This article focuses on how to craft a Shiv in The Last of Us Part 1. Shiv is a versatile weapon, but it is not your typical running, walking, weapon. To use a shiv in The Last of Us Part I, you have to sneak up behind your enemies. One of many items you can craft in The Last of Us Part 1, a shiv is a multi-purpose tool that can be used as a stealthy assassination weapon, or as an end-of-the-world stunner. The shiv is one of the first items players can get in the game, and there are three fully crafted shivs that are found throughout the environments during Bostons’ quest.
As usual, you will have to open the white door using the shiv; be sure to stock up on shivs prior to the chapter, just before the end. These doors are entirely optional, and most often than not, you might not be able to get in either due to lack of supplies even crafting the shiv. Perhaps the most useful hiding spots, though, are locked doors that require the use of shivs to open.
Outside of battle, the shivs can also be used to unlock some of the locked doors, and within these doors, there is an abundance of additional resources for players to take advantage of. Shivs can be used to stealthily dispatch enemies quicker than strangling them, or they can be used to open doors with the help of the shiv. When first unlocked, each shiv breaks after a single use, meaning that a new one must be made. You can slowly level these up so that they will last for two, eventually, three uses per shiv. One binding and one Blade is required to craft a Shiv.
As mentioned, each shiv will be able to sustain multiple uses while gradually upgrading it throughout the game. The number of uses that the shiv has can be upgraded as training guides are collected. You should start off with 12 training manuals scattered in various locations throughout The Last of Us Part 1; using them to upgrade shivs will boost usage for each one.
This Manual will ensure all of your shivs will last for either two or three additional uses, depending if you picked up the first Manual or not. Initially, each shiv gives you a single use, but if you manage to find corresponding manuals (upgrades), you will be able to extend how many times a single shiv will be usable. Find one that works, and you can re-use Shivs several times, increase weapons upgrade or melee damage, or improve the area bombs and Molotovs explode.
Due to the rareness of finding shivs across the world, and the shortage of items needed to craft them constantly, you will want to avoid crafting melee weapon upgrades. Fortunately, the Shiv is one of the only items in The Last of Us to be equipped with a durability upgrade for Shivs. These items, when created, can be upgraded even more by finding various guides hidden around the game. You cannot use a Shiv as a regular weapon in your arsenal, and instead, you will just want to store them in a backpack whenever you need one.
