Just a disclaimer, this is a relatively brief guide to Jungle Fiddlesticks, the way I build him. There are more complete guides around, but i build him a little bit outside the norm, and just felt like getting my thoughts down and seeing if anyone else benefited from this kind of build the way i have.

Fiddlesticks was one of the first champs that I ever picked up and truly enjoyed. I got him back when i was level 10 or so, and new to MOBAs in general, so as you can expect i wasn't too great with him, but i stuck with him just because of how much fun he was. Even when i was feeding (which was every other game or so at the time), i never had an unfun game with him. He remains my favorite champion today, and the one i do reliably best with. He has been my bread and butter all the way from mid-bronze to silver (note: i am a silver scrub who knows nothing about League of Legends please turn away and never look back). He has a remarkably high win rate, and his kit synergizes -amazingly- well with some of the new S3 items. There seems to be a feeling, at least among the people i get queued with, that fiddle is awful or unviable. Well, if any among you feel the same way, i'm here to tell -you- why you should play the master of spooks!

Pros

One of the best CC abilities in the game
Best jungle sustain bar none
Massive damage potential
Fantastic Teamfight presence

Cons

Incredibly squishy
Very easy to shut down early
Relies heavily on channeling
Relies heavily on blue buff early

WHAT YOU SHOULD TAKE

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Flash is basically just a crutch for everyone, but you're gimping yourself by not using it. It's amazing for escapes and quick repositioning in teamfights, but its necessity is twofold for fiddlesticks. As you probably know, Crowstorm has a few seconds long channel time. It doesnt really matter how good you are at positioning it, a -lot- can happen in a fight during those few seconds, and a few steps they take in the wrong direction can mean a wasted ult which is potentially devastating to the team. Flash allows for quick repositioning of your ult, and you may be surprised just how often you'll make use of this.




Fiddlesticks doesnt need this in the slightest, he has the best jungle sustain in the game bar none. He doesnt need a leash and his clear time is great. That doesnt matter though, you're taking it anyway. Why? Well, buff control, smite stealing, etc. are the main reasons, but in all honesty? In soloqueue your team will likely whine incessantly about their jungler not taking smite, even though he may be better off with something else. Regardless of whether he really "needs it", smite is still a great option, as it offers a lot of jungle utility.

WHAT YOU CAN SITUATIONALLY GET AWAY WITH

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Assuming you get a cooperative team, teleport is a fantastic choice for any jungler. Cross map support on a whim, easy ganks set up assuming proper warding. This can be a great route to go, especially if you have a Shen, a Twisted Fate or to a lesser extent a Pantheon on the enemy team.

WHAT YOU SHOULD NEVER TAKE

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Yes, fiddlesticks has some severe mana issues early. No, this is not the answer.



The low level worse version of flash. Great on specific champs. Fiddlesticks is not among them.



Play safe so as not to get caught out, this spell is a crutch for anyone besides ADC's. (authors note: Fiddlesticks is not an ADC)



Heal Bait: the Season 3 edition. What are you thinking?



(Authors note: Fiddlesticks is not an ADC)



This aint a support guide yo



This aint a support guide yo



This aint a support guide yo



OH BOY I GET TO RUN OUT AND FEED AGAIN HERE I GO GUYS



Dominion. Need I say more?

Nearby enemy units have their magic resistance reduced by 10.

Dread is Fiddlesticks' passive, it lowers the Magic Resistance of any enemy within 1000 range by 10. I'm not going to lie, his passive is really nothing special. The only time that 10 MR difference will actually make a noticeable difference is at low levels, and you wont be putting out a whole lot of damage at that point regardless. It can be useful if you are on a heavier AP team, as you can generally think of it as a less effective abyssal for free. Theres not much else to say about his passive.



Strikes a target unit with fear, preventing it from taking any actions, and causing it to run around aimlessly in fear, while being slowed, for the duration of the spell.

This ability. This ******* ability. This ability is some of the most overpowered and broken strongest CC in the game. A three second ranged fear that's also targettable. ********. Maxing this first will ensure that your ganks are unavoidable, there's only one problem. You wont be putting out jack for damage yourself, at least not early, certainly not enough to fight anyone on your own. You had better be certain that your team will be able to make proper use of that 3 second lockdown, because until you get a few more levels and put some points in on Bountiful Harvest, you are going to be completely reliant on them.

More generally speaking, always be mindful of when and how to use this. Are you using it for an initiation, an escape, catching someone out, turning a fight, saving an ally? Think about what to follow it up with in each of these cases. This might seem like overkill, but knowing how, when, and more importantly who to fear is what separates good Fiddlesticks' from bad ones. Generally you're going to tag it on the carry, right? Not necessarily, before a teamfight you want to honestly stop for a second and think "Who is causing the most detriment to my team?". Is there a Xin Zhao who is constantly warping over to your carry an annihilating him before the fight can even start? Is there a Katarina who just keeps cleaning up with her ultimate? Remember, this ability allows you to make someone a non-entity for three whole seconds. That is an absolutely massive advantage, and using that to stop the real problems on the enemy team can certainly make a bigger difference than stopping Ashe from auto-attacking a couple times.



Fiddlesticks channels and leashes to a target for 5 seconds, dealing magic damage each second and healing himself for a percentage of the damage done. If the target leaves the range of Fiddlesticks' leash, he will stop channeling.

This spell is fiddlesticks' bread and butter, it's where his amazing jungle sustain comes from. Coupled with a fear, it allows him to win or turn nearly any 1v1, and can let him tank his squishy *** through teamfights constantly dancing around low HP, never stopping the channel. Just some important things to keep in mind, this is a channeled ability. The significance of that lies in that for the duration, you're rooted, this makes you a very easy target, however it's difficult to fight a Fiddlesticks who's draining you. Unless you have a way of breaking his channel, that is. If that's the case, you'll mop the floor with him easily. This is the biggest thing to keep in mind, dont bother even trying to 1v1 anyone with hard CC that can interupt your channel, as they're going to...you know...do that. This leaves you with no recourse, and no other source of damage to make up for it. With Bountiful Harvest, this may not be -that- big of a concern, especially not in comparison to Crowstorm, but we'll get there. Bountiful Harvest is on a -very- short cooldown, short enough that at max rank it is able to have a 100% uptime, you can recast it immediately as the first channel ends. So being knocked out of one wont necessarily be the end of the world, especially considering that Bountiful Harvest will probably be up faster than whatever ability they used to break it in the first place. But are you going to survive those few seconds till it's back up again?



Fiddlesticks throws a crow that strikes an enemy target then continues to bounce from that enemy unit to another nearby enemy unit 5 times dealing magic damage and silencing for 1.2 seconds each strike. Dark Wind may strike the same target multiple times. Dark Wind deals 50% increased damage to minions.

Dark Wind is a handy little tool, but it's effectiveness is pretty limited outside of laning. One of fiddlesticks' biggest concerns is that (outside of jungling where you can rely on Bountiful Harvest for farming) he is a pretty awful farmer. darkwind doesnt completely solve this, but it gives him a leg to stand on, while also doubling as a convenient semi-long range harassing tool. Outside of this, think of it as a targeted silence, because that's what you really want it for. Its damage is -only- notable at all when it bounces off the same target multiple times, which is never really going to happen unless there are two champions standing right next to each other (watch out for this though, when champs are tightly packed is when you really -do- want this spell). That being considered, the silence is worth much much more than the paltry harass this can get you. Try to avoid overusing darkwind in laning standoffs, it can be tempting to cast crows at them over and over again, but it's hardly worth the mana it costs, and having that silence available to interrupt initiations, or cause disruption in a teamfight that's already started, is too handy to not have up. This goes double for enemy teams with lots of channeled abilites, much like yourself. Dark Wind can very easily, and more importantly safely interupt these from range, so this ability can be quite useful if used properly.


After channeling for 1.5 seconds, Fiddlesticks teleports to nearby target location with a murder of crows flying wildly around him for 5 seconds, dealing magic damage to all enemy units in the area each second.

Here it is, this is the big one, Fiddlesticks' signature ability. Let me just get to the meat of this, the channel time. Like Bountiful Harvest, Fiddlesticks' ultimate Crowstorm has a channel time, however, this one has a lot more trouble associated with it. Rather than being on a 4 second cooldown that starts while the ability is still channeling, this one is on a two minute CD and can easily make the difference in a close game between a win and loss. In addition to the channel, theres another very important thing that you need to take into consideration, the teleport. Warping over walls into surprise engages that turn the tide of fights or entire games is arguably the most important thing you can do as fiddlesticks. Take great care in planning this ult out. Never ult in from the open if you can avoid it, because the channel is blatantly obvious and locks you down for a few seconds and is interrupted by the following disables: EVERYTHING (except slows).

As Fiddle, the enemy should be more afraid when they CANT see you than when they can. A fiddle that can be seen can be easily interrupted and is basically useless in a teamfight after that. If they never know where you are, they're going to be afraid to push up on anything because any scrap of map without vision could potentially have a Fiddle ready to ult and OH JESUS THERE HE IS RUN RUN CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW. There's a map below of the obvious places to ult over that you'll probably make use of the most, but nearly every wall on the map is thin enough to ult over, especially in the jungle. If you needed any more encouragement to keep the thing thoroughly warded (hint: you shouldn't), this should seal it. Having vision everywhere is mandatory, you're going to get caught out, and that is the absolute worst thing that can possibly happen to a fiddlesticks. If you get caught and the enemy is right in your face, you may as well not even have an ult, at this point the channel/teleport, which is usually its strongest aspect, gimps it completely and makes it utterly useless. Play safe, dont be afraid to ult, but think about how to use it most effectively and safely. Losing it will cost you.

As far as items go, i dont think theres really a whole lot to say. It's a fairly generic AP carry build, outside of the jungle start. Theres really just two things about it id like to give my piece on.

1.

So, you're probably wondering why i picked this over wraithspirit. I mean, Wrait Spirit's got AP, Spellvamp, -and- CDR, why could you want anything else for a squishy, drain-tanky AP carry? Wraith Spirit is in his recommended items, and most of the guides ive seen, and it really is a great item for him. The only problem is, he just doesnt need any of it. Don't get me wrong, it's all great for him, but lets break it down. Spellvamp? He gets an ability (the ability that 75% of your fighting will come from) that has 80% spellvamp just innately. The AP? It doesnt really give all that much, and you're building quite a bit more on better items a little later.

The thing im really getting at is that Wraith Spirit is more of a comfort of living buy. It gives him a few cool stats early that make what he already has a little better, but it doesnt satisfy any of the categories he actually has problems in. It gives him some nice stuff, but not what he -needs-. So what does he need? Well, not exploding in 2 Soraka autoattacks would be pretty nice for a start. Whats that, 500 HP you say? Getting caught out is fatal in almost every circumstance. Free tenacity you say? -And- i get to keep that rocking CDR anyway? Thank you very much.

You could probably build Wraith Spirit and do just fine, and im sure many do, but you'll find your play much -much- safer with Golem, while dealing very comparable damage. I miss when it gave armor though.


2.


For some reason ive gotten a lot of flak for building this item on Fiddle and i can't even begin to fathom why. Its passive synergizes so hilariously well with Fiddlesticks' kit that it may as well have been written for him exclusively, not to mention extra AP and -more- health. Everyone knows how great Liandrys is, and i dont think i need to sing it's praises any more. It's great for any AP Carry, really. But why on fiddle specifically? Well, it truly shines with abilites that either are channeled, or deal Damage-Over-Time, as these refresh Liandrys' own Damage-Over-Time endlessly until they are stopped, adding to much much more damage. It's also great especially on APC's with built in hard CC, so as to get the double effective passive.

Fiddle has both of these, and both of them are extremely long. Since the fear is 3 seconds, the victim is likely to take the entire 5 second channel of drain, 3 seconds of which being doubly effective. Liandrys burn is running this entire time, and only when that channel ends does it finally start its 3 second timer to deactivate. In my experience, this adds to around 15% of their HP just from liandrys burn alone. This can absolutely wreck health stackers like Cho'Gath. Again, i have no idea why this is regarded as a bad pick for Fiddle. I build it almost every game to great effect. Even before Rabadons in some cases.

If everything else so far has been tl;dr then you'll enjoy this sections brevity.

I used to run a standard 21/0/9 setup, but often found myself wanting for gold, since switching things to a 17/0/13 setup, ive not noticed any real drop in damage, but having the extra gold around has certainly been noticeable in terms of ease of warding etc.

Never underestimate the amount of baiting and kiting you can do against just one or two enemies, even at low HP. Your fear, silence, and ability to get massive amounts of health back rapidly make you a deceptively strong threat, when chased by one or two cocky enemies you can often either survive long enough to lead them to your team, or turn the fight yourself by timing your silence and fear to give yourself the biggest windows of time to safely drain health back and keep your head above water.

When at low level Minigolems, always start by dark winding the small one. You get 5 total bounces, including the first target hit. This means that whichever golem you target will eventually be hit 3 times, while the untargetted one will only be hit twice. 3 Dark wind procs, even with only one point in the spell, is enough to kill the small golem on its own, meaning you wont be taking unnecessary extra damage from a low health small golem while chanelling drain on its big brother.

Furthermore on a similar point to above, when at Wraiths, Dark wind the small wraith directly opposite the big wraith, this gives you the largest chance of having it chain between the small ones only and kill all of them without wasting bounces on the Big one, which you'll be draining.

Showing up in lanes just to push the enemy laner back and let your lane free farm for a little while is more helpful than you might imagine.

If you see an enemy laner getting frustrated, either just in general, or after your ganks, start/continue camping them to make them even more frustrated. At best they'll go on tilt and not play as well, even from their position of weakness from losing lane, at worst they'll actively try to make them game end quicker, become toxic and drag the team down, or just leave. In any case, having a frustrated and annoyed enemy player can be a much bigger force for your victory than you might know.

Always be warding. Seriously. Always be warding. Pinks, Greens, whatever. Just ward something. Ward their jungle and yours, keep objectives and jungle intersections visible. Encourage every other player to ward. Saying "It's the supports job" should be a bannable offense. Wards will do SO MUCH to help you're entire team play smarter and safer it's not even funny. Wards are the difference between bronze and gold.

And lastly, if you want a good Fiddlesticks guide, go look at http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/s3-fiddlesticks-party-doesnt-start-till-i-crowstorm-in-269308