BDO Shai Guide (Black Desert Online)

This BDO Shai Guide is a basic introduction to an unusual class released 26th June 2019 in Black Desert Online. Shai in unusual because she is the only class specialized in defense and Life Skills.

Shai Highlights:

• Smallest arsenal of skills to choose from compared to other classes
• Wonderfully whimsical: just try to play this class and not smile as she dances about. 🙂
• Four HP Heals over time for party and self
• Powerful Awakening skills that buff allies and debuff enemies.
• A spammable, short duration Invincibility skill, limited by Stamina
• Very weak in offensive PVP (severe damage reduction penalties)
• Hill & Water Annoyances: skills don’t land if mob is on a hill. Shallow water sometimes makes her swim.
• Quick attack skills with low Cooldowns.
• Powerful single target PVE, but lacking in widespread AOE and range.
• Life Skill Bonuses: Increased LT when leveling up and starts with Gathering & Alchemy at Professional 1. Skills that increase Alchemy/Gathering XP gain. Skills for 300% Combat XP buff from Gathering/Alchemy.
• Shai gets a quest for an improved donkey at level 56. Her donkey has the chance to learn special skills. (Donkey speed was improved for all classes, but only the Shai donkey has speed skills. Turning can still be bothersome.)
• Shai’s Trainer’s Flute is unlimited by distance when calling her donkey, as long as the donkey is not carrying items.

This BDO Shai Guide is a simple overview to highlight strengths and weaknesses. After reading this guide, you should have a better understanding of the Shai and if you would like to learn more.

Shai IMHO

Lets face it. Shai is just too cute for words. She’s different than anything Black Desert has ever offered before. I love her animations as she twirls her big boomerang in crazy circles.

Her greatest strength is found in her healing ability and buffs. She has amazing self sustain in PVE and high HP.

Many people play her to progress in Life Skills and she does have many benefits in that regard. She is also excellent in boss fights and against tanky mobs with large HP.

I found Shai a bit frustrating because I can’t help but compare her lack of AOE to my current favorite class, the Archer. It’s also impossible to defend any grinding spot.

Her attacks are focused into a narrow column or small area. This makes her perfect for tanky, high HP mobs all packed together. Her hits do a bazillion small attacks. She has been a challenge to level compared to my archer that hits in a wide AOE with everything insta dead.

I think I would enjoy her more if she felt more necessary to the game. Typically, MMORPG games require healers in certain difficult dungeons, etc. But, I have read that she can be helpful in large scale PVP.

For more info about the benefits of playing Shai in large scale PVP, read Mayvin’s excellent guide.

BDO Shai Tier List & Rankings

——— via Character Creation Stat Map ———

The Shai, like every class in BDO, is gender locked, but I have seen some male versions in the player made Appearance templates. Below you will find a list of the ranks visible during Character Creation. For player opinion on the Shai, please visit Shai Discord or the Official BDO Shai forums.

Character Creation Key: Class Tier Stats Explained:

• Control: This is a measure of the difficulty in controlling the Shai. The Shai was given 0/4 for Control difficulty by the developers. She has the lowest score out of all classes in Control. So she must be easy peasy… right?
• Defense: Defense measures the Shai’s ability to take damage that hits her. This score is 1/4. Expect to get higher damage than a 4 star Valk when you’re hit. This stat surprises me since Shai feels a bit more tanky than a rank 1. It must be because of her high HP and heals.
• Combo: A Combo is a combination of key presses in a set order to perform a series of powerful moves. This ranking is a measure of the complexity of key combos available to the class. Shai has a ranking of 2 for Combo.
• Evasion: Evasion measures the class ability to evade attacks. Shai has 2/4 in Evasion, so we should expect the Shai to not evade as well as a Ranger, for example, who has max Evasion.
• Attack: Attack measures how much damage this class can dish out. Shai scores a 1/4 in Attack, which is the lowest of all classes. This is certainly true in PVP.

 

BDO Shai Weapons

The Shai wields a Florang for her main hand weapon and a Sol for her Awakening weapon. The Sol is transformed into a Lute (Tring), Flute (Tute), or Drums (Tamtam) while using her Awakening skills. Imagine rocking the world with some amazing instruments during action combat! 🙂

BDO Shai Icon	Shai Weapon	Shai Subweapon	Awakening Weapon	Default Look
Shai	Florang	Vitclari	Sol: – Lute (Tring) – Flute (Tute) – Drums (Tamtam)

Shai Skills

Compared to all other classes, Shai has a limited amount of skills to work with. So what she has, you better learn to like or else! 🙂

Quite a few skills have Superarmor, but her major buff skills (songs) are unprotected. Her two Awakening debuffs have Superarmor. She has one damaging block and a few stuns. Her Hop skill gives her Invincibility.

Shai has some interesting skills, including one that causes her to look like she died. It gives Invincibility for 2 seconds.

Here are a few of her bread and butter pre-awakening skills

 

Hop: (Shift + any direction)
Hop is a skill that gives Invincibility, meaning it will protect you from everything, even from grabs.

The downside is that the duration of the skill is only 1 second long. This means there is a two second window, where you might become vulnerable as you wait for the 3 second cooldown.

Shai Skill Highlight:

• 1 second Invincibility from grabs, CC, and damage
• 3 second cooldown (2 seconds of waiting for cooldown.)
• costs 150 Stamina, causing Stamina to run out very quickly (you can spam 8 in a row at level 56.)

 

 

Get Well: (Shift + E)
This Shai skill is one of four HP Healing skills. It’s powerful, but can only be used once every 1.5 minutes.
This is a possible 200% Black Spirit Rage skill. HP recovered by +500 per 1 tick over 10 ticks, for self and allies. Maximum 10 targets

Shai Skill Highlight:

• 2,100 total HP healed
• long Cooldown of 1.5 minutes
• up to 10 targets

 

 

Over Here: (Shift + Q)
Blocks attacks from outside the protective area for 5 sec.
Shai Skill Highlight:

• Super Armor while using skill
• Attack Speed -50% for enemies within range for 2 sec
• Casting Speed -50% for enemies within range for 2 sec
• Movement Speed -50% for enemies within range for 2 sec
• Long 5 minute cooldown

 

 

 

Cheer Up: (E)
Cheer Up is another important healing skill. It gives 200 HP every 5 sec for 60 sec. Applied to self and allies.
Shai Skill Highlight:

• 2,400 HP regenerated over 1 minute.
• Maximum 10 targets
• 1 Minute Cooldown

 

 

Hop Three: (S + LMB)
Hop-Three is her only damage skill that has a block. It also has the added benefit of decreasing DP and pushing enemies away.
Shai Skill Highlight:

• Forward Guard while using skill
• DP -10% for 10 seconds
• Accuracy +5%

 

 

Shai Bonfire Tool

Shai has an exclusive Bonfire Tool that heals allies.

• Bonfire Tool can be crafted with Simple Alchemy by using 5 of any kind of timber, such as logs, 5 Rough Stones, and 5 Powder of Flame.
• Using the Bonfire Tool will create a Bonfire.
• Bonfires last 10 minutes. They heal nearby allies for 25 HP per 10 seconds and cure hypothermia.
• Bonfire Tools have a cooldown of 30 minutes.

 

Shai Awakening (Talent)

Shai’s Awakening is called “Talent”. The devs did this to reflect the unique nature of the Shai class.

• Shai uses an item called “Sol” which is placed in the Talent slot in her inventory (I), instead of an Awakening Weapon placed into the Awakening Weapon slot.
• Shai’s Instrument exclusive skills become more efficient by enhancing the instrument.
• Shai plays one of Tring, Tute, and Tamtam depending on the skill she casts.
• Level 56+ Shai can obtain the quest [Shai Talent] The First Light, Shai from Black Spirit’s “Suggested” quest tab.
• Shai can’t open existing awakening weapon boxes or obtain Awakening weapons in the normal fashion via bosses, etc. Shia gets 1 blue and 1 yellow grade Talent weapon called ‘Sol’, after completing her level 56+ quest line.
• The blue graded instrument can’t be enhanced but it has high default stats. The default stat for the yellow grade is lower than that of the blue, but it can become more powerful through enhancement.
• Shai’s instrument cannot be dyed.
• You can neither use the Canon Sol as a Fairy Growth ingredient nor discard it.

Thank you to Fufu, who posted the following Shai Awakening details in the Shai Discord.

The Shai Advantage for Life Skills

Shai Life Skill Buffs:

• Starts with Professional 1 Gathering & Alchemy
• Light Bag: Passive skill that increases the amount of Weight Limit you gain when you level up.
• Potential for faster Trade skill deliveries using a donkey with higher LT limits and donkey gear. (Sounds as if the devs want to improve on the Shai/Donkey friendship and “functions” in the future.)
  • [Developer’s Comment] — “Donkeys have been a part of the world of Black Desert since the beginning, but they never received the attention they deserve. With the release of Shai, we would like to give the donkeys a well deserved fresh new start as well. Although they cannot completely replace horses, we plan to start off with them being companions of Shai and add more donkey specific functions as time goes by. Not being noticed by monsters and having a sort of roaming mode would be good examples.”
• Can wear Florin Herb Gatherer Clothes (can be crafted at a Lv. 1 Costume Workshop)
  • actually has nothing to do with the Gathering Life Skill, but might help with its +1 Crit buff.
  • Wearable on: Armor, Gloves, Shoes, Helmet
  • Can use Tailoring Coupon to transform into a costume. (Adds +15 Amity)
• 10 Skills that give up to +5% Gathering/Alchemy XP.
• 2 Skills that give +300% Combat Exp after Gathering/Alchemy.

From Global Lab patch notes:

Shai: New passive skills that increase the amount of experience gained from gathering and alchemy has been added.

Donkey Skill	Donkey Skill Effect
Master of Gathering I~V	5% ~ 25% increased EXP to Gathering life skill
Master of Alchemy I~V	5% ~ 25% increased EXP to Alchemy life skill

Shai Florin Herb Gatherer Clothes

Source and View more images of Shai Florin Gatherer Clothes
In order to make “Florin Herb Gatherer Clothes”, you need “Design: Florin Herb Gatherer Clothes – Shai”.

• You can receive “Design: Florin Herb Gatherer Clothes – Shai” as a reward by completing the Life Saving Herb quest from the NPC “Kunata Don” in Florin.
  • You can accept the new quest from the NPC “Kunata Don” in Florin.
  • This quest can be completed once per Family, and can be accepted by any character of Lv. 40 or above without any restrictions.
    • Life Saving Herb
    • Oh, the Sweet Scent
    • Will it Burn Me?
    • White Azalea?
    • Dawn of Day
    • Once in a Million Years?
    • Truth about the Herb
• After completing the quest, you can buy the item from the Amity Shop of the Florin Armor Vendor “Zelfinith”.

Shai Gatherer’s Clothes Recipe

[Shai] Florin Herb Gatherer Clothes Recipe
	Design – Workload(15m) Required workshop level: 1
– Crafting Materials – Design: Florin Herb Gatherer Clothes – Shai  30x Cotton Fabric  50x Spirit’s Leaf  20x Trace of Nature  30x Lightweight Plume  25x Black Stone Powder
– Crafting Result  [Shai] Florin Herb Gatherer Clothes

 

Shai Donkey Skills

Shai can choose one of the 3 donkeys after completing a level 56+ Black Spirit quest called [Shai] Black Spirit’s Gift (Donkey). These special donkeys have a chance to learn unique skills when leveling up, which can make them stronger.

Shai do not have distance limits on ther Trainer’s Flutes when calling their donkey, as long as the donky isn’t carrying any items.

Shai can ride normal mounts, but she cannot use her attack skills while mounted.

Donkey Skill	Description
Hind Kick!	Kick the enemies behind you with hind legs.
Run Run	Gallop at a fast pace.
Step Aside!	Dash forward to hit enemies in front.
Just Chillin’	This is a roaming mode where you can just chill on the back of your donkey and wander the world. Press E while mounted on a donkey to change Shai’s position. Press it again to lie down on your back. Pressing T during these positions will make the donkey set off on a slow walk.

• The Donkeys names are Derome, Cherose, and Vallet.
• The skill Just Chillin’ is already learned on level 1. The other 3 skills have a high chance to be learned as they grow.
• Skill change, skill removal, and skill training is the same as for horses.
• The following items were changed to be usable on donkeys.
  • Mount Skill Change Coupon
  • Mount Skill Removal Coupon
  • Mount Skill Training Coupon
  • Mount All Skill Training Coupon
• All donkeys were changed to unnoticed by monsters when on standby.
  • Donkeys will still take damage if they are within range of an enemy attack, regardless of the monster’s target.

Shai Donkey Gear

Donkey gear can be dyed.

Stable	– [Donkey] Light Red Plumed Champron – [Donkey] Shabby Leather Barding – [Donkey] Shabby Leather Saddle – [Donkey] Shabby Leather Stirrups – [Donkey] Weak Iron Horseshoe
Crafting	Horse Gear Workshop Level 1	Horse Gear Workshop Level 2	Horse Gear Workshop Level 3
	-[Donkey] Light Leather Saddle -[Donkey] Leather Combat Saddle	– [Donkey] Light Leather Stirrups – [Donkey] Leather Combat Stirrups – [Donkey] Light Iron Horseshoe – [Donkey] Steel Combat Horseshoe	[Donkey] White Plume Champron [Donkey] Light Leather Barding [Donkey] Steel Combat Champron [Donkey] Steel Combat Barding

Player Made Shai Videos and Guides

It’s helpful to me to see videos and guides from other players about BDO’s Shai. Here are a few of the treasures I’ve stumbled upon so far. Know of any more?

BDO Shai Description & Video (Official)

Shai: Shais excel at providing buffs on the battlefield. While they can fight off incoming threats with their giant boomerangs, they can also avoid dangerous situations through their swift movements. Their versatility allows them to protect or heal those around them.

 

Shai Lore (Official)

The following Shai Lore and images were taken from the official website https://www.blackdesertonline.com/news/view/2847

“A baby in the woods?”   A warm and gentle breeze blew softly through the woods, rustling the sleeping baby’s hair. The Chief of Florin, Valentine, stood over her, smiling softly at her. She lay, no bigger than a newborn squirrel, amongst the calmness of the forest floor.   Valentine looked around, perhaps for a hint of where the baby came from, but between the birds singing in the trees and the deer prancing through the forest, there was no sign of anyone.   He carefully picked up the baby Shai, and held her against his chest as he headed back towards his village. During the walk, she reached out with her tiny hand and touched Valentine’s beard. Her dew-like eyes opened, and Valentine knew then that he would do his best to raise her.   “She was like the gift of dawn.”   As Valentine raised the girl, he encouraged in her one of the primary qualities of the Shai: curiosity. However, he soon realized that this Shai was different from most other Shais.   Whereas most Shais channel their curiosity into experimenting with potion-making, this girl’s curiosity extended beyond that. Her curiosity, carefree spirit, and trickster nature was the cause of many headaches for the Valentine as the Chief of Florin.   The girl would climb Karanda Ridge and took as many Harpy eggs as she could carry. As she would eventually be chased from the ridge by angry Harpies, she would howl with laughter, the harpies’ sharp claws not even fazing her.   She would sing and dance in the herb gardens, destroying the precious herbs beneath her feet.   She once even stole Valentine’s prized donkey, joyously riding it around the village until her tiny legs gave in and she ended up tumbling to the ground in a laughing heap.   Despite the trouble that always followed in her wake, the villagers could not help but enjoy her antics.   “It is time to test your skills.”   Shais do not age like humans. They tend to look youthful even in old age. Even Valentine, the oldest of the Shais, still looks like he is in his early 20’s even though he is 110 years old by the Elionian Calendar. As the years passed like a leaf floating down the river, the young Shai reached 15 by the Elionian Calendar. This is a special age for Shais and marks the first test of becoming an adult.   The alchemy test is one that all Shais must pass, and the young girl was no different. She decided to try and make cookies that cause white leaves to sprout from your head by mixing rare herbs together. So she set off towards the forest, looking for the rare herb.   As she wandered through the trees and thick overgrowth, she came across a cave. She remembered that Valentine had previously given strict orders never to enter strange caves.   “Curiosity killed the cat.”   Yet, the mischievous Shai had no second thoughts. She put one happy foot in front of the other, almost dancing into the dark cave.   A dim light deep inside the cave marked her destination, as she danced past the stalagmites and dived under the stalactites. It was then she stumbled upon Caphras’ hidden laboratory.   “What’s a laboratory doing here?”   Her eyes grew big as they looked upon all the things she had never seen before. Her hands brushed over the tools, across huge jars and tiny vials. A pile of books on a table caught her interest. The book on top seemed to sparkle and illuminate the room.   The young Shai climbed up onto a chair, then onto the table. As she reached for the book, the table gave way beneath her feet, everything flew into the air, and as she landed she saw a jar come crashing down.   The jar smashed on the stone floor, and a black mist flew towards her. As she reeled back attempting to protect herself, she was surrounded by flames. Florin, her home, was engulfed. Men, women, and children laid bloody and fallen all around her. The smell of smoke and burning herbs filled the air, almost suffocating her.   She stood in the middle of all this destruction and screamed a blood-curdling scream. She stood motionless, the fear of what she was witnessing filling every inch of her body.   “What is that light in the darkness…”   She turned to the warm voice that she heard. The sound of the burning village almost melted away as she spotted a small orb glowing on the floor. Fighting the fear that gripped her body, she reached out a hand. When she laid her hands on the glowing orb, the sounds of the burning village raced past her ears, and the black mist vanished without a trace.   Despite the horrors that melted away around her, the orb glowing with the light of the world remained.   She was free from the darkness, yet the panic remained. As she turned to run she dropped the orb behind her. In her haste, she didn’t even hear the orb as it clanked on the floor. She continued to run as fast as her legs would take her, and the light of the orb became engulfed in the darkness of the cave.   The young woman who was so full of life grew somber and silent. Where the valley was once filled with her laughter, it now rang with a deafening silence. The villagers were worried about her, trying to get her to at least talk but she stayed silent.   She could not shake the images she saw. Nightmares kept her awake at night, and picking herbs brought no joy. Everything she enjoyed slowly lost its draw, and she withdrew to her small hut.   Time passed like the pages of a book, and at age 30, it was time for the Shai’s second coming of age ceremony. In those years she shook off much of the horrors she witnessed, yet she could not erase the images of the orb from her mind with the radiant light and the small world within. The less the nightmares plagued her, the more visions of the orb shone through. ‘The light of the world,’ she thought to herself.   For their second coming of age ceremony, a Shai must collect the most precious of treasures. For many Shais, this may be collecting some incredibly rare herbs or a special Flondor goose egg. Yet for her, there was only one precious treasure she wanted to retrieve, and she thought now she could finally gather enough courage to go to the cave again.   “I’m ready to go back now.”   She unlocked the door of her hut, grabbed her giant boomerang florang, and ventured once more to the cave. This time she walked through the cave, carefully making sure her florang didn’t bump against all the stalagmites and stalactites. With each step, her heart raced. Each step could bring her face to face with her deepest fears.   As the faint light of the lab grew closer and closer, she could feel the warming presence of the orb. Yet as soon as one foot touched the lab’s cold floor, she was surrounded by darkness. Her breath stopped, once again fear consumed her.   As she stood in the darkness, she began to hear the sounds of a conversation from two Shais in front of her.   “You need to leave, I’ll be right behind you.”   As she reached out towards them, the darkness moved to block her. Face to face with an entity of darkness, the Shai felt trapped.   Yet in the corner of her eye, she could see the orb, this time shining brighter than she remembered from before. She shook off her fear and dove towards the light. The darkness tried to pull her back and each moment felt like an eternity, but her hand eventually grasped the orb.   “My head feels like it’s been cracked open. Where am I? I’m hungry, so very hungry.”   ‘How much time had passed?’ she contemplated as she stared up at the sky, watching a white fluffy cloud float by. The leaves rustled softly in the warm spring breeze, birds sang wistfully to each other.   It all felt unfamiliar. Everything she saw was new, every sound was a surprise, even the feeling of the soft ground beneath her was foreign.   She met that darkness twice, and it had devoured all her memories.   A beautiful song echoed around her. She stood up to try and find the source of the sweet melody. The orb dangled gently from her waist, and as she looked at it, it glowed and sang a happy tune.   She felt calm, as if the warm spring breeze had wrapped itself around her. Feeling lifted, she skipped her first steps into her new adventure with glee.

Shai Awakening Lore

Shai Screenshots (Official)

The following Shai Screenshots and images were taken from the official website.

Shai Whimsical Alchemist

Shai Purnado Outfit

Shai Curious Gatherer

Shai Kydict

Shai Venecil

 

Shai Awakening Weapon Screenshots

Shai uses a Sol, which allows her to use three different Awakening weapons automatically, without switching weapons.

The following Shai images were taken from the official BDO announcement in their article, First Look at Shai Awakening & the Great Expedition, published 15 June 2019. And also the official Shai “Talent Event” pages.