Abbey Street's Fiddlesticks PBE Initial Thoughts

PBE Initial Thoughts of Fiddlesticks by Shanco

Ey yo.

It's been a while since I've done one of these, but with the virus ravaging my life and taking all three of my jobs hostage, I got some time to play Fiddlesticks's rework. He's scary AF, with a kit to match. Checking out new Fiddle involved watching some games, and even playing as him here and there. Reading up and finding things out on my own, I'll offer up some initial thoughts.

FIDDLESTICKS' NICHE
AoE drain mage with high amounts of CC and unique, oppressive vision control.

PROS/CONS
Pros:
+ Healthy amounts of AoE damage, making him great for clearing jungle and laning in a duo lane
+ Can perform multiple roles well (mid, jungle, support...but usually jungle)
+ Unparalleled amounts of vision utility, especially for a jungler
+ AoE crowd control between Reap's slow + silence and ult's fear (if they don't see you beforehand)
+ Now that Terrify does damage, the 3-hit runes (Phase Rush and Electrocute) instantly became way more useful
+ His overall increase in utility means he doesn't fall off as hard when behind

Cons:
- Not nearly as obnoxious from long range
- The silence isn't guaranteed anymore
- The fear doesn't last as long, nor does the drain, making him less effective at cheesing drakes
- Passive can be inconvenient as it doesn't reveal camouflaged units like Oracle's does
- Doesn't scale with raw Ability Power as well as he used to

WTF IS THIS NEW PASSIVE?
This new passive automatically gives Fiddlesticks a trinket known as "effigies". They function as wards at a glance, but they show up on enemies' screens as Fiddlesticks himself. When enemies see it, it looks as though Fiddle is doing a random action, such as autoattacking or channeling his ult, but then the effigy harmlessly crumbles. After level 6, this also sweeps the area around it.
This passive has uses at all stages of the game, from messing with the opponent during counterjungling attempts in the early game, to turning hitting Fiddle into a guessing game later on. However, Fiddle can't spawn an effigy close to an enemy, or else it won't work. It'll just crumble right away.
With its utility, the name of the game with effigies is mind games. You can impose a Shaco-esque sense of paranoia and really get into someone's head using them. These effigies actually make Fiddlesticks a strong counterjungler, allow him to win vision wars over other mid laners when roaming, and really bamboozle aggressive opponents as a support.

A BIG CHANGE NO ONE TALKS ABOUT
Fiddlesticks's fear does damage now. And not just any damage - damage that scales with % of the victim's current health.
Why is this so important? Well it fixes two key problems Fiddlesticks had. First off, the fact that it does damage at all allows him to proc Electrocute and Phase Rush while continuing to move, where those runes would either not go off right away, or might not work at all because it required Fiddle to be stationary to Drain their health, which would be counterproductive for Phase Rush. Now with Phase Rush, Fiddle can use that speed to get into better position to maximize the drain's damage.
The second issue it resolves is Fiddle's problem with shredding Health stackers. The old kit limited his build paths by forcing him to build Liandry's in the late game so that he could put a dent in those tanks. Now, with the instant %health damage, the tank is instantly chunked and Fiddle's teammates can get to work.

POWER SPIKE
Fiddlesticks has two key power spikes: one when he hits level 6, and one when he hits Zhonya's.
Before level 6, he really feels the lack of mobility. It can be hard to gank or engage an opponent because Fiddlesticks is so immobile before 6. The ult fixes that, however, with the dash from a blind spot, for example.
I mention the Zhonya's as he will build that almost every game regardless of role - it's too good on him. You know the drill - ult in, pop the Zhonya's when they counter-engage and let your ult do the work. Just don't use Zhonya's too early, in case your ult fears the other team with Q passive.

IN THE JUNGLE
Fiddlesticks is a bit slow on first clear, not to mention he's a little reliant on getting his blue buff. Once he gets level 3 though, his clear speed picks up quite a bit. This is where the effigies have their highest impact in the early game: to spook the enemy jungler into questioning where Fiddle really is. You can buy yourself some time with well-placed effigies as opponents may waste abilities or other resources on him. Your Reap has increased range so you can silence the person you're ganking from further away, with the added bonus of a slow to help your laner follow up. When ganking through the lane in top or bot, your Q passive becomes especially powerful as you can fear them from an unexpected place (bush, alcove) and really screw them over.

AS A SUPPORT
E, E, E. The fear and Reap make Fiddlesticks very difficult to engage on as a support, as he instantly turns any pre-emptive engage into his favor. Anyone who tries to engage on your ADC such as Leona or Nautilus sees their health instantly nuked as Fiddle turns the fight around while the engaging laner is left totally helpless. Thus it's better now to take Fiddle into a lane with a more aggressive, early-game focused ADC like Jhin, Lucian or MF; they take the best advantage of the window Fiddle gives them to cram their damage in.

FIDDLE IN THE MIDDLE
Fiddle feels better and more fundamental as a mid laner than he did before thanks to reduced mana costs, increased range on his E, and more reliable harass tools. Your effigies can deny the opposing mid laner vision as well as spook them out of potential attempts to follow your roam to a side lane; they're also invaluable in the vision wars around drake. However, your biggest issue in the mid lane comes against long-ranged champs who can push you into tower and siege from outside your range, as Fiddle doesn't handle farming under tower well. This makes the likes of Lux, Senna, Ziggs, etc. very useful counters to Fid mid. I avoid saying Xerath as his below-average autoattack range puts him into fear range if he wants more mana from his passive.
If you find yourself against Yasuo, you need to be careful as your fear can be wind-walled now. However, Reap can't be wind-walled. You can use this to your advantage by baiting Yasuo toward you to dodge the Reap, then fear + silence to win the trade. This is a fundamental bait-and-punish tactic that you can employ against most aggressive assassins, such as LeBlanc, Akali, etc.
Remember this combo for trades: Q, autoattack, E, W. You do the autoattack in between to help you with timing the silence so that it hits them right as they come out of the fear, making trades next to impossible unless they have an easy way to stop your channel, like Vel'Koz or Kassadin. Otherwise, the Q > AA > E is enough to proc Electrocute or Phase Rush,

RUNES
If you're taking Fiddlesticks in the jungle, there are two rune setups I've found and both of them are pretty decent.
First rune page:
Sorcery - Phase Rush, Nimbus Cloak, Transcendence, Waterwalking
Domination - Zombie Ward, Relentless Hunter
Other - Adaptive Force, Adaptive Force, Armor

Second rune page:
Domination - Electrocute, Cheap Shot, Zombie Ward, Relentless Hunter
Sorcery - Nimbus Cloak, Waterwalking
Other - Adaptive Force, Adaptive Force, Armor

If you're using Fiddle for support, I haven't tried him in said role yet, but this is what I'd run, myself.
Sorcery - Arcane Comet OR Phase Rush, Manaflow Band, Transcendence, Scorch
Inspiration - Future's Market, Cosmic Insight
Other - Cooldown Reduction, Adaptive Force, Armor

If you're feelin' a little Fiddle in the Middle, I like to use Electrocute:
Domination - Electrocute, Cheap Shot, Zombie Ward, Ravenous Hunter
Sorcery - Transcendence, Scorch
Other - Cooldown Reduction, Adaptive Force, Health

EXAMPLE BUILD
The core build that Fiddle uses remains mostly the same throughout each of his positions. Some things change from the old Fiddlesticks, but the idea of getting to Zhonya's + core item is still there. With that in mind, let's take a look at what folks across the PBE are having the most success using with Fiddle.

Core:
- MID: Luden's Echo. JG: Stalker's Blade - Runic Echoes.
- Zhonya's Hourglass
- Morellonomicon

Optional items:
Liandry's Torment
Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Banshee's Veil
Void Staff
Shurelya's Reverie
Randuin's Omen
Lich Bane
Spirit Visage

Always, always look for an Echo item first. More AoE damage for your AoE damage? Sure, why not! It also gives Fiddle some much needed mana and CDR. If you've played Fiddle before, you already know what's coming next - Zhonya's. In fact, if you're against an AD caster like Pantheon, Talon or Zed, it's not a terrible idea to actually buy Zhonya's before you've finished the Echo item. Zhonya's still gives CDR, after all. When it comes to buying your third item, you're going to want Morellonomicon more often than not. Reason being, its magic penetration amplifies his impressive base damage, and the heal block nullifies attempts to heal the damage back up. That's on top of the Health you'll need, because you'll be in the thick of things, ulting and fearing and now heal-blocking the entire enemy team.
Which items you build after that will depend on what you need by late game, but because of the extra base damage and CC Fiddle has now, you have the luxury to tank up a bit and still be really useful. Things like Spirit Visage to amp your heal, Randuin's Omen to slow everyone in your ult, etc. That or, you can keep investing in AP to maximize your damage, through items like Liandry's and Rylai's, or Lich Bane to become a bigger threat in skirmishes if there's a lot of splitpushing going on. Shurelya's is purely utility to stick to the important targets that you need to kill.

CONCLUSION
Fiddle could be problematic when he comes out on live as he just has so much utility. In every game I was in, both as Fiddle or with someone playing him, his vision and CC scores both beat the rest of the Fiddlesticks players' respective teams. It's for this reason that, as time goes on, I'm expecting him to be picked more often in pro play than solo queue. But we'll see. Fairly certain he'll need a nerf, tbh.