SHIV - useful or crap?

[need.more.brain]

Hi,
I just got the SHIV Unlock in the foundry. Are they worth it? I plan to use one as my regular 6th member. But I don't know if they're worth it.

[upgdot]

I used one for just a while my first time through the game. It starts out as a pretty useful addition. The problem is, it never gets better. Over time, most classes will become extremely powerful, while the SHIV just becomes a damage soak.

Not that that's a useless thing, I just preferred the human party members to the SHIV by far.

[need.more.brain]

Well I am playing on normal. No ironman. I guess I won't make use of SHIVs when they don't improve.. Thank you very much for the reply!

[upgdot]

Absolutely. You do get upgrades for them, don't get me wrong. I just never found them as useful as a Colonel member of the team with updated equipment

[Martial.Lore]

Same here; built and used one on my first game and haven't since.

[Proteus]

Same here ...
they definitely are useful, insofar as they are immune to PSI attacks, can move in 3 dimensions (in case of the hover SHIV) and can be sent as first team member into unexplored rooms where alien dangers might lurk, without endangering your team ...
but not being able to level up (aside from foundry upgrades) and also not being able to be healed by a medic definitely limits their usefulness and lets me prefer team members that are made out of flesh and blood

[Martial.Lore]

Probably most useful when you have a lot of wounded soldiers and need to make up squad numbers with something has some beef to it.

[dP | Grund]

Play 'The Long War' mod on the Nexus site, they are very useful in that mod.

[P-47 Thunderbolt]

Normal Shiv - Meh
Alloy Shiv - Alright
Hover Shiv - Great

Shivs aren't as good as a well trained soldier but they do have their uses. It is good to keep one or two in reserve IF you have the cash to spare. A Shiv will do much better than a rookie. Hover Shivs in particular have several advantages. They are immune to poison and mind control, they are disposable, have great aim, have 60 defense if in flight mode, good damage, good movement range, and they have suppression.

[CallsignHUSKER]

I wish there were more ways to cutomize the shiv..

[Agent X ™]

I only use a Shiv in place of using a rookie... It would have been cool to have more options with it but for the money a Shiv is just for the scouting lulz until you get the hover shiv. Also aliens can not mind control it.

[Wafflecowboy]

The SHIVs are good as scouts or as a diversion... they do quite a lot of damage and they are very easily replacable. The Hover SHIV is pretty good, and it is useful for exploring new rooms or on missions when you have to save a max of people send them in as a suicide rescuer.
Hope this helps!

[Mellow]

Still prefer an actual soldier myself, but they ain't half bad.

[Val]

Alloy shiv is very useful when combined with high level sniper as it gives them full cover and you can place the 2 on the best spots of a mission.

Hover shiv is pretty fun if you're running a full team of snipers with archangel armor and you need a scout to give all your snipers vision.

They should've been equipped with 2 rockets to make em more useful.

[Drunk-Side Jedi]

They're amazing scouts, tough and disposable with an extra big gun. I started taking a lot less attrition when I started bringing a SHIV. They're great for playing aggressively, getting right in the aliens face since they can't be flanked.