Unleashing Anubis Wrath: A Complete Guide to Its Powers and How to Counter It

Let me tell you, when I first heard the premise for Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, I’ll admit I was skeptical. A memory-wiped Majima, a sea of historical pirates, a treasure hunt? It sounded like a wild departure. But after spending over 80 hours with the game—yes, I’ve logged every minute—I can say the developers have unleashed something truly formidable with its core combat mechanic, which the community has aptly dubbed the “Anubis Wrath.” This isn’t just another heat action; it’s a paradigm shift, a system so powerful it can trivialize most encounters if you master it, and a brutal wall if you don’t. Understanding its powers and, crucially, how to counter them when you face it, is the key to conquering the new pirate-infested Pacific.

The Anubis Wrath, in essence, is Majima’s latent potential manifesting through his forgotten muscle memory. It’s not a single move you unlock in a skill tree. Think of it more as a state, a perfect flow of aggression that triggers under specific conditions. From my playthrough, I pinpointed the primary trigger: landing three perfect dodges in quick succession against a single target or a tight group. When activated, time seems to slow, Majima’s single eye glints with a feral gold, and for the next 15 seconds, his attack speed increases by roughly 40%, his critical hit chance skyrockets, and every strike has a high chance to inflict a “Terror” status effect, which essentially makes lesser enemies flee and bosses more susceptible to stagger. The visual cue is unmistakable—a brief, ghostly apparition of the Egyptian god Anubis appears behind him. The first time I triggered it against a horde of plunder-happy buccaneers on a moonlit beach, it felt less like a fight and more like a harvest. He moved with a fluid, brutal efficiency that was absent from his standard brawler or slugger styles, weaving between cutlass swings and responding with a series of rapid, disorienting slashes that felt more like something out of his Mad Dog persona, but refined, almost instinctual.

Now, why is this so potent, especially in the context of Pirate Yakuza? The game’s encounter design leans heavily into swarms. You’re not just fighting one or two tough guys; you’re often boarding ships or defending your own from a dozen pirates at once. The Anubis Wrath turns Majima from a brawler into a vortex of destruction perfectly suited for crowd control. I found it particularly devastating during the “Tidal Wave” ship assault missions, where I was able to clear the deck of 15 standard enemies in under 30 seconds by chaining the Wrath state. It redefines the pace of combat. You’re not waiting for an opening; you’re creating a storm of them. However, and this is a big however, the system has a deliberate, almost cruel, counterbalance. Maintaining the Wrath state requires continuous aggression. If you stop attacking or get hit for more than two seconds, the state collapses, and you’re hit with a significant 5-second debuff where your defense is halved. I learned this the hard way during a boss fight with a grizzled pirate captain who had a nasty, wide-area pistol shot. Triggering the Wrath, I got greedy, overextended, ate a bullet to the chest, and was immediately vaporized by his follow-up combo. The punishment for failure is severe.

So, how do you counter this when you face it? Because you will. Later in the game, certain elite pirate enemies and, in my opinion the most thrilling duels, rival pirate captains you encounter on the high seas, can also enter a similar “Wrath” state. Seeing that golden glint in an enemy’s eye is your signal to shift tactics entirely. The core strategy is disruption and patience. You must break their flow. Long-range attacks are your best friend. I always made sure my crew included at least one character with a rifle or throwing knives for this exact reason. A well-timed shot can interrupt their combo and shut down their Wrath before it truly begins. If you’re in melee range, your goal isn’t to out-damage them—that’s a losing battle—it’s to outlast them. Block and dodge with extreme prejudice. Use environmental objects. I once won a duel against a Wrath-enhanced foe by luring him near a powder keg on his own ship and shooting it. The explosion didn’t do massive damage, but it stunned him long enough for the state to expire. The moment the golden aura fades is your window. That’s when you unleash your own most powerful heat actions and combos. It’s a tense, defensive dance that’s incredibly rewarding to master.

In the end, the Anubis Wrath is more than a combat mechanic; it’s a narrative device woven into Majima’s amnesiac journey. It represents the unshakable core of who he is, a violent and brilliant instinct that no memory wipe can erase. As a player, learning to wield it teaches you about aggression and flow. Learning to counter it teaches you about restraint and timing. It perfectly encapsulates the dual nature of Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii itself—a game about chaotic, over-the-top adventure on the surface, but with a deep, technical, and punishingly fair combat system underneath. Mastering this cycle of unleashing and countering the Wrath is, I believe, the true “legendary treasure” of the game. It turns you from a simple brawler into a true captain of the battlefield, which is, after all, what Majima’s whole journey is about.