In 2019, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios released an April Fools joke of a video showing that the next game in their landmark series would shift from being a adventure beat-me-up to a JRPG. Just a joke…right? Wrong! What started out as a joke ended up being real and as the most beloved entry in the series. Ryu Ga Gotoku 7/Yakuza: Like A Dragon has a load of classes, some bad, and some REALLY good.

Today, we’re going to be covering those jobs, starting at the bottom and working our way to the top! I’ve done a guide regarding this, so check it out here! This guide will not cover the DLC jobs of Devil Rocker and Matriarch. Starting with:

20. Bodyguard

You aren’t guarding s$#@.

• Only Blade damage
• Only single-target
• Skills drain HP
• Worst buff in the game.

This class might wield a katana, but man, this one doesn’t do much with it. It’s supposed to be ‘High-Damage-At-High-Cost’, but it’s not really that GREAT of damage. Coupled with the cost that drains HP off the user, it puts it lower than classes that can do the damage without draining you.

It’s supposed to do more damage when you have lower HP, and it’s supposed to be a Critical damage machine, but it doesn’t really work well. Only two characters have the ability to survive a deathblow, and only one of them can be used with Bodyguard! Ichiban is that character and thank goodness…if he dies, it’s Game Over!

It also teaches the character perhaps the worst buff skill in the game. Berserker Spirit raises the user’s Attack by three ticks for all of one turn. Now, that sounds good, right? Well, the thing is that it replaces any other Attack buffs you had on you beforehand. Meaning that you sacrifice longer-term buffs in favor of a slightly-stronger and extremely-short-term buff.

Bodyguard only does Blade damage, which should put it higher than the other classes that are exclusively Blunt. But then I thought about the Characters Skills, and I realized that Bodyguard has the worst ones; the previously mentioned Berserker Spirit being one of them. While it does provide some good stat gains, it’s a job that requires more to put into it than other ones.

 

19. Freelancer

It’s meant to be ditched as soon as possible.

• Only Blunt 
• Only single-target
• Low damage-output
• No weapons

This job is the one that Kasuga starts with and the one that he would be using if this was the original style of gameplay in the Yakuza series. And as the game will make clear in the late-game, he’s not really the same as Kiryu.

Possessing only Blunt attacks in a game where Blunt is commonly resisted puts it lower than the rest. Having only skills that can only hit one enemy at a time also puts it lower than the rest. And lacking any weapons to boost its low damage really does shove it down.

…so why did I put it higher than Bodyguard? Bodyguard is available to all of the male characters, while Freelancer is a job exclusive to Ichiban. Being available for only one guy means it’s only a problem for that ONE character, while Bodyguard is bad for multiple characters. Plus, Freelancer’s Hyper Swagger is a better buff than that of Berserker Spirit.

 

18. Barmaid

First female fighter in the series, and THIS is what she gets?

• Low damage
• Meant for magical damage, but only has one magic skill.
• Selfish buffs
• Small debuffs

Saeko is a landmark character for the franchise. Female characters don’t get much of the spotlight, so having someone who doesn’t just hang around the boys but also get into fights is great. Real shame her unique job is really lacking.

Despite having a high magical stat, Barmaid only has one magical skill. While Saeko can get other magical skills from other jobs, there’s little reason to come back to this. It’s a job that has a focus on physical attacks with a low Attack Stat. It’s…a weird thing to do.

The buffs it provides are small and only tied to Saeko. Pass. Some of the debuffs it provides are useful, but easily replaceable by better and greater skills. This is a job that many people recognize as the weakest for Saeko and only came back for the permanent stat boosts. They’re better used in better jobs.

 

17. Detective

You’re going to need more than a clue.

• Mediocre skillset 
• Tanking in a game that doesn’t require tanking
• Mediocre damage, better with Higher HP
• Decent Instant-KO skill

And continuing the trend of the default jobs not being that great is Adachi’s. At least his skill set matches the stats. It’s just that…well…the whole thing is mediocre in the long run.

This is a job designed for tanking damage, what with having skills that can Enrage enemies and draw attention to him. While having high HP and Defense does allow him to take a lot more abuse, it’s not really that big of a deal in the long run. There’s really not a situation in which having a tank is important.

Detective does have some decent skills where he will do more damage at higher HP, but you get to keep the best version of that skill on Adachi so there’s little reason to come back to Detective. His Arrest skill does have a good chance to instant-kill, but it’s better in the next game where it can work on mini-bosses. There’s a better version of this job later down the line, and Adachi fits into that really easily.

 

16. Foreman

Drop the hammer! No, really. Drop it.

• Slow
• Pointless skills/Redundant Kiwami Skills
• Decent damage, learns Fire Spell
• Improves HP & MP

Foreman isn’t really that good of a job. Slow and only blunt? It does put it lower than that of Breaker, and Breaker can provide some buffs. Foreman only outpaces Detective because of having some slightly better damage output and it has an use outside of battle. Put Ichiban into this role so you can use the hammer to open new routes in the dungeons and unlock some secret shops.

Let’s start off with the fact that this job is really slow. Makes Adachi’s glacial pace somehow even worse. And to make the lack of speed even worse, it has two skills that require a turn to charge up. Now, one would think these moves would be strong. But no, you get a skill that does greater damage without needing to waste an additional turn.

Continuing on with the redundancy angle are the two Kiwami skills. They’re both the same, hit all enemies with Blunt Physical damage. One just has a slightly higher MP cost and does slightly better damage. No real point though.

That being said, it does have a good amount of damage output, but mostly in Blunt, which is commonly resisted by the late game. It does learn two magical skills, the better one you get to keep. Its biggest boon is that it permanently improves HP & MP, which is always a good thing. But it exists in a weird way where it needs a lot of love, but it’s not really good early on or later on. 

 

15. Breaker

Funky is a good word for it…

• High speed
• Low damage, all Blunt
• Chance of getting selfish buffs 

Now, if you want a job that’s good early on but not so much later on, it’s Breaker. Amazingly good early on, especially for Adachi. But by the late game, the strengths fade out and the weaknesses become more apparentent. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Breaker is the fastest job in the game, ensuring that your Breaker will always go first. All of its skills are unfortunately Blunt, making it hard to work with enemies that resist it. But hey! All of the Breaker’s skills have a chance to give him a buff! That’s all well and nice, but you have skills that just GIVE you the buff. Plus the buffs are mostly dedicated to the Breaker, so why gamble?

That is Breaker’s biggest weakness. Low damage with a selfish playstyle means that it loses a lot of firepower in the middle-game, and becomes even less useful in the late game. Use it while you can.

 

14. Night Queen

Nah, not my fetish.

• All blunt
• Mostly-single target
• Can brainwash/instant-KO
• Decent but not outstanding damage
• Can Heal

Because there’s only two girls in the party, and one of them is optional, there’s far less jobs for the girls. They have a physical fighter, a magical fighter, a healer, and then the luck class. Night Queen is the physical damage dealer, and with Saeko not really specced into using this physical attacks and Eri having a MUCH better physical attacking job exclusive to her, it leaves Night Queen in a bad spot.

Being all blunt save for one skill makes it hard to work with against enemies that resist Blunt. It’s got some AOE attacks, but only really one? Somersault Leg is said to be AOE, but I could never get it to hit anything other than one target. So, it’s focused primarily on single-target, okay.

Most of Night Queen’s skills can Brainwash the enemy, forcing an enemy to attack their allies for a period of time. Can be handy, but if you’re like me, you probably won’t put much use into status effects. It can Insta-KO an enemy with a skill and the second Kiwami skill, but good luck trying to get it to trigger.

Its damage output is decent, but lacking when compared to the boys or other jobs. The weird thing is that it learns a healing skill as the first Kiwami skill. Why? Who knows. It would get better in the next game, but it’s still a pretty lacking job. And no, I won’t be making a dommy mommy joke. That’s beneath me.

 

13. Musician

Play Freebird!

• Unique and underused mechanic
• Support role
• HP Regen/MP Drain
• Decent damage

The guys don’t learn a single straight-forward healing spell in this game. Most of their jobs are focused on doing damage anyway. This is the one true support role they have and it’s okay for the most part. Good to have, but nobody really benefits from being a Musician.

A big part of the Musician’s playstyle is the Voltage mechanic. By using certain skills, they build up Voltage that can be used to empower…all of two skills! The first one does Blunt damage and won’t do that much even with higher Voltage, and their ONLY Kiwami skill. Which is also Blunt, but at least it hits all enemies.

So you’ll never bother with that. Instead, you’ll use the support skills. Lower all enemies’ Attack, add HP Regen to your allies, the ONE magical attack, lower enemies’ Defense, boost all allies’ Defense, steal MP, or put enemies to Sleep. Your pick! Also, the final skill you pick up will triple the effects of all of those skills I just mentioned.

Musicians do have some decent damage about them, even if they don’t really apply that much. They have another unique gimmick where one of their skills improve when you have more than one Musician in the party, but that’s rarely a good thing. Their buffs are decent, but they fall flat compared to more powerful buffs. 

 

12. Hostess

Less of a good time and more of an average time.

• Decent magical damage
• Covers a good amount of elements
• Only single-target
• Best Character skills for girls

The girl's magical job…isn’t that great at magic. This one is honestly forgetful, and the only reason as to why it’s this high on this list is because it can do some damage and has some elemental attacks. Another problem is that a part of their ultimate weapon requires grinding in a minigame…

Anyway, Hostess! It has access to mostly Ice skills, making it useful when fighting against enemies weak to it. It also learns a powerful Fire skill at the end too. But the problem with it is that it doesn’t pick up on any skills that can target more than one enemy, and with the class not really doing that much magical damage, it puts it into a position of being good at fighting mini-bosses and not much else.

But hey! It does learn two really good skills for the girls to keep. Sexy Pose is a powerful Defense debuff and Ice Spreader is the strongest Ice spell Hostess learns. But this does end up as a job you get for those two and leave. Plus, Saeko is really the only one out of the two girls that can do it.

Fun fact! There are accessories that grant additional Job EXP to specific jobs. Some can be bought, some are found, and some are obtained as quest rewards. You can get duplicates to double it up…save for Hostess as the quest that gives out the accessory can only be done once per save-file. Housemaid in Infinite Wealth is what Hostess should have been.

 

11. Fortuneteller

I see…a really good skill!

• Has the best Character skill in the game
• High magical power 
• Good revival skill 
• Loads of status effects
• Useful team support

This job would be considered to be equal to that of a ‘Sage’ in other RPGs. Except this one learns two physical skills early and only learns TWO magical attacks. It’s a job where the Character Skills are way better. In fact, it has what is considered to be the game’s best Character Skill.

Fulminating Forecast has a high MP, but it’s worth the price. It targets one enemy and then two random ones for high Electricity damage. That’s a rare element in this game and available to all men makes it insanely useful. Practically could play the entire game with all-male party and spam it, and you’ll win most battles.

It’s other Character Skill is a small revive, but hey, better than nothing. Really, the main draw of Fortuneteller is the large amount of status effects it can provide. Brainwashing, Fear, Silence, Paralyze, Charm, and Rage! One of them has to stick! Eventually! Other aspects are powerful party-wide attack buff and the skill to cleanse one ally of all status effects.

I do put it lower than the other magic job for two reasons. One, it’s lack of other magical attacks and elemental affinity. And second: the first Kiwami skill. It practically kills the caster to revive all party members, and there’s rarely a moment in which that will happen. Using that with Ichiban is practically asking for a Game Over. 

 

10. Gangster

Going to make you an offer you cannot refuse.

• Good damage output
• Really great Kiwami skill 
• Gets better with Character skills

This is Zhao’s default class, and it’s pretty good! I never really used it myself, as generally I feel like Zhao has a better fit. That’s true for most characters; they generally have a better job than their default one. You might get more mileage out of Gangster than I did.

A big reason I don’t really gravitate to this job is because Zhao is the last party member to join, and he comes with a job that’s mostly Blunt? Whoopie. It does learn a few Blade skills, but that doesn’t fix the issue of a job that comes at a point where Blunt doesn’t really do much.

That being said, the final Kiwami skill does have a chance of instant-KO’ing an enemy, so that’s a primary reason to use this job. Really, Gangster is a job that does improve with other Character skills. Magic Cocktail from Host to make Drunken Fist more powerful, and his two skills that can Stun work combo with the Chef’s Vanquishing Pan.

 

9. Homeless Guy

He’s going to leave you homeless, alright.

• High magical damage
• Weird physical attacks
• Amazing debuffing 
• Great AOE

Now for a default job that’s amazing! Homeless Guy might not sound like the most intimidating thing around, but trust me, Nanba’s default job is great! And it’s only outclassed by Host, which is kinda funny given that in Infinite Wealth that these two jobs have the same stats save for two parameters, which are just reversed.

Homeless Guy is the one true magical class of the game, although it does have some physical attacks. Those can stun, but chances are that you will never use them. Instead, you’ll be spamming pigeons and fire to output some real big damage. And helping you with that is Nanba’s horrid breath.

No really. He’s got several skills with his bad breath being able to debuff the enemy’s Attack or Defense. And you get to keep the best version of that skill on him; one that lowers both stats! You also keep the best Fire skill as well!

That being said, any of the pigeon skills are neutral. That’s good, but you’ll do more damage with elemental weaknesses. It does benefit from other Character Skills, but I think Host is a better match for Nanba. 

 

8. Chef

Main course of damage, and side dish of pain!

• Good balance of physical and magical
• Can bleed enemies like crazy
• Deceptively powerful Character Skill
• So good that it had to be nerfed in the next game

This is effectively a Red Mage job; balancing physical and magical damage. In the beginning, Chef might not seem like a good option, but stick with it and it becomes a class capable of great damage. And no, Chef in this game and the next one doesn’t learn any skills in terms of healing or buffing. It’s not going to cook anything other than damage.

While it primarily learns physical skills, it does learn some good Fire skills. It also has a balance between Blunt and Blade, so it can score weaknesses easily, even more so if you pick up on the Host and Fortuneteller’s elemental spells. But don’t discount the class’ main benefit of bleeding!

Chef’s main claim to fame is Wound Opener, a skill that already does high damage on its own, but when used on a bleeding enemy, it goes EVEN HIGHER. And with two skills that can bleed? Oh ho! But credit must be given to the Character Skill: Peppermill Blow. Despite being Blunt, it does a lot more damage than you think it does.

Chef is so powerful that it got nerfed in the next game. Wound Opener actually stops Bleeding (So Wound Closer) and the two fire skills dish out lower damage. Still, it’s a perfect fit for Zhao in both games. It’s pretty good for Ichiban as well! 

 

7. Dealer

It’s a gamble, but a worthwhile one.

• Chance-based job
• Capable of doing high damage
• Covers all physical elements 
• Good stats

Luck can play a big deal in RPGs, both in terms as a stat and general luck. You can get high damage, or completely flub it. And Dealer is one such example, although it does lean more in your favor than it does against it. And it’s the best damage class for the girls!

All of the skills have a chance to do something a bit different. It could be damage, the type of damage, what enemies are targeted, and what sort of buffs or debuffs you get. Nothing really ill, save for the final two Kiwami skills. Don’t use those unless you want to suffer. Russian Roulette can target Ichiban, and if he dies, it’s Game Over.

But this is the non-DLC job that does give the girls Bullet skills. Darts Airstrike randomly hits three targets, and it can be the same target! This is the true physical attacker for the girls. And they have some good stats to boot! That being said, the physical attacker Eri has a better job…

 

6. Clerk

Schedule a beating, sir?

• Fast
• Incredibly strong
• Capable of single-target and AOE
• Covers a good amount of status effects

You’ll have to go a little out of your way to get Eri unlocked as a party member. You can get her as soon as she’s available and she’s worth it. Even without her default job being one of the best, she can come in during a time where you’re supposed to have only three party members. Eri kinda breaks the game’s balance by a good amount.

Oh, and this is the ‘ninja’ class.

As expected, she’s incredibly fast. Second-fastest to the class one point higher on this list. And she’s got quite the Attack to boot! Coupled with one of the best AOE skills in the game of Thumbtack Scatter, she can wipe out waves of enemies in no time flat! Once you get her final Kiwami skill, she can do it even faster!

She can also inflict a good number of status effects if that’s what you want to do. Bleed, Silence, Fear, and Stun! What cannot she do? Well, Bullet-based damage, but if you do have the DLC job and pick up on the Bullet skill, that makes Clerk even more busted!

 

5. Hitman

Names are for friends, so he doesn't…oh wait, he has friends. Never mind.

• Covers all Attack Types 
• Fastest class in the game
• Great overall damage

This could be considered a better version of Clerk in many ways. While you do have to get to the halfway point of the game to get Joon-gi, he’s so worth the wait. He might be a staple of your party after this. Which is probably why he ended up joining the party extremely late-game in the next game.

Boasting the highest speed, Hitman also possesses high Attack power. It is fairly fragile, but that’s the point of it. It’s supposed to be risky to use it. Covering Blade and Blunt, it’s one of the few classes to have access to Bullet skills. And the one you get to keep, Rapid Shot, is ideal for farming the Invested Vagrants, an enemy that has high defenses but provides a ton of experience if you do kill it.

Joon-gi can fit into other classes, but generally as a Hitman he can take full advantage of his high speed. It is a fairly straight-forward class; doing only damage but doing it so quickly and efficiently. The next one on this list is also a good fit for him as well!

 

4. Enforcer

Bring order to chaos.

• High damage
• Tanky
• Great AOE and Single Target

You might think that a job that wears body-armor and uses a shield as a weapon would be built around drawing enemy fire to them and taking less damage. That is technically true. But this job does more damage to the enemies than the enemies can do to them! It’s basically what Detective should be doing.

While it can inflict rage, Enforcer is more about damage. In particular, the Paralysis Prongs skill. This skill inflicts stupid-high damage, more so than what they should be doing early-on. It only works on human enemies, but there’s plenty of those around.

Most of the attack skills have a chance of inflicting Rage. As mentioned before, tanking isn’t really necessary, but hey, if it helps, it helps! This job has the highest defenses and HP out of any class to begin with. It does have a skill in which it can grant a high defense buff to one teammate while lowering the Enforcer’s defense…but don’t use it. It’s not worth it.

Other than that, Enforcer really does shine well for Adachi. Joon-gi can use it to help shore up his low Defenses while keeping his high Attack. I consider it to be the best physical class for the guys. 

 

3. Idol

Music does soothe the savage beast!

• Best Healing skills in the game
• Full party cleanse of status effects
• Powerful Defense debuff

Enemies in LAD have two mode of damage; tickle or genocide. Like in any JRPG, you should have a white mage/cleric around to keep the party healed when encountering the latter type of enemies. And hey, this is Saeko’s real job too!

This job does healing. It has some attacks, but chances are that by mid-game you won’t be touching them. It’s got a single-target heal, a party heal and a full-party heal! It even comes with a full HP revive if you ever end up needing it. It can also cleanse status effects off the entire party if you need them gone.

It also comes with Lovedrunk Typhoon, an AOE version of Sexy Pose. Shame you cannot keep it. But regardless, Idol ends up being the top job for Saeko. Saeko’s insanely high Healing stat can allow for the first healing skill to be as powerful as a full-heal!

 

2. Host

He’s going to show you a good time!

• Powerful magical attacks
• Covers Fire and Ice
• Access to magical buff

On my first few playthroughs, I ignored this job. This is a mistake. This is the best magic job in the game by far. Some people would put Fortuneteller or Homeless Guy here, but I believe that this job’s access to Ice skills and a Magic buff puts it above those two.

It relies on Fire and Ice damage, meaning that it can score weaknesses quite easily. With Fortuneteller's Fulminating Forecast, it can cover all of the elements. You also keep Ice Spreader, and trust me, you’ll be using that one a lot! Once you unlock the Kiwami skills, you’ll start dishing out some stupid-high damage.

But my favorite part of this Job. Coercive Shout. Magic buffs in this game are surprisingly rare; Breaker has a Shared Skill that has a chance of giving you a Magic buff and Dealer…also has a chance of giving you a Magic buff. Host can take their great damage even higher!

And for the top class…

 

1. Hero

Not faster than light, but he is bigger than life.

• Great damage
• Great healing
• Access to AOE
• Good overall stats
• Amazing buffs

All it takes to become a Hero is to pull a baseball bat you find embedded in the concrete, huh? Best keep an eye out for those, for this is the best job in the game. It’s straight-up the Dragon Quest Hero! 

Ichiban outright swaps over to Hero in Chapter Four, and only has to go back to being a Freelancer during certain events or by player choice. And really, why go back? Hero has a weapon, and you start with the base version of the ultimate weapon! Hero is only a bit slower than Freelancer, and that’s it.

It has everything save for elements. It’s got AOE, great damage, healing, and buffs! Ichiban’s Personality Stats affect some of his skills to be better. Improve the HP you restore, you get greater Attack buff, and get a more guaranteed removal of status effects. He solves so many problems.

And here’s the funny thing? Remember Bodyguard’s talent for doing more damage with low HP? Well, Hero can do that but better! He doesn’t take self-damage, he can heal himself when he needs to, and he has that death proof skill to keep himself safe. He can really do most things, and with shared skills, he can go even further!