How to beat the Giant Squid – Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

Majima and the Goro Pirates come up against lots of formidable foes in Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and the Giant Squid is one of the trickiest to defeat. 

In the penultimate chapter of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, Majima and his band of pirates close in on the legendary treasure. Before they can reach their final destination though, there’s a Giant Squid they’ll need to overcome. 

This enemy provides one of the most intense naval battles in the game, and we’ve got a rundown of exactly how to best the sea creature below.

How to defeat the Giant Squid

The Giant Squid doesn’t have the biggest moveset but it has a couple of different phases. During the first, it will try to whack your ship with its tentacles and randomly fire explosive projectiles into the ocean.

Simply sail around to the monster’s side, fire your weapons when prompted and you can whittle down its health. 

Use your boost to get out of the way before it attacks. Once its tentacles have sunk back into the water, you can aim at the Squid’s eyes. You can either keep firing with your ship weaponry or swap to deck view so Majima can use a Rocket Launcher.

I found using an Energy Cannon during this section ideal, as it can damage both tentacles simultaneously. 

After it’s been knocked down a few times, The Squid will repeatedly dive underwater and resurface on the other side of the ocean. Just keep an eye on your minimap when it does this so you can quickly hone in on its new location. The tentacle’s health will regenerate but you can just repeat the method above.

Eventually, the sea creature will completely submerge itself underwater and unleash its tentacles to damage you. It’s relatively easy to spot where they’ll come from, so just boost quickly out of the way, and damage them with your cannons. 

Dexerto / Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio

When you’ve dealt with the tentacles enough times, the Giant Squid will resurface and resume its pattern from the first phase but this time it will have an additional attack, a wide ink projectile. It’s the same strategy to avoid this however, just watch for the telegraphed area it will cover and time your boost correctly. 

Dexerto / Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio

As long as you can stay out of the way of this powerful attack, dish out consistent damage, and periodically use your ship repairs, you should be able to beat the sea monster effectively. 

Having the right equipment and Pirates assigned is key to this fight, however.

Preparing for the fight

Make sure you’ve upgraded the Goromaru before heading into this fight. You’ll want to have some powerful weapons, assign your pirate crew to ideal jobs, and bolster your defense beforehand. 

Towards the end of Chapter 4, you’ll be prompted with a point-of-no-return message just before you sail. Make sure to create a new save, and then take the time to prepare your ship (or make some money fast to afford upgrades.) 

Equipment and Crew Formation

Here’s a breakdown of some ideal weapons and where they should be placed on the Goromaru:

• Port: 4-star Energy Cannon (1,400 Cannon Power)
• Starboard: 3-star Silver Cannon (300 Cannon Power)
• Machine Guns: 3-star Frost Machine Guns (300 Cannon Power)
• Rocket Launcher: Captain’s Rocket Launcher

The 4-star energy cannon was the most powerful tool overall but upgraded cannons and Frost Machine Guns as opposed to basic ones certainly helped with extra damage. 

In terms of your Crew, aim to get at least a B-star rating for each weapon based on the pirates you assign. For example, my Starboard cannons had an A-star rating overall as I’d assigned four crewmates who were all rated A in Canon Power. This gave them a boost in combat. 

Lastly, your First Mate can make a big difference thanks to their unique First Mate Trait. I slotted Nishida in before this encounter as his skill increased repair uses by 2, which meant I had a total of 7 repairs to use during the fight. 

Dexerto / Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio

Upgrading performance

The final piece of preparation comes in Upgrading Performance (which you can do via the Goromaru Prepare to Sail menu) The upgrades you should prioritize unlocking are:

• Additional Port Cannon
• Additional Starboard Cannon
• Additional Repairs
• Fuel Tank Increase
• Durability Boost

Dexerto / Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio

The additional cannons mean you can fire more cannonballs at a time improving their overall damage. Additional Repairs and Durability increase will give you more survivability. Finally, the Fuel Tank increase lets you boost for longer which is key to avoiding the Giant’s Squids attacks. 

With the strategy and preparations above you should be able to defeat the formidable Giant Squid and get even closer to the legendary treasure!