Dave The Diver: 8 Best Staff Members

While it’s fun to discover what treasures are hidden underneath the waves in Dave the Diver, you should also remember the other aspect of the game: sushi restaurant management. Splitting your time between venturing into Blue Hole and managing Bancho Sushi will probably be 50-50 at the start of the game; however, meeting new characters who can help you in your responsibilities topside will allow for more time spent diving.

As such, you will want to have the best employees and staff at Bancho Sushi if you wish to spend more time in the deep. You’ll meet a cast of colorful characters in Dave the Diver, and while all of them are pretty decent employee choices, some are just a step above the rest and will maximize productivity and profit without the need for you to micromanage everything.

Updated January 26, 2024, by Sean Murray: Your tropical sushi restaurant is only as good as the staff you hire, so it’s a good thing you’re looking for the best staff in Dave the Diver. These outstanding employees will ensure your financial success as you serve freshly-harpooned fish.

We’ve also updated this list to include their maximum level 20 stats, their two special skills, and a few more helpful tips on how to make Bancho Sushi the best restaurant it can be.

8 Cohh

When you eventually unlock cocktails at Bancho Sushi, you’ll find them to be the most time-consuming task that Dave will have to perform. What would be far more useful is for someone to serve cocktails for Dave. Enter Cohh.

Cohh already has an amazing Serving score, making him a great waiter, but he also pours cocktails way faster than Dave ever could. Throw in Tip Master for an additional 10 percent on all food prices, and you’ve got one of the best servers in the game.

Pair Cohh with El Niño for an awesome serving combo.

7 Davina

Davina comes with the highest procure rating once she reaches level 20. Add the Dispatch Master skill to her arsenal, and she is the best dispatcher in the game, Masayoshi being a close second. She also comes with the rare Irresistible Charm perk, which will help increase the number of loyal customers at Bancho Sushi.

Pair her up with Masayoshi, and you have the best dispatcher team in the game. You can rest easy and never worry about running out of ingredients when you have either Davina or Masayoshi on your team.

6 Drae

Drae is a well-rounded staff member that you can get once Platinum Rank employees become available. While he does seem like a jack-of-all-trades sort of dude, this is exactly why he is perfect for a manager position. You will need some solid workers for this position, and Drae fits that bill perfectly.

His special skills include Cleaning and Cocktail Serving, which will be a nice finishing touch for your team. Train Drae up to higher levels to fully benefit from him as a branch manager.

Raul and Kyoko also make good branch managers if you haven’t been able to find Drae while hiring.

5 Raptor

Raptor is an excellent server who also holds a pretty unique set of skills. Additionally, you can also get him earlier than El Niño (the best server you can get), as he is a Gold Rank staff. You can pair Raptor up with El Niño once the latter becomes available for the dream team of servers.

Raptor’s skills are also pretty rare on their own, so imagine having one employee with both. Having both Cocktail Serving and Wasabi Refill on a single employee is the main reason why you should get this talented reptilian for Bancho Sushi.

Raptor is not actually a lizard—he just likes wearing a dinosaur costume to work, which explains his low appeal score. That said, he’s still one of the best servers in the game.

4 Itsuki

With the ability to hire an actual dinosaur, hiring a ninja seems tame in comparison. However, Itsuki is another top-tier employee that you should put in the effort to get. Besides Drae, Itsuki is another outstanding choice for your branch manager position thanks to her incredibly high service and appeal ratings.

Plus, her special skills, including Drink Serving and the rare Irresistible Charm, are a combo that you will find advantageous in attracting more customers.

Itsuki will probably be the best server you can hire until you rank up your Cooksta rating, so don’t skip hiring her!

3 Yone

Yone is another top-tier staff member that you can hire with excellent cooking stats, which is second only to Maki. As she’s a Diamond Rank Staff, you will need to put in the time before she becomes available. Once you do, combined with Maki, you will have a duo that will blow the competition out of the water.

Once you get her to level 20, she will have one of the best cooking ratings in the game. Add in skills such as Ingredient Prep Expert and Cooking++, and Yone becomes an invaluable member of the Bancho Sushi family.

Ingredient Prep Expert provides an extra five percent prepared foods for the same amount of ingredients, which can really help with the more complex late-game recipes.

2 El Niño

Booyaka! El Niño is the Diamond Rank ace luchador server of Dave the Diver. Don’t let his low appeal score fool you, as he more than makes up for that shortcoming with his two special skills: Cleaning Master and Drink Serving Master.

The Cleaning Master perk will allow El Niño to automatically clear up space and gather tips, while Drink Serving Master means every drink he serves will always get a perfect rating. Overall, he’s the best server that you can hire in the game.

Be sure to pair El Niño with someone with Cocktail Serving (such as Cohh or Raptor) to ensure Dave never has to do anything at Bancho Sushi again.

1 Maki

You will meet Maki and acquire her services early on in Chapter 2, your first hire. While her starting stats aren’t that impressive, she is a worthwhile investment to keep at Bancho Sushi. Leveling her up to 20 will give you the employee with the highest Cooking rating in the game.

In addition, her special skills include Cooking+ and Cooking++, which will speed up food preparation significantly. Just because Maki is the first employee you can hire in the game doesn’t mean you should replace her once you have more characters to choose from. Stick with Maki, and she will prove to be one of the best employees in the game.

Perhaps best of all, Maki doesn’t ask for a salary, so she’s also the cheapest employee to keep on staff at Bancho Sushi.