Fiddlesticks Build Guide by SwizzNL

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 Fiddlesticks: The Harbinger of Doom!
Fiddlesticks is my favorite caster since I discovered him during one of his F2P weeks. He can lane, gank and jungle extremely well, so that's why I immediately fell in love with this character.

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

Changelog

• 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

Before we start...

Recently, Riot Games Inc. released the Fiddlesticks version of the famous Champion Spotlight videos on YouTube. So to get a first opinion on the champion watch this video first:

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!

Scary Pros and Horrible Cons

+ 2 types of CC: Silence with Dark Wind and Fear with Terrify;
+ Devastating ultimate Crowstorm;
+ Sustained jungler because of it's Drain;
+ You are the only AP carry who can truly jungle effectively;
+ Unpredictable ganker, even in ranked games by effective use of Oracle's Elixir;
+ If you know how to land Crowstorm you can turn the fight from a loss in a win.







- 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 Fiddlesticks can be quite mana-intensive;
- 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.

Devastating Masteries

Since Fiddlesticks isn't as viable anymore in the mid lane because of all the burst mages coming along, he should, in my opinion, go to the top lane (or jungling)! Because you will face an melee AD/bruiser most of the time, you need some defenses. 21-9-0 seems the perfect balance to achieve that. You are absolutely not a tank, but you can take some harass from the enemies on top.

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!

Ok this setup is much different from my Lanecrow setup. This is because, after a lot of experimentation with 21-0-9, 9-21-0 and 9-0-21, I discovered that you don't need to go that deep in each tree. So the result is 9-11-10 which gives you a bit of everything: offensive, durability in the jungle and some utility which helps you with ganking. Some explanations:

• 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 :)

Terrifying Runes

This is the standard rune page I use when I play Fiddlesticks. This gives him everything he needs: MP, Armor, CDR and AP! You need this in the jungle and when laning top so with this setup you achieve the perfect balance! If you want to change something in this setup, take a loot at the next paragraph for alternatives and suggestions which runes you should use!








These are actually the bestMarks for any AP caster. You get +8,55 MP, which, in combination with Arcane Knowledge , leads to more damage against enemy champions. I recommend not to change these Marks for anything else!

• 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 Drain 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 Drain 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!

• 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 Drain 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 the Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction are more efficient.

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power is the best option to grab! You need the extra AP boost to do some damage and to optimize your Drain when jungling. No alternatives for me!

The Scarecrow's Ability's and Ability Sequence

When you lane Fiddlesticks, it's best to pick (in the first 3 levels) 1 point in each skill, so you can use all them. After that, max Dark Wind to level 5 so you have a good bouncing nuke and farm skill! Level Terrify and Drain similarly and don't forget to put a point in Crowstorm at level 6, 11 and 16!



The ability sequence is a bit different if you jungle Fiddlesticks. First pick a point in Drain otherwise you won't survive the jungle! Take a point in Dark Wind at level 2 to clear the mini Lizards at the Lizard Elder and Ancient Golem camp faster. Pick a point in Drain again at level 3, and a point in Terrify at level 4 to start early ganking. Max Drain first to level 5 to clear the jungle extremely fast! Level Terrify and Dark Wind similarly. And here goes the same: pick a point in Crowstorm at level 6, 11 and 16.

N.B.
These are the two sequences I use, but if (for example) you want to max Drain first when you lane Fiddlesticks please do it! It's just to give you an impression how I use Fiddlesticks's skills, but if you get better results with a little change, be my guest :) Maybe I can even learn about it, if you use something different!

The Scarecrow's 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 for Fiddlesticks and should be used by other champs!

The Scarecrow's Items

The Scarecrow's Gameplay - Lanecrow

With your starting 475 gold you have 2 options to start with:

• Doran's Ring
• Amplifying Tome + 2 Health Potion

I prefer the first option over the second, because I like the MP5 and +100 HP from the Doran's Ring to stay longer in lane. If you want more AP to do damage and you can maintain your Mana very well, pick the second option.

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 Dark Wind and try to secure 1 or 2 kills by using the combo Terrify > Drain > Dark Wind. Time for your second trip back! Finish your Sorcerer's Shoes if you didn't do that earlier and complete your Rod of Ages. This item must be bought early game, otherwise the passive isn't beneficial anymore, because it gives you improvements in HP/Mana/AP over time.

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 Mejai's Soulstealer between the Sorcerer's Shoes and Rod of Ages! It gives you 8 AP per kill and if you reach the 20 stacks, you get 15% CDR. It's a great item but buy it with caution! If you die too much, you won't get any stacks and you have wasted 1235 gold!





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.
The first item you want to focus on is Deathfire Grasp. This item will give you AP, MP5 and CDR! You will need Crowstorm every teamfight to secure some kills and to help your teammates push the towers. This item helps you with that, and it has a very nice Active to use against enemies with a lot of HP. Think of it as an improved Ignite!




We have reached end game! Most of the time, if you have finished your Abyssal Scepter, the game will be almost over but if it didn't happen, read on! If the game still isn't over by then, grab a Zhonya's Hourglass to give you that last bit of AP, some survivability because of the Armor, and a fantastic Active which can save you a lot of times because you can't be hit at all! It's especially useful when using Crowstorm to let the enemy target you and to give your teammates time to intervene and destroy them!

The Scarecrow's Gameplay - Lanecrow's Partners

I will review here some good partners to lane with when using Fiddlesticks. The best characters are Tanks and Supports!

• Alistar: he is simply amazing to lane with! With Pulverize he can throw enemies in the air > you Terrify him > attack him with Drain, Dark Wind 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 > Drain > Dark Wind! 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!

• 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 choose Alistar because of it's healing powers and his knocking airborne which give you time to activate your combo Terrify > Drain > Dark Wind.
  As a support I would choose Sona, 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!

The Scarecrow's Gameplay - Junglecrow/Warding

I know the jungling is nerfed quite a lot in the previous patch but it's still very viable for Fiddlesticks to jungle. It only takes a bit more time to reach level 6 and start ganking, but if you have a little bit experience in jungling, it shouldn't be a big problem!

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 Fiddlesticks. Thnx for this Naheer!

[1]: Start at Ancient Golem camp. Let a teammate pull the Golem and Drain the first mini Lizard to death. Wait in the brush until Drain is up again and kill the second mini Lizard. After that, wait for cooldown again on Drain, and take the Ancient Golem! It takes about 1.5/2 drains and then you can activate your Smite to finish it off! You have obtained Blue Buff and you will be level 2 and you can spend a point in Dark Wind.

[2]: Go to the Wolves! Drain the big Wolf to death and auto-attack 1 of the mini Wolves. When you have finished 1, Drain the other mini Wolf to death!

[3]: Proceed to the Wraiths! Use Dark Wind first to deal the first damage and Drain the big Wraith to death! After that use auto-attacks/ Dark Wind/ Drain to finish the mini's! You should be around level 3 now, so put the second point in Drain.

[4]: Advance to the two Golems! Drain the big Golem and finish it off (if it's necessary) with auto-attacks and then Drain the mini Golem!

After this, you should be (almost) level 4 so it's time to pick 1 point in Terrify. If it's possible try to gank mid to get your first kill/assist! Use Terrify > Drain > Dark Wind on the enemy to get a kill/waste of Flash/assist/heavy harass!

[5]: Recall back to base to buy your first items! Most of the time I pick the Boots of Speed and a Ruby Crystal if I didn't gank, but if I succeeded in ganking I grab my Sorcerer's Shoes to improve the effectiveness of my spells to clear the jungle faster!

[6]: Time to get Red Buff! Go to the Lizard Elder camp and use Dark Wind to deal the first damage. Auto-attack the mini Lizards to death and Drain the Lizard Elder. It should take about 1.5 Drain before you can use Smite to finish it off and obtain the Red Buff!

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 Crowstorm in ganks! Always keep around the same level as your teammates and enemies, cause you don't want to be out-leveled. It will be very hard then to deal damage and most of the time you will die faster!






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!

The Scarecrow's Final Words

Fiddlesticksis an awesome all-in-one champion to play!
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