Like a Dragon Ishin how to craft new equipment and upgrades explained
Hit the forge to enhance your equipment or to craft something new.
Crafting and upgrading equipment in Like a Dragon Ishin is crucial as it's how you obtain bigger, better, and stronger items to help you battle your way through the countless foes you face.
Going to a Blacksmith in Like a Dragon Ishin is the way that you do this. At one, you can enhance items you already own and upgrade them by adding special items called Seals that boost specific areas of a weapon. If you want a new item or weapon, you can craft one here too!
Without further ado, we're going to shown you how to craft new equipment in Like a Dragon Ishin, how to upgrade your items, and how to get crafting materials. We also break down what Hammers and Seals are, and explain the Kurogane Smithing levels.
On this page:
How to get new weapons in Like a Dragon Ishin
Before you can think of upgrading or crafting new weapons, you need to have base ones in your inventory. This is because you will need base weapons to create new ones or upgrade them.
The easiest way to get new base weapons is to buy them from Arms Dealers. There is one in Mukurogai, just north of the Mahjong Spot:
The other Arms Dealer is in Umekojicho in Rakugai, slightly north west of the Shady Bar:
You can also get weapons by defeating enemies in the streets, and finding them on your adventures.
Kurogane Smithing Location in Like a Dragon Ishin
You can access Kurogane Smithing from Chapter Three, as this is when you unlock Rakunai and the surrounding area.
Kurogane Smithing can be found in North Umekojicho, in Rakunai.
We also know that there is a second Blacksmith that specialises in Enchanted Weapons, we will update this page as soon as we find them.
How to craft new equipment in Like a Dragon Ishin
To craft new equipment in Like a Dragon Ishin, you will need to visit a Blacksmith.
Then, to craft any basic new equipment you will need:
- Base Equipment - You need this to be able to make anything new.
- Materials - Each item needs a different amount/type of materials.
- Hammers - They're needed to craft any new piece of equipment.
- Money - Of course, new things are not cheap, so plenty of money is crucial.
Crafting new pieces uses one of your existing items as a base for the new one. So make sure that you definitely want to replace the item you have chosen to upgrade, there's no going back after you make the new one.
When you're ready to craft a new piece, speak to the Blacksmith.
Then, select the 'Craft' option from the menu that appears and then select which item you want to make.
Once you've done that, you then need to select which item you want to use as the base. You will be able to choose from this from your inventory. However, you will only be able to use an item that is the same type as you the one you want to craft, such as using a Katana as a base to create a new Katana.
Now that you've done that, you need to choose the Hammer you want to use.
All you need to do is confirm that you're ok with the estimated cost and then proceed with crafting the new piece.
Need help in Another Life - the farming simulator minigame of Like a Dragon: Ishin! - or want to learn how to fish? Maybe you need help completing the Mochi Mystery, Global Fraud, It's a Long Story or finding all of the Memoir locations for The Captain and the Curious side story? We also have guides on the Trooper abilities, how to get Prize Tickets and crafting new equipment.
How to upgrade equipment in Like a Dragon Ishin
Upgrading your equipment in Like a Dragon Ishin is actually called 'Enhancing', and you can do this at a Blacksmith too.
When you want to upgrade an item, speak to the Blacksmith and choose the 'Enhance' option. Then, pick the weapon you want to enhance from your inventory.
Then, select the Seal that you want to apply to the weapon. The chance of the Seal being successfully applied to the weapon can be seen in the bottom right corner of the screen after you highlight the Seal.
Confirm that this is what you want to do, and then Ryoma will go ahead to try to enhance the weapon.
After a brief animation, you will find out if you succeeded or not. It's important to remember that you can fail at enhancing a weapon. Not every enhancement will work and different Seals have different success rates.
How to get crafting materials in Like a Dragon Ishin
Crafting materials are important, naturally, as they are the things you need to be able to make new equipment and enhance your existing pieces.
Materials can be collected throughout a number of ways, but if you're in a rush then the easiest way is to buy them from the Materials Vendor in Kurogane Smithing.
Here are the other vendors that sell crafting materials:
- Ichikura General Goods
- Ebisu Pawn Fushimi
- Ebisu Pawn Rakunai
- Don Quijote
You can also collect materials while spending time exploring the map and completing substory quests. While exploring outside the main story quests, we found that these were the best ways of getting materials for free:
- Investigating pots with lids
- Beating up troublemakers
You can sometimes win materials using prize tickets at the prize wheel in Fushimi too, though you cannot guarantee that you will win the piece you want.
Hammers in Like a Dragon Ishin explained
Hammers are an important part of crafting new equipment and weapons in Like a Dragon Ishin. Without them, you cannot make anything new.
There are five types of Hammers, and the type of Hammer that you use will determine the grade (quality) of the item you produce.
In order from lowest to highest quality, the Hammer types are:
- Iron Hammer
- Bronze Hammer
- Silver Hammer
- Gold Hammer
- Kiwami Hammer
Once an item is made, you cannot change the grade of it, so be selective when choosing which Hammer to use.
How to get hammers in Like a Dragon Ishin
Now, the next task is actually getting your hands on the Hammers but it's much easier than you think.
The easiest way to get Hammers is to purchase them from the Materials Vendor in Kurogane Smithing. As you walk in through the main door, the vendor will be on your left.
You can also collect Hammers in other ways by simply playing through the story and spending time exploring the map:
- Picking them up on the streets - They can be the glowing objects on the ground.
- Picking them up from defeated enemies - After you beat an enemy, they can drop a Hammer or two.
- Completing Substories - Some substory quests will reward you with Hammers on completion.
Seals in Like a Dragon Ishin explained
Seals are the things that you use to apply upgrades to your equipment, it's the item that enhances them.
Different Seals have different effects and enhance specific parts of an item, so it's worth taking your time to look through the ones you have before deciding which one to use.
There are three classes of Seal, and here are all of them in order from the lowest to highest level:
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
You can tell what tier a Seal is by looking at the outline of the Seal itself. Bronze will not have an outline, Silver will have a grey one, and Gold will have a Gold one.
You can stack Seals, which can improve their power and effectiveness. However, if you unsuccessfully embed a Seal onto a weapon, you can risk breaking the Seal itself. The higher the level of the Seal, the more likely it is to fail to embed.
How to get Seals in Like a Dragon Ishin
We found that the best way to get Seals in Like a Dragon Ishin is to buy them from the Materials Vendor in Kurogane Smithing.
However, you can also pick Seals up from defeating some enemies and by disassembling other equipment you have that may have a Seal attached.
How to improve Kurogane Smithing level in Like a Dragon Ishin
Once you've made a weapon or two, you might have seen a level bar getting gradually filled each time you do something at Kurogane Smithing.
This is your Smithing Level, and you can increase this each time you partake in something at Kurogane Smithing. Crafting and enhancing items are the quickest way to do this, but disassembling items and donating things also works.
Improving your Smithing Level will open up a bunch of perks for you that surround crafting. There are 20 levels overall, and each one has a unique perk.
Each time you unlock a new level, the perks from that level stack onto any previous ones that you have earned. Loyalty is definitely rewarded at Kurogane Smithing.
If you're getting stuck into Ryoma's adventures, check out our Like a Dragon Ishin fishing guide where we give you the lowdown on all fish types and bait. Also, we have all the Global Fraud answers if you're stuck when you're helping the kind teacher in Rakunai.