Fiddlesticks Rework: Untold terror approaches; 6 tips & tricks to get started

It’s almost here: a horribly-niche Fiddlesticks rework to bring horror upon all Ranked games worldwide. Fiddlesticks keeps the iconic ultimate but the rest of the kit was revamped. We’re taking a look at new Fiddlesticks abilities, itemization options, runes, and tricks. 

Fiddlesticks Rework: Abilities

Actually, we have to talk about the stats first.

• Level 1 AD increased from 48.36 to 55.36
• Level 1 Armor increased from 30 to 34
• Level 1 HP increased from 80 to 92
• HP gain increased from 80 to 92 per level

Fiddlesticks rework [P]assive is something totally new to League of Legends: it replaces his trinket. Instead of regular warding and counter warding mechanics, this trinket places a scary decoy (Effigy). It activates when an enemy is close and imitates Fiddlesticks. Once Fiddlesticks reaches Level 6, those decoys also act as control wards for a short while. 

Q is now more than point-and-click fear active ability. The passive element also allows you to add the fear component on top of other abilities. Sounds insane!

W drains all enemies around Fiddlesticks. The ability rewards precise timing: you deal extra damage and enjoy a much shorter cooldown by completing the channel.

E has become a skillshot with slow and silence. The shape looks a bit weird so far but the ability is really prominent. It would probably take other AoE spells from you or allies to set E up.

R is the same except it looks MUCH cooler! You can still use Zhonya’s Hourglass to survive after going in.

Items

Fiddlesticks is still an AP champion who likes to go fast, so his core items are Runic Echoes and Zhonya’s Hourglass. As usual, the rest of the items are situational.

Liandry’s Torment is great to wreck beefy targets. Besides, the item amplifies your damage five seconds into the combat, and your ultimate lasts exactly five seconds.

Morellonomicon gives you magic penetration and applies grievous wounds, which are a must-have against certain champions

Rylai’s Crystal Scepter enables you to deal more damage with the ultimate by sticking to the targets. It slows for 1 second, and the ultimate hits enemies each second, too. 

Hextech GLP-800 and Hextech Protobelt-01 have similar purposes. If you’re not building other item(s) with the Haste cooldown reduction, it may be better to get GLP-800 for another 10% of CDR. Luden’s Echo is also an option if you prefer burst to mobility.

Sorcerer’s Shoes and Mobility Boots are stylistic choices. If you plan to be an early adopter of the reworked Fiddlesticks, I suggest you try both and tell us what works best. It’s too difficult to predict now. Either way, you can find this and hundreds of other builds in our desktop assistant Nemo.

Runes

As it is, pre-rework Fiddlesticks rune pages should be viable even after the changes. I, however, suggest a rune page that focuses on landing that sick 5-man fear-amplified ultimate. That’s what I live for. 

Aftershock makes it easier to survive if you botch the ultimate. It will protect you from unaffected targets

Font of Life benefits your allies even in smaller skirmishes and/or when your ultimate is on cooldown

Second Wind helps you finishing fights (especially the ones that went wrong) healthier

Revitalize makes drains deadlier than enemies may have anticipated

Cheap Shot is almost too cheap to be true with all the CC in your kit

Eyeball Collection rewards sick engages with your ultimate that lead to multiple casualties and aces

Tricks and Tips

• Place Effigy after showing up on enemy radars even while you’re Level 4 or Level 5. You may scare enemies with a fake ultimate even without having unlocked it yet
• Note that upgraded Effigies reveal existing wards but do not prevent new wards from granting vision. You will still have to rely on allies or Control Wards to secure the starting point for a fear-enhanced ultimate
• Just like with the old Fiddlesticks, put a few points into W but then move on to other abilities. There is no need to max out W at Level 9
• Stay conscious while spending skill points as Fiddlesticks. You’d want to put more in Q to snowball, prioritize E for extra damage, or double down on W for wave clear
• Don’t tunnel vision on using the ultimate to fear multiple targets. You can do the same with E, even if that’s likely to require burning Flash
• With the ultimate on cooldown, use E to still discourage enemies from entering choke points

Also keep an eye out on this page for when Riot decides to update his lore!