Shiv

7:28 Shiv is a Deadlock hero who wears enemies down with bleeding knives and hit-and-run dashes, builds rage as he deals damage, and then leaps in with Killing Blow to execute a hero below 18% health, per the game files on Oct 26, 2026. He is one of the 21 heroes of the 2024 playtest roster (Esports.gg), so he has been in Deadlock since before Valve opened the game's Steam page on Aug 23, 2024. The game's own hero text says he has "no interest in playing fair". The whole roster is on Heroes.

Quick facts

Source: the game files as of Oct 26, 2026 (heroes, abilities), current with Valve's Oct 14, 2026 update; win rate from deadlock-api's measured hero stats, 1,566,344 normal-mode matches.

Abilities

Source: the game files as of Oct 26, 2026.

3:16 Serrated Knives is his poke. Each of two charges throws a knife that bleeds the target for 10 DPS (spirit scaling 0.13) for 5 seconds with a 28% slow, and knives stack and refresh, per the game files. Since Valve's Sep 16, 2026 update, a knife thrown at full rage deals 3.5% of the target's current health on impact. T1 adds 2 s of bleed, T2 adds 2 charges, and T3 adds 12 bleed DPS and more scaling.

3:57 Slice and Dice is his engage and escape. Shiv dashes 12 m, dealing 75 damage (spirit scaling 1.2) to everything he passes and lowering their spirit resist by 6% for 14 seconds, stacking, as the game files list it. T1 cuts 6 s of cooldown, T2 adds another 4% of spirit resist shred and 2 m of range, and T3 adds 50 damage and refunds 2 s of cooldown per hero hit (1 s per other unit, up to 8 s).

4:49 Bloodletting is why Shiv is harder to kill than his health suggests. It defers 25% of the damage he takes and spreads it over 6 seconds (15% at full rage), and activating it clears 30% of whatever is still deferred, per the game files. T1 takes 15 s off the cooldown, T2 clears 40% more, and T3 defers 15% more.

5:45 Killing Blow is both a passive and his ultimate. The passive fills a rage bar as he deals damage; at full rage he deals 8% more damage and his other abilities are upgraded. The active is a leap of up to 12 m that deals 200 damage to the first hero it reaches and executes anyone under 18% health, and an execute lets him recast it within 16 seconds (game files, Oct 26, 2026). Since Jun 11, 2026, a leap that hits no player gets 30% more cooldown. T1 adds 6 m of range and 2 m/s at full rage, T2 adds 16% full-rage damage and cuts 25 s of cooldown, and T3 raises the execute threshold by 10%.

How to play

6:39 Shiv trades from range in lane and finishes up close. Mobalytics' Shiv guide lists his strengths as lane poke, mobility from Slice and Dice and Killing Blow, and fast camp clearing, and his weaknesses as no hard crowd control, low durability and short range. Serrated Knives does the lane work: the bleed keeps ticking while he backs off (see the Laning Guide).

2:31 His fights follow the rage bar. Knives and Slice and Dice fill rage and shred spirit resist, Bloodletting absorbs the return fire, and Killing Blow comes out only when an enemy is near the 18% execute line, since a recast on a kill can chain into a second target. His fast camp clear suits the Neutral Camps and Jungle.

His power spike is full rage with Killing Blow ready. Valve added a Suggested AP path for Shiv in the Map Rework Update of Feb 25, 2025; see Ability Points and Leveling.

Builds

7:03 Shiv players build a mix of Spirit Items and Vitality Items. What they actually bought between Oct 15 and Oct 25, 2026, as deadlock-api measured it:

Source: deadlock-api, measured item stats for Shiv, Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026.

Dexerto's Shiv build (Mar 3, 2026) is spirit-heavy: Cold Front, Decay, Healbane, Warp Stone and Torment Pulse early; Debuff Reducer, Dispel Magic, Berserker, Arctic Blast and Spirit Resilience in the middle; Juggernaut, Spellbreaker, Transcendent Cooldown, Phantom Strike and Witchmail late. Valve's Oct 14, 2026 update weakened Radiant Regeneration, one of his most bought items. Item tiers and prices are on Items and Shop and Weapon Items; Builds and Itemization explains how to choose.

Counters and matchups

Anti-heal and spacing are the standard answers to Shiv. Mobalytics warns that he is tankier than he looks because of deferred damage, that enemies should not bunch up against his dash, that he glows red at full rage, and that he often uses Killing Blow as a gap closer. Mobalytics' Street Brawl guide (Aug 27, 2026) names Healbane as the item against him; see Counter Items.

Measured matchups are hard for Shiv. Between Oct 15 and Oct 25, 2026, deadlock-api measured his lowest win rates against Graves (37.1%), Paige (39.8%) and Seven (40.2%), and his highest against Sinclair (51.7%), Pocket (51.2%) and Mina (50.1%). Mobalytics' Victor guide suggests Shiv's percent-health execute as an answer to Victor.

Patch history

Recent Valve changes to Shiv, newest first:

• Sep 16, 2026: alt-fire base damage up 4% and its damage per boon from +0.2 to +0.24; Serrated Knives at full rage deal 3.5% current health on impact instead of ricocheting.
• Jul 28, 2026: stamina regen from 5.5 s to 6 s; Killing Blow recast window from 20 s to 16 s.
• Jul 9, 2026: Killing Blow threshold from 20% to 18% (T3 from +8% to +10%); Bloodletting cooldown from 20 s to 25 s and damage cleared from 35% to 30%; Slice and Dice spirit scaling from 1.44 to 1.2.
• Jul 1, 2026: Slice and Dice reverted to spirit damage with spirit resist shred, damage from 60 to 75; alt-fire ammo cost from 5 to 4; fixed pellet spread.
• Jun 30, 2026: Killing Blow's recast on a hero kill moved into the base ability, its range cut from 18 m to 12 m and its full-rage bonus from 12% to 8%; Slice and Dice briefly became melee damage. The same update raised every ultimate's cooldown by 15%.
• May 22, 2026: Killing Blow cooldown from 105 s to 125 s, with T2 now also cutting cooldown.
• Mar 6, 2026: Killing Blow became a free-aim leap; Serrated Knives traded impact damage for a 10 DPS bleed.

All of Valve's updates are listed on Patches and Updates.

Lore

Shiv belongs to The Baxter Society, an international order of monster hunters, whose traditional members are wary of him because of his criminal past, according to his biography in the game files. The wider setting is on Lore and Setting.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shiv good in Deadlock? In Deadlock, Shiv had a 45.21% win rate between Oct 15 and Oct 25, 2026, 40th of 44 heroes in deadlock-api's measurement, but 47.71% in matches at Phantom 1 and above, where he appeared in 37.87% of games. Dexerto ranked him B (Oct 9, 2026) and Mobalytics' expert list C (Oct 22, 2026).

What is the best Shiv build in Deadlock? Deadlock's Shiv players most often open with Mystic Regeneration and Restorative Shot, add Healbane and Radiant Regeneration mid game, and finish with Escalating Exposure and cooldown items, as deadlock-api measured for Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026.

How does Shiv's Killing Blow work in Deadlock? Killing Blow is a leap of up to 12 m that deals 200 damage and executes any hero under 18% health; an execute lets Shiv recast it within 16 seconds, per Deadlock's game files on Oct 26, 2026. Its passive rage bar boosts his damage and abilities when full.

How do you counter Shiv in Deadlock? Spread out against his dash, watch for the red glow of full rage, and buy anti-heal such as Healbane, as Mobalytics advises. Staying above 18% health or out of his 12 m leap range denies Deadlock's Shiv his execute.

What is Shiv's cooldown on Killing Blow in Deadlock? It is 145 seconds in Deadlock's game files as of Oct 26, 2026, after Valve's May 22, 2026 change to 125 seconds and its Jun 30, 2026 15% rise for every ultimate. A miss adds 30% more.

Sources

• Heroes (data read from the game files), deadlock-api, read Oct 26, 2026
• Items and abilities (data read from the game files), deadlock-api, read Oct 26, 2026
• Hero stats, normal-mode matches Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026 (measured), deadlock-api, read Oct 26, 2026
• Hero stats, Phantom 1+ average badge, Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026 (measured), deadlock-api, read Oct 26, 2026
• Hero counter stats, Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026 (measured), deadlock-api, read Oct 26, 2026
• Item stats for Shiv, Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026 (measured), deadlock-api, read Oct 26, 2026
• Minor Update - 10-14-2026, Valve, Oct 15, 2026
• Minor Update - 09-16-2026, Valve, Sep 16, 2026
• Minor Update - 07-28-2026, Valve, Jul 28, 2026
• Minor Update - 07-09-2026, Valve, Jul 9, 2026
• Minor Update - 07-01-2026, Valve, Jul 1, 2026
• Minor Update - 06-30-2026, Valve, Jun 30, 2026
• Minor Update - 06-11-2026, Valve, Jun 12, 2026
• Gameplay Update - 05-22-2026, Valve, May 22, 2026
• Gameplay Update - 03-06-2026, Valve, Mar 6, 2026
• Map Rework Update, Valve, Feb 25, 2025
• Deadlock hero abilities, Esports.gg, 2024
• Deadlock Shiv Guide, Mobalytics, undated, read Oct 26, 2026
• Deadlock Victor Guide, Mobalytics, undated, read Oct 26, 2026
• Deadlock Street Brawl Mode Explained, Mobalytics (dxvis), Aug 27, 2026
• Best Shiv build in Deadlock, Dexerto (Cande Maldonado), Mar 3, 2026
• Deadlock Tier List: Best characters to pick in the 2026 meta, Dexerto, Oct 9, 2026
• Expert Deadlock Tier List, Mobalytics (RinaVX), Oct 22, 2026
• A Comprehensive Shiv Guide | Deadlock Tutorials, Retr0, Aug 5, 2026 (video)