Trooper Cards - Best Troopers
Trooper Cards are a key combat mechanic in Like a Dragon: Ishin! Once you unlock it, you’ll gain powerful bonuses and abilities that will turn you into the ultimate samurai. You’ll be collecting and upgrading cards until the end of the game.
With this IGN guide, you’ll learn how Trooper Cards work, how to unlock them, and which are the best to equip your styles with.
Below you can find the quick links to each section:
What Are Trooper Cards?
In Chapter 5, when you become a captain of the Shinsengumi, you’ll unlock a series of missions called Battle Dungeons. At the same time, you’ll earn a new mechanic that will help you clear every dungeon: Trooper Cards.
These are cards that represent soldiers under your command. You can equip one under each directional button for each style, meaning, you’ll have 16 cards equipped at all times. Each card offers you a passive bonus (extra health, armor, strength, etc.) and an ability you can activate.
There’s a wild range of abilities, from simply damage boosters and healing techniques to overpower magic attacks that will destroy your enemies. To activate them, you need to charge the gauge under the card by fighting.
Also, you can earn new cards while playing (more on this in a minute) and upgrade the ones you already have just by using them in battles.
How To Get New Trooper Cards
You have three different ways of earning new recruits as cards:
- Battle Dungeons missions. This is not a guaranteed method, but you usually will get one soldier at the end of each dungeon.
- Random encounters with enemies. If one of the enemies has its face covered, you’re in luck: they will ask you to let them fight for you when you beat them.
- Enlistment Fee. As you make progress in the main story and in Battle Dungeons, you’ll unlock this option. By spending some money, you’ll get random recruits. The higher you pay, the higher the chances that they are really good cards.
The Best Trooper Cards
We have a list for you at the end of the section, but before that, there are a couple of things worth mentioning.
To begin with, while there are stronger cards than others, this will all depend on your playstyle, which style you like using the most, and a bit of luck since there’s a randomness factor attached to what cards you can get from battles.
The second thing you should know is that, in fact, all cards will give you a significant boost in combat, and unless you’re playing in the highest difficulty, you can reach the credits without changing your initial roster (and even don’t paying much attention this mechanic at all).
Finally, and related to the previous point, the strongest cards are the Legendary Trooper Cards. These ones have a golden portrait and a broken ability or stat that will boost your chances in any battle significantly.
While you can unlock some of them by using the three ways listed in the previous section, you need to know two things: the chances of getting them are much lower when compared to regular cards, and you can get most Legendary Trooper Cards instantly by getting some DLC set. Before spending any real money, it’s worth mentioning that quite possibly the strongest cards of them all come in a free pack.
Below you will find a table with each Legendary card, explaining how you can acquire it.
Name | Obtainable in-game? | DLC? | Free/Paid |
---|---|---|---|
Nishitani Shigeharu | Yes | No | - |
Ryudo Rikiya | Yes | No | - |
Ishioda Denji | Yes | No | - |
Shinada Tatsunosuke | Yes | No | - |
Song Hyun | Yes | No | - |
Tendo Yojiro | Yes | No | - |
Sayama Kaho | Yes | No | - |
Yama-Goroshi | Yes | No | - |
Mamezo | Yes | Yes, Expansion Kit DLC. | Paid |
Kasuga Ichinojo | Yes | Yes, Expansion Kit DLC. | Paid |
Mukoda Sae | Yes | Yes, Expansion Kit DLC. | Paid |
Makimura Mako | Yes | Yes, Expansion Kit DLC. | Paid |
Karaage | Yes | Yes, Expansion Kit DLC. | Paid |
Toranosuke | Yes | Yes, Expansion Kit DLC. | Paid |
Rahul Kohil | No | Yes, Elite Generals Trooper Cards. | Free |
Kenny Omega | No | Yes, Elite Generals Trooper Cards. | Free |
Cohh Carnage | No | Yes, Elite Generals Trooper Cards. | Free |
Vampy Bit Me | No | Yes, Elite Generals Trooper Cards. | Free |
Alex Moukala | No | Yes, Elite Generals Trooper Cards. | Free |
Nyatasha Nyanners | No | Yes, Elite Generals Trooper Cards. | Free |
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