What if Fiddlesticks's fear was like Cassiopeia's ultimate?
Namely, a cone-type attack that, if your enemy is facing you, fears them, and otherwise slows them. No damage.
Would that be more reasonable than just direct-target fear?
Namely, a cone-type attack that, if your enemy is facing you, fears them, and otherwise slows them. No damage.
Would that be more reasonable than just direct-target fear?
If the slow was rather large and the fear + slow were made AoE, maybe. The problem is most of the time Fiddlesticks is trying to surprise enemies, which A) means enemies have their back to him most of the time, and B) means the optimal counterplay for Fiddlesticks (just walk away) now also completely guts his Q in addition to the rest of his kit.
The point of the guaranteed fear is that it adds some measure of reliability to his kit, as otherwise it is way too easy to just walk away from him or disrupt his W and make him defenseless. It's unlikely any changes to it would help his kit without large compensation buffs.