Things are about to get much spookier on Summoner's Rift, as League of Legends players got a preview of the incoming Fiddlesticks rework this morning. Following a cryptic teaser of the scarecrow's new appearance, today's video showcases Fiddlesticks' updated abilities. As one of the 17 original champions, the rework brings Fiddlesticks into the modern era of League of Legends while keeping the champion's core identity intact.
With a kit that has seen only minor tweaks over the last decade, Fiddlesticks was in dire need of some change. Last year, the community voted in a poll that Fiddlesticks and Volibear should receive reworks in 2020. In the past few months, Fiddlesticks' new model was teased in artwork and rigging, but fans were anxious to see how different the final kit would differ from the original. Although Riot has given Fiddlesticks some new tricks up its demonic sleeve, several iconic abilities remain, including a fear ability, draining, and lots of crows.
Fiddlesticks' new passive is A Harmless Scarecrow. Instead of a normal trinket, Fiddlesticks can place down scarecrows that look just like it and act as wards, which also briefly reveal enemy wards at Level 6. Enemy champions coming near a scarecrow activate it, causing it to fake an auto-attack or ability cast, before destroying itself.
Fiddlesticks' Q is Terrify which passively causes ability damage to fear enemies if out of combat and unseen. The active component of Q is a point-and-click fear which also deals damage or double damage on a recently feared enemy instead of CCing them again.
Bountiful Harvest is Fiddlesticks' new W and is functionally the same as its old channeled drain. However, the ability now applies to all enemies within a certain range and the cooldown is partly refreshed if the channel completes in addition to everything dying from the drain.
Completely replacing an old ability, Fiddlesticks' new E is Reap which damages and slows enemies in a crescent area in front of Fiddlesticks. Enemies in the center of the area also become silenced, interrupting any channeled League of Legends spells.
Finally, Fiddlesticks' R - Crowstorm remains unchanged. Channeling the ultimate will teleport Fiddlesticks a short distance and cause massive AOE damage for a few seconds.
With the new and improved Fiddlesticks, players will have more opportunities than ever to scare their opponents. A stealthily-channeled Crowstorm from brush will proc the passive fear on everyone and make teamfights more chaotic than before. Furthermore, strategists and veteran Teamfight Tactics players will understand the tactical advantage of placing scarecrows to not only gain or deny vision, but also play mind games with their opponents.
Landing a Reap will help keep enemies inside Fiddlesticks' or other teammates' ultimates, especially if the silence hits. If the other team manages to live through all that, Fiddlesticks' reworked kit ensures it can finish them off even without the scare tactics.
Despite the cancellation of many Pro League of Legends events, the Fiddlesticks rework proves that Riot still has many plans going into the next few months. Since it's the weekend, fans will have to wait until the next PBE cycle starts for a chance to test out the Ancient Fear themselves. From that point on, however, Fiddlesticks will probably hit the live servers towards the end of March and beginning of April since Patch 10.6 is releasing next week.
League of Legends is available on PC.
Source: Rift Herald