This has been a long time coming, but the season 5 update is finally here and there are a whole bunch of new items to address. We will keep things simple and keep the guide about the same. There are some upcoming changes that I will be implementing soon, so keep your pants on. The majority of champions used to Jungle tend to be tanks. After the season three update, this champion shone brighter than he had in a very long time. Fiddlesticks base stats do not exactly qualify him to be called a tank by any means. However, this far from hinders Fiddlesticks from being an incredible jungle champion. Fiddlesticks has quite a few characteristics that make jungling with him quick, fun, and way, way too spooky.

This is the question many summoners ask when deciding who to jungle with. Nautilus is known for being an impressive jungle champion due to his incredible size and unmatched obnoxious crowd control mechanics. Malphite has a passive that gives him a shield based on his overall health making him another ideal choice as well as his size helping in scaring away oncoming foes. So, why the fragile little Fiddlesticks? The answer:

HIS ULT IS TOO SPOOKY!

It has a slight charge up, but once you target an area for the Crowstorm , it is too late. You just erupt from your cover dealing massive magic DOT (damage over time) and can still spam other abilities while the ultimate dissipates. Sure, you are not resembling a Big Daddy from Bioshock or a Rock Biter from The Neverending Story,but while playing Fiddlesticks, you quickly become the most feared champion on the Fields of Justice.

I am honoring a special request dropped in my comments back around the 4th page to include a section about what to do with Fiddlesticks during stages of the game other than early on in the game. That being said, here it goes.


Early Game

---

Fiddlesticks is rather squishy throughout the entire game, but his early game is by far his most vulnerable point during the game. It is very important to have some members of your team watching out for you during the earlier stages of the game. (See Counter Jungling Section) This is the stage where you will be landing your earliest ganks which is important as well as deciding whether or not to take on the dragon solo. (See Soloing Dragon Section) It is vital that you stay alive at any cost during these stages so that your time can be optimized through careful planning and the dunking of your enemies.

Mid Game

---

This portion of the game actually begins once the part of the game known as the Laning Phase is completed. This phase is over once the first towers are taken during a game, whether it is your towers or the enemy towers it still ends the laning phase. The post-laning phase time period is known as mid game, also called roaming phase. This is when both teams are worried less about towers and more worried about gaining some advantage over the other team. Around this time is when you really start to shine as Fiddlesticks because this is around the time where you should be level 6. This is where playing gets a little tricky my friends. The idea is that you are the unsung hero of your team. You are to hide quietly in the bushes and evade any passerby enemies so that when the 4v5 team fight starts around 800 units from your position in your safe bush, you Crowstorm directly onto the team fight and annihilate the health bars of the enemies therein. This is how the team fights should go every time. Enemies will begin to expect it after the first few encounters so it is important to get creative with your positioning every fight.

Late Game

---

This really is not as complicated as the mid game. By this point of the game, your team is either bludgeoning the enemy team with their own legs, or your team is cowering in terror because some ****py champion got fed and is somehow now OP. You should continue to assist your team in team fights in the same manner as before. The idea is the element of surprise. Being very utilitarian in your build structure, you should have everything you need to make your main source of area of effect damage, i.e. Crowstorm, deal more damage than any other ability in the game. By Late game you should be packing the base 6 items from my build and therefore lowering enemy magic resist by 30 whole points simply from being near them. (See Fiddlesticks' Item Procession) You have the tools you need, but there is one thing that you are not going to be very good at in the least. You are going to have difficulty split pushing alone. Fiddlesticks has one of the worst basic attacks in the game. Pushing a lane is not his strong point, coupled with a strong damaging team mate like say Caitlyn and you can take over lanes like crazy. Using your Terrify you can make pushing a lane easy by shutting out anyone who stands in your way. Remember though, your strength is in your surprise. Always be looking to catch them with their guard down.

I hope this was helpful and that you understand a little more about your role as Fiddlesticks in all stages of the game.

---

In my Mastery Tree, I decided that an unusual tree for this unusual champion may be what is necessary. I went with a 21-9-0 build. I started in Offense, and kinda ran with it. Fiddlesticks is a burst heavy champion with abilities that depress and demoralize the enemy team even if they are not killed, you leave a 3 second fear in your wake and a silence that will not stop bouncing around.

Offense

---

---

Working through the jungle and still trying to manage taking out every possible enemy champion can be a hassle and sometimes your team does not really make it easy on you. This is an obstacle you will have to overcome and just work through and make sure that you are the best you can be for your team. Be a part of the solution and you will never be a part of the problem. The original version of this guide was back when taking dragon was everything. The gold advantage was just so amazing that it was difficult to come back from it without getting a dragon or two yourself. I do not intend to change the guide. Taking dragon at early levels can still be paramount in your team winning or losing. However, in the event that your team needs stronger ganks rather than gold increase, I would highly recommend maxing terror first to provide for some strong cc rather than more damage.

: There was an update a while back that altered the way Fiddle interacts with the enemy team via his passive. He now has to damage an enemy champion before the loss of magic resist will take effect. This results in a more fun gaming experience overall, but more importantly the old passive would let an enemy champion who was watching their mr closely that it had dropped about 10-30 points. It was a DREAD give away.

: Known and well respected as the longest fear in the game. I recommend maxing it second. It is a 3 second fear. use it well.

: Best tool in sucking your opponents health away. combined with your late game items and your Q ability, you become pretty rough if you catch someone alone in the jungle. I recommend taking a point in it at level 1 and maxing it first.

: Bounces between multiple enemies but not so easy to predict. I recommend maxing it last but picking up an early point or two in this skill. Takes out jungle animals quite well and with the additional silence, makes for a wonderful tool when slaying enemies. I suggest maxing this ability last.

: Use it well, use it often. Grab a point towards this ability at the respective levels; 6,11,16. Make certain that you do not miss. and when you do miss, activate Flash to chase whoever you missed. Make sure you Terrify whoever is the carry to keep them in your ult for as long as possible.

---

: Duh, Great advancement in ability power and can really make the difference in an early gank gone wrong or team fight

: Powerful in late game and great for the enemy who forgot to build Magic Resist. Take advantage of these endless opportunities.

: The best seal in the game I would venture to say, and quite essential when jungling with a champion as squishy as this one.

: Expensive as they may be, these bad boys are worth the trouble when playing this jungler. Your soul purpose when playing is to ult in as much as possible because of the heavy damage you dish out. Cooldown reduction glyphs allow you to do this more than the enemy is ready for and much sooner during the gameplay as a whole.

---

In this section I will discuss in slight detail each major item on the build as well as suggest other items for specific situations i.e. a heavy Attack Damage team.

: This item is a staple to any mage type character in the game. This item provides additional magic penetration and of all things, it is flat penetration instead of by percentage. This will still contribute late game, but at early levels it is a real heavy hitter, especially on Fiddlesticks due to his passive, A Harmless Scarecrow.

: With the introduction of the new jungle items and their new fantastic passives and abilities, I decided that the Stalker's Blade was the choice for Fiddlesticks. As a new effect of the Runeglaive subset, you receive mana back when killing jungle minions. This will let you give away the blue buff to the allied top laner or mid laner to assist them in their laning phase. The added aoe damage from the next basic attack after an ability is used provides you with some extra damage in the jungle and some minor aoe damage against enemy champions. With the ability to smite enemy champions for additional true damage and stealing 20% of the targets movement speed, this allows for both defensive and offensive capabilities. Providing you with what every champ needs, a way out of an engagement.

: The most important item for this champion by a long shot. Puts you into stasis for almost the full duration of your ultimate and causes everyone on the enemy team to despise you deeply.

: This item has some new found power since its last update and I feel it should be recognized. The slow it provides is enough to matter for certain and the increase in the amount of ability power yielded makes this item a top notch pick.

: This item is another staple to any mage anywhere for the most part. Providing an amazing increase in ability power and a huge chunk of ability power itself, you cannot go wrong from including this item in your build.

: This decreases the magic resist of nearby enemies by an additional 20 points and coupled with your passive can cause severe indigestion for those opponents who call themselves worthy.

Enchantment:Distortion This enchantment is essential in this build. It reduces the cooldown of the summoner spell, Flash. Late game for this champion is all about using your ultimate and when they try to flash away, you flash after them in pursuit so that they do not escape with their lives. I honestly do not see how any one could take another enchantment besides this one.

Additional items to consider:

This is being discussed upon request from a comment made. I discovered that his initial mention of this item makes great for later in game when tanks are stacked on magic resistance and you need that extra push to shut them down. The magic penetration from your boots, your passive, and Liandry's should be enough to not need the abyssal scepter and make for a tankier build in the current rather tanky meta. Since this item just got buffed and now deals double damage when enemies' movements are impaired by things like Rylai's, it couples nicely with the full build. Alternatively, if you have someone like Nautilus who likes to build Abyssal Scepter late game, this is a great alternative.

---

: Very helpful in getting that extra gold and cutting blue golem or red lizard by quite a bit of health while in the jungle. This only makes your journey to ganking a lane at level 4 assured even more than before.

: Ever activate your ultimate and watch enemy champions Flash out of it? NO MORE I SAY! Grabbing this summoner spell allows you to chase after champions who try and escape their murderous demise.

I am a huge fan of using team chat or Skype to communicate with your team to assist with your own personal map awareness. Using your teams knowledge of the enemy champions abilities, ganking and overall gameplay can be improved the most based on opposing team composition. Communicating during your first run through the jungle letting them know how far along in the jungle route you are can save your life as well because if they decide to anti-jungle, the right people know where you are and can come save you from almost certain demise. Also, do your part to ward your way around the map. This will make you a team favorite because you will be making it very difficult for the opponents to gank you or your fellow team members. It also provides extra eyes in the sky to protect you from nasty anti-junglers.

Due to the nature of this champion, you have multiple options depending on your personal play style. Gromp is where I usually like to start followed immediately by blue buff. Once you have obtained these two camps, you have a decision to make. Look at the map and your teammates and see how people are performing in their respective lanes. If someone is going to need a gank rather quickly, Head straight for red buff and lock it down so that you can assist as needed.
If everyone is doing well and you only need to continue to level, stay in the jungle and use your Smite to your advantage. Remember! Your Smite now has special attributes depending on which camp you use it on. I will not be going over what all of them are but the important one is Gromp as well as the blue buff. Make sure you keep an eye on your cooldown for Smite, lest you be caught without it.

UPON REACHING LEVEL 5, you should have 1 point in Terrify, 3 points in Bountiful Harvest, and 1 point in Reap. Assuming this is the case, your drain will be at 60% max damage at base damage. Also, due to the fact that despite his size, the Dragon is indeed a minion, your Hunter's Machete you bought at the start of the game will allow your abilities to deal an additional 10% more damage to minions and neutral camps.

These glyphs give you somewhere in the neighborhood of 7.5% cooldown reduction towards your maximum of 40%. Also, in your masteries, you should have built the predominately attack page which at the start of the ability power side provides you with 4% more cooldown reduction for a total of 12% cooldown reduction. Having things set up in this exact manner will provide you with the tools to take down Dragon.

As far as how to take down the dragon...ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS DRAIN! Over and over again click your Bountiful Harvest on the dragon and the rest will take care of itself. It is that simple. Make sure your team is aware of your intention to take the Dragon upon reaching level 5 so everyone on your team can be ready to keep you posted on the position of your opponents. Map awareness is going to be key in taking down the mighty beast, it is not the Dragon you are worried about, it is the enemy team showing up to stop you.

I would caution you when using fiddle as your jungler. A fellow summoner brought up what about counter-junglers. I have been counter jungled a few times while playing Fiddlesticks and you can still take necessary steps to prevent such a travesty. Knowing how squishy you are, take a friend such as the champ playing solo top to blue buff. Fiddle does not need the leash, but a friend close by to save your behind is great to have. Then if trouble strikes, call on mid and at least you have 2 people to start the team fight instead of just you as the squishy little scarecrow. After that initial stand-off, most teams back off if they do not secure the kill. If they do not back off, this can make for a very uncomfortable jungling route during the first crucial minutes in the game. Be careful and be aware of where your enemies are located at all times if possible. Build smart and carry hard when playing this champion and you will be feared by all you face.

This guide is geared towards those who have faith in their ability to trek through the jungle with ease. It is not an easy task to accomplish properly no matter how easy Fiddlesticks makes it. Remember that he is still a squishy, brainless scarecrow, despite his subtitle; The Harbinger of Doom. Thanks for reading, please rate, comment, and +rep but be constructive with anything you say. I would also like to go ahead and place a dedication on this guide. I dedicate this guide to a very special woman whom i never met. My good friend Steven inspired me to start writing in some form and it spawned me writing this guide in the first place. Without that wonderful woman, who is Steven's mother, I would not have the wonderful friend that inspired me in the first place. So, thank you. I could not have done this without one of the greatest friends I have ever been blessed to have known. Thanks a lot and keep gaming.