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Please fix Fiddlesticks Dark Wind (his Crow)...could be bugged now

WildBear247··3 votes·672 views

tl;dr = Fix Fiddlestick's Dark Wind (his crow) so it prioritizes enemy champions and not minions. Dark Wind should always attempt to hit enemy champs and only dive into minions (or monsters) as a path of last resort.

Long Version **PROBLEM DESCRIPTION: ** Fiddlesticks has long been one of my favorite champs. Last season when playing him in Normals or Ranked I nearly always played him as support. I estimate I have played him in at least 150+ games of a mix of ARAM, Normal, and Ranked. So I have a good feel for the champ.

His Dark Wind (the Crow) was nerfed in patch 4.21 (Dec 2014) and then his Drain was nerfed in patch 5.3 (Feb 2015) . It's his Dark Wind nerf that I find the most debilitating. The patch 4.21 nerf to Dark Wind stopped his crow from reapplying silences if an enemy champ was hit with it more than once. I don't have a problem with this aspect of the nerf because I see how it could create for some unhealthy gameplay if the crow got some lucky bounces and silenced a couple of champs for the majority of a team fight.

Here is the aspect I do have a problem with. The 4.21 nerf also (unintentionally I think) made it so Dark Wind doesn't hit enemy champs as often now if there are minions around. I think the logic that now primarily drives Dark Wind after 4.21 is that the crow will seek to hit enemies that haven't been silenced yet...even if the enemy is a minion. So now when I play support Fiddle and I throw a crow at an enemy champ during laning phase if there are minions around my chances of damaging the enemy champs with Dark Wind have decreased....I could get a lucky bounce that hits the enemy champs 2-3 times...or I might get unlucky and after hitting an enemy champ 1 time the crow might bounce off into the minion lane and stay there. The big bummer about this behavior is that Fiddlesticks primary lane harassment tool as a support is Dark Wind.

I've also seen this undesired behavior occur in ARAM too. Last weekend I played a game in which the enemy Fiddlesticks threw Dark Wind at us while we were retreating to our tower. We happened to be right next to our minion wave and the Dark Wind hit the first champ behind me...and instead of continuing on to hit me and another friendly champ nearby (we were almost in a line as we retreated) the stupid Dark Wind jumps into the minion wave for the final 3 bounces...even though we were in range. I laughed about it with my buddy and told him that is why I don't like playing support Fiddlesticks anymore.

THE FIX: I think the best way to fix this is to update Dark Wind so it prioritizes enemy champions and not minions. Dark Wind should always attempt to hit enemy champs and only dive into minions (or monsters) as a path of last resort. As a Fiddle player (ahem), I don't want Dark Wind to try to silence minions or monsters...I want it to always seek to maximize damage to enemy champs. Dark Wind is Fiddlesticks primary damage dealer between ults and I think updating it to work this way would make for a more consistent and enjoyable experience for those of us who think the "Harbinger of Doom" is the bee's knees (or used to be until his nerfs...now he is more like the bee's dirty toenails...lol..just kidding about that).

4 Comments

Skia Asteri1 votes

They changed it to prioritize things it has yet to hit when they made is only able to apply the silence the first time it hits a target.

WildBear2471 votes

Thanks for the feedback Skia!

Your comment: They changed it to prioritize things it has yet to hit My reply: Yes I agree that is the behavior I've observed after patch 4.21. I'd be okay with this if my crow wasn't flying off into the minion wave seeking targets it hasn't hit. This especially applies when I'm trying to harass during the laning phase, but it also applies during ganks and team fights next to minions and monsters...ideally Dark Wind should focus enemy champs but I've seen many times where I'll lose a bounce or 2 or 3 to minions instead of champs.

TeemoJenkins1 votes

I last hit with it when I do Middlesticks, so I like the minion mechanic. If you want it to harass enemy champs target a back line minion. If you're using him as support hit the further back of the two enemy champs.

WildBear2471 votes

Nice to hear from you MIddlesticks! Just to clarify, when I say I want Dark Wind to prioritize enemy champs that doesn't mean I don't want it to hit minions. It should continue to hit both, but focus on enemy champs when they are nearby. So for you as a Middlesticks if they fixed Dark Wind as I'm suggesting your "crow path" would ideally be like this if your mid-lane opponent is by the minion wave and you throw the crow at a minion: crow > minion > enemy champ > minion > enemy champ. However if you were ganked and the enemy champs are close to each other while chasing you then your Dark Wind would bounce only between the enemy champs and ignore the minions completely. I usually don't play middle Fiddle but when I do that's how I would want it to work.

Your comment: If you want it to harass enemy champs target a back line minion. My reply: Targeting a minion first when seeking to harass an enemy champ is risky, because after patch 4.21 there is less of a chance that it will continue on to hit an enemy champ. By targeting an enemy champ first I guarantee at least one hit, and if I'm lucky maybe a couple more.

Your comment: If you're using him as support hit the further back of the two enemy champs. My reply: This won't necessarily increase the chances that I'll get more Dark Wind bounces against the enemy champs. The best opportunity to maximize Dark Wind bounces against the enemy champs is when they are close to each other but away from their minion wave. Unfortunately these opportunities don't present themselves often...they usually occur when we have them on the run and while they are fleeing from their minion wave or vice versa.

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