lukeolsson
New member
Shiv is in a pretty good spot balance-wise right now, though one major issue issue is that building around Shiv's gun is leagues better than actually building around his abilities.
This isn't because of an imbalance of shiv's guns or gun items, but rather because Shiv's abilities don't have the sustain or burst he needs to stay in close at higher levels of play.
The main point of contention is Shiv's knives. As of the end of 2024, they're the weakest part of Shiv's kit, only really useful for applying spirit-triggered debuffs. As Shiv does not have sustain like Abrams or Yamato, a slow bleed runs counter to his playstyle, where he wants to deal as much damage in a short amount of time before his deferred damage starts to catch up.
My suggested knife change would be to grant Shiv's Slice and Dice the ability to rip his knives back out of stuck targets, dealing all remaining bleed damage instantly.
This can potentially even replace the current knife's rage ricochet mechanic.
A max level option could even be to refund grabbed knives, though that could be a little too much.
Shiv knife damage has alright spirit scaling, but building towards it in its current state creates a conflict between the rest of his kit.
Giving the option for knives to create an even larger, albeit still counter-able burst opens up Shiv for more flexible spirit-focused builds without imbalancing his already strong gun potential.
This isn't because of an imbalance of shiv's guns or gun items, but rather because Shiv's abilities don't have the sustain or burst he needs to stay in close at higher levels of play.
The main point of contention is Shiv's knives. As of the end of 2024, they're the weakest part of Shiv's kit, only really useful for applying spirit-triggered debuffs. As Shiv does not have sustain like Abrams or Yamato, a slow bleed runs counter to his playstyle, where he wants to deal as much damage in a short amount of time before his deferred damage starts to catch up.
My suggested knife change would be to grant Shiv's Slice and Dice the ability to rip his knives back out of stuck targets, dealing all remaining bleed damage instantly.
This can potentially even replace the current knife's rage ricochet mechanic.
A max level option could even be to refund grabbed knives, though that could be a little too much.
Shiv knife damage has alright spirit scaling, but building towards it in its current state creates a conflict between the rest of his kit.
Giving the option for knives to create an even larger, albeit still counter-able burst opens up Shiv for more flexible spirit-focused builds without imbalancing his already strong gun potential.
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