Like a Dragon Gaiden: 10 BEST Armor And Gear [Hands-On]

After 30+ hours and obtaining the Platinum Trophy, here is my recommendation for gear and armor in Like a Dragon Gaiden

My list of Like a Dragon Gaiden best gear & armor is focused on helping you get the best start, especially since this game can be challenging early on when Kiryu’s viability is limited. To counteract that, you can put on these gear pieces to provide extra attack and defense stats to Kiryu and gain resistance to a few damage types if needed.

Before You Start: A few gear pieces in the game can be found via the Locker Keys, but most are purchasable via NPC merchants such as the Akame Shop or Castle Boutique.
Important: I strongly encourage investing in Akame Network’s increased points investment first, allowing you to gain enough points through side activities to buy the gear pieces showcased here as soon as possible.
Key Takeaways
  • The Like a Dragon Gaiden Best Gear focuses on my 10 personal picks out of over 30+ gear items.
  • Advantage of using the best gear and armor can help you out immensely in difficult battles in both the Colosseum and the Main Story.
  • The Disadvantage of not using gear is that you may suffer a lot of damage from enemies, and without a high attack stat, Kiryu will have a low damage output.
  • In my opinion, the best gear in the game is the Dragon God Amulet due to its high stats.

Best Gear & Armor Summary

Following is a summary of the Like a Dragon Gaiden best gear and armor, along with their stats:

SR NO.GEARSTATS/EFFECTSHOW TO GET
10Bloody Talisman+260 Attack
-580 Defense
Shock Resistance
Gradually recovers health when near death.
Akame Shop (Level 3) for 800x Akame Points.
9Bulletproof VestDefense +160
Bullet Defense +180
Reduces Gun damage & allows guard against bullet damage
Wanpark Clothier: 40,000 Yen
Locker Keys G2 & A2
8Fearless Binding+120 Attack
+440 Defense
Bleed Resistance
Love Magic & Castle Boutique: 485,000 Yen
Locker Key B5
7Contact Lenses+120 Attack
Allows you to spot nearby Locker Keys on the map.
Mizorogi’s Workshop: 14,000 Yen
Locker Key D2
6Eye of the Dragon+260 Attack
+260 Defense
Increased Akame Point generation
Mizorogi’s Workshop: 1,138,000 Yen
5Great Fortune Silver Undies+300 Attack
+300 Defense
Love Magic & Castle Boutique: 200,000 Yen
4Sengoku Armor+120 Attack
+160 Defense
+280 Blade Defense
Bleed Resistance
Castle Boutique: 1,984,000 Yen
Locker Key C5
3Dragon's Binding+240 Attack
+600 Defense
Bleed Resistance
Akame Network Shop (Level 4): 16,000 Points
Castle Boutique: 1,984,000 Yen
2Dragon God Amulet+600 Attack
+600 Defense
Continually replenishes your heat at low health in combat.
Akame Network Shop (Level 4): 60,000 Points
1War God TalismanHeat auto-regenerates during battle.Defeat Gai Amon

10. Bloody Talisman

Best Attack Stat Gear

lad gaiden best gear
Bloody Talisman (Image by Me)
STATS/EFFECTS BONUS
  • +260 Attack
  • -580 Defense
  • Shock Resistance
  • Gradually recovers health when near death.
HOW TO GET
Why I picked this Offers a risk-reward playstyle
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Once I started investing in the Akame shop inventory upgrade midway through Chapter 2, the Bloody Talisman immediately caught my eye. It’s obviously not the best choice (hence the ranking), though I found the attack stat bonus helpful. However, that bonus comes at the cost of your defense stat, which is lowered heavily, but at least you get the added effect of HP regen when close to death, making it a double-edged sword.

I only recommend using the Bloody Talisman if you’re skilled at the brawler combat since you’ll receive increased damage via the negative defense.

9. Bulletproof Vest

Best Early Game Gear

like a dragon gaiden best gear
Bulletproof Vest (Image by Me)
STATS/EFFECTS BONUS
  • Defense +160
  • Bullet Defense +180
  • Reduces Gun damage & allows guard against bullet damage
HOW TO GET
  • Wanpark Clothier: 40,000 Yen
  • Locker Keys: 
    • G2: On top of Zuboraya’s pufferfish sign on Sotenbori Street, grabbed using Spider string.
    • A2: In the back of the Poppo Store on Sotenbori Street.
Why I picked this Easily obtainable through different sources and provides good stats.
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The Bulletproof Vest is one of the best Like a Dragon Gaiden armor gear pieces you can obtain, either by purchasing from Wanpark Clothier or using the Locker Keys I pointed out from the earliest chapters. Furthermore, I found the gun damage resistance useful because some enemies use handguns in fights, which can cause great damage if you’re not careful in evading their shots.

8. Fearless Binding

Best Mid-game gear

like a dragon gaiden best armor
Fearless Binding (Image by Me)
STATS/EFFECTS BONUS
  • +120 Attack
  • +440 Defense
  • Bleed Resistance
HOW TO GET
  • Love Magic & Castle Boutique: 485,000 Yen
  • Locker Key B5: Located on a stair railing in front of the Castle Gambling Hall
Why I picked this Obtainable via a Locker Key and offers a balanced stat bonus.
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The Fearless Binding provides you with a decent stat bonus spread and makes you resistant to the bleed status effect. Let me clarify that Bleed will be one of the most common status effects applied to you via knife and other bladed attacks by enemies. So I found the Fearless Bindings incredibly potent in allowing a counter against it, especially for certain boss fights and encounters in the latter chapters.

7. Contact Lenses

Best Utility-based Gear

like a dragon gaiden best gear
Contact Lenses (Image by Me)
STATS/EFFECTS BONUS
  • +120 Attack
  • Allows you to spot nearby Locker Keys on the map.
HOW TO GET
  • Mizorogi’s Workshop: 14,000 Yen
  • Locker Key D2: In the Hostess information area, right above the ‘E Shofukucho’ text on the map.
Why I picked this Makes it easy to collect Locker Keys right from the early going.
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Despite not having huge stat bonuses, Contact lenses should be only used to collect most of the Locker Key items, as it will mark known or closeby keys on your map. It is especially helpful when trying to collect the secret Pocket Circuit items from the Lockers in Sotenbori. It allowed me access to several Locker Keys that gave me useful healing items and, of course, free gear, such as the Bulletproof vest.

6. Eye Of The Dragon

Best Gear To Boost Progression

lad gaiden eye of the dragon
Eye of the Dragon (Image by Me)
STATS/EFFECTS BONUS
  • +260 Attack
  • +260 Defense
  • Increased Akame Point generation
HOW TO GET Mizorogi’s Workshop: 1,138,000 Yen
Why I picked this Increased Akame Points mean you won’t have to grind so much.
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After the Contact Lenses for their usefulness, I would strongly recommend getting the Eye of the Dragon as the increased Akame Points gained from activities will allow you to easily upgrade Kiryu’s abilities and have enough surplus points for the shop to buy the best gear I’ve showcased. The best part is that you can get it easily in the earliest moments of Like a Dragon Gaiden via Mizorogi’s workshop if you have a spare 1 million Yen.

5. Great Fortune Silver Undies

Best Balanced Stat Gear

great fortune Silver undies
Great Fortune Silver Undies (Image by Me)
STATS/EFFECTS BONUS
  • +300 Attack
  • +300 Defense
HOW TO GET Love Magic & Castle Boutique: 200,000 Yen
Why I picked this Provides a great stat spread for a median amount of Yen spent on it.
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The Great Fortune Silver Undies are available in the Castle Boutique’s extension room once you reach Gold Rank in the Colosseum. Compared to the Gold Undies (which are insanely priced at 50,000,000 Yen), I found these more worthwhile because, at that point in the game, you will easily have 200,000 Yen to spare, plus the adequate stat bonuses here are easily worth it if you’re trying to min-max gear slots for Kiryu.

4. Sengoku Armor

Best Defense Armor

like a dragon gaiden best armor
Sengoku Armor (Image by Me)
STATS/EFFECTS BONUS
  • +120 Attack
  • +160 Defense
  • +280 Blade Defense 
  • Bleed Resistance
HOW TO GET
  • Castle Boutique: 1,984,000 Yen
  • Locker Key C5: On Castle Central Street, atop a small signpost behind a Carriage near the Helipad.
Why I picked this Offers great defense stats, plus the blade defense and resistance.
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I know someone may argue that the Blesswood Armor provides the most overall Defense, but the reason why I chose Sengoku Armor, in my opinion, is that it also boosts your attack, along with providing the blade defense with resistance to bleeding. The defense stat itself isn’t the best for endgame, but how easily you can acquire it via a Locker Key makes it a clear winner for me to use.

3. Dragon’s Binding

Best Gear for Min-Maxing Stats

lad gaiden dragon's binding
Dragon’s Binding (Image by Me)
STATS/EFFECTS BONUS
  • +240 Attack
  • +600 Defense
  • Bleed Resistance
HOW TO GET
  • Akame Network Shop (Level 4): 16,000 Points
  • Castle Boutique: 1,984,000 Yen
Why I picked this Gives you Bleed Resistance along with great stats for the mid-game sections.
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The Dragon’s Binding is a choice you have on whether you want it via the Castle Boutique for Yen or use Akame Points to obtain it. I used the latter here since I had a surplus amount of points, which I wasn’t even going to use on anything else besides upgrading Kiryu’s abilities (which already seemed too overpowered, in my opinion).

If you’re going for the Platinum Trophy, you should easily have enough Yen or Points to buy it from either source because I had it equipped for the remainder of the late game, including against the secret Amon boss fight.

2. Dragon God Amulet

Best Endgame Gear

lad gaiden best armor
Dragon God Amulet (Image by Me)
STATS/EFFECTS BONUS
  • +600 Attack
  • +600 Defense
  • Continually replenishes your heat at low health in combat.
HOW TO GET Akame Network Shop (Level 4): 60,000 Points
Why I picked this Provides the best stat bonuses and refills heat at the brink of death.
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The Dragon God Amulet requires a hefty purchase of 60,000 Akame Points. For someone who might have scarce points even in the latter chapters, this can seem much, but trust me when I say that this gear carried me through the Colosseum’s Platinum Rank fights. Furthermore, the Amulet’s Heat regen effects also gave me a last-resort tactic when facing the Amon boss fight in near-death moments.

1. War God Talisman

Most Overpowered Gear

like a dragon gaiden war god talisman
War God Talisman (Image by Me)
STATS/EFFECTS BONUS Heat auto-regenerates during battle.
HOW TO GET Defeat Gai Amon
Why I picked this Auto-Regen Heat allows you to breeze past fights with ease.
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If you’re a veteran Yakuza fan like me, you will instantly recognize this recurring gear piece, which is overpowered in almost every franchise entry. However, by the time you defeat Gai Amon, the secret boss fight of Like a Dragon Gaiden, you won’t have many incentives to use it anywhere aside from repeating Colosseum fights.

So I personally hope RGG Studios pushes out an NG+ update for the game so I can preferably use it in another playthrough against all the main story encounters.

My Opinion On The Best Gear & Setup

Gaiden platinum trophy
My Platinum Trophy of LAD Gaiden on PSN (Image by Me)

If you ask me, as someone who’s gotten the Platinum Trophy now, I strongly recommend getting the Contact Lenses and Eye of the Dragon as soon as possible due to their effect benefits. Later on, try to get the Dragon God Amulet because not only is it the Like a Dragon Gaiden best gear for me, but it also makes the final story encounters a cakewalk even on the Professional Difficulty.

However, I wouldn’t advise using these gear items against the final story boss because, to me, it honestly ruins the epic clash between him and Kiryu, so it’s up to you if you want to use them.

This brings me to the end of the guide. If you have any questions regarding the gear or their locations, please comment below. Lastly, be sure to check out Asad Ahmad’s Review of Like a Dragon Gaiden for his in-depth thoughts and analysis. As always, eXputer wishes you luck!

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Usama Mehmood is a Games Specialist, and writer on eXputer who's either hunting for the richest loot in Destiny 2 or endlessly playing his favorite games such as Yakuza or Final Fantasy. Usama has been gaming for 15+ years during which he has accumulated 4000+ hours on Destiny 1 & 2. His constant adoration for video games has allowed him to pursue eXputer as a platform to showcase his striving talents in writing helpful articles. Get familiar with Usama's extensive gaming library on his Steam, PSN, and Xbox profiles.

Experience: 2+ Years || Mainly Covers Reviews And Guides || Education: Bachelors in Physiotherapy.

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