Play a different tune with reworked Fiddlesticks: Tips and tricks to get started

The second reworked champion to hit the Rift this season is Fiddlesticks, the harbinger of doom.

Before his release, Riot gave him his very own unique animated trailer. Unlike other shorts from Riot, Fiddlesticks’ trailer follows a first-person perspective, creating a dark atmosphere that truly set the tone for his terrifying premiere.

Fiddlesticks ability tips

Right off the bat, you’ll notice how slow Fiddlesticks moves in-game. Even though his base movement speed remains unchanged, the bonus movement speed he previously received from his passive Dread, has been removed.

Compared to his previous kit which favored spamming a single ability, his new kit has multiple dimensions.

Passive – A Harmless Scarecrow

Fiddlesticks’ trinket is replaced by Scarecrow Effigies. Effigies gain power as Fiddlesticks levels, reducing their cooldown and increasing their duration. At level 6, Effigies will reveal any nearby wards for 6 seconds on placement.

Scarecrow Effigy, active: Places an Effigy that lasts for 130-280 seconds and appears exactly as Fiddlesticks does to enemies. Enemy Champions approaching an effigy will activate it, causing the effigy to fake a random action, after which the effigy will fall apart.

Before I even got started with Fiddlesticks, I first had to open the dictionary. Effigy means a model or representation of a person; in this case, a scarecrow.

Fiddlesticks new passive now occupies your trinket slot and Effigies are now considered clones.
When Effigies are activated by enemy champions, they will either flash, channel a fake Crowstorm, or walk towards enemies.
Effigies serve three purposes: Provide vision like wards, clear vision for a short duration, and (maybe) fool opponents.
You can choose the direction your Effigy faces, adding realism to your deception.

Q – Terrify

Passive: If Fiddlesticks’s spells damage an enemy while unseen while Fiddle is outside of combat, Fiddlesticks terrifies the enemy for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds

Active: If the enemy has not recently been terrified, terrifies it for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds and deals 6/7/8/9/10% (+1% per 50 AP) of the target’s current health (minimum 40/60/80/100/120) as magic damage

If the enemy has recently been terrified, instead deals 12/14/16/18/20% (+2% per 50 AP) of the target’s current health (minimum 80/120/160/200/240) as magic damage

Terrify’s passive applies fear across all spells, but only if Fiddlesticks remained out of combat and out of vision when cast.
Bonus damage is dealt to enemies who have been recently terrified.

W – Bountiful Harvest

Fiddlesticks drains the souls of all enemies around itself, dealing 50/80/110/140/170 (+35% AP) damage per second, over 2 seconds, with the final tick dealing up to 12/14/16/80/20% of their missing health as magic damage. Fiddlesticks heals for 30/35/40/45/50% of the damage dealt before mitigation, reduced to 15% vs minions.

On a completed channel or if nothing remains to be harvested, refund 60% of the remaining cooldown.

This key spell does the most damage outside of his ultimate, amplified by enemies’ missing health. Max it first, followed by E and Q.
Unlike Drain, Fiddlesticks’ new W absorbs everything around him within its radius so you can now drain multiple targets at the same time. The best part? It affects invisible units as well! (Goodbye, Teemo hiding in bush.)
Complete Bountiful Harvest’s full duration so that you benefit from its reduced cooldown.

E – Reap

Fiddlesticks unleashes dark magic from its Scythe, dealing 70/100/130/160/190 (+50% AP) magic damage to and slowing enemies hit for 30/35/40/45/50% for 1.25 seconds in a crescent shaped area at a target position. Enemies in the centre of the crescent are silenced for the duration.

Reap provides additional soft CC and is mainly used for the slow.
The brief silence gives Fiddlesticks a lifeline and can interrupt assassins’ combos when they creep up close.

R – Crowstorm

Fiddlesticks channels for 1.5 seconds, then blinks to the target point unleashing a murder of crows that flock wildly around it, dealing 125/225/325 (+45% AP) magic damage per second to all enemy units in the area. The effect lasts for 5 seconds, dealing up to 625/1125/1625 total magic damage.

Since Crowstorm’s mechanics didn’t change, Fiddlesticks requires the same set up as before with sneaky angles, Flash and Zhonyas. Combos from teammates are most welcome.

Playing as Fiddlesticks

Reworked Fiddlesticks excels in the jungle. You do not need a leash from teammates, which lets you conceal pathing information at the start of the game.

Aside from this advantage, his W lets him jungle healthily and gives you the option of buying a health potion and a Control Ward – over a Refillable Potion – at level one.

By placing an Effigy on one side of the river and a Control Ward on the other, you will be able to cover key jungle entrances.

Early vision is something that Fiddlesticks players will value because the initial clear makes you vulnerable to invades. Taking advantage of Bountiful Harvest, you can lure Gromp and Blue Buff to drain them together after Wolves, which gives you a very fast level three, but leaves your HP bar low in its duration.

Without movement speed bonuses, taking Predator as a keystone and buying boots early will prove useful to set up ganks. Remember to keep out of sight so that you can proc the initial fear.

When ganking, follow his basic combo of Q and E into W. Terrify prevents enemies from escaping, which you can chain into E’s silence or slow, setting yourself up to deal maximum damage with W.

The best thing about Bountiful Harvest (W) is that the indicator lights up if an invisible unit is within range, like Morgana’s Soul Shackles. Champions like Talon and the Teemo sitting next to you will get drained even if they can’t be seen.

Macro wise, you can trick enemies into thinking you’re on the opposite side of the map with well-placed Effigies. Or use reverse psychology by pretending to be an Effigy yourself, baiting enemies into a trap.

Standing as still as a scarecrow might prove to be equally terrifying.

Playing against Fiddlesticks

If your team composition has a strong level one with champions like Blitzcrank and Braum, invading would be a good idea especially if you’re on blue side. This will prevent Fiddle from clearing two camps at the same time, slowing down his jungle clear.

W still requires Fiddlesticks to stand still to complete the channel. When he does, walk out of range and use hard CC to stop him in his tracks.

The basic mechanics of Crowstorm remains the same too, so as usual, lay wards in bushes and over the walls because those are the spots that Fiddlesticks likes to channel his ult from. Keep track of his Flash cooldown too.

Overall, even though Fiddlesticks’ jungle clear is strong, he still relies heavily on his ultimate to deal damage. Despite Fiddlesticks’ revised kit, we’re unlikely to see him in professional play in his current state.

Compared to meta junglers who have hard crowd control and straightforward gank patterns, Fiddle will need his entire team to draft around him to maximize his potential.

For now, he will just have to settle for terrorizing poor souls in solo queue.