@Riot, here's a crazy idea on how to properly balance Fizz so EVERYONE is happy...
You ready for this crazy off-the-wall concept?
You sure...?
OK, here it comes....
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#Balance him as a fucking on-hit Bruiser/Fighter.
[zombie-brand-mindblown]
Mind. Blown.
##"But Wait, isn't Tank/Bruiser Fizz much OP, such broken?! A: Only when he can both tank you and blow you up.
##Solutions! (Some, or All of below)
-
Remove/lower his E's damage to champions Crazy, right? Turn his Troll-pole (E1, E2) strictly into a farming/mobility tool. Double up the damage to minions (the AoE E2), but get rid of damage to champions. Now you can play around with transferring that power elsewhere, like to his Q, W, Passive, or ult. Crazy huh!?
-
Even out his AP ratios and his Base damage (but lower burst damage overall) Since you're balancing him as a bruiser, he doesn't need outrageous AP scalings on all his abilities (especially if you remove champ damage from his E). Now he can stay alive longer as a bruiser in lane, but needs to build items that can allow him to "stick to targets" and do DPS/DoT damage instead of BURST/DoT damage. You can move power to his W passive or active or both; he now has to stay on a target i.e. like Darius, or Fiora, or whomever. He's still a tricky trickster, because he can use his E pole or Q dash to get away or engage -- but this way he's
not fucking blowing up bronze players left and rightgiven more counter-play options while still retaining his trickster identity. -
Turn his E into a skillshot. I know you kids at Riot fucking love doing this kind of stuff; I mean, you did it with the warwick rework, and although WW's R is fucking buggy as shit, it's still pretty great and provides a TON of counterplay. Also, WW's Q is buggy as shit too... maybe fix that one huh... Now, Fizz has to actually land a skillshot other than his ult. Increase the Q range though; maybe make it so it grows in range if fizz lands a long range ult, and stays normal range if he doesn't ult / lands a small shark.
-
Give him some %hp damage Or some shit, IDK. You love slapping %hp damage on everything these days, might as well huh? Put it in his ult or W or whatever; and keep it at a sane level, not some crazy ass "OMG WTFUX COMPLETELY BROKEN 100000000x DAMAGE QUADRA-PENTAKRILL SO ALL MY FRIENDS HATE ME AND RIOT WILL PERMABAN ME SOON MUST SEE TO BELIEVE youtube montage (by
assclown mcgeenightblue3)".
Now, you've given life back to tank/bruiser fizz and kept him relevant, balanced, and meaningful in-game without being overtly oppressive or "bursty", while still maintaining his mobility and somewhat squishiness.
And if people still want to play AP fizz, they can still do that too! It just won't be as... "bursty" -- that makes a lot of people happy (in bronze/silver/gold elo), and he can still be viable as an ap mage 'assassin', just harder to 100-0 someone unless going all-in with a full rotation of spells (welcome to the club, says zed!).
#Yay results! Everyone wins, 3-ways:
- Win for tank/bruiser fizz top/jg players,
- Win for
unskilled whiny forum bratsplayers who have raised valid concerns about his oppressive late game and mobility with little counterplay tools, - And a (relative) win for AP fizz (viable but not going to burst anyone out unless going COMPLETELY squish full AP items and using a whole rotation of spells).
##You're welcome, community. You're welcome, Riot. You're welcome, Fizz brothers.
"Mmmm.... something's fishy! Aaaaayup!"
##Coming up next on "Stupidly Easy Ways to Balance Your Champions, it Boggles the Mind You Didn't Do It This Way Already, Riot"....... we'll solve the Syndra Dilemma in just THREE EASY STEPS!!!!! WOW!
or
; Fizz can be a type of "hybrid mix" between those two (if they ever had a lovechild).

+ either a
/
+ boots, and bob's your uncle. He shits on everything with that build. He's super mobile (within teamfights), has no mana usage, has windwall, has dis-engage with whirlwind, burst damage with ult and Q, more lifesteal sustain and sustained damage, you name it.