Nine months after League of Legends fans voted Fiddlesticks as the champion most in need of a rework, Riot’s planned update — including his new abilities, skins, and possible release date — has finally been revealed.
The “utterly inhuman” rework has been a long time coming. Riot announced in May 2019 they had plans to put the Harbinger of Doom, as well as 2011 release Volibear, in the spotlight for both gameplay and visual updates.
Fiddlesticks has had a long history on the Rift already too. Released in 2009, the scarecrow has bounced around jungle and support roles. He has even spent stints in the meta in the mid lane. That strategy was dubbed “Middlesticks.”
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Eleven years after his original reveal, the Harbinger of Doom is finally undergoing a modern League of Legends update — both to his kit, and his skins and in-game look — and Riot have already said they’re “super excited” with how it turned out.
Here’s everything you need to know about Fiddlestick’s upcoming gameplay & visual rework, from his new-look abilities and kit, to his refreshed roster of skins and splash arts, and when you can get your hands on 2020’s second rework.
Fiddlesticks is finally getting his long-awaited rework, eleven years after his first release.[ad name=”article2″]
Fiddlesticks’ “terrifying” new abilities
While Fiddlesticks’ new gameplay rework has changed a few major things, including his new ward-like passive, the style of the Harbinger of Doom doesn’t seem to have disappeared. At his core, he still likes jumping out and scaring people.
Here’s a rundown of his three main abilities, his lethal Crowstorm ultimate, and the new-look passive A Harmless Scarecrow that may be a cornerstone of how he plays on the Rift once he finally arrives on live servers.
A Harmless Scarecrow (Passive)
Fiddlesticks’ trinket is replaced by Scarecrow Effigies that look exactly like Fiddlesticks. Effigies grant vision like regular wards.
Enemy champions who approach an effigy activate it, causing the effigy to fake a random action (ex. basic attacking or casting Crowstorm), after which the effigy destroys itself.
Fiddlesticks can hold up to two Effigies at once. Effigy cooldown decreases and duration increases with Fiddlesticks’ level. At level 6, placing an Effigy reveals nearby wards for six seconds.
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Terrify (Q)
Passive: While out of combat and unseen, if Fiddlesticks’ abilities damage an enemy, they become terrified, fleeing in the opposite direction.
Active: Terrify the target and damage them based on their current health. If this ability is cast on a recently terrified enemy, they take double damage instead of being terrified again.
Bountiful Harvest (W)
Fiddlesticks drains the souls of all nearby enemies, damaging them continuously over a few seconds and healing Fiddlesticks based on damage dealt. The last tick damages and heals based on the target’s missing health.
If Bountiful Harvest fully channels or if no enemies remain to be harvested, Bountiful Harvest’s cooldown is partially refunded.
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Reap (E)
Fiddlesticks damages and slows enemies in a crescent-shaped area in front of itself. Enemies in the center of the crescent are also silenced.
Crowstorm (R)
Fiddlesticks channels before blinking to the target location and continuously damaging nearby enemies for several seconds.
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Fiddlesticks’ skins & visual looks updated
As well as his kit updates, Fiddlesticks is also undergoing some major visual changes, which Riot evokes more of his “fear-inducing” characteristics.
“We want Fiddle to be the iconic ambush champion, with a kit centered around the concept of fear. This goes deeper than just a point-click status effect, [but] that is staying on the kit,” the devs said of the rework in early January.
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It looks like they succeeded. League players around the community, including notoriously stoic Tyler ‘Tyler1’ Steinkamp, said their “hearts literally cannot take this sh*t.” That’s not all the “inhuman entity” is getting in his update either.
As well as the ability changes, and in-game look, Fiddlesticks has also had all his premium skin splash arts updated. Here are the new images:
Fiddlesticks’ updated skins, March 2020
When will Fiddlestick’s rework be released?
Fiddlesticks’ rework is currently up on the Patch 10.7 PBE cycle. The PBE cycles run for a fortnight before every patch, with the next update set for April 1 after Patch 10.6 was released on March 18.
Because of Fiddlesticks’ inclusion in the current set of updates, it’s fair to assume that he could be coming in the next patch. However, Riot sometimes hold champion reworks over in the PBE cycle for a few extra weeks to iron our any kinks.
If that’s the case, the scarecrow’s new look could be available from April 15 when Patch 10.8 drops.
Riot seems to have succeeded in making Fiddlesticks one of League’s “most terrifying” champions.There you have it — the new-look Harbinger of Doom, ready to give League of Legends players heart attacks across Season 10 and beyond.
Keep in mind, while the splash art and skin updates are likely written in stone for the rework, Fiddlesticks’ abilities are subject to change. We’ll make sure to keep you fully updated on any tweaks Riot makes ahead of the full release.
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