Shiv Build Guide for Dominating the Battlefield

Shiv is a versatile bruiser who excels at dealing sustained damage with his bleed effects while using his high mobility to dominate the battlefield. This guide focuses on maximizing his poke damage early on and leveraging his passive for tankiness, while also building him up to dish out massive damage in the mid and late game. Whether you’re looking to poke from a distance or close in for the kill, Shiv has the tools to pressure and outplay your opponents.

Shiv

Shiv is a hero defined by controlled aggression. His abilities work in harmony to encourage you to set up favorable fights and swiftly close in for the kill. If you enjoy having multiple options and quickly spotting weaknesses to capitalize on, then Shiv is the perfect hero for you.

Deadlock Shiv Weapon Stats

DPS	60
Bullet Damage	5.7
Ammo	10
Bullets per Second	1.9
Light Melee	63
Heavy Melee	116

Deadlock Shiv Vitality Stats

Max Health	600
Health Regen	2
Bullet Resist	0%
Spirit Resist	0%
Move Speed	7 m/s
Sprint Speed	0 m/s
Stamina	3

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Deadlock Shiv Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• Great poke in lane and can win trades using his Defer Damage passive.
• Excellent mobility with Slice and Dice and Killing Blow.
• Can clear camps quickly and move fast to gank.

Weaknesses

• No crowd control (CC) outside of a slow.
• Squishy – If you get locked down, your Defer Damage won’t help you.
• Requires close-range combat to win fights, so it demands a delicate balance between aggression and positioning.

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Deadlock Shiv Abilities

Serrated Knives (1)

Throw a knife that damages and slows an enemy. Each additional hit adds a stack and refreshes the debuff duration, causing the damage to increase per stack.

• Charges: 2
• Cooldown Between Charges: 2s
• Cooldown: 19s
• Debuff Duration: 5s
• Damage: 35
• Bleed DPS per Knife: 5
• Movement Slow: 35%

Ultimate Unlock: While rage is full, knives will ricochet to another enemy and apply a slow to enemies they bleed.

Serrated Knives Upgrades

AP	Upgrade
1	+1 Charges
2	+2s Debuff Duration
5	+40 Damage and +5 Bleed DPS

Maxing Serrated Knives gives you an extra charge, increases the debuff duration, and significantly boosts the damage. If you want to poke and create opportunities for finishing off enemies, this is your skill.

Tips for Serrated Knives

• If you plan to max this skill early, it’s a good idea to get Extra Charge and possibly Rapid Recharge as well. Mystic Reach is also a solid option.
• Since Serrated Knives applies stacks of bleed, landing multiple hits in a row can really hurt players, creating an opening for a quick finish when they are slowed.
• Remember, when your rage is full, Serrated Knives ricochet to other enemies, making it a great tool for hitting multiple enemies in a group.

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Slice and Dice (2)

Perform a dash forward, damaging enemies along the path.

Ultimate Unlock: When rage is full, an echo of Shiv retraces the dash path after a short delay, damaging enemies again.

• Damage: 105
• Dash Range: 12m
• Cooldown: 16s

Slice and Dice Upgrades

AP	Upgrade
1	-4s Cooldown
2	+75 Damage
5	Reduce cooldown by 2s per enemy hit (1s for non-Hero). Max 6s per Dash.

Maxing Slice and Dice allows you to use it more often, do more damage, and reduce the cooldown by 2 seconds per enemy hit, for a max of 6 seconds. Combined with Serrated Knives, this makes your dash have a very low cooldown.

Tips for Slice and Dice

• If you max Slice and Dice early, it becomes an incredible damage source, especially when farming neutral camps, as you’ll easily hit multiple targets and reset the cooldown.
• If you aren’t maxing it, think carefully about dashing, as it’s a big commitment. Remember, you can gap-close with your ultimate and then dash out if things don’t go as planned.

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Bloodletting (3)

Take only a portion of incoming damage immediately and defer the rest to be taken over time. Activate to clear a portion of the deferred damage.

• Incoming Damage Deferred: 22%
• Deferred Damage Duration: 13s
• Cooldown: 50s
• On Activate: 40% Deferred Damage Cleared

Ultimate Unlock: While rage is full, the amount of damage deferred is increased.

Bloodletting Upgrades

AP	Upgrade
1	+8% Incoming Damage Deferred
2	-25s Cooldown
5	+25% Deferred Damage Cleared

Maxing Bloodletting increases the amount of damage deferred, stretches the duration over which the deferred damage takes place, and lowers the cooldown of your ability to clear damage.

Tips for Bloodletting

To use Bloodletting effectively, you need to understand the incoming damage.

• If you activate the clear too early, you won't get much value from it.
• If you hold the clear for too long, you can ignore large amounts of damage, but the longer you wait, the higher the risk.
• Using this ability well gives you a huge advantage in early lane trades.

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Killing Blow (4)

Activate to leap towards an enemy hero and instantly kill them if their health is below the kill threshold; otherwise, deal 200 damage to them.

• Range: 14m
• Enemy Health Threshold: 20%
• Cooldown: 95s
• Passive: Damaging enemies fills you with rage. While at full rage, Shiv gains increased damage and special properties on his other abilities.
• +15% All Damage

Killing Blow Upgrades

AP	Upgrade
1	Gain +2m/s move speed while at full rage.
2	+8% Enemy health threshold and +10% Full Rage Bonus Damage.
5	Finishing off an enemy with Killing Blow resets its cooldown.

Maxing Killing Blow allows you to move faster while at full rage, increases the threshold at which you can execute an enemy, and resets the cooldown when you finish an enemy.

Tips for Killing Blow

• Always save Killing Blow for when opponents are low, but remember it’s also an excellent gap closer when you need to catch up.
• In the early game, where health pools are typically under 1000 HP, the 200 damage from Killing Blow is often more than enough to secure a kill.
• Even for tanky heroes, 20% (or 28% with the talent) is still a significant chunk of health, making it brutal against tanks.
• Take advantage of the passive rage build-up and how it buffs your abilities. Farm neutrals or use Serrated Knives to build rage and maximize your damage potential in fights.

Ability Point Order

 

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How to Counter Shiv

Shiv can be deceptively tanky because he can defer some of the damage he takes. Don’t get baited into overextending.

• Although his ultimate, Killing Blow, is an execute, he will often use it as a gap closer, especially since he lacks vertical mobility otherwise.
• He glows red when his Rage is full – it’s easy to spot in a calm environment, but can be hard to track during hectic fights. Keep an eye on this and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Counter Items for Shiv

	Предмет	Стоимость
	Decay	1,250
	Curse	6,200
	Debuff Reducer	1,250
	Debuff Remover	4,250

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Deadlock Shiv Build Guide

Shiv is a strong bruiser and bully. His passive grants built-in tankiness, allowing you to take favorable trades and wear down opponents, setting up easy kills with your ultimate. This build maximizes that playstyle by focusing on bleed damage, giving you an edge in both sustained damage and pressure in fights.

Early Game Build for Shiv

• Extra Charge: Start with this to increase your dagger throws, which are your primary source of damage.
• Extra Regen and Extra Health: These will help sustain you in the lane and keep you in fights longer.
• Finish off your early build with Close Quarters and Restorative Shot to increase your damage and healing potential.

	Предмет	Стоимость
	Ammo Scavenger	500
	Extra Regen	500
	Restorative Shot	500
	Extra Charge	500
	Enduring Spirit	500
	Decay	1,250

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Mid Game Build for Shiv

• Decay: This is your primary way to charge the Rage meter and the strongest damage-over-time effect you can afford in the early-mid game.
• Mystic Vulnerability and Duration Extender: These items improve Serrated Knives, enhancing the damage and effectiveness of your bleed effects.
• Slowing Bullets and Mystic Shot: Both provide extra spirit and the damage you need to push through the mid game.
• Spirit Lifesteal and Spirit Armor: These will help you with your tankiness and sustain in fights, making you harder to kill.

	Предмет	Стоимость
	Mystic Shot	1,250
	Duration Extender	1,250
	Mystic Vulnerability	1,250
	Enduring Speed	1,750
	Return Fire	1,250
	Spirit Lifesteal	1,250
	Spirit Armor	1,250
	Slowing Bullets	1,250

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Late Game Build for Shiv

• Toxic Bullets: This item synergizes perfectly with your playstyle, enhancing your damage output while applying a potent debuff to enemies.
• Superior Duration, Rapid Recharge, and Superior Cooldown: These items further boost your abilities, allowing for faster cooldowns and longer durations, especially for your Slice and Dice and Serrated Knives.
• Soul Shredder Bullets: This item helps sustain your health and amplifies the damage from your daggers, Decay, and Slice and Dice, making you a powerhouse in the late game.

	Предмет	Стоимость
	Rapid Recharge	3,500
	Soul Shredder Bullets	1,250
	Escalating Exposure	7,450
	Toxic Bullets	3,000
	Superior Cooldown	4,250

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Luxury and Situational Items for Shiv

• Warp Stone, Superior Stamina, and Enduring Speed: These are great optional movement tools that help you maneuver through fights and close the gap quickly.
• Leech, Improved Bullet Armor, and Improved Spirit Armor: These are the best ways to improve your tankiness and sustain, making you harder to kill in the late game.
• Magic Carpet: This item gives you a solid way to kite and keeps you active in the fight, especially against mobile enemies.
• Escalating Exposure: This is now your best offensive Tier 4 item, providing the most damage. Start the exposure with Decay and Serrated Knives, and then Slice and Dice will deal enormous damage!

	Предмет	Стоимость
	Fortitude	3,000
	Colossus	6,200
	Improved Spirit Armor	4,250
	Magic Carpet	6,200
	Leech	6,200
	Superior Stamina	3,500
	Debuff Reducer	1,250
	Mystic Reverb	6,200