Mobile Legends: Bang Bang - Akai "Tank" Build and Strategy Guide

Akai is a Tank hero that specializes in Crowd Control and Charge. Akai's inherent high durability and devastating ultimate skill "Hurricane Dance" is perfect for charging into and breaking up enemy formations and curb any strategy they may have. Because of this, Akai is a priority Tank hero in ranked games that every team covets. This article will guide your through becoming the best Akai user, or rather the best Tank user in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. To start, the top five priority stats for Akai that you need to build up and enhance are Armor, Magic RES, CD Reduction, HP and Shield.

Akai's Tale

A clumsy panda from a far away Eastern villages dreams every night of becoming a mighty warrior. Akai is fat and clumsy even for panda standards and most people say that all he's good for is rolling around. However, this never fazed Akai, as he trained daily, hoping to one day achieve his dreams of becoming a respected warrior. His friends mocked him, his parents discourage him but Akai persisted. Soon one day, a mysterious monk took notice of Akai's persistence and took him under his guidance. Akai flourished under the guidance of the monk, mastering the arts of the flail. He is now ready to enter the world stage and prove that he is a worthy member of the martial arts world!

Skills

Akai possess one passive skill and three active skills. The following are the descriptions and analyses of each skills.

• Passive - Tai Chi: Evertime a skill is used, Akai gains a shield that absorbs up to 8% of his maximum HP. Lasts 2 seconds. This effect has a 2.5 second cooldown.

Analysis: This passive is the main reason why skill CD Reduction and Oracle's unique passive "Bless" is important for Akai. A perfect passive skill for a Tank, Tai Chi is among the best passive skill a Tank can have.

• Blink + Crowd Control - Thousand Pounder: Akai jumps into the designated area, dealing 300/350/400/450/500/550 + (50% Total Physical ATK) points of Physical Damage to enemies after landing, slowing them for 2 seconds and inflicting an extra stun effect on the marked targets for 1 second. Has an 11.0/10.4/9.8/9.2/8.6/8.0 seconds Cooldown and requires 70 Mana to cast.

Analysis: Thousand Pounder is the skill you use to charge into enemy ranks before unleashing the Hurricane Dance to scatter them or pin an enemy against a wall. Thousand Pounder can also be used to escape dire situation or pursue fleeing enemies. Hold the skill icon so that you can direct the direction of this skill. Leveling this skill is a top priority over Blender.

• AoE - Blender: Akai fires a frog shaped shock wave in the designated direction that explodes on contact with the enemies or once it reaches maximum range, dealing 350/380/410/440/470/500 + (120% Extra Physical ATK) points of Physical Damage and marking them for 5 seconds. His basic attacks on marked targets deal extra 5% of Akai's maximum health as physical damage. This skill has a 8.5/8.0/7.5/7.0/6.5/6.0 seconds cooldown and requires 70/80/90/100/110/120 points of Mana to cast.

Analysis: While the Blender's effect makes you do extra damage based on you HP, the damage can only be felt when Akai's HP is huge enough. During the late phase of the game where you have purchased almost every gear required for this build, that's the time that you will feel the bonus damage. Keep in mind that for every 1,000 HP, you will do +50 points of damage.

• Crowd Control + AoE - Hurricane Dance: Akai removes all CC effects from him and spins like a tornado for 3.5 seconds. Each collision knocks back the target and deals 180/360/540 + (100% Extra Physical ATK) points of Physical Damage (damage decays against the same target). During the time, Akai becomes immune to all CC effects and gains movement speed by 30. This skill has a 40.0/36.0/32.0 seconds cooldown and requires 120 points of Mana to cast.

Analysis: Akai's ultimate skill, the Hurricane Dance. This skill can send your enemies flying towards their doom or deliverance. The main use if this skill is to gain advantage by pushing your enemies towards your turrets. Be careful though, because you can push them towards the wrong direction where they can escape instead. It is prudent to use Thousand Pounder first to get to a better position before using this skill.

Emblem

Custom Tank Emblem with Firmness, Inspire and Brave Smite talents is preferred for this build. However, if Custom Tank Emblem is not yet unlocked or is still low level, it is advised that you use your highest level Emblem that can boost defense or physical damage.

Battle Spell

Petrify is the best battle spell for this build. Being a Tank and and a charger, Akai is expected to fight in the frontline of every clash. Use petrify after charging into enemy ranks using Thousand Pounder, this will give you additional time to position yourself carefully before unleashing Hurricane Dance.

• Petrify: Deals 115 to 325 magic damage to surrounding enemies (increases with level) and petrifies targets for 0.7 seconds. Petrify has a 90 seconds Cooldown.

Gears

• Cursed Helmet: Gives +920 HP, +50 Magic RES and Unique Passive: Burning Soul. Burning Soul deals 1.5% of their Max HP to nearby enemies as magic damage each second. Burning Soul deals and extra 50% damage to minions. Burning Soul  costs $1,830.

• Warrior Boots: Gives +22 Armor, +40 Movement SPD and Unique Passive: Valor. Valor increases the wearer's physical defense by 5 each time a basic attack is received, up to 25 points. Enchanted Talisman costs $690.

• Dominance Ice: Gives +500 Mana, +70 Armor, +5% Crit Reduction, +15% CD Reduction and Unique Passive: Arctic Cold. Arctic Cold lowers movement speed by 5% and lowers attack speed by 30% for nearby enemies. Dominance Ice costs $2,110.

• Oracle: Gives +850 HP, +36 Magic RES, +10% CD Reduction and Unique Passive: Bless. Bless raises shield absorption and HP regeneration effects by 25%. Oracle costs $2,110.

• Demon's Advent: Gives +920 HP, +54 Armor, +30 HP Regen and Unique Passive: Deter. Deter reduces the enemy hero's attack power by 6% when he/she attacks the wearer. Deter lasts 2 seconds and stacks up to 3 times. Demon's Advent costs $2,170.

• Twilight Armor: Gives +1,200 HP, +400 Mana, +50 HP Regen and Unique Passive: Defiance. Defiance: After the hero takes over 900 points of Physical Damage, they will take 900 points of Physical Damage at most up to 5 seconds. Cooldown is 5 seconds. Twilight Armor costs $2,260.

Analysis: Craft Cursed Helmet and Warrior Boots first, these two items. During the early phase of the game crafting the two items will give Akai real advantage both in offense and defense. By middle phase, Dominance Ice and Oracle is strongly advised, giving Akai huge armor boost and good CD Reduction bonus. Finally, Demon's Advent and Twilight Armor will help Akai in dealing against Marksmen and Assassins. It is advised that you craft all of these items before the enemy team gets too strong.

Skill Rotation

Akai's skill rotation is simple, use Blender to inflict debuff, next use Thousand Pounder to position Akai, then finally use Hurricane Dance. After the Hurricane Dance is finished, use Thousand Pounder and Blender to aid your allies. As CD Reduction is among the focus of this build, it is assured that you can always use the Thousand Pounder and Blender rotation with minimum waiting time. Also one thing to remember is that try using your normal attack everytime the Blender debuff is in effect.

Role

Akai's role is mainly tanking, which comes to the basic understanding that you should always cover your allies even is you die. While it is acceptable for a Tank to die, do it only when inevitable, otherwise you will only be feeding the enemy team. There are many ways you can use Thousand Pounder and Hurricane Dance other than scattering or stunning your enemies. You can use these skill to delay or hinder the enemy team's movement to allow your allies to escape. Likewise, you can also use Thousand Pounder to effectively chase fleeing enemies.

Gameplay Tips

During early game, focus on helping your team's jungler bring down jungle monsters. Do not, steal the buffs that are intended for mage and assassins. As much as possible let your team's damage dealer farm and protect them from enemies who will try to steal jungle monsters. Do not be keen on getting kills and remember that it is not your duty to push turrets. As the game progress, take the lead on initiating team fights, use signals to coordinate. As the Tank, it is your duty to lead your team, when you think it is time to retreat don't be shy to use the Retreat signal, but don't be the the first one to retreat. Finally, don't forget that the most important thing in winning is teamwork and map awareness. Don't forget to buy Rock Potion when your gear is complete. Rock Potion will further increase your defensive capability.