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Choose Champion Build:
Spells:
Flash
Ignite
Ability Order
A Harmless Scarecrow (PASSIVE)
Fiddlesticks Passive Ability
Introduction to the Scarecrow

Hello MobaFire, I'm SwizzNL and I play on the EU West servers for a year now. Maybe you know me from my previous build but I thought I needed to give it a complete makeover and this is the result!
This build features our one and only


So after a year playing with him, I was ready to share my opinions and playstyle with all of you, so many of you can start playing him, and hopefully enjoy him just as I do!
I worked hard on this build, so I appreciate every comment/refinement/feedback that you may provide to me! But most of all, I hope you enjoy reading my guide and you can use it often in your games.
In this build I use a few abbrevations to get my build a bit smaller:
- CC stands for Crowd Control
- HP stands for Health
- MP stands for Magic Penetration
- AP stands for Ability Power
- MP5 stands for Mana per 5 seconds
- MS stands for Movement Speed
- MR stands for Magic Resistance
- CDR stands for Cooldown Reduction
- SV stands for Spell Vamp
- 14-12-2011: Published build;
- 01-01-2012: HAPPY NEW YEAR everybody! Hopefully you will have a good year in every aspect of your life and of course, playing LoL (especially
Fiddlesticks)!
- 07-02-2012: Requested a review from Jhoijhoi's Review Shop and got a message which said it is approved!
- 12-02-2012: Guide has been reviewed and I am provided a lot of good tips and improvements. Thnx for that FreestyleKneepad and I am working on it right now!
- 30-03-2012: Started the makeover of this build. I already updated the first 6 chapters. The items/gameplay sections are coming soon!
- 07-06-2012: Continuing the update. Added two builds again, other runes, skill sequence and items

Update 14-12-2012:
I know the video is a bit old already, because it doesn't provide the new masteries and such stuff, but it still gives a very good first impression to play this char and so it's still very informative!
Pros
+ 2 types of CC: Silence with


+ Devastating ultimate

+ Sustained jungler because of it's

+ You are the only AP carry who can truly jungle effectively;
+ Unpredictable ganker, even in ranked games by effective use of

+ If you know how to land


Cons
- Quite squishy;
- Channeled ultimate so it can be interrupted by enemy CC;
- The early game mana pool can be low sometimes because the abilities of

- Not the fastest jungler because you rely on your abilities instead of AD/AS which is, most of the time, a lot faster, especially in ranked games;
- When jungling, you rely on blue buff at start! If your blue gets stolen, you are in a very dangerous position and then it's hard to turn that around positively in your current game;
- If you fail your ultimate, it can turn the fight from a win in a loss.
Lanecrow

Some notes:
-
Summoner's Wrath for the improved
Ignite.
-
Brute Force /
Butcher for the extra AD/damage against minions to help you last hitting.
-
Arcane Knowledge for the 10% MP to break some of the enemy MR.
-
Resistance for some extra MR.
-
Hardiness gives you some extra armor and because you will face a melee char on top, this is necessary!
-
Durability for the extra HP per level which is always nice!
-
Veteran's Scars more health?! Yes please!

Junglecrow
-
Brute Force : some of you may think now: "Why in the name of God,
Brute Force ?" Well, it's quite easy to explain. With
Mental Force you only get +4 AP in total if you compensate 4 points in it. Between your use of abilities it goes wrong, because you need to AA and
Fiddlesticks has an extremely low AS. Because we can't do nothing about AS with this build, I started to use this skill to get more damage with each AA and it actually worked really well, especially in combination with
Butcher (as explained a few sections further).
-
Butcher : This is extremely useful. As explained in the
Brute Force section you deal 4 extra bonus damage + 3 bonus AD which is a noticable amount and it's way more useful than
Havoc to clear the jungle faster.
-
Hardiness /
Tough Skin /
Bladed Armor : more survivability in the jungle? Armor is the right thing and with the reduction of the attacks of jungle creeps and the extra damage they take the best solution I can imagine!
-
Durability /
Veteran's Scars : more HP per level and a starting boost of HP? Looks good to me :)
Standard Rune Setup
Runes




This is the standard rune page I use when I play


Alternatives and Explanations
Runes



These are actually the best Marks for any AP caster. You get +8,55 MP, which, in combination with


Runes



Greater Seal of Armor: these Seals give you extra Armor to reduce damage from physical attacks and it gains an extra use in the jungle, because all the creeps in there are using normal attacks and the defense for that is Armor! This is the reason why I pick these Seals when jungling. But you can also pick these if you feel you need more defense against AD-chars (especially when you go solo-top).
- Greater Seal of Replenishment/
Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration: these Seals are surely useful. These Seals prevent you from recalling early game, because of lack of Mana. The reason why I prefer Greater Seal of Replenishment is the flat MP5. Why is that? Well, in mid/late game you have bought already some items that provide you extra Mana like
Rod of Ages. So the extra MP5 per level isn't necessary anymore in mid/late game because you have enough already by then!
- Greater Seal of Vitality: these Seals provide you extra HP each time you level up. If you lane I don't think it's actually necessary, because you can
Bountiful Harvest a minion to get your HP up again, but this is personal experience. In the jungle this becomes a more valuable rune because it gives you even more sustain and less reasons to go back to base! But you already have sustain in the form of
Bountiful Harvest so this is why I recently changed to
Greater Seal of Armor. But if you feel like you lose HP a lot, because of agressive harassing of your enemies, and to get even more sustain in jungling, I recommend you to pick these!

Runes



Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction: these Glyphs allow you to spam your abilities more. Lately I use these Glyphs for my AP-carry's and it works like a charm! I don't find the extra 28,54 AP you get from 9
Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power necessary anymore because without that extra AP you still do a lot of damage with your items. Your jungling speed will also improve because you can use
Bountiful Harvest more so you can clear the camps faster and more efficient. Also
Crowstorm
has a very long cooldown and you want to use it in every teamfight! The best way to do that is by CDR!Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: these Glyphs will give you extra MR each time you level up. This means you will be harder to burst down in middle- and lategame because at that point the AP-carry's in mid can burst squishy targets in a few seconds to their death. These Glyphs prevent that from happening and are surely useful but if you think you can handle the burst, than please go for more offensive in the form of
Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction! You won't regret it!
Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power: these Glyphs give you 1,53 AP per level. At lvl 6, the time when you can use your
Crowstorm, you already have +9,18 AP. With the flat AP of
Greater Glyph of Ability Power, you only got +8,91 AP. That means you do a bit more damage when you choose
Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power and that can sometimes mean a kill instead of an escaping enemy!
I suggest these runes if you can handle the CD's and you just want to do that extra bit of damage, but in my opinion theGreater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction are more efficient.

Runes





Explanation of the abilities


Dread


Tips and Tricks:
- Especially useful early game where the enemy MR is not that high!
- Synergizes very well with the
Abyssal Mask, which reduces the enemy MR even more.
- Keep in mind that the enemy can notice it when you are near him. He gets an
A Harmless Scarecrow icon above his skills, so watch out when you are ganking someone because he know you are in the area somewhere. KEEP ENOUGH DISTANCE!


Terrify

Tips and Tricks:
- As said before, use it (especially when you are not level 6 yet!) to start a gank!
- It doesn't work against jungle monsters, the Dragon and Baron Nashor so keep that in mind.
- It can be used as a escape mechanism: use
Terrify to obtain some space between you and your enemy when you run away.


Drain

Tips and Tricks:
- Use
Bountiful Harvest a lot to keep your HP high and to survive longer in your lane! This will prevent you from recalling so you won't lose precious XP and money.
Bountiful Harvest makes
Fiddlesticks a sustained jungler, because you can always recover HP by using it on a jungle creep.
Bountiful Harvest has a very big range when you are channeling it. If the enemy is running away, don't break the channel, because you will still do some damage!
- Watch out for enemy CC, because it will break your channel.


Dark Wind
With


Tips and Tricks:
Reap can bounce multiple times to a target. Keep that in mind when you want to last hit creeps!
Reap is very useful, when you use it if there are no enemy creeps in the lane, and only the 2 enemy laners are there. Cast
Reap and watch it bounce between the two enemies and deal a lot of damage to them or potentially kill them (especially early game!)
- Use
Reap often to claim some last hits from creeps and gain some gold! You must treat
Reap as your farm skill, because you can't farm only with your basic attacks!
- Keep in mind, that it also silences your enemies. If you are being chased by an AP enemy, throw a
Terrify and
Reap to give you some time run away, because your enemy can't use spells at that very moment!


Crowstorm


Tips and Tricks:
- Keep in mind that the channel of
Crowstorm takes some time and it can be easily interrupted by CC! So use it somewhere safe (like in the brush or behind a wall).
- Don't use
Crowstorm against a group of enemies with very much HP left. They will all focus you and you end up with 0 kills and an extra death.
- When you have reached level 6, this will be the starting move when ganking! Stay in the brush or behind a wall, let your teammate know that you have your ultimate up and tell him to let the enemy push a little. Initiate the fight with your
Crowstorm, use
Terrify to Fear your enemy and then start your
Bountiful Harvest. This will guarantee you a very nice harass or some kills.
- You can also use
Crowstorm to defend a turret. If 1 or more enemies are pushing a tower, channel your
Crowstorm from behind a turret to make them flee and save your turret from destruction!
- Only use
Crowstorm on enemies or to defend a turret. It has a very high cooldown, so use it wisely and don't waste it on minion waves!

Ability Sequence
When you lane





The ability sequence is a bit different if you jungle









N.B.
These are the two sequences I use, but if (for example) you want to max



Useful spells
Flash: Every champion needs an escape mechanism and because
Fiddlesticks doesn't have one,
Flash is your best choice! Use it to flash through walls and out of the fight so the enemy can't reach you. It can also be used to keep your enemies in your
Crowstorm. Just flash yourself in position again!
Ignite: This is the spell I (practically) always use when I'm laning! It deals just that tiny bit of damage to finish off an enemy and when it's on cooldown it gives you 10 AP! Simply wonderful!
Smite: ALWAYS TAKE THIS WHEN JUNGLING! You can't get Blue Buff without it and it speeds up your jungling a lot!
Teleport: Very useful spell to move around the map fast and help where it is necessary. Most of the time I pick this spell when I'm going mid because it can really help to gank a sidelane, to help your allies destroy a tower and it prevents you from losing too much XP and gold!
Ghost: There's always a debate about when to use
Flash or
Ghost. I prefer
Flash because you can move through a wall with it and that saved me a lot times and it's therefore a better escape mechanism. But if you prefer faster MS for a short amount of time, take
Ghost! It can also help to keep fleeing enemies in your
Crowstorm!
Exhaust: Quite a useful spell against enemy champs based on AD/DPS. It slows them and reducing their damage. If you are always having trouble against AD-based champs, GRAB THIS! It can save you a lot of times!
Cleanse: If you have a lot of trouble when you are CC'ed, take this to remove it and escape! I don't pick these very often, because if I face any trouble with CC, I'll buy a
Quicksilver Sash or
Mercury's Treads to reduce the effect and you can pick a more useful spell, like
Ignite!
Clarity: especially useful when you are completely new to casters and (in this particular case)
Fiddlesticks. It will keep your Mana up, so you can test out the skills and to study when to use them. If you are an experienced player already, you won't need it because with the items I provide in this build, you shouldn't have many Mana problems (except from early game, where his mana pool is quite low)
The ones I didn't mention, are not useful forFiddlesticks and should be used by other champs!
My Scarecrow build
Item Sequence










My own personal build. I discovered that I can lane and jungle with these items, so you don't have to worry about different item builds just for your role in the game! This build gives you every thing you need as a





Defensive/AP Scarecrow
Item Sequence










This build gives you some extra survivability by adding



Maximized AP Scarecrow
Item Sequence










With this build, you will only focus on 1 thing: damage! The only time you should use this build is when the enemy has almost no CC and when you are not getting targeted by enemies at all. If this is not the case, don't use this build, because if you die too much,


Mentionable Items

I personally think it's not a bad item. For 1485 gold you get 25 AP, 200 AP and 20 MP. But the problem is, you are getting those stats in all of your items already! So to spend 1485 gold for this particular item is a little bit too much for me and you can do better things with it.

A very nice item for AP chars, but I think not for






A very overlooked item. Especially useful when you are lacking HP in early game and to give you some extra MR to defend yourself against enemy magic attacks. Also gives you 10% CDR and an increase in healing regeneration, lifesteal and spell vamp. I used it almost every game when I started





A very nice item for survivability. For 2600 gold you get a good chunk of Armor and MR and a very nice Revive which you can use every 5 minutes. So why don't I pick it?
Well you get the Armor and MR already from



A very good item for defense against AD-based characters! It gives you a good load of Armor and an amazing passive which returns some of the damage you take, back to the enemy.
I recommend you to pick this only if you are facing a fed AD champ who deals a lot of damage to you and you are feeling threatened/targeted by it alot!

I said a few items above that I'll explain to you why I don't use Spell Vamp anymore on

Spell Vamp is only useful if the ability does direct damage to an enemy. The (damage) abilities of


But if you want to get more HP back with


Early Game
With your starting 475 gold you have 2 options to start with:
I prefer the first option over the second, because I like the MP5 and +100 HP from the

Ok, so the game started and the first item(s) are bought, you can head for your lane. I prefer to go mid so I can farm a lot and can easily start ganking when I hit level 6. If you can't go mid take a lane and hope for a good partner that will let you farm well (I've listened some good partners to lane with a few paragraphs below!). The rest of this chapter will focus on mid lane, but it will be practically the same, but you will gank a sidelane and mid!
In the early levels, focus on last hitting creeps with










N.B.
If you are really doing well (2 kills, 0 deaths and you think you can handle it quite well) I strongly suggest you build a




Mid Game
So, we have just finished the core items! From this time on, the items will variate because every enemy builds his character different and also they won't use the same build everytime!
I have covered some of these items in the previous chapter to give you some tips when you need to take these items into consideration! I will continue to describe the gameplay with the items I use, but you realise now that this build isn't solid every game.








Late Game
We have reached end game! Most of the time, if you have finished your





Tanks
Alistar: he is simply amazing to lane with! With
Pulverize he can throw enemies in the air > you
Terrify him > attack him with
Bountiful Harvest,
Reap and, sometimes,
Crowstorm > most of the time this results in a kill/assist. He can also heal you with
Triumphant Roar so you will never get in HP problems anymore! If you know someone who can play
Alistar, invite him on Skype/TeamSpeak and do a game together. I can guarantee you this will work out really well!
Amumu: again a very nice partner to lane with! With his
Bandage Toss he will throw himself to the enemy, stun him for enough time to get you there too and you can start your usual combo of Terrify >
Bountiful Harvest >
Reap! And on top of that, the simply amazing,
Curse of the Sad Mummy. This ulti will immobilize all the nearby enemies to give you enough time to channel your
Crowstorm and completely rip them apart.
Taric: the Gem Knight! Man I love this character when I lane with him. He can heal you with his
Imbue, he can stun enemies with his
Dazzle and he can give you extra AP with his ultimate
Radiance. Nothing more to say about this char, he can do everything you need to destroy enemies! Just amazing!

Supports
Janna: a very nice champion to lane with. She can give you extra MS with her passive
Tailwind, she can knock enemies into the air with her
Howling Gale, she can slow the enemy with
Zephyr, she can shield you with her
Eye of the Storm and can heal you with her ultimate
Monsoon. A simple all-in-one character that can really benefit you!
Karma: again a very nice support to play with. She can heal you with her
Heavenly Wave, buff your MS with her
Spirit Bond, protect you with her
Soul Shield and her ultimate
Mantra just buffs all her abilities to give you even more support!
Sona: my friends call her "The big-boobed all-rounder" and I share their opinion :P, she is simply amazing! She can give you more AP with her
Hymn of Valor, she can give you HP/Armor/MR with her
Aria of Perseverance, extra MS with her
Song of Celerity, and stun your enemies with her ultimate
Crescendo.
Conclusions: as a tank I would chooseAlistar because of it's healing powers and his knocking airborne which give you time to activate your combo
Terrify >
Bountiful Harvest >
Reap.
As a support I would chooseSona, because she can do everything to help you and her spells can do a lot of damage so the 2 of you are simply a death-machine together!
But this is all personal experience. Feel free to pick someone else I mentioned, because they all have their amazing abilities to help you!

For my jungling section I use a picture of Naheer's guide: Surprise! An-In Depth AP Fiddlesticks Guide to clarify the route I'll take with


[1]: Start at Ancient Golem camp. Let a teammate pull the Golem and





[2]: Go to the Wolves!


[3]: Proceed to the Wraiths! Use





[4]: Advance to the two Golems!


After this, you should be (almost) level 4 so it's time to pick 1 point in





[5]:




[6]: Time to get Red Buff! Go to the Lizard Elder camp and use




Now the cycle starts over again. If you finish Wolves and Wraiths for the second time, you should have reached level 6 and you can start using your


Warding

As a jungler, it's quite useful if you can ward the necessary points when jungling. These are:
- Red: the entrance to the pit of the Dragon and Baron Nashor
- Yellow: for vision over your buffs, because you don't want the enemy to steal them!
- Orange: to see if the enemy buffs can be taken, if your aren't respawned yet!
- Blue: these are useful for your laning teammates! They can see if a enemy gank is coming from mid/other lane so they can start playing defensively.
Keep the wards up all the time, otherwise you will end up getting buffs stolen and the enemy gets serious advantages when they can grab them!

I hope that you have realised it after reading this build and that you will start playing him, just as I do!
I want to say thanks to:
- jhoijhoi: for her awesome How To Make A Build guide and for the line dividers she provided!
- Naheer: for his picture of the jungle route!
- Any everyone I have forgotten to mention!
If you think I missed something, something could be optimized or any other thing you would like to share, post it in the comments below and maybe you can see your comment back in my build soon!
Cheers,
SwizzNL
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