| Rarity | Type | Base Stats | Price | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diamond | Outworld | Attack: 1500
Health: 1500 Toughness: 1400 Recovery: 1300 Power Gen: 130% |
Spirit Fragments | Relic Hunt |
Strategy
Konqueror Shao Kahn is one of the most powerful characters, both in damage, health, and durability. The first part of his passive ability allows an instant kill when the opponent is at 20-40% health or below. This is great when dealing with certain situations, including battling an opponent with a max fusion, high level character, while players have a low fusion and level team.
The second part of his passive ability functions almost as closely as Erron Black/Black Dragon, where he will perform an assist attack on teammates tag-in. However, Shao Kahn's assisting attacks will strictly help Outworld teammates, whilst Erron Black helps any class.
Shao Kahn is the only character in the game that can unlock and start the fight with 4 bars of power! Equip him with Wrath Hammer, Bloody Tomahawk and his signature Shao Kahn's Helmet for 3 bars of power, and teamed with Kitana/Mournful for 4 bars. The last equipment slot should be used for equipment that reduces SP2 cost, recommended Soul Medallion. This setup allows him to execute 3 SP2 in a row at start of the match and with 1 bar left, dealing massive damage to the enemies and may trigger his instant-kill. The left-over power can be saved for another SP2 or deal some more damage with his stunning SP1.
Interactions
Please note that battles are highly situational: this section only mentions cards that have mechanics that, for any reason, are particularly effective with/against, or particularly ineffective against Shao Kahn. Having a card that "counters" Shao Kahn does not mean it is always a good choice.
Good With
- Kitana/Mournful and Ermac/Master of Souls: Together, if Shao Kahn has Wrath Hammer and his Helmet equipment and he is teamed up with Kitana, he can start with 3 Bars of Power. Ermac benefits from both of these characters as well, allowing him to also start with 3 Bar of Powers, so straight off the bat, both Ermac and Shao Kahn can start with X-Ray. Coincidentally, both Ermac and Shao Kahn also have Shield on their X-Rays, increasing the entire team's defense, which is useful against heavy hitters like Scorpion/Inferno, Scorpion/Hellspawn,Ermac/Klassic, and Liu Kang/Klassic. Shao Kahn can also start with 4 Bars of Power on this team as well if he also has a maxed out Bloody Tomahawk.
- Nomad's Buzz Saw: Shao Kahn can gain speed from this equipment, making him attack much faster. Its chance to gain speed is further increased if he is equipped with his Wrath Hammer and Helmet equipment, which have increased Critical attack chance.
Good Against
- Characters that resurrect or have Bone Shield or Revenant Talents, like Jason Voorhees/Slasher, Jason Voorhees/Unstoppable, Sub-Zero/Grandmaster, Sub-Zero/MK11 or a Quan Chi/Warlock Teammate: Shao Kahn's instant KO on SP2 can bypass their resurrections and invulnerabilities and kill the opponent regardless of these resurrection abilities or protection from Bone Shield and Revenant.
- Jade/Assassin: Despite the fact that Jade cripples every time she evades a combo ender or special attack, Shao Kahn can X-Ray Jade with the equipment and team mentioned above.
- Jason Voorhees/Nightmare and Quan Chi/Circle of Shadow: Same as Jade/Assassin, due to fact that they reflect/evade special attacks and are powerless against X-Rays.
- Ermac/Klassic: His death damage won't trigger if he is killed by Shao Kahn's instant KO on SP2.
Countered By
- Characters with fast attack rates. Shao Kahn's basic attacks are slow, which gives a slightly open window for fast-striking characters like Scorpion, Jade, Raiden, etc.
- Characters who can summon an ally or enslave opponent like Kitana/Circle of Shadow, Kotal Kahn/Dark Lord & Noob Saibot/MK11: Shao Kahn's SP2 instant kill can be wasted on summoned fighters.
- Cassie Cage/Undercover, Kitana/Ronin, Jacqui Briggs/Kosplay (Rain & Sub-Zero variation), Combat Shotgun, Katana & Champion's Nunchaku: All of these characters and the equipment pieces deal more damage versus Outworld cards, which include Shao Kahn.
- Jacqui Briggs/Cybernetic: She takes less damage from Outworld cards, which include Shao Kahn.
Abilities
Here are Shao Kahn's abilities.
| Ability | Classification | Description | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Culling The Weak | Passive | Once per match, Emperor's Bash (Special Attack 2) instantly defeats a non-boss opponent if under 20-40% health. Shao Kahn has a 35-45% chance of helping tagged-in Outworld teammates by throwing his hammer at the opponent. | On Special 2, When Tagged Out |
| Hammer Throw | First Special | Medium Damage + Stun | Target |
| Emperor's Bash | Second Special | Grapple: High Damage | Double Quick Tap |
| It's Official | X-Ray | Extreme Damage + Shield | Tap |
Support Cards/Equipment
Here are Shao Kahn's support and equipment cards.
| Card | Classification | Description | Picture |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wrath Hammer | Attack | 3-33% Bonus Attack |   |
| Shang Tsung's Master | Health | 3-33% Bonus Health |   |
| Taker of Souls | Recovery | 20-220% Bonus Recovery |   |
| Shao Kahn's Helmet | Equipment | 5-40% Critical Hit Chance Boost.
[Shao Kahn] 1 Bar of starting Power. [Shao Kahn] If this is equipped alongside Wrath Hammer, Shao Kahn gains an additional 4th bar of Power! [Fusion Level X] 35% Max health boost. |
  |
| Wrath Hammer | Equipment |
1 Bar of starting Power. 10-20% Attack Boost. [Shao Kahn] If this is equipped alongside Shao Kahn's Helmet, Shao Kahn gains an additional 4th bar of Power! [Fusion Level X] 30% Critical Hit Chance Boost. |
  |
Stats
These stats are the final damage, health, toughness and recovery at level 50, per Fusion rank, with ALL support cards, and without any equipment. With Update 1.18, Fusion 8, 9, and 10 have been added. The Fusion 10 stats are for level 60 characters.
| Rank | Attack | Health | Toughness | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | 10,005 | 18,630 | 8,120 | 7,540 |
| Fusion I | 15,007 | 27,945 | 12,180 | 11,310 |
| Fusion II | 20,010 | 37,260 | 16,240 | 15,080 |
| Fusion III | 25,012 | 46,575 | 20,300 | 18,850 |
| Fusion IV | 30,015 | 55,890 | 24,360 | 22,620 |
| Fusion V | 35,017 | 65,205 | 28,420 | 26,390 |
| Fusion VI | 40,020 | 74,520 | 32,480 | 30,160 |
| Fusion VII | 45,022 | 83,835 | 36,540 | 33,930 |
| Fusion VIII | 50,025 | 93,150 | 40,600 | 37,700 |
| Fusion IX | 55,027 | 102,465 | 44,660 | 41,470 |
| Fusion X | 65,205 | 132,480 | 52,920 | 49,140 |
Gallery
Trivia
- Previously, his passive also used to work on boss enemies.
- Konqueror Shao Kahn is currently the only character who can start a match with 4 Bars of Power, but only with the Wrath Hammer or his own Helmet equipments.
- Previously, while introduced in Update 1.15 but not released, his Helmet provides 75% critical chance and 2 bars of power when maxed out, and also had a different image and a equipment score of 100, even higher than Epic equipment before it was nerfed and changed.
- In Update 2.0 however, the image was changed back to its unreleased version.