Nurse Harrow vs Shiv
Written for the Nurse Harrow player. Playing Shiv? See Shiv vs Nurse Harrow →
Nurse Harrow is announced but not out yet. New heroes release Tuesdays and Fridays at 2:00 pm Pacific, in an order set by player vote; the next slot is Friday 16 October.
This page becomes the full matchup guide on release day: the measured win rate, who is favoured, how to win, a phase-by-phase plan and the abilities to watch. Everything known about Nurse Harrow so far →
How to beat Shiv
- Play heroes with Hard CC and zoning — his entire fight plan collapses if the leap or
Slice and Dice
Slice and Dice Shiv dashes forward, cutting everything along the line he travels. Damage 75 impact damage base, 12m range, 16s cooldown; Mobility A fixed-length 12m forward dash (14m at 2 AP) — the only repositioning tool… Defensive Usable to escape, but only along the direction he is already facing, so it… 1 1 AP: -6s cooldown (16s to 10s) 2 2 AP: -4% spirit resistance on hit (stacking) and +2m range 5 5 AP: -2s cooldown per hero hit (max -8s) and +50 impact damage is interrupted mid-commit - Keep a burst heal for the execute window specifically: any heal that lifts a target above the 18-23% threshold wastes his 125s ultimate
- Keep fighting after he 'survives' your burst —
Bloodletting
Bloodletting A portion of the damage Shiv takes is not applied immediately; Damage No damage dealt. Defers 30% of incoming damage over 6s; activating clears… Defensive His entire defensive layer — effectively an on-demand partial heal for… 1 1 AP: -15s cooldown (25s to roughly 10s) 2 2 AP: +40% of deferred damage cleared on activation 5 5 AP: +15% of incoming damage deferred defers the damage, it does not remove it, and disengaging is exactly what lets him clear it - Outrange the shotgun: his weapon falls off from 20m to 41m and his only closer is a 12m line dash on a 16s (10s at 1 AP) cooldown
Bait these first
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Slice and Dice
Slice and Dice Shiv dashes forward, cutting everything along the line he travels. Damage 75 impact damage base, 12m range, 16s cooldown; Mobility A fixed-length 12m forward dash (14m at 2 AP) — the only repositioning tool… Defensive Usable to escape, but only along the direction he is already facing, so it… 1 1 AP: -6s cooldown (16s to 10s) 2 2 AP: -4% spirit resistance on hit (stacking) and +2m range 5 5 AP: -2s cooldown per hero hit (max -8s) and +50 impact damage first. It is his engage AND his disengage on one 16s cooldown; a Shiv who dashes at a trooper wave or a durable frontliner has no way to reach or leave your backline for the next 10-16 seconds - Then
Bloodletting
Bloodletting A portion of the damage Shiv takes is not applied immediately; Damage No damage dealt. Defers 30% of incoming damage over 6s; activating clears… Defensive His entire defensive layer — effectively an on-demand partial heal for… 1 1 AP: -15s cooldown (25s to roughly 10s) 2 2 AP: +40% of deferred damage cleared on activation 5 5 AP: +15% of incoming damage deferred 's active. Force it with a burst from a durable body early in the fight — on the 25s base cooldown he cannot clear a second spike - Bait
Serrated Knives
Serrated Knives Shiv throws a knife that damages and bleeds the target. Crowd Control Applies a movement slow with the bleed; Damage 32 impact damage plus 10 bleed DPS per knife stack over a 5s debuff; 1 1 AP: +2s debuff duration 2 2 AP: +2 charges (four knives available for a full stack dump) 5 5 AP: +7 bleed DPS per stack charges in lane: both charges on a 16s cooldown with 2s between means an empty charge bar is a real trade window
What Shiv does to you
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Killing Blow
Killing Blow Shiv leaps to an enemy hero and instantly kills them if they are below a health threshold; Damage Instant kill below 18% of the target's health (23% at 2 AP); Mobility The leap itself is a 12m-18m targeted gap-close, separate from Slice and… Defensive none directly, though the 5 AP reset on kill effectively removes the risk of… 1 1 AP: +2 m/s move speed at full Rage and +6m range (12m to 18m) 2 2 AP: +5% execute threshold (18% to 23%) and +16% full-Rage bonus damage 5 5 AP: resets cooldown on a successful elimination, -30s cooldown, and allows a recast… executes you outright below 18% (23% at 2 AP) from 12-18m away — no positioning, wall or escape ability saves you once you are under the line - Stacked
Serrated Knives
Serrated Knives Shiv throws a knife that damages and bleeds the target. Crowd Control Applies a movement slow with the bleed; Damage 32 impact damage plus 10 bleed DPS per knife stack over a 5s debuff; 1 1 AP: +2s debuff duration 2 2 AP: +2 charges (four knives available for a full stack dump) 5 5 AP: +7 bleed DPS per stack plus the full-Rage current-HP impact damage will walk your health bar down to that threshold from outside shotgun range, without him ever committing -
Slice and Dice
Slice and Dice Shiv dashes forward, cutting everything along the line he travels. Damage 75 impact damage base, 12m range, 16s cooldown; Mobility A fixed-length 12m forward dash (14m at 2 AP) — the only repositioning tool… Defensive Usable to escape, but only along the direction he is already facing, so it… 1 1 AP: -6s cooldown (16s to 10s) 2 2 AP: -4% spirit resistance on hit (stacking) and +2m range 5 5 AP: -2s cooldown per hero hit (max -8s) and +50 impact damage at 2 AP shreds your Spirit Resist per hit, so the follow-up bleed and any Spirit Damage from his team lands amplified
What Valve has shown of Nurse Harrow
Abilities not shown yet. Valve's words for Nurse Harrow: strict, terrifying, savior. A medical theme and a healer's silhouette — watch for whether she is a support or a drain-tank.
Other new heroes against Shiv
- Violet vs Shiv from 16 Oct