What is to be done with Fiddlesticks? [DISCUSSION AND REWORK CONCEPT]

[NOTE]: If you want to just see my new kit idea, scroll down until you see KIT:, Read it, and skip to OVERALL (TL;DR):. However, I recommend that you read my introduction in order to get an idea of why this needs to take place.

Fiddlesticks is in dire need of a rework.

Currently, he is outclassed by almost every champion, to the point of being almost as bad as . He is terrible early game as a jungler, his primary role, when compared to all other influential junglers. Being a bad early game jungler is just not an option in the current state of the game. His niche support role is outclassed by every other support champion.

His visuals are horrendously out of date. His animations as a whole are more comedic than frightening, and his textures and model are jagged. His kit is unique, but cannot be buffed in any way due to its nature. All abilities except R are single target. his Q is instantaneous and pushes units away from him, When needs to stand still to deal damage. His E relies on RNG. He has ridiculous mana problems thanks to his W. It's just all over the place, so any buff has the potential to give him a ridiculous kill potential or do absolutely nothing. Therefore, Riot ever buffs him to prevent balance problems. This situation is made even worse because success as revolves around snowballing. However, thanks to no buffs for ages and inherent problems with his kit, is a feast or famine champion that needs AT LEAST 2 kills after his first cast of Crowstorm or his damage is obselete. has been left in the dust, for no fault of his own.

So, what is to be done? What can be done with Fiddlesticks?

I believe in order to make a viable champion, we need to re-find his identity in the game. As of now, he is classified as a SPECIALIST, which I can agree with. His playstyle currently has no real comparison to other champions and I believe that should be preserved. playstyle revolves around his ultimate, using it to follow up in skirmishes and teamfights when the enemy team doesn't expect it. The sheer kill potential of his ultimate makes him a psychological threat, making the enemy team constantly ask: “Where is Fiddlesticks? Where will he ult? Is his ultimate up?” I believe this should be the center of playstyle. It embodies a champion that revolves around fear. As of now, however, he is incapable of doing this. As a seasoned player, I believe there are parts of his old kit that should be preserved. These parts will become obvious as I go through the new kit. I will explain my choices in a later section.

KIT:

Passive: Feed on Fear

If an enemy champion/monster damaged by Fiddlesticks in the last 5 seconds runs away from Fiddlesticks, Fiddlesticks restores 100/120/140/160 (+100% AP) health over 5 seconds.

(50% Heal Effectiveness when triggered against Monsters)

Cooldown (Static): 10 seconds

Q – Terrify

Active: Fiddlesticks causes a target enemy unit to flee for 0.5/0.75/1/1.25/1.5 seconds. This ability can be re-cast within the next 3 seconds at no extra cost before going on cooldown. When cast on a non-champion, this ability also deals magic damage to the target.

Spell Type: Target Range: 550 Damage to Non-Champions: 100/110/120/130/140 (+20% AP) Cooldown: 12/11/10/9/8 seconds Mana Cost: 60/65/70/75/80

W – Eye of the Crows

Active: Fiddlesticks targets a visible enemy champion, granting true sight of them for one second applying one stack of Crow's Eye after a one second delay.

Crow's Eye: When Fiddlesticks causes a champion to flee or damages them, Crow's Eye detonates, dealing magic damage per second for 4 seconds. This champion cannot receive Crow's Eye for 12 seconds.

Crow's Eye expires if the champion dies, recalls or if the stack is detonated.

Spell Type: Targeted Range: Global Damage Per Second: 40/50/60/70/80 (+10% AP) Cooldown: 20 seconds Mana Cost: 60

E – Uncanny

Active: +45/50/55/60/65% Movement Speed and +25% Slow Resistance for 1.5 seconds.

Spell Type: Self Buff Cooldown: 12/11/10/9/8 seconds Mana Cost: 60

R – Crowstorm

Active: After channeling for 1.5 seconds, Fiddlesticks blinks a target location. Upon completing the blink, a murder of crows flies wildly around Fiddlesticks, dealing magic damage per second for 5 seconds. This ability applies one stack of Crow's Claws to champions it damages every second.

Crow's Claws: Stacks last up to 5 seconds, with new stacks refreshing the duration. Units can have a maximum of 5 Crow's Claws stacks at any given time. -4/5/6 Magic Resist each stack of Crow's Claws, up to -20/25/30 Magic Resist.

Spell Type: Blink/AoE Range: 1000/550 Damage Per Second: 100/200/300 (+40% AP) Cooldown: 160/140/120 seconds Mana Cost: 100

KIT DISCUSSION: I'll go through my choices one by one.

• Passive: [Drain] is currently the most problematic part of kit. It requires you to stand still, which counteracts with your Q and R, which want you to move with your target. It also kills his jungle capabilities if there are no pure AP jungle items, as shown in season 5. Also, the power of [Drain] is largely determined by whether or not the target can interrupt his channel. If he/she can, [Drain] is garbage, if not, its ridiculous. With this in mind, I decided it would be best to remove it. This new passive fits better thematically and gives him the sustain he needs. It also encourages building Ability Power over Magic Penetration, which players currently have trouble choosing between. Fiddlesticks has high base values (Good for MP) and high AP scaling, but this means he cannot build CDR, the stat he needs for more Crowstorms. This new passive helps resolve this Item limbo.

• Q: Fiddlesticks current Q is in limbo. It's your best standard ability, but you can't level it up first, cause that would ruin your clear. It's useless in the jungle. It does no damage, yet it is guaranteed hard CC. It loses it's power in after midgame, because most carries will have the option to either run or buy a or , taking away his pick potential. This new version of terrify gives you a reason to level it up first, because it now does damage to non-champions, giving you a reason to use it in the jungle/lane. The re-cast mechanic also allows to not be so severely effected by spell shields, giving opponents a better reason to fear his pick potential. 2 fears may seem overpowered, but the total combined time only lasts about 1/1.5/2/2.5/3 seconds, which means its worse early but better late, when carries have their defensive items.

• W: This is the ability that has changed the most, which was previously his [Drain]. The global cast may seem overpowered at first, but remember that the damage is only activated if is actively fighting the champion. This global cast only really amplifies his psychological pressure. Due to the lack of limitations on range, can choose to mark a target at any time. This can play mind games on the target. “Does Fiddle want to gank me? Is he gonna wait to gank? Is he nowhere near here, or is he waiting in that bush right there?” This is the type of gameplay is supposed to revolve around. The total damage evens out to 160/200/240/280/320 (+40% AP) over 5 seconds. Given that he has no other champion damaging abilities besides his ultimate pre-six and this ability doesn't inflict CC, I believe this is still balanced.

• E: passive post-mage-update did lower his damage, but it made his gameplay a lot more forgiving. Pre-update, you needed to position perfectly, otherwise most of your damage wouldn't hit. I do believe this passive was a net gain to his kit. However, it was difficult to play around, having very precise specifications, therefore I moved it to his E. This allows for more control over when it activates, adding more to his gameplay. Having the ability to choose to use the Speed Boost for engage or disengage gives more versatility.

• R: The beloved [Crowstorm]. As I previously stated, this ability is central to his kit, therefore it hasn't been changed much. However, I have lowered damage and AP ratios, but added an over-time MR shred. passive pre-mage-update was very good, as it allowed him to shred MR passively, making him better in duels and making it more difficult to build against him. However, since the update, has been forced to build MP in order to not be completely countered by defensive items, even though he has very good AP scaling. This helps resolve the AP vs MP decision many players have to make when building items. Adding this to the [Crowstorm] makes building AP less punishing, which pairs with new passive.

OVERALL (TL;DR): This new kit of revolves around ACTUAL fear. When Q and E are used correctly, it can be incredibly difficult to completely prevent his crowd control or catch him out. His W gives a sense of unpredictability and psychological warfare, without being too unbalanced. is now rewarded with sustain when enemies run away from him. itemization has also been optimized, making AP more rewarding. This kit's version of Crowstorm has remained largely unchanged, however, base damage and AP Ratios have been exchanged for MR shred, keeping relevant throughout all stages of the game. The point-and-click hard CC has been kept, and it no longer contradicts with the rest of his kit. [Drain] and [Dark Wind] have been completely removed and not reworked. The [Dread] movement speed boost has been reworked into an ability. His jungle clear style has changed significantly. The ability to Silence units is no longer in the kit.

What is to be done with Fiddlesticks? This is to be done with Fiddlesticks.