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. Smelling blood, Shiv hunts down any dying targets to finish them off with a devastating Killing Blow.
A former criminal, Shiv seeks to make up for his past mistakes by hunting down monsters on behalf of The Baxter Society.
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 thrown into unsecured souls, such as from a minion, to secure them. 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.
Killing Blow will pursue moving targets, such as those being pulled by Rescue Beam. Heroes that stop being targetable, or become invincible, will cause it to miss and go on cooldown.
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 two 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 was chosen by Grey Talon as his replacement in the Baxter Society.[2][3] He has been in the Society for "a few years" and says he is not respected by the other members.[4]
Shiv's wish is unknown, although he seems to be fighting in the ritual to prove himself to Grey Talon and the Baxter Society.[5][6][7][8] The Patrons don't seem to know what Shiv exactly wants, as they attempt to feed his ambition by making him a king, or offer to make Shiv "whole".[9][10][11]
The Sapphire Flame says that Shiv "has been" a father.[10] She also says that he has a "monster inside him" called "The Beast",[11] and that he fears the Baxter Society could turn against him.[12] The Amber Hand mentions that Shiv wants to purge a "gift others would kill for".[13]
Shiv likes to go bowling[14] and drink bourbon.[15] He is also referred to as a biker.[16]
Character interactions
Multiple characters compliment Shiv's appearance, calling him "pretty boy",[17] "handsome bastard",[18] "impossibly handsome asshole",[19] and a "shampoo ad with knives".[20]
Lady Geist calls Shiv attractive and asks to have a drink with him after the ritual.[21]
Ivy expresses admiration for Shiv.[22]McGinnis wants to talk to Shiv and "fix him".[23][24]Yamato will simply remark "nice hair".[25]
Drifter knew Shiv before he joined the Baxter Society.[26] If he kills Shiv, he calls him a "disappointment" and mentions that killing him feels "Shakespearean".[27][28][29] He also mentions that, had Shiv not "put himself in a muzzle, he'd be worried".[30] When hunting Shiv, he refers to himself as an "old friend".[31] How Shiv and Drifter met each other is unknown.
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]
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.[34] 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.
↑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): "I did what I came here to do."
↑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 (Sad): "I never shoulda taken this job..."
↑Amber Hand's in-game voice line (Shiv Start): "The Baxter Society has given you purpose, but there is something still missing, yes? Free me and I will help you."
↑ 10.010.1Sapphire 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."
↑ 11.011.1Sapphire 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."
↑Sapphire Flame's in-game voice line (Shiv Start): "Iknow you fear your brothers and sisters in the Baxter Society turning on you. But if you complete the Ritual, I can ensure you that never happens."
↑Amber Hand's in-game voice line (Shiv Start): "Many men would kill for the gift you're looking to purge. Nonetheless, complete the ritual and I will give you what you seek."
↑Shiv's in-game voice line (Unselect) - "Sorry friend, today is my day off and I'm going bowling."
↑Shiv's in-game voice line (Unselect) - "Looks like I'll be hanging out with my good friend 'Bourbon' today."
↑Holliday's in-game voice line (killed Shiv) - "You're not above the law Shiv, you're just a shitty biker."