i would start with the native max hair tools... they are based on shave and are good to start with... and use splines to style the hair and not the comping tools... if you have some money give ornatirx a try... https://www.ephere.com/plugins/autodesk/max/ornatrix/
Yeah, I've been using Hair & Fur with splines since a little while actually and I have to say it's quite interesting; however up to now the renders I've been having, particularly in vray, are quite un-realistic. The fact that ornatirx seems compatible with v-ray is interesting, but it's a bit out of my budget. I'll try to…