Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

The New Fiddlesticks Design

Shadowkirby14·10/16/2019, 8:09:55 PM·52 votes·43,857 views

Let me just say this

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RHxBYDLXGzs/Xac-3R3LbrI/AAAAAAABZ2Q/YMAMzCqkv2sEoReP5GW7Xzc65dv1j8qJQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/05_Fiddlesticks_Concept_8dxaci0dk4z1tmbvmvxm.jpg

That looks fucking amazing! It stays close to the original Fiddlesticks and looks pretty terrifying. I don't even think Nocturne could top him with the uncanny valley of horror.

I also love the way that he twitches, it's pretty unsettling. Which is why I like it! https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hx7sJaxOxBA/Xac_T8qjJcI/AAAAAAABZ2k/lTmkctyWUDcg5spAddEb937w2c3IMO90ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/OIh9Pe5.gif

I just have a few questions:

Why make Fiddlesticks semi-mechanical instead of wooden? Is there a reason to stray away from the wooden structure? Why the saw-blade on his shoulder? Does his elongated claw-arm play any part of his gameplay kit? Same thing goes for his scythe? Why keep the point-and-click status?

What dance will he have knowing he has that kind of arm dragging behind him? How will the arm affect his skins? Has the champion theme been made yet? If not, may I recommend Sons of Perdition (they make death country music and they composed the music for the short: Backwater Gospel)?

There's a lot I wanna ask, but I feel that you don't want to answer everything just yet. All I can say is keep up the good work! This is looking pretty gnarly!

114 Comments

NelsieLisnen10/16/2019, 8:17:48 PM31 votes

On the whole mechanical thing, well the most obvious answer is "to make him look more edgy and cool". But maybe, just maybe, they are considering making him melee, since a scythe wielding champ that doesn't use it is pretty goofy. Maybe they want to convey the fact that he's gonna shred you up rather than hit you with litle green dots.

iiGazeii10/16/2019, 8:24:54 PM20 votes

They also said on the Roadmap:

"Experienced Fiddlesticks players will wreak mental havoc on their victims as they question what is real and what is merely a terrifying effigy."

This looks to me like Fiddlesticks will have some kind of copy/clone mechanic, letting him create images of himself to psyche out opponents and keep them on edge.

RiotKindlejack10/18/2019, 4:54:12 PM18 votes

You all hit on everything we've been thinking in this thread <3

Another note on the metal - the twisting, creaking and scraping sounds and that sound of a wire under tension are things that I thought would make a really creepy sound palette! I don't want him to feel robotic and the animations will hopefully help with that, but I do want him to look like a demon that drew together the nastiest old farm materials it could find to make itself a body.

If anyone has dance ideas I'd love to hear them. Thanks for the tip on Sons of Perdition! I love the Blackwater Godpel short; I remember watching it when working on High Noon Jhin.

Murl0ugh10/17/2019, 12:06:21 AM9 votes

As a Fiddle guy, I play him too off and on to call him a main, I’m actually ok with the metal bits. Sticks aren’t exactly intimidating.

“Well why his name Fiddlesticks if he ain’t got no sticks?!” - Kled probably

They already explained that. The name “Fiddlesticks “ isn’t this monstrosity’s name. Its a name given to him by small children around a campfire. “Fiddlesticks” likely has countless names.

I’m a huge fan of this rework so far and can’t wait to see gameplay.

GreenLore10/16/2019, 11:10:38 PM8 votes

I think the reason for the mechanical bits is to make him look more menacing. Metal is unnatural, cold and lifeless. Its one of mankinds best tools to inflict pain upon others and the mere idea of getting pierced by rusty metal is already unnerving. It also adds to the idea that this form is just a mere puppet, it is literally a machine, a tool, that was created for/by whatever lurks beneath that cloak.

Not to mention that it makes him look more powerful too, old Fiddlesticks might have been spooky, but he looked like you could easily snap him.

They might also plan to link him to Zaun/Piltover and the metal is an easy indicator for that. In general I think that Zaun/Piltover as a faction for him would have allowed the most creative freedom since the machinelike design instantly reminds us of this place, regardless of how the rest looks.

Personally I'm really interested in his kit. The fact that his point&click CC stays really surprised me, but the info about him sounds like he'd have the ability to set up fake scarecrows and hide as one of them, which would be really cool.

GelsominoKiller10/16/2019, 8:59:52 PM6 votes

I think he's straight up amazing. My only concern is the overadbundance of mechanical elements, I wouldn't like for him to be identified as a "robot" as frist glance.

AdamrCc10/16/2019, 11:04:04 PM6 votes

More excited for this than any of the other 10-year announcements.

And I don't even play Fiddle.

Wind23410/16/2019, 8:29:59 PM6 votes

Wait...is this legit?! Holy crap, he's terrifying! This looks like something out of Silent Hill!

It's like some demonic creature found a farm and thought "you know what, I'm just gonna use whatever I can find" and it came up with this monstrosity. It's a vast improvement over the current design in terms of pure creep factor. I do -not- this thing popping out of the bushes in a storm of crows, but that's exactly what it's going to do and I'm going to scream every time.

Craft Zeppelin10/17/2019, 1:24:25 AM4 votes

It looks like the mass-production evangelions. Yeah those horrifying bastards

Séance10/16/2019, 11:41:09 PM4 votes

I won't get behind power creep or mobility creep, but this is a type of creep that I will get behind.

Nøctμrne10/17/2019, 1:56:38 AM4 votes

Meanwhile Nocturne , the literal embodiment of fear and evil looks like a teletubby

NTrumpWeTrust11/6/2019, 12:19:26 AM2 votes

It actually looks pretty terrible. Nothing about it retains the goofy aspects of Fiddle. This seems to be a trend with Riot where they rework champs and in the process they totally lose what made that champion a memorable character. It's pretty tragic. Looks like a tree/dinosaur hybrid that was made by someone told to make it appeal to as many 13-15 year olds as possible. Then again, I'm not really surprised that they butchered his identity. By moving him out of the support role you're basically saying fuck you to the current playerbase of fiddle (who by and large play him as a support and where he currently sits at a perfect 50% win rate). Betray the playerbase, obliterate his identity, as long as it broadens his appeal to sell more skins, right? These red posts saying "his abilities still retain some of his goofy aspects!" He was goofy in the way that he walked and how ridiculous he felt to play, not because Crowstorm (which I'm assuming the Reds are referring to as part of his goofy identity) was fun to use and got a chuckle out of the person using it.

Bot lane is already a bore fest with everyone having a 1 shot hook. So we get Yumi, a flying cat on a book with an awful pun for a name, and an ADC support (?) that no one asked for. And they're moving an interesting, fun, silly, albeit outdated support to the jungle because that's where all the edgelords are.

Linna Excel10/16/2019, 10:15:16 PM1 votes

Can't say I like the mechanical hand he's holding.

I like the silhouette of it and the twitchiness is fine, I just think they could have done something more interesting.