Shiv

Strengths and weaknesses

Abilities

1

Serrated Knives

16s cooldown

Throw a knife that makes the target bleed for 10 DPS over 5s. 2 charges. At full rage, knives also deal 3.5% of current health on impact and slow by 28%.

Tier 1 1 point	+2s bleed duration
Tier 2 2 points	+2 charges
Tier 3 5 points	+12 bleed DPS and better spirit scaling

2

Slice and Dice

16s cooldown

Dash 12m forward, dealing 75 spirit damage and reducing spirit resist by 6%. At full rage, an echo retraces the dash after a short delay.

Tier 1 1 point	-6s cooldown
Tier 2 2 points	An extra -4% spirit resist and +2m range
Tier 3 5 points	+50 impact damage; -2s cooldown per hero hit

3

Bloodletting

25s cooldown

Passive: 25% of incoming damage is deferred and taken over 6s instead. Activate to clear 30% of your deferred damage. At full rage, you defer 15% more.

Tier 1 1 point	-15s cooldown
Tier 2 2 points	Clears +40% more deferred damage
Tier 3 5 points	Defers +15% more damage

ULT

Killing Blow

145s cooldown

Leap at an enemy (12m) for 200 spirit damage, executing them if they're below 18% health. After an execute you can recast it for 16s. Its passive builds your rage meter; at full rage you deal +8% damage.

Tier 1 1 point	+6m range; +2 m/s move speed at full rage
Tier 2 2 points	+16% full-rage damage bonus; -25s cooldown
Tier 3 5 points	+10% execute threshold

Ability order

Spend points in this order. Each ability's tiers cost 1, 2 and 5 points.

1. Unlock Slice and Dice
2. Unlock Serrated Knives
3. Unlock Bloodletting
4. Slice and Dice T1
5. Bloodletting T1
6. Unlock Killing Blow
7. Serrated Knives T1
8. Slice and Dice T2
9. Killing Blow T1–T2
10. Bloodletting T2
11. Slice and Dice T3
12. Killing Blow T3
13. Serrated Knives T2–T3
14. Bloodletting T3

Item build

A starting build that works in most games. Swap pieces based on the enemy team; the notes explain what each stage is for.

Checked against 16,520 Shiv matches from October 6–7, 2026 (all ranks). It keeps the items most Shiv players buy and fills the other slots with the items that won most often. See the item tier list for how we measure that.

WeaponVitalitySpirit

Rate this build in the build rater → See its grade, and the heroes it does well and badly against.

How to play

Shiv is a rage-fuelled brawler and executioner. Dealing damage fills his rage meter, which upgrades all his abilities when full. Serrated Knives bleed enemies, Slice and Dice dashes through them, Bloodletting spreads out the damage he takes, and Killing Blow executes anyone who drops below 18% health.

Full-rage bonuses

Laning phase (0–10 min)

• Build rage with knives and shotgun. Any damage fills the meter.
• Bloodletting trades. Deferred damage arrives slowly, so you can win trades and clear part of it.

Mid game (10–25 min)

• Slice and Dice in, knife, shoot. Then finish with Killing Blow.
• Recast Killing Blow after an execute to jump to a second target.

Late game and team fights (25+ min)

• Fill rage before the big fight. Arrive at full rage for upgraded abilities.
• Killing Blow T3 raises the execute threshold to 28%.

Combos

1. Execute chain: Slice and Dice → Serrated Knives → shotgun → Killing Blow → recast on the next target.
2. Tank trade: Bloodletting active → brawl → activate again to clear deferred damage.

Matchups

• Good against: heroes who sustain through steady damage, and anyone who ends up low.
• Hard against: long-range kiters and heroes with burst damage.

Pro tips

• Your alt-fire shoots 12 pellets for 4 ammo, with a longer falloff range.
• Slice and Dice T3 refunds 2 seconds per hero hit, so dashing through groups resets it quickly.

Lore

Shiv is a former criminal who now hunts monsters with the Baxter Society. He's looking for redemption by taking out the creatures that prey on innocent people.

Ability numbers are checked against the game and the community-run Deadlock Wiki after every patch. Builds are our own recommendations, checked against public match data. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.