Fiddlesticks has been indirectly nerfed to hell

IziMytTJd7·12/15/2016, 2:31:52 AM·78 votes·4,175 views

Every one of his core items (except rabs) has lost 20-30 ap over the past year for virtually no usable compensation. At the same time, the jungle has become uninhabitable for mages. Attempts to compensate with dark wind buffs are laughable, and also unhealthy (too much rng and unearned damage, that ultimately does not redeem him as a champion).

Fiddle used to be a niche pick that required careful counterplay through map awareness and vision. Now, I don't even know what he is. It feels like he doesn't currently belong in the game. He used to be one of the few champions that was strong when neglected, but very managable with the correct strategy. But now everything he used to count on as a strength has been destroyed. I don't really know how to fix it. Maybe a rework, to make him more compatible with the new items that he was once balanced around.

53 Comments

Nipsahoy12/15/2016, 5:13:30 PM11 votes

You just have to build him AD fiddle. I call the build Crittlesticks. It's op as heck! LONG REIGN CRITTLESTICKS!

Zelorxon12/15/2016, 10:35:18 AM8 votes

Elise Evelynn Diana hi fiddle, wanna join our club? Fiddlesticks Hey there ladies, what are you up tonight? Have any plans?

SchmidttyGames12/15/2016, 2:42:06 AM6 votes

Fiddlesticks is a huge pain in the ass in the Support Role. He seems to actually fit in very well there as a Poke/Harass Support.

MorgManBasher12/15/2016, 11:50:31 AM5 votes

I use to be a fiddle main for a long time, but after years of nerfs I just couldn't do it anymore and gave up on the champion. I use to play him mid/jungle/support and loved him, it's a shame they destroyed him.

To people saying play him support, he's not worth the effort. Many champs do his job better.

aspects112/15/2016, 6:24:43 AM3 votes

hes a support now

Witch of Babylon12/17/2016, 12:15:43 AM2 votes

I'm so sorry but I forgot Fiddlesticks existed.

Dominick Destine12/15/2016, 2:42:35 AM2 votes

I tend to agree.

Bouncemaster Zac12/15/2016, 5:18:23 AM2 votes

He's an outstanding poke support, and an okayish mid.

IziMytTJd712/15/2016, 11:33:45 PM2 votes

I'm pretty sure the majority of the community prefers Fiddle as a jungler. He is more dynamic and makes games more interesting that way. Unfortunately, Riot appears to only endorse him as a support now, as seen by their only buffing his poke damage, rather than improving his overall functionality.

Fiddle used to be purely a niche jungler with well-defined strengths and weaknesses/counters. Well-balanced overall (never saw pro play, but was quite strong in low elo). Then the pro scene picked up on the fact that he had a 3 second point-click hard cc, and support fiddle took off (to the chagrin of myself and many others). Of course, that led to Terrify being nerfed. Fiddle continued to suffer nerfs over time, even after his popularity dwindled. This included range nerfs to his Terrify and Drain range (and possibly damage, can't remember). Of course by this time jungle Fid was beaten into submission, with the changes to the jungle/jg items. Then over the past year it's been a case of beating a dead horse (wrong usage, but it works here!) with the brutal nerfs to every item he relied on (zhonyas, abyssal, rylai's).

A Basic Island12/16/2016, 2:22:51 PM2 votes

i miss the days of 3 second fear =(

Rem Was Here12/15/2016, 11:22:46 PM1 votes

Morgana can still jungle.

TeCoolMage12/15/2016, 3:05:00 PM1 votes

Maybe if drain didn't give him HP when smite already does

Geez riot what do you expect us to do with all this overcapped HP

Ooh mana restoration + shield, maybe? Now jungle fiddle is one frightening tanky scarecrow mofo that drives the swain ult back to his home

xelaker12/15/2016, 11:40:11 PM1 votes

ya'll must not remember the dark ages, where fid would 1v5 a team with item 3157 , his ult and a bird

Iźuku Midoriya12/15/2016, 11:52:46 PM1 votes

do you think courage would be strong on him?

6Sfool12/16/2016, 3:36:45 AM1 votes

And as someone who takes him support, he got massive buffs patch after patch. Rylai's became more accessible, drain became efficient, COTC on demand, Dark Wind always up. His jungle is weak, but any more changes to help him jungle that involve direct buffs will make an absolutely broken support.

Wolftastic3312/16/2016, 9:23:22 AM1 votes

Riot seems to want AP champions to have less AP but more CDR...

So they just weakened the difference between dps and burst...

TotalJerk12/15/2016, 3:16:16 PM1 votes

Remember Runeglaive? Riot doesn't give a fuck about Fiddlesticks.

the weeaboo12/15/2016, 6:59:56 PM1 votes

Let him channel his drain into allies to heal them. Long live Fiddle support