Costumes may not affect how Street Fighter 6 plays, but getting to choose what your fighter wears never hurts. As with SF6’s other characters, A.K.I.’s Costume 2 can be purchased with 50 Fighter Coins, which is approximately 1 USD. But if you want to save your Fighter Coins for later, you can unlock A.K.I.’s Costume 2 through an alternate method described below.
How to Unlock A.K.I.’s Costume 2 in Street Fighter 6
To unlock A.K.I.’s Costume 2 without spending 50 Fighter Coins, you must level up her Bond Level to 100 in World Tour Mode. This is a multi-step process but can be completed in under an hour, so it’s recommended to save your Fighter Coins and unlock A.K.I.’s Costume 2 through this method.
Where to Find A.K.I. and Enroll as her Student in SF6’s World Tour Mode
Before meeting A.K.I., you must speak to Lao Mao in Metro City. She can be found standing to Chun-Li’s left. This will start the side quest “Good Medicine is Hard to Come By.” To proceed, give Lao Mao any energy drink of any size. Afterward, she will ask you to get herbal medicine from Fang Fei.
Fang Fei (F.A.N.G. from Street Fighter V) is also located in Metro City, under the leftmost stairs just outside the Mike Haggard Memorial Stadium. Speaking to Fang Fei, it unlocks the Tian Hong Yuan China destination in the travel menu. You must travel to Tian Hong Yuan to pick up the necessary medicine ingredients.
As soon as you arrive in Tian Hong Yuan, a series of cutscenes play introducing you to A.K.I. Speak to A.K.I. to receive the medicine ingredients and for her to be added to your list of Masters. From here, you can return to Fang Fei to give him the ingredients, then return to Lao Mao and finish the quest, or you can immediately work on unlocking A.K.I.’s Costume 2.
How to Raise A.K.I.’s Bond Level to 100 in SF6’s World Tour Mode
Bond Level is relatively simple to increase in World Tour Mode. There are no experience points involved. Instead, each time you increase someone’s Bond, it increases by several levels. This makes Bond much faster to increase than Style, which does function on an experience point system.
You can interact with A.K.I. in Tian Hong Yuan, China, as you level up her Style to gain a few Bond Levels here and there, but this is not the most efficient way to gain Bond Levels. Equip A.K.I.’s Style and use her moves if you want your avatar to learn all of her attacks, but in the meantime, you should also give A.K.I. gifts to increase her Bond Level quickly. Just like the other Masters, there are certain gift items that A.K.I. will not accept, others that give one or two Bond Levels, a favored item that gives 5 Bond Levels, and a unique item that gives a whopping 40 Bond Levels.
How to get A.K.I.’s Favored Item, the Fan, in World Tour Mode
The Fan increases A.K.I.’s Bond Level by 5. Two NPCs may drop the Fan after defeating them. The first is Ioannis, located in Tian Hong Yuan, China, to A.K.I.’s left. The second NPC who drops the Fan is Mallory, who is located on the third floor of the SiRN Building. To reach him, you need to take the elevator to the fifth floor and the inner stairs to the third floor. Getting to him means getting past many Copy Fighters and Drones at Level 60 and higher, which dogpile you and get you caught in lots of battles. This can be good for grinding your fighter’s level and Style Levels, but it makes for a rather unpleasant time.
On top of that, NPCs don’t drop the same items all the time. When beside an NPC, open the Details menu (Triangle button on PlayStation; Y button on Xbox) to see what items the character will drop and under what circumstances. If Ioannis can drop the Fan, you must defeat him while your avatar has A.K.I.’s Style equipped. If Mallory can drop the Fan, you have to perform a Perfect Parry. If they don’t drop the Fan, you must defeat them to reset their drops. Whether they drop the Fan or not, they, like every other NPC, can’t be rechallenged right away. This makes the Fan an unreliable item for quickly increasing A.K.I.’s Bond Level. There are far better items worth giving to A.K.I. to increase her Bond Level.
How to get A.K.I.’s Unique Item, the Japanese Horseradish, in World Tour Mode
The Japanese Horseradish gift item, which you receive by completing a quest, raises A.K.I.’s Bond Level by 40. You can only get one, and it’s not the easiest item to get, but it’s definitely worth it not only for the significant increase in Bond Level but for the NPC associated with the quest.
After completing story mode, head into the SiRN Building by talking to Steven at the Construction Site. On the R&D floor, talk to Old Man Lloyd to start “The Secret Sentient Sidekick” quest. You need to track down a runaway robot boy, R.O.B.B.I.E., on the above floor and defeat him three times. This can be pretty challenging since R.O.B.B.I.E. is Level 80, but once you succeed, report back to Lloyd to get some rare items, including a serving of Japanese Horseradish. After this quest, you’ll not only be able to make major progress on A.K.I.’s Bond Level, but you can return to challenge R.O.B.B.I.E., whose high level and use of different Styles makes him a great opponent for gaining experience and increasing your Style Levels.
Other Items to Increase A.K.I.’s Bond Level in World Tour Mode
If you’re looking for extra ways to increase A.K.I.’s Bond Level quickly, you can give her Prepaid Cards, which always increase a Master’s Bond Level by 2. You can buy as many Prepaid Cards as you’d like or need from Shopkeeper Dora in Old Nayshall for 1260 Zenny. She’s located near the Commerce Plaza in the Lowlands. When purchasing from her, press the shoulder buttons to swap from Dine-in to Takeout. Prepaid Cards are found near the bottom of the menu.
Once you’ve given A.K.I. a Japanese Horseradish and 30 Prepaid Cards (or if you can get a few Fans from Ioannis or Mallory: a Japanese Horseradish, two Fans, and 25 Prepaid Cards), you’ll unlock A.K.I.’s Costume 2. You can put it to use right away by practicing her Special Moves and Super Arts, which we’ve compiled into a handy guide.
