My thoughts on a Fiddlesticks Rework (he likes fear)
This is my idea for a fiddlesticks rework. I realize fiddlesticks probably isn't too high on the rework queue, but in my opinion, targeted cc + a targeted tether that heals fiddle just isn't very interactive. I feel as if his basic abilities and his ultimate don't really mesh into a cohesive champion kit.
In (good) horror movies, rarely do you see an evil killer just barge into a room and attack everything in sight. For the audience, a lack of suspense kills any sense of fear. Fear relies on being separated, alone, trapped. And that is what I based my thoughts on. A champion designed to separate a team. Effectively, a counter to a comp designed around large scale team fights and especially poke comps.
Passive: Hysteria - Champions and monsters within Hysteria's range have decreased magic resistance once they have taken damage from Fiddlesticks. Decreases enemy magic resistance by 5 at max range which increases to 5/10/15/20 as you get closer to Fiddlesticks. Upgrades at level 5/10/15 (or whatever). Additionally, gains 10% spell vamp (increased to 15%/20% at level 7/14 or whatever)
While functioning similarly to Dread, offers more if Fiddlesticks is close to the enemy.
Q: Terrifying Wind - Twisted magic in the shape of a crow, a mid-range skill shot that forces fear into the hearts of his enemies. Fears a single enemy champion for .5/.75/1/1.25/1.5 seconds and does 60/90/120/150/180 (+60% AP) magic damage. Deals double damage and fears for twice as long if it hits a large monster. After hitting the first target, bounces off and shoots in a straight line skill shot towards a new target, which can be any enemy champion, minion or monster, prioritizing enemy champions and the closest targets. Deals 40/60/80/100/120 (+40% AP) and applies a 1 second 20% slow to targets after the first bounce. Bounces up to 5 times (6 hits). Enemy champions hit multiple times take greatly reduced damage and aren't slowed multiple times.
A combination of Dark Wind and the current Terrify, which can be seen in my entirely uncreative name. Early game, offers decent clear as it will bounce off the large monster and continue to ricochet off the monsters, dealing full damage (to monsters) with each bounce. Effective ganking tool for bot lane since it will fear the initial target then prioritize the second champion and slow them, allowing plenty of time for follow up.
I always felt like a single target, targeted, long duration fear on an ability that does literally nothing else is both one of the strongest and one of the most underwhelming things in the entirety of LoL.
W: Panic/Surprise - Panic (Passive): Fiddlesticks feeds off the fear of his enemies, doubling his passive spell vamp when dealing magic damage to a feared target. Additionally, when a target is feared by any source, Fiddlesticks heals for 2/4/6/8/10% of all magic damage dealt by allies to the feared enemy if the enemy is within a certain range.
Surprise (Active): After a very brief channel, Fiddlesticks releases a wave of fear in a small circle around him, forcing enemies away and briefly stunning them for .1 seconds. Enemies that are farther away are pushed farther, but take reduced damage. Deals a maximum of 50/75/100/125/150 (+50% AP) magic damage to the nearest targets which is reduced down to a minimum of half damage to the furthest targets.
The passive Panic is important for both jungle and team fight sustain, especially on squishy builds.
I wanted the active portion, Surprise, to allow Fiddlesticks some sort of aoe cc, that isn't simply another fear. I decided on the knock back and how it operates with range because I want Fiddlesticks to be rewarded for ulting in at the right times. If he can catch the back line, he can then force the tanks away to allow himself unimpeded damage on the squishies. Then again, if he ults into the middle of the fight, he can force the back line out, while pushing the front line towards his team, spreading out the fight. It allows Fiddlesticks to see a situation and decide how he should act based on the enemy team and his own, and, if he acts correctly, spreading panic through the enemy team as they try to work around this threat. Also, the knock back wouldn't be too large, it wouldn't be as far as Gnar ult. At max range, it would probably knock people to the edge of the ult range.
E: Dismay - Fiddlesticks instills cowardice and doubt into the mind of an enemy champion. A short cooldown targeted ability that deals 10/20/30/40/50 (+20% AP) over 2 seconds. If Fiddlesticks uses an auto attack or ability on the target within this duration, he does an extra 20% AP as magic damage. The ability deals double damage to monsters. Additionally, if the target is attempting to flee, they are slowed by 10% for .5 seconds.
Fiddlesticks has always been about the sustained damage from drain, but, with drain gone, I decided he needed something else to make up for it. While both Surprise and Terrify would have reasonably long cooldowns, Dismay would be a source of constant damage for Fiddlesticks with probably about a 4 second cooldown at max rank. Since it would have a very low cooldown, I wasn't certain what it's damage would have to be to be balanced. The slow is because I like to imagine a chase scene in a horror movie, where the characters are all running but things keep slowing them down (tripping on nothing, random obstacle, etc.). The obstacle would be just enough to keep the bad guy right on their tail.
R: Crow Storm - Functionally, the same as crow storm currently is. After a short channel, Fiddlesticks blinks to a target location surrounded by a murder of crows, dealing massive damage to enemies around him.
While his W and R may seem counter-intuitive, I thought the shortened knock back on nearby targets would help with this issue. It allows you to knock back champs that may blow you up or lock you down, while also allowing you to stay on top of the champs you want to murder. If everything else was about atmosphere of horror movies, this is just the cheap jumpscare. Nothing gets you better than being melted by a scarecrow you never saw coming.
And so, those are my thoughts. I think Fiddlesticks would do a lot better as a more cc oriented AP disruptor. Right now, he functionally fills no role, but jumping in every once in a while to try to melt the enemy team with his one useful team fight ability. But otherwise, he lacks so much. So, I decided to follow a fear based theme and give it a go. Obviously, I have no expectations that this will be seen by anyone important (no offense to anyone, you are all special in your own way) or that anyone will agree with me. Also, I obviously have no experience balancing a video game like LoL so please don't harp on me about numbers, they are just there for references.