Shiv is a Hero in Deadlock. He is a monster hunter with a cause, conducting hit-and-run attacks and picking off vulnerable targets. Flinging Serrated Knives to bleed his targets from range, Shiv builds his Rage through damage and dashes up to his enemy with a Slice and Dice flurry of blades and a few powerful shotgun blasts. Withstanding grievous damage via Bloodletting, Shiv hunts down any dying targets to finish them off with a devastating Killing Blow.
Throw a knife that bleeds an enemy. Each additional hit adds a stack and refreshes the bleed duration, causing the bleed to increase per stack.
x0
0
Impact Damage
x0.13
10
Bleed DPS Per Knife
5s
Bleed Duration
Ultimate Unlock: While rage is full knives will ricochet to another enemy and apply a slow to enemies they bleed.
35%
Movement Slow
1
2s Bleed Duration
2
+2 Charges
5
+12 Bleed DPS with increased Spirit scaling
Notes
Knives can be used to confirm soul orbs. This does not consume the knife, but at full rage, it will consume the ricochet.
Bleed damage ticks once per second for the listed DPS, barring any outside modifiers.
Slice and Dice
0
16s
Perform a dash forward, damaging enemies along the path. Hit Enemies have their spirit resist reduced. This debuff can stack.
x1.2
75
Impact Damage
12m
Dash Range
-6%
Spirit Resist
14sDebuff Duration
On hit
0s
Cooldown Reduced on Hero Hit
On hit
0
Max Cooldown Reduction
0sCooldown Reduced on Non-Hero Hit
Ultimate Unlock: While rage is full an echo of Shiv retraces the dash path after a short delay, damaging enemies again.
1
-6s Cooldown
2
-4% Spirit Resist +2m Dash Range
5
+50 Impact Damage -2s Cooldown per Hero hit.
Bloodletting
0
25s
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.
25%
Incoming Damage Deferred
6s
Deferred Damage Duration
On Activate
30%
Deferred Damage Cleared
Ultimate Unlock: While rage is full the amount of damage deferred is increased.
15%
Incoming Damage Deferred
1
-15s Cooldown
2
40% Deferred Damage Cleared
5
15% Incoming Damage Deferred
Killing Blow
12m
0
145s
Active: Leap forward, dealing spirit damage to the first enemy hero. If they are below the kill threshold, execute them instead.
Finishing an enemy with Killing Blow lets you recast for 16s
200
Damage
18%
Enemy health threshold
Passive: Damaging enemies fills you with rage. While at full rage, Shiv gains increased damage and unlocks special properties on his other abilities.
8%
Full Rage Damage Bonus
0m
Move Speed
Cooldown is increased by +30% if no hero is impacted.
1
+6 m Range +2 m/s in Full Rage.
2
+16% Full Rage Bonus Damage -25s Cooldown
5
+10% Enemy Health Threshold
Notes
Within roughly 25m of an enemy hero below the kill threshold, they will have a pulsating effect and red outline indicating they can be instantly killed.
After activating Killing Blow, the targeted hero is able to heal up to 3% of their max health, and still be instantly killed.
Rage
After unlocking Shiv's Killing Blow ultimate, rage can be built by dealing any damage. The amount of rage built varies depending on the source.
Rage has a max value of 10 which is required to be filled before becoming Enraged, granting you the full rage bonuses.
Rage build values
Damage type
Rage built per damage dealt
Weapon Damage
0.0158766
Spirit Damage
0.01452864
Light melee
1.55664
Heavy melee
2.85384
Rage will begin to decay after 12 seconds of not dealing any damage, at a rate of 0.25 per second (43 seconds total).
Rage only builds up from damage dealt to players.
NOTE: These numbers are taken from the code for the game, but rage built per damage does not actually reflect in game values.
As a rule of thumb: Rage built from Weapon Damage and Melee Damage does not noticeably change with increases to weapon or spirit power, always taking roughly 18 shots at point blank or 4-7 Melee attacks (depending on strength) to build max rage. Rage built from Spirit Damage does scale with spirit power granting more rage the more damage your abilities do, however this is offset by the rage you build decreasing with spirit power, 100 Spirit power halving the rage built (Imbued spirit power from Surge of Power is not counted towards this, causing it to grant a lot more rage (to the imbued ability) than Boundless Spirit.)
Weapon
Busted Flush
Spreadshot
Close Range
52Damage Per Second
Falloff Range
20m ➞ 41m
Shiv's alternate fire takes three ammo rounds, and has a recoil that can be used for movement. The alt-fire deals 4.36 damage per pellet.
The approximate movement distance from the alt-fire recoil (without items or level-ups) is as follows:
Base recoil max movement distance
Aim direction
Movement state
Max distance (m)
Horizontal
On the ground
2.5
Horizontal
One jump
9
Horizontal
Double jump
15
Vertical (down 90º)
One jump
4
Vertical (down 90º)
Double jump
7
In order to use the jump momentum for max distance, one has to shoot slightly before reaching the apex of the jump.
A loyal member of "The Baxter Society", an international order of monster hunters, Shiv travels across North America looking to put down creatures that prey on the living.
While his less polished nature and criminal past make some of the more traditional members of the Society wary, no one can deny his effectiveness.
Lore
Shiv is fighting in the ritual on behalf of the Baxter Society.[2][3] His wish is unknown, but Shiv's motivation is to prove his worth to Grey Talon and the Baxter Society.[4][5][6]
Not much is known about Shiv's criminal past from before he joined the Baxter Society. The Hidden King calls Shiv's past "bloody",[7] and the Venators of St. Benedict are keeping an eye on Shiv in case he strays from the path of redemption.[8] Shiv's claims that the Baxter Society "saved his life",[9] and his change of heart seems to be genuine.[10]
Shiv was chosen by Grey Talon as his replacement in the Baxter Society.[11][12][13] He has been in the Society for "a few years" and says he is not respected by the other members.[14] Shiv worries that the Baxter Society would eventually turn on him,[15][16] as they still doubt that he's changed from his past.[17] It's implied that Shiv feels lonely.[18]
Shiv likes to go bowling and drink bourbon.[19][20] He is also referred to as a biker.[21]
Shiv allegedly "took something that doesn't belong to him".[23]
Character interactions
Multiple characters compliment Shiv's appearance, calling him "pretty boy",[24] "handsome bastard",[25] "impossibly handsome asshole",[26] and a "shampoo ad with knives".[27]
Shiv respects Holliday and offers her a place at the Baxter Society.[28] If they're on opposing teams, Shiv promises to kill the Troubadour on Holliday's behalf.[29] Shiv loves Holliday's hat.[30]
Grey Talon has high hopes for Shiv, despite his criminal past, and holds him in high regard, placing Shiv in the top 8 of people he'd want fighting alongside him.[17][32] While the conversations are unfinished, Grey Talon seems to defend Shiv's change of heart from Silver and Venator's doubts.[33][8]
Drifter knew Shiv before he joined the Baxter Society.[34] If he kills Shiv, he calls him a "disappointment" and mentions that killing him feels "Shakespearean".[35][36][37] He also mentions that, had Shiv not "put himself in a muzzle, maybe he'd be worried".[38] When hunting Shiv, he refers to himself as an "old friend".[39] How Shiv and Drifter met each other is unknown.
Silver loathes Shiv with a passion and refuses to believe he could change from his criminal past.[40][41] She believes he deserves a fate worse than death.[42] How Silver and Shiv met each other and why Silver hates Shiv is currently unknown.
Venator also doesn't believe in Shiv's change of heart, waiting for him to slip up and ruin his "charade".[43][44]
Lady Geist calls Shiv attractive and asks to have a drink with him after the ritual.[45]
Ivy expresses admiration for Shiv.[46]McGinnis wants to talk to Shiv and "fix him".[47][48]Yamato will simply remark "nice hair".[49]
Shiv has an alternate model in the game files titled "shiv_ult.vmdl_c" which shows an unfinished giant mole transformation, presumably meant for an old ultimate ability.
Shiv is voiced by Greg Chun, who also voices Pocket.[1]
In now removed voice lines, the Patrons said that Shiv "had been" a father[56] and had a "monster inside him" called "The Beast".[57] These lines were removed in the Old Gods, New Blood update.
Shiv used to collect hairspray cans, presumably as an old version of his Rage passive ability.
Shiv's weapon name, the Busted Flush, is a hand in Poker of four cards of the same suit (colour and type) and one of a different suit. It's also an expression referring to a promising thing that ends up failing its potential.
Shiv carries an amulet on his hip with a design similar to the blood key from the movie Demon Knight.[58] The amulet glows red when Shiv is at full Rage.
"Playing With Knives in the Hideout" is displayed as one's status in the in-game Friends List when playing as Shiv in the Hideout.
↑Archmother's in-game voice line (Shiv start): "The Baxter Society is counting on you, Shiv. Don't fail your brothers."
↑Shiv's in-game voice line (select): "The Baxter Society sent me."
↑Shiv's in-game voice line (Pre-Game Ping): "I'll prove to the old man that I'm worthy."
↑Shiv's in-game voice line (Post-Game Ping): "Think the Baxter Society's gonna be lookin' at me different, now!"
↑Shiv's in-game voice line (Post-Game Ping): "I proved my worth."
↑Hidden King's in-game voice line (Shiv start): "Yours is a bloody past, Shiv. But there is a life beyond it. Let the Hidden King show you the path forward."
↑Shiv's in-game voice line (select): "The Baxter Society saved my life, and now I'm gonna save yours."
↑Hidden King's in-game voice line (Shiv start): "Some doubt your commitment to your new life, but the Hidden King's faith in you does not waver. Make him proud. Complete the ritual."
↑Archmother's in-game voice line (Shiv start): "You found a new family in the Baxter Society, and now you fear them turning on you. But if you complete the ritual, the Archmother can ensure that never happens."
↑The Doorman's in-game voice line (taunt Shiv): "The Baxter Society will turn on you, Shiv. It’s only a matter of time."
↑Pocket's in-game voice line (ping see Shiv) - "I see that handsome bastard."
↑Lash's in-game voice line (killed Shiv) - "There's only room for one impossibly handsome asshole."
↑Ivy's in-game voice line (ally Shiv unkillable) - "He's like a shampoo ad with knives!"
↑Shiv And Holliday Conversation 3 - "You’re the one looking to kill the Troubadour, right?" - "Yeah." - "You make it out alive, you should look up the Baxter Society. We could use someone like you."
↑Shiv's in-game voice line (killed Holliday): "Don't worry Holliday, when this is over I'll kill the Troubadour in your behalf."
↑Shiv's in-game voice line (killed Holliday): "Love the hat, though."
↑Shiv's in-game voice line (killed Lash): "You got moxie, Lash, I'll give ya that."
↑Celeste's in-game voice line (killed Shiv) - "You ruined a lot of lives, Shiv. There's no coming back from that."
↑Paige's in-game voice line (killed Shiv): "Lash should take notes: that's how you pull off the bad boy thing."
↑Paige's in-game voice line (killed Shiv): "Eh... Mirage is better."
↑Sapphire Flame's in-game voice line (Shiv Start): "You've been many things, Shiv. A brigand, a father, a killer. But if you summon me, I'll make you a king."
↑Sapphire Flame's in-game voice line (Shiv Start): "Shiv, the monster inside you is not the Beast, it is ambition. Complete the ritual and you will finally be sated."
Serrated Knives
0.2s
2s
16s
x0.13
10
5s
35%
1
