S.H.I.V. (LWR)

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In General

The Super-Heavy Infantry Vehicle is a special unit that brings raw damage, durability, and a degree of utility to the field, thanks to their numerous upgrades and equipment options. All SHIVs can be used as partial cover. The basic SHIV is available from the beginning of the campaign. They cannot be rebuilt if destroyed.

XCOM starts with at least 1 SHIV, which accompanies your soldiers on the first mission.

Big Sky (the Skyranger pilot) can control only 1 SHIV each turn.
This means that if you bring multiple SHIVs on a mission only 1 can act each turn.

SHIVs do not accumulate fatigue.

Like other units, SHIVs must have their weapons replaced individually. All units start with the baseline Autocannon (with an unlimited quantity in stock, much like the other basic ballistic weapons), which can be upgraded for each tier of weapon. New weapons must be manufactured by Engineering, and they can be found in the same section as MEC armaments.

Bringing a SHIV to a mission isn't a waste of experience either, as the 1st SHIV alive at the end of any battle grants its mission experience to its squadmates.

SHIVs, like most mechanized units, have built-in damage reduction and are hardened, which makes them more durable. Much cheaper than MEC Troopers, and with 'abilities' swappable as equipable modules giving them a significant degree of flexibility, these units will prove to be a valuable asset to XCOM.

It is advisable to have at least a small pool of SHIVs in reserve, to fill any gaps when your Barracks list reads nearly entirely "Fatigue", and to help deal with smaller crashed UFOs that you still may want to gather materials from, as their raw damage and durability can potentially serve as a replacement for high-ranking soldiers.

SHIV Units

All SHIVs are primarily tank units and inherently have high HP and tankiness, while their aim is low. There are ways to make them do significant damage. Creative play and builds are encouraged. All SHIVs can be repaired be Engineers. Their repair charges are valuable, but ultimately limited resource. SHIVs worst enemy is Corrosion that reduces their tankiness and strips away the armor. Engineer can remove the Corrosion.

Basic SHIV is strong, sturdy and reliable addition to any XCOM squad. Its a bit less tanky than Alloy SHIV and its main limitation is access to limited item slots. It is advisable to try to keep your SHIV alive and well until you can build Alloy SHIVs. If destroyed, it is probably good idea to build new SHIVs.

Alloy SHIV is sturdier version of the SHIV that offers significant space for customization since it can afford to equip 4 items. Thanks to all the available options in midgame, it can be equipped to become very strong tank, or to do significant DPS. SHIV has access to Vital Point Targeting and Critical System Targeting so it can be easily specialized to do significant amounts of damage to bio or mech aliens. This SHIV usually have problems with mobility due to equipping all the items it can, so careful consideration there is required. SHIV with less than 8.0 or 7.3 mobility can be considerably less useful so even leaving some item slots unused is sometimes smart move. Lastly, while this SHIV is very resistant to damage, some alien leaders have Critical System Targeting ability that can do serious damage per hit to them.

Hover SHIV is technologically most advanced version of the SHIV, capable of flight. It is less tankier than Alloy counterpart, but while in air it gets significant defense bonus. Aliens usually do not target higher defense units, so this SHIV is not tank primarily and will not draw as much fire. As this SHIV has excellent offensive potential due to height aim bonuses, it is probably best to equip it with offensive items. Remember, flight fuel is limited so strategizing is required. Fuel cells can be upgraded, at which point this SHIV becomes quite formidable offensive weapon.

Name	Mob	HP	Base DR	Def	Aim	Equipment Slots	Bonus perk	Special properties	Prerequisites		Cost					Sell value
SHIV	11.3	12+12	50	25	55	2	Hardened Ram	30 Crit Resistance Shares Mission XP Only 1 SHIV acts each turn Immune to strangulation Negates the effects of fire Provides partial cover for soldiers		15	400 (560)			0 (5)	13 days (2.6 days)	-
Alloy SHIV	11.3	16+16	50	25	55	4	Hardened Ram	50 Crit Resistance Shares Mission XP Only 1 SHIV acts each turn Immune to strangulation Negates the effects of fire Provides partial cover for soldiers	Mechtoid Autopsy	35	530 (742)	40 (56)		0 (5)	26 days (5.2 days)	-
Hover SHIV	11.3	14+14	50	25	55	4	Hardened Ram	30 Crit Resistance Shares Mission XP Only 1 SHIV acts each turn Immune to strangulation Negates the effects of fire Provides partial cover for soldiers Supports Flight (14 fuel)	Antigrav Systems	70	660 (924)	60 (84)	45 (63)	0 (5)	39 days (7.8 days)	-

SHIV Initial Abilities

Abilities that all SHIVs start with. Rams can do significant damage, depending on position it is possible even to kill two units per turn using 1AP blue moves. But it requires approximately straight shiv path to alien to work and do damage so commander should try to strategize to maximize SHIV damage potential. Tanking wise, SHIV is strong tank, but even with hardened it can be chipped down by multiple alien shots so some caution is advised. SHIV tanking resistance drops with lost armor therefore it is advisable to repair it sooner rather than later.

Ram If this unit moves at least 4 tiles in a mostly straight line towards the tile directly in front of an enemy, this unit will hit that enemy for x damage, where x is half of the distance moved + 1 for every 10 max HP this unit has.

Hardened This unit cannot be exposed and gains +30% DR (+50% DR vs shotguns).

SHIV Upgrade Abilities

Abilities that can be unlocked via Foundry projects. Shiv upgrade abilities are very strong and it is advisable to upgrade SHIVs as soon as possible.

Lock N' Load Reloading any weapon costs only 1 AP. Dashing automatically reloads the active weapon. Granted by:  SHIV Advancements I	Repair Servos Repairs damage sustained in battle: When damaged, gain servos equal to 45% of the damage sustained. Each servo can heal 1 HP. At end of turn, use half the servos available (minimum 1, if available). Granted by:  SHIV Advancements I	Sprinter Grants +1.3 mobility and increases the movement bonus when dashing to +40% (from +20%). Granted by:  Advanced Servomotors
Damage Control Grants an instance of 20% DR each time damage is received (they stack multiplicatively). If shredded, reduces shred to 35% at end of turn. Granted by:  SHIV Advancements II	Shredder Primary weapon shots during this unit's turn apply Shred equal to the percentage of the target's max HP lost from the attack (which increases subsequent damage the target receives by the amount of Shred) for the remainder of the battle. Granted by:  SHIV Advancements II

SHIV Equipment Abilities

Abilities SHIVs can be granted if equipped with the appropriate equipment

Critical System Targeting is anti mechanical weapon available early in the game, granted by Anti-Armor Module item. It is a bit expensive and early mechanical enemies are hard to hit Drones, so this item is not the best early item to equip. At AL3 Seeker aliens appear, hard to hit and track as well. At AL4 there are Cyberdisks, another hard to hit target. Build with Holo Charger and Anti-Armor Module is potentially good solution to Seekers and Cyberdisk, especially as Holo effect stops Seekers from stealthing. At AL5 Mechtoids are easy to hit and this item becomes much more interesting. At this point, Alloy SHIV with multiple item slots becomes available. Lastly, Anti-Armor Module comboes well with Retaliatory Sensors which adds +40 aim to its shots.

Holo Rounds granted by Holo Charger is excellent early item as source of Holo targeting. If you are unsure what to equip, this is good safe choice. It has one significant drawback, its weight.

Vital Point Targeting granted by Infrared Module is very potent offensive item for the SHIV. SHIV can easily flank and hit units from up close, so it is much easier to use than Anti-Armor Module. Biological aliens are more numerous as well. Scales well with high SHIV weapon damage. Coupled with Retaliatory Sensors aim boost, it can also kill Floaters quite reliably.

Burst Fire Module is in a sense improved Scope item for the SHIV. SHIV gets much more dangerous at straight shooting at aliens and gets ability to Burst for usually guaranteed damage. SHIV ammo will likely be issue, so one might plan to bring extra ammo to couple with this item.

Reactive Targeting Sensors granted by Retaliatory Sensors is quite strong ability boosting SHIV's reactive shot with +40 aim. Since this shot will usually hit aliens, its well coupled with Critical System Targeting and Vital Point Targeting ability. Holo Rounds do not apply on reactive shots and Reactive Targeting Sensors ability can be disabled by alien abilities such as Impact or when SHIV is disoriented.

Light 'em Up is strong double shooting ability, granted by late game Weapon Supercooler item. It is available at the point when player has access to for Hover SHIVs, which can use its potential to devastating effect. The item is strong, but very heavy. Additionally, its a good idea to equip Heavy Mags as well for extra ammo.

Absorption Fields boost already high SHIV's DR by 30%. IF you want to keep tanking with SHIV in late game, you probably want this item. Additionally, it reduces penetration damage from Drones and Cyberdisks, eliminating one of the main weaknesses of SHIVs. Drones come in packs and when SHIV is caught in the open and Holo targeted, Drones can easily strip all its armor in a single turn. This item should make it that Drones do only 1 damage per hit to SHIV.

Critical System Targeting Shots against autopsied mechanical units deal +50% damage and gain +2 penetration. Does not work with the Arc Rifle or Arc Pistol. Granted by:  Anti-Armor Module	Holo Rounds Firing at a target during this unit's turn holos [Prevents concealment/stealth, incoming shots gain +20 aim and +1 penetration] them for 3 turns. Granted by:  Holo Charger	Vital Point Targeting Steadied shots, reaction shots, or shots at targets not protected by cover deal 30% more damage when hitting humans or autopsied biological aliens. Granted by:  Infrared Module
Burst Fire a +50 aim shot with -50% weapon damage and -50 crit. Requires 2 ammo. Granted by:  Burst Fire Module	Reactive Targeting Sensors Once per turn, if this unit is attacked: Attempt to return fire with a +40 aim reaction shot. If this unit did return fire, enter One For All (if able). [Basic reaction shots bypass half of cover DR/def, cannot crit, and require hit chance >30] Granted by:  Retaliatory Sensor	Light 'Em Up Standard shots cost only 1 AP and gain both +5 aim and +1 damage for each instance of damage their target took this turn. Granted by:  Weapon Supercooler
Absorption Fields Advanced shielding grants +30% DR. Shots from beam weapons (laser/pulse/drone/cyberdisc) lose half of their penetration when targeting this unit. Granted by:  Shielding Module

SHIV Additional Items

Additonal items that SHIVs can use to complement its builds. Some of the items are shared with mech units making them more convenient to build and utilize.

Alloy Carbide Plating - More health, DR and resistance to Corrosion. Weightless! An excellent item to equip. Eliminates one of main SHIV weaknesses - acid.

AR Targeter - SHIV is not very good at critting, but it deals heavy damage making the item at least interesting. It is weightless, so if you have low mobility, you might choose AR Targeter.

Core Plating - Upgrade on Alloy Carbide Plating, but it has some weight. Excellent even if expensive, makes SHIV shred resistant as well.

Elerium Turbos - Pretty much mandatory item for Alloy SHIVs and great one at that. SHIV movement is boost by 2.0 and RAM damage is doubled. Nothing better than overrun fat mutons from full HP to zero. Works best when dashing long distances.

Heavy Mags - Strong ammo booster that increases SHIV damage potential a lot when coupled with some other items. You should have 1-2 of these items as mechs can use it as well. Quite heavy at 1.3 mobility penalty.

Laser Sight - Slight crit boost if you don't have anything better. It has advantage of being weightless.

Motion Tracker - Never underestimate power of information. One of strongest item to have if properly used, more so if you don't have Scout available on a mission.

Prediction Computer gives lots of damage to SHIV on reactive shots. Works well with Retaliatory Sensors. It boosts SHIV defense by +10, which is something you might not want, so take into consideration when using it.

Scope - Generic shooting booster, strong. But take note that SHIV has access to Burst Module, which is better option. Patch notes do change, so question your choices.

SHIVs have access to a couple of more items (like special ammo), but these are the main items used. The game changes from patch to patch and options for customization are plenty so feel free to experiment.