Fiddlesticks Rework Idea
I have some thoughts on what could be a great way to make Fiddle a fun and unique champion! Right now he's a bit dull and one dimensional, and his kit doesn't feel satisfying to use asides from his ult. His drain is difficult and frustrating to use since you are stationary and enemies can easily get away or interrupt you. His Dark Wind is a powerful ability but doesn't have much synergy with the rest of his kit and is boring. His fear is way too simplisitic and boring. But landing a good ult is really fun!
So perhaps we could give Fiddlesticks a more unique playstyle and expand upon his utility and capacity to deal damage, making him a more independent champion, capable of making things happen by himself rather than having to wait for the perfect opportunity for that ultimate. These ideas are also designed to place him firmly in the jungle, which I believe suits his playstyle as the 'Surprise' and his lore.
For his abilities, we could expand upon his Scarecrow theme, and amp up his current playstyle, which feels like a debilitating squishy 'surprise' mage, with quite a lot of soft CC (Fear, Silence).
His passive remains mostly the same, so Fiddlesticks gains Dread after standing still for 3 seconds. If he is not casting a spell or attacking, he becomes stationary, and is identical to his Q scarecrows. Being attacked will not break this status. When he moves, he is granted X movement speed, decaying over a 2 seconds, and Ability power.
For his W (Drain), we could look at the 'A Twist of Fate' Cinematic, in which Fiddlesticks didn't use his Drain, but instead used his Scythe a bit more than he does in game. We could use that. So W would have a short channel, during which he could move, but cannot turn. He then slashes all enemies in front of him for low damage and apply for a negative status called (Blistering wound) or something. He can then activate W again to cast drain. If cast on a target with Blistering wound, Fiddlesticks can move slowly when channeling, and deal a little bit more damage and healing. Otherwise he would have to stand still while channeling.
For his E (Darkwind), we are also taking from the cinematic, in which he sends out a storm of crows in one direction and knocks TF off his feet. Obviously thats more in line with his Ultimate, but we can use an aspect of that. On cast, Fiddlesticks sends out a wave of vicious crows from behind him, slowing all enemies hit, and if the target is hit by the first cast of Fiddle's W or his Ultimate, they are silenced for a short duration and the slow is reapplied. This is a important skill for Fiddlesticks, as he would actually have some chase potential now, and can also benefit his ultimate, since hitting multiple targets, or hitting CC heavy champions with W and then Ulting into them would silence them so they cannot hard CC Fiddlesticks, allowing him to stick to his targets and wreak havoc. Know that this is a skillshot with relatively long range but a rather small hitbox, so its easy to miss if enemies are moving around too much.
His Q (Terrify), has been changed to the Scarecrow. After a short channel, he places down a scarecrow, which arms after 1 second, and has the exact same health, resistances and items as Fiddlesticks at the time of placement. It remains stationary and visible for X seconds. It can be attacked and destroyed. When destroyed, it explodes and sends out malicious energies that fears all enemies within a radius for 2 seconds (Needs balancing of course, depends on the radius of the fear. The larget the radius, the shorter the fear). Fiddlesticks can store 3 charges at a time, and recharges every X seconds. Leveling up this skill decreases Cooldown, increases the max amount of Scarecrows placed, and increases the range of vision granted.
His R (Crow Storm), remains roughly the same. After a 1.5 channel, he flashes to the target location, dealing magic damage to a large area around him, triggering the Silence on targets hit by his E beforehand, as well as triggering all the Scarecrows to explode and fear surrounding enemies.
Basically how this Fiddlesticks would play is as follows. He is a squishy AP champion with capacity to deal incredibly high AoE damage with his ult, has decent sustain with his drain, and some utility and CC in his kit, quite similar to what he is now. His playstyle is a farming and teamfighting oriented jungler who has healthy clears and a strong ultimate that can turn the tide of any fight. However, his 1v1 potential is weak and he is vulnerable to counter jungling (think Amumu).
In the jungle, he would be looking to place his scarecrows in key locations to provide vision, as well as to confuse enemies. With good map knowledge and good warding, Fiddlesticks can predict if enemies will be appearing nearby, and decide on whether he wants to set up an ambush. Enemies are forced to constantly deal with his dummies, either by figuring out if they are real (most of the times they would be fake), and decide whether to kill it. By killing the dummy, they can deny fiddlesticks vision and playmaking potential, but they are also exposing themselves to danger, as Fiddlesticks could potentially be lurking nearby, waiting for the Fear on the dummy to pop and then ult in to kill. Or, the dummy could be fiddlesticks himself!
By playing these mindgames, Fiddlesticks can put himself in an advantage by placing scarecrows in all kinds of locations (Toplane Tribush, Outside of Dragon, even in the middle of the lane). If you are not careful, you might just be fooled by the dummy, thinking its a fake, in reality is the Fiddlesticks ready to pounce on you.
A scenario would be an enemy Shyvana going to do dragon with her botlane after a double kill, only to find a scarecrow outside the dragon pit. They decide its a fake and attacks it, only to realize that Fiddlesticks is hiding in the bush just a few meters away, who ults in, detonates the scarecrow to fear the group, hitting his E-W combo to slow them down and deal devastating damage, ending with a triple kill with the help of his midlaner.
Another potential play could be Fiddlesticks being chased down by three enemies, and he walks into a brush, immediately begins channeling his Q to put down a Scarecrow. As the enemy is entering the bush, Fiddlesticks flashes over the wall and begins channeling his ultimate. The three enemies decide that the scarecrow is Fiddlesticks himself as they didn't see Fiddlesticks leave the bush, so they attack the fake, instead only to be feared as the dummy is destroyed. Fiddle ults in immediately and hits his full combo to take the enemies out.
In this iteration of Fiddlesticks, he excels at zoning enemies in the jungle with his scarecrows and puts constant pressure across the map without being there, as any of the scarecrows has a chance of being real. The AP boost from his passive gives him duelling potential if he is the one initiating the fight. However, his squishiness and lack of Hard CC and burst means that he is very weak if he is caught without his passive boost, and will likely die. In a teamfight, he excels in fights in the jungle or where he has his scarecrows up, meaning he could ult in to detonate multiple to fear all the enemies. The enemy team must pay attention to where Fiddlesticks could be placing his scarecrows, as well as killing the ones they know are fake. Long range champions and mages have an easier time dealing with Fiddlesticks since their spells and attacks can kill the dummies without being feared.
Compared to the old Fiddlesticks, he now has more potential to make plays happen himself, without relying on the team as much, with his E slow and Silence skill shot, making enemies more vulnerable to his drain, as well as being able to move if he hits enemies with his W slash, allowing him to drain for longer. If Fiddlesticks hits his E-W combo with his passive on, he will be able to move at around normal speed with his passive speed boost negative the Drain speed penalty, allowng him to have more sticking power, especially if he builds Rylais.
Hitting multiple enemies with E and ulting to proc the silence in means that enemies won't be able to stop Fiddlesticks with CC, giving him more potential to pick his own fights he lands his skill shots.
However, his weaknesses are also quite obvious. If you are bad at placing scarecrows and enemeis figure out easily which ones are real, then you lose one of your greatest assets and map control. As a low mobility squishy jungle, you are very weak against stronger duelling champions, and your ganks, while more effective than before, are still weak without your ultimate, and the element of surprise that comes with it. Late game, Fiddlesticks can be incredibly strong in teamfights with his Zhonyas, and high AP, but is still extremely vulnerable to hard CC and burst. Since his fear is no longer the on demand 100% accurate click on ability, Fiddlesticks loses that single target lock down capacity, exchanging it for a more situational but powerful team wide fear ability.
For teammates, protecting Fiddlesticks' dummies could give off the illusion that its a real one. Conversely, leaving the real one to his own devices could trick enemies into think its a fake and leave it alone. Of course there will be visual indicators for teammates to know which one is real so no worries there. Allowing Fiddlesticks to have a successful ult is key to winning the teamfight, just like Kennen and Swain, so picking the location of the fight is very important. Fiddlesticks is also weak early game so not losing lane too hard is important.
For enemies, learn to figure out the behaviour of Fiddlesticks Scarecrows, and determine whether or not the Scarecrow appearing in a certain location could be real. Once you determine that a scarecrow is fake, it is ideal to get rid of it immediately. If you are ranged, you can do it with no fear of retaliation. For Melees, you can go ahead and kill it, since you get feared but take no damage, unless you feel like FIddlesticks is nearby. Vision control is still very important, as a nasty surprise Crow Storm can still be devastating. Fiddlesticks is squishy as before, and he now has a few skillshots to land in order to maximise his potential. If you dodge them, Fiddle will likely lose the fight.
Overall, Fiddlesticks should still play similarly to before, albeit with a brand new Scarecrow mechanic that makes him unique. He also requires a bit more skill to play now, with more skillshots and a greater emphasis on map awareness and knowledge. However, he can prove to be a stronger champion, since his potential is increased and his kit is more cohesive, and synergizes with his playstyle.
I know its a bit long but let me know what you guys think!
