[Rework Concept] Fiddlesticks, The Dread of the Fields
- Fan art by InstantIP, from this site's Fan Art section
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http://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/fiddlesticks-color-story/
- A short story about Fiddlesticks from the Universe site, if you haven't read it.
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Why Rework Fiddlesticks?
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His kit's extremely outdated, that much is a fact. He only has three damaging abilities, all of which are monstrously overtuned because of his sheer clunkiness. Seriously, you see those maximum potential single-target damages on his skills? 900 + 225% AP on Drain, 435 + 135% AP on Dark Wind, and 1625 + 225% AP on Crowstorm. He can't keep these ridiculously high damages if you want to make any kind of modernizations to his kit.
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He of course needs visual work too. Dark Wind definitely needs to go in this case, because it just looks and feels really stupid from an aesthetic standpoint. Pinball crows? Just, why?
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He could deliver far better on his theme of looming in the darkness, ready to strike fear into his victims, along with his entourage of crows. While his kit's sheer immobility does fit his being a scarecrow, it means he seldom gets to do things on his terms, his capabilities dictated by how mobile his enemies are rather than by much Fiddle himself can do.
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Mostly, Fiddle just needs a modernization update, like the one Warwick got. Kept his core functionality, but was brought up to speed, so to speak.
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What I Preserved
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Relative immobility. Fiddles' only mobility is his passive, a targeted dash that's built up by standing still. Akin to how his current passive grants him a burst of movement speed when he remains still for a short time.
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His targeted fear, which is now part of the same passive. A bit more to it than just point and click.
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W is still a tethered draining effect, but it functions a bit differently now. Most importantly, it's not a channel.
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E is still an AoE silencing effect, it's just not a targeted multi-man silence now.
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Crowstorm has the same general effect, just now with a new way to cast it.
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Base Stats
Attack Range: 175 Other Stats: Base stats arranged similarly to other melee APs, like Diana for example.
- Fiddlesticks should really be a melee champion. He's our resident scythe user, and he doesn't even actually swing it. It's fairly disappointing, really. I tinkered with his kit with melee in mind, and he's always had the kit of an AP bruiser anyway, so it should work out. The 'loss' of Crittlesticks will no doubt upset a small handful of people, but aside from meme value, I doubt anyone will seriously care.
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Passive: Looming Terror
While standing still outside of combat, Fiddlesticks gains Looming Terror after 1.5 seconds, increasing his basic attack range. Looming Terror will continue to build as Fiddlesticks stands still, further increasing his attack range over an additional 2.5 seconds.
If Fiddlesticks performs a basic attack with Looming Terror, he dashes behind his attack target, dealing bonus Magic Damage and causing them and any nearby monsters to flee for a short duration.
Enemies recently scared by Fiddlesticks cannot be scared again by Looming Terror for a short time, but Fiddlesticks can still perform the dash and bonus damage against them.
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A new initiation tool for Fiddles that also combines elements of his current passive with his current Q. Just hitting a button to scare someone for no real reason doesn't make a whole lot of sense, especially with how un-intimidating Fiddlesticks normally looks. In fitting with the "watch and wait for the right moment" deal befitting of a scarecrow like him, he bides his time until just the right moment, appearing from the shadows behind his target and showing them true fear.
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The fear being AoE against monsters is a small bonus to help his jungle clears. I wasn't sure if it should apply to minions too or not.
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Q: Dread Harvest
Active: Fiddlesticks' next basic attack gains increased range and deals bonus Magic Damage to his target and nearby enemies, as well as reducing their Magic Resistance for a short time.
If Dread Harvest's target is currently stricken with fear or is killed, Dread Harvest's cooldown is reduced.
Dread Harvest resets Fiddlesticks' attack timer. Subsequent Dread Harvests will refresh the Magic Resist reduction.
- This new ability is one that goes along with Fiddle now being a melee champion, and provides him with a strong one-two punch combination with his passive. The Magic Resist reduction gives Fiddle a bit of extra strength in 1v1 scenarios and more presence in team-fights, since he no longer has his point and click fear.
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W: Soul Drain
Passive: Whenever Fiddlesticks deals damage to an enemy stricken with fear, he gains a percentage of that damage as a shield for 2 seconds.
Active: Fiddlesticks tethers himself to a target enemy unit for a short duration, dealing Magic Damage per half-second while the tether holds.
While tethered to an enemy, Fiddlesticks will heal himself for a percentage of any damage he inflicts to his tethered victim, increased by 1% for every 2% of his own missing Health.
If the target dies while the tether holds, the remaining duration is refunded from Soul Drain's cooldown.
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Fiddle no longer immobilizes himself with his drain, but in exchange its own damage is (presumably) greatly reduced. In exchange, it now heals Fiddle based on ALL damage he deals to his victim, increasing in potency the lower Fiddles' HP drops. The ability to continue fighting while draining his victim should make Fiddles' combat pattern more interesting than just standing there and either getting crowd controlled or watching his target just dash away.
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The passive shield from his damage against feared enemies offers Fiddle some extra durability when engaging, as well as when Crowstorm is used, as you'll see below. It's similar to why Rakan has his passive shield, as insurance for a moderate-ranged squishy mage needing to engage to use their skills.
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E: Eyes in the Darkness
Eyes in the Darkness's cast range increases while Fiddlesticks has Looming Terror.
Active: Fiddlesticks dispatches a crow to the target location, where it sits watch for a moderate duration.
If an enemy steps near the crow, it calls its murder in to swarm within a small radius for a short time, dealing Magic Damage to all nearby enemies over the duration and silencing them.
- Playing up the paranoia that Fiddlesticks can inspire with his ultimate, these watchful avians cause miniature crowstorms when set off, stifling their victims' attempts to cast abilities. If you stumble upon one, the question then becomes "Is Fiddlesticks nearby, ready to dive in with his passive?"
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R: Crowstorm
Active: Fiddlesticks calls upon a murder of crows that begins to swarm all around him after a 1.5 second delay, striking fear into all nearby enemies briefly.
The crowstorm deals Magic Damage per half-second to all enemies near Fiddlesticks over the next few seconds.
Crowstorm can be cast during Looming Terror's dash, starting the crowstorm instantly upon Fiddlesticks' arrival. In this case, Looming Terror's fear is overridden by Crowstorm's.
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Crowstorm's got some technical enhancements. It no longer has to be channeled during its preparation time, but it no longer innately has a blink either. Instead, Fiddles can simulate its old functionality by casting it using his passive, if he has a target to strike. Like with his drain, assume that the damage would be significantly cut due to his kit being more flexible.
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The brief fear is both a flavorful addition and has synergy with Dread Harvest, letting Fiddle wreak his havoc on teamfights in a more dynamic manner.
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Combat Tricks
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Looming Terror into a jungle camp, followed by Dread Harvest for the cooldown refund on a feared monster, then another Dread Harvest when it's up again for clearing camps. Eyes in the Darkess can be dropped in a camp too if you feel like it's worth doing. Plus tethering yourself to the large monster with Soul Drain is always good.
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Against an enemy champion, Fiddle can surprise them with Looming Terror, then drop Eyes in the Darkness at their feet and tether himself to them with Soul Drain for a fun rotation combo. (How effective/easy this is would depend on cast times/CC durations, which I didn't work out because it's kinda hard to find good numbers when you aren't playtesting.)
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With Crowstorm, Fiddlesticks can briefly scatter enemies by charging into their midst with Looming Terror, with a follow-up Dread Harvest or two to make his presence felt even harder. Eyes in the Darkness can also be dropped amid the confusion to potentially hold up enemies.
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Finally, of course, there's the simple "set up Looming Terror and drop Eyes in the Darkness in a nearby brush, then ruin the day of whoever walks past the crow".
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Other Mechanics Considered
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Another version of Dread Harvest I had mulled over had it function like Soraka's old Starcall, only at a shorter range. Essentially a broad scythe swing with a low CD that shredded Magic Resistance up to X times. This version would deal bonus damage to enemies stricken with terror.
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I also had another idea for Soul Drain, making it channel for up to 1.5 seconds, targeting a growing range around Fiddlesticks as he channeled. When released, Fiddle would tether himself to all champions or monsters in range, and heal himself based on any damage he dealt to them.
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Both of the above I didn't end up using because they seemed to overlap too much with how Hecarim functions, with the rapid-fire AoE Q and healing zone W.
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Eyes in the Darkness originally stealthed itself after a short time if it was in a brush or near a wall. I scrapped this because it felt too similar to Shaco's boxes, and because it saves on power budget, allowing the ability to have potential use in combos like I outlined above.
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Visuals
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When standing still and building Looming Terror, Fiddlesticks gains a cloak of crows to cover his body, resulting in an appearance akin to this: http://zelda.gamepedia.com/Gomess, only with crows rather than bats and his scarecrow body still beneath it.
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Upon striking enemies with Looming Terror, the cloak disperses, the crows cawing all the while. If Crowstorm is cast from Looming Terror, the cloak of crows will disperse into the surrounding murder.
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Skin Specific Notes
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Spectral Fiddles has ghostly crows.
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Bandito Fiddles' passive strike is accompanied by a gunshot sound causing the crows to disperse.
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Risen Fiddles gets a cloak of locusts rather than crows, with their dispersal creating a buzzing sound.
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Surprise Party Fiddles now wields a noisemaker for a weapon, one of those things that rattles when you spin it, and a kazoo sound accompanies Looming Terror. (Plus its own unique VO, since it's technically a legendary skin.)
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A heavily updated version of a post I made a few days ago.
