Deadlock Shiv Build
Overview
Shiv is a master of hit and run! Shiv is the perfect hero for those players that are looking for a challenge playing a hero with a steep learning curve. He is one of the best heroes for roaming the map and getting kills in Deadlock. The build focuses on a mix of bullet and spirit damage being delivered through a heavy focus on Slice and Dice coupled with the Rage mechanic that becomes available when unlocking Killing Blow and your Rage bar is filled by hitting both troopers and players. Using heavy attacks on players is the fastest way to fill Shivs Rage.
- Strong Laning Phase & Jungling.
- Good mobility & Ganking potential.
- High Single Target DPS.
- High Skill Floor & Ceiling.
- No CC skills.
- Squishy and vulnerable to CC heroes like Dynamo.
Items
Ability Path
Serrated Knives | 1 | 2 | 5 | |||||||||||||
Slice and Dice | 1 | 2 | 5 | |||||||||||||
Bloodletting | 1 | 2 | 5 | |||||||||||||
Killing Blow | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Skills
- Serrated Knives — Use this skill to poke enemies in lane, forcing them to take constant DoT bleed damage throughout the laning phase and helps you to slowly chip away at their health so you can finish them off with Killing Blow. When at full Rage, the knives will also bounce to another enemy and apply a slow to bleeding enemies.
- Slice and Dice — Always try to max out your Rage before using this skill as maxed Rage will make Shiv cast Slice and Dice again for double damage. Keep in mind that you can also use this skill in any direction, helping you reach high positions with ease for a better angle on the fight.
- Bloodletting — Use this skill to soak up and remove some of the damage you took in the last few seconds before pressing the Bloodletting to remove some damage and take some of it slowly over time. This can save your life in team fights, helping a lot with your ability to stay in long fights. Having maximum range increases the amount of damage you remove.
- Killing Blow — Use this skill to finish off low HP enemies and execute them. Once an enemy drops below 28% health (red reticle appears on such targets), you can execute them to get the kill. Unlocking Killing Blow also unlocks Shivs Rage mechanic, adding extra effects to your other skills!
Early Game / Laning Phase
Use Serrated Knives as often as possible in the laning phase in order to force enemies off the lane and back to their base or simply finish them off using your Slice and Dice coupled with boosted headshot damage from close range. Close Quarters and Headshot Booster are fantastic for helping with dealing higher damage in lane!
Focus on farming troopers in lane and denying the enemy to pull ahead in souls. Sprint Boots and Extra Stamina grant you extra mobility, allowing you to move around easier and outmanoeuvre the enemy laner so you have an easier time moving around the lane and using Slice and Dice's high damage when boosted by Mystic Burst to take out enemies.
Your biggest power spike in the early game comes from Kinetic Dash as it greatly increases your fire rate and even adds extra ammo after a successful Dash-Jump.
Early Game Situational
If you are struggling in lane, Healing Rite can offer good healing without requiring you to go back to the base but you must remain outside of enemy range as any attack you receive from enemies will cancel the item. You should sell this later into the game as its value lowers while the game advances.
Mid Game
During the Mid Game is when Shiv becomes a menace for the enemy. Push the enemy lane guardian and kill it before beginning to gank other lanes once you've acquired your Killing Blow. Make sure to watch every lane and try to gank whenever the enemies are pushing your guardian/walker, allowing you to catch them off-guard and finish them off with Killing Blow.
Do not neglect the jungle either as neutral camps are a great source of souls and can help a lot with getting ahead during the match. Keep an eye out for the Urn, either transporting it yourself to receive a lot of souls or ganking the enemy daring enough to try and steal it as they cannot use any skills while carrying the Urn.
Buy Warp Stone as quickly as possible to boost your damage, mobility and defense with Warp Stone temporarily increasing your bullet resist for a few seconds and have an advantage in 1vs1 fights.
Continue by buying Berserker to further boost your damage when taking damage while Improved Cooldown decreases all your cooldowns, increasing your damage further and making it easier for you to both clear camps and gank enemies.
Slowing Hex is a good choice for locking down enemies as it slows down players and works best when ganking Vindicta and Grey Talon if you time it right, giving you plenty of time to kill them before they can move up into the air and away from you.
Healbane should be your last mid game item as it works perfectly with Serrated Knives, allowing you to apply a constant healing debuff and help with taking down healing heavy heroes like Infernus or Abrams.
Late Game
Focus on controlling Midboss and picking lone enemies that out of position or split pushing, stopping them from snowballing. Shivs ganking potential only improves into the late game, making slow heroes like Lady Geist and Bebop an easy prey for Shiv.
Improved Burst should be the first item you buy in the late game to increase your Slice and Dice damage while Superior Cooldown should also be used on Slice and Dice to decrease its cooldown further.
Purchase Leech & Healing Booster as defensive items and use Serrated Knives on enemies to heal yourself quickly during fights while also damaging enemies.
Make sure to also upgrade Close Quarters into Point Blank in order to boost your damage further!
Situational Items
These items can be bought up to counter certain heroes as they work perfectly for specific scenarios.
- Knockdown — Cheap item to counter both snipers like Vindicta and Grey Talon by knocking them out of the air. This also works on Seven while he is ulting and he will also be stopped.
- Unstoppable — A fantastic choice for becoming unstoppable and immune to CCs, especially useful against CC heavy teams.
- Curse — This item interrupts spellcasting, silences and disarms a target while also making them incapable of using items for the duration. While it is expensive, it can help a lot vs Sevens Storm Cloud, Dynamos Singularity and many more and its one of the most powerful items in the game.
- Silence Glyph — Buy this if you want to silence enemies and turn them into a quick kill. Works exceptionally well vs enemies that make use of short cooldowns like Lash. It is also great for countering Yamato as the silence can stop her from using the ultimate.
- Debuff Remover — This item removes all debuffs when pressed and can be amazing vs heroes like Bebop as it counters his Sticky Bomb entirely.
- Metal Skin — While not very useful against other heroes, this is very good vs Hazes ultimate, allowing you to reposition away from her while she uses it without taking any damage.