unique NPCs from Substories. An example of such a character is Sumi Bozu from Substories #30 - #32 from Mukurogai. After completing his storyline, he can spawn near the Shinsengumi Barracks. This way, you can acquire cards with unique properties.

The game has a Trooper Card limit - you can deal with it in 2 ways:

1. Fuse cards - In the Battle Dungeon menu, go to Formation and select Fuse Troopers.
2. Increase card limit - Visit large shrines and spend Virtue on upgrades from the Trooper Squad category - each item purchased will increase the limit by 20 cards.

Playing Dungeon missions

There are 3 dungeons in the Battle Dungeon - Bandits' Cave (10 missions), Bandits' Mine (10 missions) and Sanada Stronghold (20 missions). You can't visit all of them right away. The new dungeon will only be unlocked after completing all the missions from the previous one.

You can and should repeat the available missions, e.g. to collect XP or get different rewards.

When choosing a mission, pay attention to:

1. Mission objectives - You can learn about them from its name. You may have to, e.g. look for chests with Ryo or defeat various elite enemies.
2. Difficulty - The mission's difficulty level is indicated by the number of stars.
3. Clear Reward - This is the main cash reward for completing the mission (2 Ryo in the example from the picture).
4. Obtainable Materials - You must additionally press Triangle/Y. A list of items that can be found will be displayed - these can be weapons and crafting materials. There is no guarantee that you will find an item from the list by playing a mission. You can come across different items and you may need to complete the mission several times to get the one you are looking for.

Most of the missions follow a very similar course:

1) You have to travel through dungeons and eliminate enemies. The map of the dungeon is drawn as you go and the purple icons can be helpful in determining the route to the destination.

2) You can come across loot containers. Destroy them with melee attacks to get random loot.

3) You can come across barricades (you can destroy them) and locked doors - in this case you need to find a switch in the dungeon that opens it. Spike traps may also spawn in some dungeons.

4) Ultimately, you need to find a passage to the last room of the dungeon.

5) In the final location, you will have to fight a boss/mini-boss and a group of regular enemies. The last missions in each dungeon are the most difficult, because you have to fight a much more challenging enemy - these fights are described on the How to defeat Leader of the Bandits? page.

After defeating the last enemies, you must reach the dungeon exit and confirm that you want to complete the mission.

You will go to the summary screen - check your loot and the new Trooper Card. You have a choice between adding it to your collection or discarding it.