Fiddlesticks rework idea - Feedback appreciated
I'm honestly not sure where to post this, so I'm posting this here too.
I've recently been thinking about how Riot could fix Fiddlesticks' problems and make him a better choice overall, while making him a bit more interesting to play. I'm no expert at game balance, but I think it's fairly clear Fidd is on the weak side at the moment. He's very sub-par at bottom lane when trying to support, on a solo lane he doesn't have waveclear or very good dueling ('cept for a few matchups, but let's be honest- almost everyone can interrupt his Drain nowadays), and in the jungle, he doesn't even have a proper jungle item to build and utilize well!
Back when I started playing, Fiddle was one of my first champs. I've always been a sucker for scarecrows and horror-esque characters. Back then he was a fun experience to play in every aspect, at least for me. But as time has passed and more champs are released and reworked, Fiddle just doesn't seem to have many strengths or things he can do better than others.
Enough blabbering tho, I'll get to the point.
Health 554 (+80) Health regen. 5.605 (+0.6) **Mana ** 350.12 (+59) Mana regen. 6 (+0.8) Melee 180 Attack damage 51 (+2.725) Attack speed 0.651 (+2.11%) Armor 22 (+3.5) Magic Res 30 (+0) Mov Speed 335
Now, already you probably noticed I changed him from ranged to melee. "Great, another retard who just wants to rework something into a superjuggernautbruiser", is what someone is probably thinking. Hear me out, though. Despite loving Fiddlesticks, I always thought autoattacking felt wonky. Not just because he's designed to be ability-based and his AA's are inherently weaker because of that. It just always felt odd to see someone wielding a scythe and not actually hitting people with it. Even in his lore, he supposedly strikes people with his scythe, not magical swirlies that come out of it. Even if any Summoner-related lore is nowadays not canon because durhur.
"The first apprentice who entered was cut down immediately by an unearthly scythe." "While he comes to life and seemingly abides by the rules of summoning in the Fields of Justice, what he awaits inside his chamber is unknown. His unmoving face yields no clues, and his scythe stands ready to strike down any who stand before him."
Now, the other reason here is that while thinking of a kit for good ol' Fiddle, halfway through I realized these might fit better for a melee champ. But hey, changing someone's identity hasn't stopped Riot before, has it?
Passive - Frightful Presence Fiddlesticks' presence slowly drains opposing champions' Magic Resistance by 2 every 3 seconds, capping at 20 magic resistance.
Going with the theme of reducing enemies' MR, I thought this would be a fitting passive. Fiddles excels in prolonged fights, and this emphasizes that. I also thought it'd create a sense of urgency and perhaps a slight feeling of dread for players around Fiddlesticks. "Shit, I have to get away or get rid of this guy or i'm gonna melt to magic damage". The alternative to this was having Fidd's autoattacks chop opponents' MR by 5 per AA, but then I realized there's been more than enough Stacking AA Effect-passives recently.
**EDIT:**I have come to the realization this passive may not be as effective as I originally thought it would be. I'm leaving it there just in case, but another, quickly whipped-up idea is here:
Passive - Every x seconds, Fiddlesticks charges his scythe with dark powers, causing his next autoattack (or spell?) to fear his target for x seconds. The Fear duration starts at 1 second, and increases with champion level over the course of the game.
Onto the abilities!
Q - Murderous Flock Fiddlesticks summons a flock of crows to go forth in a line in front of him, dealing magic damage to enemies inside the flock and reducing their vision range to 650 while inside the flock.
What's scarier than being swarmed by crows? Being swarmed by crows and not seeing where you're going. Essentially, I thought this ability would be similar to Sona's Crescendo in terms of width and length, but the crows would linger for a couple of seconds, instead of just swooping forward like Crescendo. Thematically, I think this ability fits Fiddlesticks, and momentarily reducing vision range isn't that OP... I think. Like I mentioned earlier, I ain't no game designer.
W - Harrowing Grip Fiddlesticks reaches out and channels for 0.2 seconds to grip an opposing champion's very essence with his hand. Once this channel is complete, Fiddlesticks starts draining the opposing champion's life force, dealing damage and healing himself. Fiddles is able to move while draining, albeit at a reduced movespeed.
Now I know what you're thinking. "But allowing Fiddlesticks to move while draining is OP!". I was worried about making this change to his W, too, but the balancing factors I had in mind was the reduced movespeed I mentioned, and making the tether range shorter. Currently, Drain's tether range is 675, so let's make it, say, 500 units. Suggestions are very welcome here especially.
E - Ravenous Strike Fiddlesticks points his hand at a target location, making a bunch of crows strike down onto the spot. If no target is hit, the crows swoop back up into the air. If a target is hit, the target is silenced for 1.5 seconds, and the crows stay on the target to peck and claw at them, dealing DoT magic damage for 3 seconds.
"He made Fiddles' E a skillshot, how original". Well, yeah, guilty as charged. I wanted to keep the feel of his old E, but make it more rewarding to land. The thought process behind this ability was to make it deal more damage, but make it a DoT. I just also really like the idea of crows angrily pecking people to death.
R - Crowstorm
Well, I don't have much to add here. I wanted to keep his ult the same because it's by far the most fun part of his kit, but maybe it could use some number tuning because of the newer kit. Not sure.
And that's my idea for a Fiddlesticks rework. Feedback is appreciated, folks!
