Suggession on Fiddlesticks Kit Changes
I just posted this in another thread responding to a red post in another thread. But felt the post could use its' own thread for discussion purposes.
Only real way to fix Fiddlesticks in my opinion is a Sion level rework. His visuals need updates his skills are outdated, and he has what is effectively no lore.
I cannot help with making lore or visuals but I do have suggestions for kit rework. Some of these changes are actionable. (all numbers are and should be considered subject to balance changes)
[New] Passive - Dread: If damaged by Fiddlesticks movement away from Fiddlesticks is slowed by 10-30% (scaling with levels) for 1 second.
[New] Q - Specter's Sweep: Fiddlesticks sweeps his scythe dealing magic damage in a small cone.
Range: 375 Cost: 20 / 26 / 32 / 28 / 44 Mana Damage: 60 / 100 / 140 / 180 / 220 (+45% AP) Magic Damage Cooldown: 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6
[Changed] W - Drain: Fiddlesticks tethers himself to the target enemy and channels for up to 3 seconds. Fiddlesticks deals magic damage each second, and healing himself for a percentage of the damage done. If the target breaks the tether by moving out of range, Drain ends immediately.
Range: 450 (Cast Range) - 650 (Tether Range) Cost: 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120 Mana Damage: 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 / 300 (+ 45% AP) Magic Damage Per second over 3 seconds Heal: 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90% over 6 seconds Cooldown: 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6
[Changed] E - Dark Wind: Fiddlesticks sends a crow to the target enemy that bounces to other nearby enemies up to 5 times, prioritizing targets not yet hit, dealing magic damage with each strike and silencing them for 1.25 seconds once. Damage increases with each bounce. When Dark Wind is used during Crowstorm, Dark Wind's bounce range is increased to the whole area of Crowstorm and missile speed is increased by 25%.
Range: 600 (Cast Range) / 450 (Bounce Range) Cost: 55 / 75 / 95 / 115 / 135 Mana Base Damage: 55 / 72 / 89 / 106 / 123 (+ 45% AP) + (+25% per Bounce) Magic Damage Cooldown: 15 / 14 / 13 / 12 / 11
[Changed] R - Crowstorm: Fiddlesticks instantly blinks to target location. After a 0.75 telegraphed delay Fiddlesticks pops up from the ground as his crows fly around him dealing magic damage for 3 / 4 / 5 seconds. If an enemy is within 200 range of Fiddlesticks when he appears they are feared for 1 / 2 / 3 seconds.
Range: 1000 / 1500 / 2000 (Cast Range) - 450 / 500 / 550 (Crow Radius) Cost: 100 Mana Damage per second: 210 / 280 / 325 (+ 45% AP) Magic Damage Cooldown: 150 / 130 / 110
Reasons/Notes:
Passive: One of Fiddlesticks problems is people just moving away from him and poor fiddles just standing there looking a fool. This allows Fiddlesticks players that position well to eek that extra damage needed.
Q - Click fear is boring. Lets make something a little more interesting. Also Fiddlesticks has a scythe. Did you know that? Yeah he does. Now he uses it. The range may seem short considering Fiddlesticks is a ranged mage but considering how close you normally want to be for Drain/Crowstorm means you are often enough in range for the new Q, Specter's Sweep. This also increases his wave clear by that small amount needed for both lane and jungle, while not making it safer.
W - Fiddlesticks now does his damage faster meaning he has to stand still for shorter. With his new passive the tether's effective walking range is increased significantly while still allowing dashes and blinks to be burned for safety. Counter-play! As a trade though his healing is now slower and he has to get closer to offer his loving hugs. Slower healing allows for more counter play. Now you don't have to just die while Fiddlesticks gets full health. You can now burst him down, but if ignored he gets back more health.
E - This change is to allow more counter-play and increase skill displayed with this ability. Do you need to silence the enemy now? Hit them first. Do you want to deal damage? Get that birdy bouncing for big damage. Skilled players will be able to predict bounce paths while low skill players will pick targets willy-nilly. As a possible visual change Dark Wind can get bigger as it bounces and increases in damage.
Crowstorm has lots of crows flying everywhere and Dark Wind doesn't get enhanced? That's silly. With this enhancement Fiddlesticks really tells you what location is owned by him. Champions are prioritized before minions even if champion is on other side of the Crowstorm. Normal Dark Wind rules apply if it leaves Crowstorm's range. This can increase cleaver counter-play even further by Fiddlesticks and enemies. Do I step into Crowstorm to lure that Dark Wind away from my allies or just watch as it bounces between 2 allies? Correct positioning is rewarded even more by allies and enemies alike.
R - Now a lot of Fiddlesticks' fear thematic is in that people don't see Fiddlesticks coming. Fear that Fiddlesticks can suddenly appear out of no where and just murder you and... that just makes no sense to me. Fiddlesticks is a scarecrow. Scarecrows don't hide. They don't pop up out of nowhere. They are there, staring into you. Just waiting there. You know that scarecrow is there. DID IT MOVE? ...no... no it is a scarecrow, those don't move silly... Till they do. When you turn your back.
This new way of casting Crowstorm will not only increase thematic sense, but also increase the number of success cases for Fiddlesticks. Allowing to trim back some of the raw power in Crowstorm and give Fiddlesticks more power overall.
The delay acts the same way as Veigar's Event Horizon. With this delay in place and enemies knowing where Fiddlesticks appear allows more roam for enemy counter-play but also allows for power increase in other ways. One such way increased cast range. Which in turn allows for the AoE fear on Crowstorm. Placement of Crowstorm now matters. No more just ult, flash, hourglass, dead everyone. Where you choose to ult to and how enemies deal with Crowstorm makes a difference. Skilled players shine even brighter.
The decrease in crow radius prevents Fiddlesticks from being oppressive early game. But with the increased cast range and new passive the overall value of the area has increased.
Fiddlesticks is untargetable during the delay.
Visuals could be a hole appearing where Fiddlesticks will appear (ala Ocarina of Time Scarecrow style) while crows gather at the edge of Crowstorm. Also, Surprise Fiddlesticks finally gets his cake.
Overall these changes increase the overall power of Fiddlesticks but allow his enemies play around him better. As well as add more to his theme.
Now not all of these change can come right away, but some of the changes can be made like Gangplank's ult change and come early to tied over poor Fiddlesticks till other changes are ready. The changes to Drain, and Dark Wind could be made now since, most of the changes are just number changes (discounting the Dark Wind boost in ult). Dread change could be made too (guessing, since it doesn't need new visuals and the slow seems simple enough to make work).
New Q and Ult changes are kind of tied together as far as these changes go. And since new visuals and animations would be need for Q that won't happen too soon and since the crutch of the changes to Crowstorm depend on on the casting change meaning more animation changes.
