Shai Class Guide

Introduction

The Shai class is completely unique class in BDO and is the only full support class. They do reduced damage in PVP and have far fewer skills than other classes but have healing skills and buff/debuff skills. Their main hand is a Florang, which is a boomerang, and their offhand is a lantern called a Vitclari. At level 56, Shai unlocks her “awakening” talents. Unlike other classes, Shai’s awakening is a “Sol” which summons various instruments for her to play, to buff allies, and debuff her enemies. The Sol can be enhanced to give extra stats which empower her buffs.

Shai can be a very weak class in 1v1s due to her reduced PVP damage. However, she can be useful as a support class in small-scale and large-scale PVP.

However, in PVE, Shai can be very strong due to her buff and debuff skills, as well as her high PVE damage using her Florang. She is especially strong at group PVE spots and highly desirable for group PVE and PVP.

Shai is also useful as a life skill class and has increased life skill EXP passives as well as already starting as a Professional in Alchemy and Gathering. She is also unique in other ways, such as being able to ride donkeys faster than other classes and use the Fwuzzy Alpaca mount. Of course, she is also well-known for her “Skateboarding” skill.

Succession

Unlike other classes, Shai does not have a set of succession skills. The official answer as to why can be found in the Thai Pearl Abyss Q&A in 2020 (translated below)

Skill Builds

Since the skill point update in late 2022, you can obtain all skills for approximately 1,000 skill points. Focus on your main skills first, then level the passives. The Weight Training skill should be leveled last since it only gives you a weight limit increase.

Protected Skills

It is important to read through your skills to understand which skills have protection and crowd control effects. Read through your skills carefully to get familiar with what each skill does. You can also filter the different effects in the Skill Window (K).

Locked Skills

These are the skills I recommend locking to help prevent messing up combos during PVP.

• Evasion

To lock a skill, press the lock icon on the top of each skill icon in the skill window (K).

Skill Enhancement (Rabam) Skills

Skill Enhancement skills can be obtained in the Skill Window (K) under the “Skill Enhancement” tab at the top. At levels 56, 57, and 58, you will have 2 different options to choose between. These skills have no skill points cost, but you have to have other skills leveled up to be able to take them.

Level 56 – [SHIFT] + [X]

• Over There! – Requires [Get Well] and [Come Out, Come Out]
  • (Preferred Choice)
    
• Sharing is Caring – Requires [Get Well] and [Cheer Up!]

I recommend taking the Over There! Rabam skill. The skill will follow enemies and debuff their all AP and accuracy rate. Sharing is Caring is also decent if you need an additional heal, but of the two, the debuff seems to be the most usual for the majority of scenarios.

Level 57 – [SHIFT] + [Z]

• Tumble Wumble! – Requires [Kwik-Two V] and [One-Two-Three V]
  
• Twirl-Boom! – Requires [Kwik-Two V] and [Eat This! VI]
  • (Preferred Choice)

I recommend taking the Twirl-Boom! Rabam skill. It is the much better choice of the two.

Level 58 – [Quickslot only]

• Careful! – Requires [Sprinkle-Sparkle IV] and [Get Well]
  
  • (Preferred Choice)
• Now! – Requires [Sprinkle-Sparkle IV] and [Come Out, Come Out]

Both of these options are viable for PVP, but I would personally recommend Careful! since it has a good heal which is useful in more scenarios. Now! has a movement speed debuff and also reveals player names, which is much more niche.

Skill Add-ons

Below are some examples of PVE skill add-ons you can take.

If you would like example skill add-ons for other scenarios, please refer to the Class Discord and its resources. You can also find a list of examples from the Shai Discord here.

I recommend experimenting with your add-ons and figuring out what is best for you because it really depends on your personal preference and how you play your class. If you’re simply not sure what to take then you can blindly follow the examples below and they will still be effective.

You can also check our Skill Add-on guide for a complete list of Skill Add-ons.

Buff and Debuff Skills

Since Shai is a unique class with multiple buff and debuff skills, here is a list of skills you want 100% uptime in both PVE and PVP.

Weapons

Unlike other classes, Shai uses a “Talent” weapon called the “Sol”.

Sol weapons have certain restrictions that other classes don’t have:

• For example, Sol weapons cannot be tagged using Marni’s Suspicious Device, cannot be exchanged through the central market, and cannot be obtained through Jetina’s PEN Boss quests.

Shai is also the only class that does not have an awakening blackstar weapon.

Armor

For your armor, you will make a choice between Damage Reduction or Evasion gear. I recommend reading our guide about the two different DP stats if you want to learn what the two different stats do.

For Shai, you are generally recommended to go with Evasion gear, since Evasion gear is better for high defensive builds.

Accessories

There are various different accessories in the game. At first, just focus on using the accessories that give you the highest AP in each slot.

There are also “free” accessories that all new players should get:

Accessory	How to obtain
Tuvala Accessories	Tuvala accessories are starter accessories obtained from the Season Server. Try to push up your accessories to PEN if possible, but if you don’t have much time to play Season, then focus on your Weapons and Armor first.
PEN Capotia Necklace	You can obtain a FREE PEN Capotia Accessory from the Season Servers Special Reward. For your first season, it is recommended to get the PEN Capotia Necklace because it gives the most AP. You then want to create another Season character in the next season to get the PEN Capotia Belt, and finally the PEN Capotia Ring or Earring.
PEN Ring of Crescent Guardian	You can obtain a PEN Ring of Crescent Guardian by completing Jetina’s PEN Accessory quests. These are daily quests that take a minimum of 45 days to complete. Every new and returning player should complete these as early as possible for a highly discounted PEN accessory.

Common Starter PVE accessories:

• TET Black Distortion Earrings
• TET Basilisk’s Belt (or PEN Capotia Belt)
• TET Ring of Crescent Guardian
• TET Ogre Ring/Laytenn’s Necklace (or PEN Capotia Necklace).

PEN Tuvala Necklace	⇒	PEN Capotia Necklace	⇒	PEN Tungrad Necklace PEN Ogre Ring PEN Laytenn’s Necklace
PEN Tuvala Ring	⇒	PEN Capotia Ring	⇒	PEN Ring of Crescent Guardian PEN Tungrad Ring PEN Eye of the Ruins Ring
PEN Tuvala Belt	⇒	PEN Capotia Belt	⇒	PEN Basilisk Belt PEN Valtarra Eclipsed Belt PEN Tungrad Belt
PEN Tuvala Earring	⇒	PEN Capotia Earring	⇒	TET Black Distortion Earring

Since Shai also requires DP accessories for largescale PVP, the best options would be:

• PEN Clouded Ring of Cadry Guardian or PEN Hesus Rings
• PEN Ethereal Earrings
• PEN Moonlit River Necklace
• PEN Tidal Centaurus Belt

However, you should focus on your PVE build and offensive accessories before putting resources into your DP build for PVP.

Crystals

Below is an example starter Crystal build for PvE. Some of the crystals are expensive. You can obtain the Rebellious Crystal by completing the main story questline.

For more example crystal builds, including an end-game PVE crystal build, and Shai DP crystals, check our Crystal Preset Guide.

This build focuses on maximizing Evasion for full DP builds that are used in PVP. It also adds some resistances/Max HP. For other PVP-focused builds, check out our Crystal Preset guide for examples.

Artifacts and Lightstones

For PVE Lighstones there are a few different options to min-max. For certain spots, you may want to use Species damage combos (eg. The Wild: Demihumans, The Wild: Kamaslyvia, The Wild: Humans). Species damage combos perform better if you are reaching the monster AP caps at a certain zone.

A more generic PVE combo is listed below that is recommended for your class and will work at any spot.

You can also find more information about Artifacts and Lightstones, and how to obtain them, in our guide. We also have a list of Best in slot Artifacts and Lightstones.

Useful Links/Credits

I highly recommend checking out the Shai Class Discord for resources about your class. The class discords always have the most up-to-date information and tons of experienced Shai players that can help with questions or gearing advice. I would like to give a shoutout to the Moderators and Helpers in the Shai discord for all their hard work gathering resources. You can find some of their own guides below. I honestly cannot recommend enough to join the discord.

Useful links to check out:

• Official Shai Forums
• Shai Guide by Ippo
• List of Example Shai Addons by the Shai Discord
• List of Example Crystals by Alec
• Example PVE and AP Shai Builds by the Shai Discord
• Example DP Shai Builds by the Shai Discord
• Song Casting Guide by Kami
• Shai Cancels Guide by Kami
• Oluns for Dummies by LunarTV

Credits Disclaimer: Since there are now 26 BDO classes, it is impossible for me to keep class guides fully maintained. My main class is Ranger and I don’t claim to be the best in any class. Therefore, I use resources and recommendations from the Class discords since (as all other players would agree) this is the best source. I also ask for advice from friends who are more experienced in the class. Where possible, I credit specific players for information such as Add-ons, and combos. However, sometimes there is no player mentioned as the original sharer. If there are any issues with credit or you would like certain information removed/changed, please reach out to me!