Staff and Bancho Sushi

Dave the Diver Best Staff: who should you hire and train first?

Bancho Sushi is not carried by rare fish alone. Serving speed, cooking throughput, wasabi and drink handling, and dispatch planning all decide whether a good dive becomes a profitable night. This guide answers the best staff search intent with role-based priorities from early game to late game.

See staff tiers Read FAQ
  • FocusServing, cooking, dispatch
  • Core staffEl Nino, Raptor, Drae
  • Early ruleFix bottlenecks
  • NoteCheck patch and progress
Official Steam screenshot connecting Dave the Diver exploration with Bancho Sushi staff planning
Staff decisions affect night revenue and the way you plan daytime ingredient routes. Image adapted from an official Steam screenshot.

Quick answer

The safest staff priority

The practical answer is to fix serving first, then improve cooking throughput and dispatch. Many late-game setups value El Nino and Raptor as serving anchors, while Drae or Maki can stabilize cooking. You will not unlock every option at once, so train the best role fit you currently have instead of waiting with an understaffed restaurant.

Early Bancho Sushi nights look manageable until wasabi, drinks, cleaning, and delivery overlap. If food is ready but customers wait, serving is the leak. If customers sit while dishes are not prepared, cooking is the leak. Watching the slowest point of the night is more useful than copying a tier list blindly.

Later, staff value comes from role fit more than name recognition. Serving staff need speed and helper actions, kitchen staff need reliable cooking output, and dispatch staff need to bring back ingredients that keep your profitable menu running.

How to use this This is an independent fan guide. Exact values can change by update and platform, so confirm the visible in-game stats and skills before spending heavily on training.

Tier list

Dave the Diver staff recommendation table

A role-based table is more useful than a single ranking. Use it to decide what your restaurant needs tonight.
Priority Staff Best role Why it works Best timing
S El Nino Serving core High serving value and helper actions reduce the biggest late-night bottleneck. When customer flow becomes fast
S Raptor Serving and support Stabilizes service when wasabi, drinks, and delivery tasks overlap. When restaurant actions start stacking
A+ Drae Kitchen or support Flexible stats make him easy to place where your roster is weakest. Before your final team is fixed
A+ Maki Kitchen A strong cooking option gained through progression, useful for early and mid-game stability. When dishes start backing up
A Cohh Kitchen or dispatch Useful for support planning and repeated ingredient needs. When you farm specific ingredients
B+ Early hires Temporary serving or cooking A decent available employee is better than leaving a clear bottleneck unresolved. Before top staff appear

Hiring order

In the early game, hire for bottlenecks before names

The same employee can feel strong or weak depending on what your shop is missing.
Official Steam screenshot connecting Dave the Diver exploration with Bancho Sushi staff planning
Staff decisions affect night revenue and the way you plan daytime ingredient routes. Image adapted from an official Steam screenshot.

If customers wait, fix serving

When dishes are ready but delivery is late, add or train serving staff first.

If dishes wait, fix cooking

When customers sit while meals are not prepared, invest in kitchen output.

Match expensive dishes with supply

High-value dishes fail if the ingredients run dry; use dispatch to protect your menu loop.

Focus training on keepers

Pick one long-term server, one cook, and one dispatch candidate before spreading training costs.

Role guide

Judge staff by role, not only by tier

Players searching best staff usually need placement advice, not just a name list.

Serving

Customer handling, movement, drinks, and wasabi support become the most visible pressure point.

Kitchen

Great ingredients still lose value if meals cannot be prepared quickly enough.

Dispatch

Dispatch keeps repeated ingredients and seasonings flowing for profitable dishes.

Training

Training turns revenue into more revenue when focused on staff you will keep using.

Training

Train staff when the restaurant bottleneck is visible

Early money competes between diving upgrades and staff training. If dives fail, oxygen and cargo matter first. If the restaurant loses customers at night, training the right employee may return money faster than one more risky dive upgrade.

From mid-game onward, concentrate on role anchors. A strong server, reliable cook, and useful dispatch option stop training costs from scattering across employees you will replace soon.

Early Stabilize one server and one cook
Mid-game Focus training on core staff
Late Optimize dispatch and high-value menu supply

Related guides

Staff choices work best with the whole route

Staff planning is stronger when you also plan fish, ingredients, menu rotation, and official update checks.

Dave the Diver early guide hub Fish and ingredient database direction Official Steam page

FAQ

Dave the Diver staff FAQ

El Nino and Raptor are widely useful serving anchors. Maki and Drae are strong cooking or flexible picks, but the best choice depends on your current bottleneck.

No. Use available hires to fix serving or cooking pressure, then shift investment when stronger long-term staff appear.

If dives fail, gear comes first. If night service loses customers, staff training can improve revenue faster.

Dispatch matters once you repeatedly run profitable dishes and need steady ingredients or seasonings.