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Shiv is a Hero in Deadlock. Seeking atonement for his past life, Shiv is a cutthroat monster hunter with a cause, conducting hit-and-run attacks and picking off vulnerable targets. Shiv can efficiently traverse the battlefield and catch up with his targets by making full use of his shotgun's recoil. Flinging Serrated Knives to bleed his foes from range, Shiv initiates close quarters combat on his terms by dashing to them while Slicing and Dicing through those standing in his way. By continuously dealing damage, Shiv builds Rage which enhances his abilities and allows him to be a one man army. Withstanding grievous damage via Bloodletting, Shiv finishes off dying targets with a devastating Killing Blow.

Rage

Bleed

Repeat

Weapon Stats
Damage Per Second:	52.2
Bullet Damage:	4.8+0.165
Pellets per shot:	6
Ammo:	10
Bullets per sec:	1.81
Reload Time:	2.8s
Bullet Velocity:	610m/s
Light Melee:	50+1.58
Heavy Melee:	116+3.67

Information

Voice Actor:	Greg Chun^[1]
Release Date:	August 15, 2024

“

There's a whole lotta people that don't got enough knifes stuck in 'em.

A former criminal, Shiv seeks to make up for his mistakes by hunting down monsters on behalf of The Baxter Society.

Shiv was added to the roster on August 15, 2024.

Weapon

Busted Flush

Spreadshot

Close Range

52 Damage Per Second

Falloff Range

20m ➞ 41m

Shiv's alternate fire takes 4 ammo rounds per shot, and has a recoil that can be used for movement. The alt-fire deals 4.36 +0.165 damage per pellet, at 12 pellets per shot (52.32 total).

Abilities

Serrated Knives

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.

x0.13

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

Debuff duration reduced by Debuff Resist Effect can be dispelled CC effect suppressed by Unstoppable

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

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

14s Debuff Duration

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.

Debuff duration reduced by Debuff Resist Effect can be dispelled Disabled by Slowing Hex

Bloodletting

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

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

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

Disabled by Slowing Hex

Shiv moves forward until it either reaches max range or hits an enemy below the kill threshold, damaging all enemies in its path. It can still damage enemies behind the enemy killed if they're close enough to Killing Blow's hitbox.
Within roughly 25m of an enemy hero below the kill threshold, they will have a pulsating effect and red outline alongside a cracked heart in the center of their mass, 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 (this includes Barriers).

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.)

Backstory

See Shiv/Lore for more story content.

“

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.

Update history

View the full update history: Shiv/Update history

Update	Changes
July 28, 2026	Stamina regen increased from 5.5s to 6s. Killing Blow recast window reduced from 20s to 16s.
July 9, 2026	Serrated Knives T3 spirit scaling reduced from +0.09 to +0.07. Slice and Dice spirit scaling reduced from 1.44 to 1.2. Slice and Dice T2 reduced from -6% Spirit Resist to -4%. Bloodletting cooldown increased from 20s to 25s. Bloodletting T1 increased from -10s Cooldown to -15s. Bloodletting Damage Cleared reduced from 35% to 30%. Bloodletting T2 Damage Cleared increased from 35% to 40%. Killing Blow Health Threshold reduced from 20% to 18%. Killing Blow T3 Health Threshold increased from +8% to +10%.
July 1, 2026	Alt Fire ammo cost reduced from 5 to 4 Weapon now has fixed pellet spread Slice and Dice is now back to doing spirit damage and reducing Spirit Resistance from enemies Slice and Dice damage increased from 60 to 75 Killing Blow T3 reduced from +10% Enemy Health Threshold to +8%

Gallery

Shiv portrait
Shiv icon
Shiv in-game render
Shiv select background
Shiv reference sheet
Shiv name typography
Shiv weapon - Busted Flush
Previous Shiv portrait
Shiv 2024 Winter skin
Temporary Shiv icon (2024-09-12 update)
Neon Prime Shiv
Neon Prime Shiv
Monster Shiv (old ult model)
Gloat portrait for Shiv.
Critical health portrait for Shiv.

Trivia

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^[2] and had a "monster inside him" called "The Beast".^[3] These lines were removed in the Old Gods, New Blood update.
Shiv used to collect hairspray cans in Neon Prime, presumably as an old version of his Rage passive ability.
Shiv's pre-release ultimate ability, Haunt was nearly identical to Lifestealer's Infest ability from Dota 2 and had him become surrounded by bats before leaping inside an enemy hero.
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.^[4] 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.
Bloodletting allows Shiv to tank the instant kill damage from Killing Blow if it is copied by Sinclair, and the lethal damage of the Street Brawl item Unstable Concoction.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Greg's top 100 Voiceover roles 2025 on YouTube
↑ 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."
↑ THE PROP SHOP 01: DEMON KNIGHT BLOOD KEY on YouTube