Best Deadlock Shiv build: Abilities & Items

Deadlock’s Shiv is one of the most effective assassins. He requires a bit of finesse and a lot of practice, but shutting down a fed Shiv is an absolute nightmare. Here’s what you need to know to take over Deadlock with him.

As a character, Shiv is one of the more recent additions to Deadlock. He was added a short time before the game’s existence was acknowledged by Valve, and he’s been nerfed a number of times since he released in game-breakingly good form. That version of Shiv was in the game for less than a day before he got brought back to earth.

However, even after these nerfs, he’s an incredibly strong assassin with a ton of burst and survivability. Shutting down a fed Shiv is no small task.

Here’s Shiv’s best build in Deadlock, including which abilities to max, what items to buy, and some tips on how to get the most out of his kit.

Best abilities to use on Shiv

While investing fully in Serrated Knives and bleeding enemies out from a distance is a viable build, the ability max path based around getting some early points in Slice and Dice is much more consistent and reliable. Here’s the full starting and max path for Shiv’s abilities in Deadlock:

His starting path is a bit more straightforward, but his max path is anything but. You’ll want the extra point in Serrated Knives for the bonus charge, followed by 2 points in Slice and Dice for the 100 bonus damage. You can vary things a bit from there based on personal preference, but always get that dash damage. This is where Shiv’s incredibly high burst potential comes from early on.

Aside from that, just make sure you’re saving your Bloodletting cooldown for when you take a ton of damage at once, and don’t be afraid to use Killing Blow to chase if you know you’ve got the burst to secure a kill. You’re better off saving Slice and Dice and getting that 200 damage base damage from his ult than dashing to get close and then ulting.

Also, Shiv’s Rage passive on his ult stacks much faster by hitting enemy heroes than creeps. Toss knives at the enemy to get that Rage meter stacked quick so you can maximize your damage potential.

Shiv movement tech

There’s enough movement based around the knockback on Shiv’s right click that it needs its own section.

Shiv’s right click uses 2 bullets at once for a much stronger shotgun blast. If you’ve ever played against him and wondered why he blows you up, this is how. Up close, use your right click instead of normal shots and weave abilities between shots. Also, you can use your right click regardless of if you only have 1 round in a mag, so always right click before you reload.

Shiv’s right click can also be used to slide around the map backwards with unlimited ammo. Yes, seriously. This technique is called Shotgun Sliding. A quick backwards jump dash into holding right click will get you around faster than you’d think. Play around in the practice mode with an attack speed increase item or two in had to get a feel for it.

It’s also possible to Bunny Hop and keep yourself in the air by firing toward the ground, though you won’t have unlimited ammo doing that in comparison to sliding around.

There’s too much movement tech with the knockback on Shiv’s right click to go over here, but just know that it’s immensely useful. Remembering to right click is what’ll separate good Shiv players from great ones.

Deadlock Shiv abilities explained

If you haven’t played Shiv yet or want a more detailed look at his kit, here’s a full list of his abilities and what they do:

• 1: Serrated Knives
  • 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.
  • While rage is full, knives will ricochet to another enemy and apply a 35% slow to enemies they bleed.
    • Level 1: +1 Charge
    • Level 2: +2 second debuff duration
    • Level 3: +40 damage and +5 bleed DPS
• 2: Slice and Dice
  • Perform a dash forward, damaging enemies along the path.
  • While rage is full, an echo of Shiv retraces the dash path after a short delay, damaging enemies again.
    • Level 1: -4 second cooldown
    • Level 2: +100 damage
    • Level 3: Reduce cooldown by 2 seconds per enemy hit. Max 6 seconds per dash
• 3: Bloodletting
  • Take only a portion of incoming damage immediately and defer 35% of the damage to be taken over time. Activate to clear a portion of the deferred damage.
  • While rage is full, the amount of damage deferred is increased by 15%.
    • Level 1: +5 second deferred damage duration
    • Level 2: -5 second cooldown
    • Level 3: +25% deferred damage cleared
• 4: Killing Blow
  • Activate to leap toward an enemy hero and instantly kill them if their health is below the kill threshold (20% HP). Otherwise, deal 200 damage to them.
  • Passive: Damaging enemies fills you with rage. While at full rage, Shiv gains 25% increased damage and special properties on his other abilities.
    • Level 1: Gain +2 meters per second movement speed while at full rage
    • Level 2: +8% health execute threshold
    • Level 3: Finishing off an enemy with Killing Blow resets its cooldown

Best build on Shiv: Deadlock items explained

Items here will be divided into four sections: early game, mid game, late Game/luxury, and situational items.

Early game will consist mostly of 500 soul items you want to grab in the game’s opening minutes, while mid/late game items are a bit more fluid. If you’ve got a ton of souls early, feel free to jump on an expensive purchase. Just know some items are less efficient than others, and that buying a few cheaper items rather than one big purchase can be a better choice.

There is no single correct build for every game, and you’ll eventually have to learn what each item does and when to buy it to succeed in high-level matches. However, this will give you a great place to start.

Early Game items

Close Quarters and Headshot Booster are your best friends as far as early game damage goes. You’ll be up close with Shiv no matter what, and Headshot booster will apply the 45 bonus damage even if just one pellet hits the head. It’s more burst than you’d think. High-Velocity Mag’s shield and bonus damage is also nice, especially if you’re planning to build Headhunter later on.

Melee Lifesteal is up to personal preference, but, since Shiv will be up close, there’s no reason not to take it. Works on minions as well even if it isn’t as effective. If you’re getting dunked on in lane, though, grab Healing Rite. Sprint Boots are great for early rotations, but you can grab Extra Stamina instead if you’re having a really hard time.

Extra Charge is a must-have for extra knives, and Mystic Vulnerability has huge value when it comes to your bleed. Spirit Strike is personal preference, but Shiv does extremely well with the extra prot shred. Melee is exceptionally strong if you find places to work it into your combos.

Mid Game items

Swift Striker will give you enough of an attack speed boost to do Shiv’s movement tech, so pick this up if you plan on using it. Melee Charge is great if you find yourself using melee a lot, but pick either that or Quicksilver Reload depending on how you want to play. Don’t take both. Soul Shredder Bullets provide sustain and pen, while Point Blank’s bullet slow helps you chase down targets. Sell Headshot Booster if you’re lacking Flex Slots.

Your Vitality items will look very different from ahead or behind. While ahead, grab Healbane, Enduring Speed, Lifestrike, and Superior Stamina. If you’re behind, Spirit Lifesteal, Bullet Armor, and Spirit Armor are good to give you a bit more staying power in fights. Healbane is still worth in either route for the anti-heal, but it’s good even from ahead due to how long your bleed lasts.

Suppressor makes Shiv exceptionally hard to trade with and is one of the better items to rush on him. Bullet Resist Shredder is optional but great against bulkier heroes, and Duration Extender is a nice-to-have for his bleed.

Late Game/Luxury

Crippling Headshot is a must buy on Shiv (and every shotgun character, honestly) if you’re looking for pen and some extra damage. The same logic as Headshot Booster applies. Spiritual Overflow grants a ton of bonus spirit damage after you get a few hits in with your primary, and Pristine Emblem is great for hitting someone hard when they’re healthy and letting them bleed when they’re low.

Improved Bullet Armor and Improved Spirit Armor should be taken at this point if you’re in need of the upgrades, and Leech is great to have if you’re getting anti-healed and struggling to stay alive.

Escalating Exposure makes Serrated Knives 100-0 lethal against most enemies if you land three or four knives on them and let the bleed run its course, while Mystic Slow will keep them from getting away. These two spirit items are must-haves. Rapid Recharge is great to give you more knives to toss, and Superior Duration will make that bleed last even longer.

Situational Items

Considering these items have certain situational uses, we’ll be going through them 1 by 1:

• Headhunter: Upgrade from High-Velocity Mags, this item is an absolute must-have if you’re looking for bonus sustain and damage. However, Shiv’s got a lot of options, so you should only buy this if you’ve got a lead and want to snowball.
• Warp Stone: If you need some extra mobility, Warp Stone is always a solid option. However, Shiv’s pretty mobile at most times, so only take this if you really need it.
• Silencer: Silencer is great against casters, or characters who want to use abilities to create distance from you rather than their stamina bar. It’s a niche pickup, but not bad for trading with certain heroes.
• Vampiric Burst: If you really need sustain and want to rip through a team, Vampiric Burst is solid. It’s a great 1v6 item that’ll put you in the driver’s seat from ahead.
• Phantom Strike: If there’s a backline carry you’re having a hard time getting on top of, Phantom Strike is for you. It’s really hard to peel Shiv if he’s got this item, but it’s also rather expensive and needs other damage items paired with it to truly succeed.
• Unstoppable/Debuff Remover: We’re pairing these cause you’d realistically only want one. If you’re having a hard time with single instance CC like a silence, stun, or perhaps Grey Talon’s trap, Debuff Remover is the play. However, if you’re getting CC locked by a Mo & Krill or Dynamo ult, you’ll need to take Unstoppable and remember to activate it before you get locked up.
• Inhibitor: Inhibitor is a fantastic option that provides weapon damage in the Vitality slot along with an extremely useful passive that reduces enemy damage. Great for keeping a fed carry on the enemy team in check.
• Echo Shard: If you’re grabbing Echo Shard, you’re doing it to get 2 dashes. Sure, the cooldown reduction from dashing through multiple enemies is nice, but back-to-back dashes is great for both mobility and burst damage. Most people won’t expect it.
• Knockdown: Having issues with a Seven ult? Grab knockdown. Someone sitting in the air shooting at you from above? Knockdown. Someone diving you? Knockdown. Someone getting away? Knockdown. This item’s active is incredibly strong for if you need a little extra CC in your life.
• Ethereal Shift: If you’re having problems with getting bursted down, Ethereal Shift is the item for you. Shiv is tanky, but not that tanky unless you’re building for it. Buy yourself some breathing room and time to wait through your cooldowns with this.
• Slowing Hex: Slowing Hex is the slightly worse but much cheaper version of Knockdown. If someone’s evading you in the early stages of the game, pick this up to track them down and keep them from getting away.

That’s everything you need to know to get started with Shiv! If you’re curious to see how he stacks up to other characters, check out our tier list.