There are many skills that Ryoma can learn from the various skill trees he has access to, in the game. He can even study under different Masters, who will unlock more skills for him to learn. However, there are eight skills that will remain locked, since they are unlocked in another method. These are the Revelation Skills, which are tied to various Books of Revelations you can acquire.

To even be able to have a chance to unlock the Revelation Skills in Like a Dragon: Ishin, you will first have to find the corresponding Books of Revelations. There is a book for each of the eight skills, with each of them having their own location. The majority of them are from the Masters, so you will want to do them all to get those books, although a few of the books are from other locations. They will be found in the Valuable section of your inventory, so if you wish to view them, go there.

How to Unlock the Revelation Skills in Like a Dragon: Ishin¶

Just because you have the books doesn’t mean you will have the skills, as just acquiring the books is the first step. For the second step, you will need to do a specific action during combat that is outlined on that book. While doing that action (this may take many, many tries, so keep at it), the Heat Action prompt should appear and if you press Triangle/Y during that instance, the screen should go black and Ryoma will appear with Inspiration Strikes. This will finally remove the lock for the corresponding skill on the skill tree, allowing you to place a Training/Style Orb in that slot to unlock the skill permanently.

Book of Revelations: Strike¶

This book will tell of the Brawler ability, Essence of Grand Bruising. You will need to find the Scarecrow Chateau and complete the tenth trial under the Advanced set of rooms (you can do this as soon as you unlock that tier). The Scarecrow Chateau is located in Rakugai, southwest of the Gambling Den. In order to unlock the Advanced rooms, you need to get three stars in at least four of the Basic set of rooms. Once you do this, go to the tenth room under Advanced and complete it for the Book of Revelations: Strike.

Similar to the Essence of Reverse Throw below, you will need to parry enemies to start with unlocking this node on the skill tree. However, after parrying an enemy and initiating the War God Counter (the aura around Ryoma), hold down R1/RB and target an enemy not right next to you. This is the big difference between Grand Bruising and Reverse Throw, as the former needs a little bit of distance between Ryoma and the enemy.

Book of Revelations: Throw¶

This book will tell of the Brawler ability, Essence of Reverse Throw. In order to get this book, you will need to become an apprentice underneath Komaki. He is located in the southeastern corner of Fushimi, just north of the jizo statue there. Approach the southernmost building to trigger a scene, which will unlock Komaki as one of the Masters. You will need to complete all of his training exercises, with the last one being to defeat Komaki in one-on-one combat. The battle with him is quite challenging, so you might need to come back later to actually complete it. Once you do this final training, you will receive the Book of Revelations: Throw from Komaki.

To unlock the node on the Brawler tree, you simply need to parry enemies with the L1/LB button. Eventually, you will see the Heat Action icon, so press the button to unlock the ability.

Book of Revelations: Smash¶

This book will tell of the Swordsman ability, Essence of Mincemeat. To unlock this book, you will need to do the Wanted Men sidequest. This will begin in Mukurogai, on the upper level. You can begin this sidequest in Chapter 3, where you defeat some men in tengu masks, then speak with some woman after the battle. Basically, you will have to hunt down some specific enemies and either defeat them in battle, or chase after them. Keep doing these until you unlock the Touken Clan: Yukimitsu one. Upon clearing that bounty, you will be rewarded with the Book of Revelations: Smash.

In order to unlock the node on the Swordsman skill tree, you will need to utilize the Circle/B move with your katana. Normally, this is used to break the guards of enemies who might be blocking, but for this case, you can just spam it until you trigger the Heat Action icon.

Book of Revelations: Flash¶

This book will tell you of the Swordsman ability, Gleaming Scythe. You will need to endure the training of the master, Ginryu, in order to unlock the book. Ginryu’s dojo is located in the northwestern area of Rakunai, and you need to approach the thugs standing outside of the dojo, triggering a scene that finally unlocks it. As you go through the training here, you will need to bring different grades of weapons, which are just the colors assigned to them when crafting. You will need a sword of every color, so it’s a good idea to craft one of each color at the Blacksmith. After finishing up all of the training sessions, one of the rewards you will get is the Book of Revelations: Flash.

To unlock the node on the Swordsman skill tree, you will first need to purchase another of the abilities on the same tree. You need Splendid Skill: Fair Weather, which is located on the outer ring, on the right side, and is something you learn about when doing the training at Ginryu’s Dojo. Basically, while guarding, you press Triangle/Y to deflect an enemy’s attack, stumbling them and allowing you to counterattack. Keep using Fair Weather to eventually get the Heat Action icon, unlocking the skill node.

Book of Revelations: Spree¶

This book will tell of the Gunman ability, Essence of Oh-Be-Joyful. Yep, this is another book tied to one of the Masters, with this one being specific to William Bradley, the Gunman one. He can be found just east of the Chicken Racing minigame, in Rakugai. Approach the men in the corner to trigger a scene, which will allow you to go inside Unyuan, the Gunman training grounds. Complete the tests inside to eventually unlock the Book of Revelations: Spree.

To unlock the node on the Gunman skill tree, you need to repeatedly execute the Jumping Shots attack. You just run at an enemy, then press the normal attack button while running. This is actually a skill on the tree, but it’s only the second one, so it’s easily accessible if you haven’t touched Gunman at all. Note that the Heat Action icon likely will appear while you’re running towards the enemy, so keep an eye out for it then.

Book of Revelations: Gust¶

This book will tell of the Gunman ability, Essence of Old Scratch. You will find that this is also tied to William Bradley, but you don’t need to complete his training for it. After doing a few bits of training, you will see that there are other men in the training grounds, who have a barter system in place. One of these men will trade you the book, for five Carved Wooden Bears. You can get the Carved Bears as drops from random enemy encounters, although it might be better to go to the Battle Dungeons. There’s a few stages in the Bandits’ Cave and Bandits’ Mine that can have them as drops; just use Triangle/Y on the stage to view the rewards.

To unlock this node on the Gunman skill tree, you will first need to learn the Texas Two-Shot. You will learn this as part of the Gunman training, but you also need to purchase the skill on the tree first. Once you have it, you will be able to attack after doing a dodge. In this particular case, though, you want to dodge towards an enemy, then hit the normal attack button. If done right, Ryoma will perform a shoulder tackle maneuver that does very minimal damage. Keep doing this until you see the Heat Action icon pop up during the move.

Book of Revelations: Evasion¶

This book will tell of the Wild Dancer ability, Dance of Mourning. You will need to find the Scarecrow Chateau and complete the tenth trial under the Hell set of rooms (you can do this as soon as you unlock that tier). The Scarecrow Chateau is located in Rakugai, southwest of the Gambling Den. In order to unlock the Hell rooms, you need to get three stars in at least four of the Basic set of rooms, as well as three stars in six of the Advanced rooms. Once you do this, go to the tenth room under Hell and complete it for the Book of Revelations: Evasion.

To unlock the node for it on the Wild Dancer skill tree, you will only be able to trigger it on enemies with katanas, so keep that in mind. Thankfully, this one is very simple, as you only need to dodge enemies to make the Heat Action icon appear.

Book of Revelations: Frenzy¶

This book will tell of the Wild Dancer ability, The Bloody Wheel. You will need to do the training for Ginryu, in order to unlock the book. Ginryu’s dojo is located in the northwestern area of Rakunai, and you need to approach the thugs standing outside of the dojo, triggering a scene that finally unlocks it. As you go through the training here, you will need to bring different grades of weapons, which are just the colors assigned to them when crafting. You will need a sword of every color, so it’s a good idea to craft one of each color at the Blacksmith. After finishing up all of the training sessions, one of the rewards you will get is the Book of Revelations: Frenzy.

To unlock the skill node in the Wild Dancer tree, you will need to use Phoenix attacks, which are assigned to the Circle/B button. Note that you only need to use the second attack in the chain, so you should try to restrict yourself to only the first two attacks. Keep doing the two attacks until you see the Heat Action icon appear in the top left corner.