Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Kiryu awakening guide - Everything you need to know

Kazuma Kiryu in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Credit: RGG Studio

Kazuma Kiryu in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Credit: RGG Studio

Want to know how to best boost Kazuma Kiryu's awakening traits to unlock his full potential in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth? Then we got you covered.

In Like a Dragon 8, not only do you get to play as Ichiban Kasuga, the heir to Kiryu's throne as series protagonist, but the former Tojo Clan chairman gets his time to shine one last time, with players getting to level him up with a ton of stats to keep track of.

In this guide, we'll explain everything you need to know about Kiryu and his awakening traits, how to increase, and the perks they'll give you. If you're here, you might consider checking out our Ichiban Kasuga personality guide too.

Kazuma Kiryu personality traits explained in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Similar to Ichiban, Kiryu has personality traits that can be levelled up to give him an edge in combat. While the Dragon of Dojima will be playable for a few of the early chapters in Like a Dragon 8, you won't get to fully explore him until Chapter 8, which is where you'll get access to his personality traits.

Unlike Ichiban, however, Kiryu only has three personality traits compared, called Soul, Body, and Tech. Each comes with unique perks and is pertaining to a fighting style within the Dragon of Dojima job. Soul benefits the Brawler style, Tech is for the Rush one, and Body buffs the Beast style.

A screenshot of Kiryu's awakening stats in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
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Credit: RGG Studio
Kiryu's awakening works similar to Ichiban's personality

Each of these stats comes with 10 unique levels of potency. Let's see what each offers.

Soul perks

  • Level 1: No benefits
  • Level 2: Can perform Heat Actions near a stunned enemy (Brawler style)
  • Level 3: Increases Blind resistance
  • Level 4: Unlocks Perfect Guard counterattack (Brawler style)
  • Level 5: Increases Blind resistance
  • Level 6: Enhances basic attacks in close combat (Brawler style)
  • Level 7: Increases Blind resistance
  • Level 8: Increases Fire resistance
  • Level 9: Increases Blind resistance
  • MAX: Can perform Heat Actions with nearby objects (Brawler style)

Tech perks

  • Level 1: No benefits
  • Level 2: Basic attacks may stun enemies in close combat (Rush style)
  • Level 3: Increases silence resistance
  • Level 4: Increases ice resistance
  • Level 5: Increases silence resistance
  • Level 6: Increases Evasion (Rush style)
  • Level 7: Increases silence resistance
  • Level 8: Enhances basic attacks in close combat (Rush style)
  • Level 9: Increases silence resistance
  • MAX: Increases Evasion and critical hit rate (Rush style)

Body perks

  • Level 1: No benefits
  • Level 2: Can lift heavier objects (Beast style)
  • Level 3: Increases poison resistance
  • Level 4: Enhance weapon attacks using nearby objects (Beast style)
  • Level 5: Increases poison resistance
  • Level 6: Enhances physical attacks after guarding (Beast style)
  • Level 7: Increases poison resistance
  • Level 8: Increases electric resistance
  • Level 9: Increases poison resistance
  • MAX: Enhances basic attacks in close combat (Beast style)

How to increase awakening traits in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

A menu in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth detailing Kiryu's stats
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Credit: RGG Studio
There are many ways to level up Kiryu's stats

There are multiple methods to awaken the Dragon of Dojima. The three main features are Life Links, Memoirs of a Dragon, and Unfinished Business which all fall under the bucket list category. These are things that Kiryu Kazuma wishes to accomplish before he passes away.

Life Links

Life Links are major episodes that tie up loose ends for Kiryu in some aspects of his past, there are a total of eight Life Links that you can acquire by levelling your awakening traits and progressing through the main story's chapters. These hand out +70 to a different stat.

Memoirs of a Dragon

Around Yokohama and other locales Kiryu will be able to trigger special memories that are a call back to his previous adventures across the Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise. These have a lot of emotional baggage for veteran fans, and if you're a newcomer, you'll get to know more about his antics.

There are 90 of these and are marked on the map so they are super easy to find, each gives out +50 to a different stats, except a few ones that grant +70.

Unfinished Business

The Unfinished Business section works exactly like Ichiban's Challenges, being rewards for regular gameplay. There area total of 358 Unfinished Business challenges, broken down as follows:

  • 99 Adventure (exploration)
  • 166 Battle
  • 93 Minigames

On top of everything in the bucket list, there are other ways of getting awakening trait stat boosts.

Part-Time Hero battles

An image of detailed rewards from completing a Part Time Hero job in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
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Credit: RGG Studio
Part Time Hero jobs are back

Returning from Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Hiro will still require some help cleaning the streets of Yokohama from evildoers. It's less involved than in the previous title, but Infinite Wealth gives you the chance to help him by helping defenceless citizens in exchange for a good amount of money and a different stat boost.

Personality Chances

Some side activities will prompt Kiryu to select an option upon being asked something. Depending on your answer, a different personality trait will increase.

These will appear more prominently while doing Drink Links while bonding with party members, so be sure to pay attention to your companions as you can maximise your grind this way.

And that's it! For more content, check out how to unlock Kiryu's Dragon Resurgence ability in Like a Dragon 8.