In this post, I’ll detail the hero Mai Shiranui, how to get her, how to upgrade her skills and talent tree, and how to combine her with other heroes.
How to get Mai?
Mai can only be acquired during the King Of Fighters event by collecting 10 of her fragments. This event is exclusive and occurs only once, making Mai unobtainable after its conclusion.
Talent trees
Mai possesses three talent trees. While her primary ability is Rider Squad, focusing solely on this tree isn’t necessary. Her secondary abilities, General and Field Battle, offer versatility, allowing her to excel in various roles on the battlefield. I recommend utilizing her for field battles due to her speed and capacity to eliminate farmers and fleeing troops. You can also use her for combat if used as the assistant. For talent distribution, prioritize maxing out the Field talent tree, allocate points for travel speed in the General tree, and invest the remaining points in the Rider Squad tree. I haven’t upgraded her to level 60 but this how my talent tree looks like with Mai at level 38.
Skills
- Her first skill is called Hakuro No Mai. It deals damage to 2 enemies in a fan-shaped area with a damage factor of 4500 every second for 3 seconds which means you can potentially deal 27,000 of damage factor. It also reduces the traveling speed up to 25% for 3 seconds.
- Her second is called Chou Hissatsu Shinobi-Bachi. It increases the rider HP by up to 20% and increase the basic attack by up to 33% on slowed targets. If she is the only one in your squad slowing the target, this skill is only active for 3 seconds after her first skill.
- Her third is called Kachousen and increases the rider squad attack by up to 30% and the traveling speed by up to 15%.
- Her fourth is called Musasabi no Mai and it increases the rider squad attack by up to 20% and increases the traveling speed by up to 30% for 5 seconds after leaving a battle if the remaining squad size is above 50%.
- Her awakening skill is called Houou No Mai and it is an enhancement of her 4th skill. The attack increase moves from 20% to 30% and the traveling speed from 30% to 45%
How to upgrade her skills?
For every fighting hero, you need to upgrade the 1st skill, the raging skill, first. For this hero, you have 2 options. The first one, I would recommend upgrading the 3rd skill next, followed by the 4th, and finally the 2nd. The order would be 1, 3, 4, 2. This order optimizes her for speed-focused game play. Alternatively, if using her as an assistant for field battles, upgrade the 3rd, 2nd, and then the 4th skill after the 1st. You prioritize the 2nd skill over the 4th to gain more HP and be more resistant during your field fight. NOTE: You can only obtain her fragments during the King of Fighters Event, after that you’ll have to spend 2 legendary fragments for one of her fragments to upgrade her skills.
How to combine Mai?
Due to her lack of a skill talent tree, Mai is best utilized as an assistant for damage or as a leader for speed on the field. She pairs well with other rider heroes such as Catherine, Freya, Bella, or Elena. Depending on how many rider squads you want to have on the battlefield. Your best options for field battle are Bella/Mai or Elena/Mai. Although, Bella/Elena might be a better squad.
For speed-focused game play, consider combinations like Mai/Bella or Mai/Elena. Additionally, Mai/Akemi can be effective for slowing down targets. Or even better to slow down the targets, you can also use Mai/Freya.
Conclusion
Mai is a valuable hero, albeit costly to obtain fragments outside of the King Of Fighters event. However, she outperforms Cynthia in eliminating farmers and deserters, and can also be useful in Bounty Ground. Consider unlocking her 1st skill and possibly a second, but further upgrades may prove too expensive