Hello, this is MehAlexander from the North American servers. I’m also known as Phoinex (don’t mind the misspelling, the name “Phoenix” was already taken). Just a note, please read the guide to at least some extent, try out the build, then write some constructive criticism before you down rate. To those people, “Yeah bro, I’ll try my best to include that aspect in my guide!” To noob trollers out there that down rate for absolutely no reason, “Go **** yourself please.” Would be my reaction. I’m going to be honest with you—I’m not the BEST FIDDLESTICKS PLAYER EVER, as much as I want to be, and I hope that I can share my meh (hehehe name reference) ideas with you on Fiddlesticks, my favorite AP mage in League of Legends. Overall, through my year of experience, I see many (NOT ALL) players make the same mistake on Fiddlesticks - they do not understand Fiddlestick’s role in game, his laning, his items, and his abilities completely. I’m definitely not saying that “OH, I KNOW ALL OF THOSE. HAHAHA!” but I would like to share my two cents on what I think of these aspects. Without further ado, I’ll start with my guide.

For nearly twenty years, Fiddlesticks has stood alone in the easternmost summoning chamber of the Institute of War. Only the burning emerald light of his unearthly gaze pierces the musty darkness of his dust-covered home. It is here that the Harbinger of Doom keeps a silent vigil. His is a cautionary tale of power run amok, taught to all summoners within the League. Decades ago, there existed a powerful rune mage from Zaun - Istvaan. At the end of the fifth Rune War, he became one of the League's first summoners. Too much a prisoner to the old ways of magic, Istvaan stepped further and further outside the rules of conduct in the League. In what was ultimately his last match, his reach finally exceeded his grasp. Sealing himself inside the easternmost summoning chamber, he began incanting the most forbidden of rituals - an extra-planar summoning.

What exactly happened inside that chamber remains unknown. No champion came to represent Zaun that day in Summoner's Rift. Only silence echoed back from repeated knocks on the chamber door. The first apprentice who entered was cut down immediately by an unearthly scythe. What few who followed and survived were driven mad by fear, mere husks of men gibbering about crows and death. Afraid of the evil even Istvaan could not control, the League sealed all exits to the chamber, hoping they could contain what they could not destroy. Years went by, but the wooden figure within never moved save to slay any foolish enough to enter. Seeing no recourse to reclaim the chamber, the Council instead devised a use for Fiddlesticks: executioner. While he comes to life and seemingly abides by the rules of summoning in the Fields of Justice, what he awaits inside his chamber is unknown. His unmoving face yields no clues, and his scythe stands ready to strike down any who stand before him.

"Those who say 'you have nothing to fear but fear itself' have not yet felt the crows."

Here is a list of spells that I think are an absolute must for Fiddlesticks

Smite: This spell is useful for jungling. Period.
Flash: This is an extremely useful spell for Fiddlesticks. First, Fiddlesticks has no natural escape/catch up skill (gap closer) and this is crucial to fiddlestick’s ulti if he misses it.
Ignite: Damn Ashe uses her ulti and runs away with two health? Don’t worry! Ignite is here to save you. No matter if you just need that extra damage done, or you need to finish off someone, ignite is there for you!

Here are a list of spells that I think are good if you do not have the “best” summoner spells.
Ghost: If you don’t have flash or prefer the use of ghost, go ahead!
Teleport: Very useful for getting back in lane or pushing, especially if you’re solo or mid.

Here are a list of spells that I do not really prefer, but that is just me—if you are used to or are really good at using one of these spells, by all means, go ahead.

Heal: Despite the recent buff of heal, you are not an AD carry. It isn’t needed. However, if you feel uncomfortable with Fiddlesticks, heal is a good choice.
Clarity: Sure, it might be useful early game, but I would rather exchange it with another summoner spell.
Cleanse: It’s a very hard summoner spell to use (timing is very important!) but it is very useful to remove slows, stuns, etc.
Promote: Its viable because Fiddlesticks is such a ****py farmer. Still, I would pick something else.
Exhaust: This spell is AWESOME, but Fiddlesticks is an AP carry, not an AD character


Why are these spells in the game? Really!

Surge: Who uses this? It sucks and you should forget about it; choose something else.
Revive: Nope. It has a much too long CD and it’s not that useful anyway.

Like any other champion in League of Legends, Fiddlesticks has pros and cons. Fiddlesticks is primarily a carry who plays as a jungler or mid character. He is a ganking burst damage character, but is very squishy and susceptible to ganks, thus, he is quite item dependent.

Game Changing Pros Excellent sustain with Bountiful Harvest Extremely high burst damage Excellent ganker Can harass very well Has a built in defense mechanism: fear and Reap Can go in any lane (jungle, solo top, bot, mid) Looks very badass

SPACE

Irritating Cons Relatively high cooldowns Item dependent Very squishy early game Has no real farming skill Walks in a very odd fasion

Starting Items 1

Jungle Route

While jungling,this is probably the best choice for starting items. It gives you a healthy 3 potions and boots to help you get around your jungle faster or get a better gank. It also builds into another USEFUL ITEM THAT IS A MUST (ex. Sorcerer's Shoes Ionian Boots of Lucidity) unlike a doran's ring/doran's blade.

Laning

This starting item combo is mostly useful at bot, and sometimes mid. I would not suggest this item for solo top though. This is because only using boots and three health potions (some mana too) does not give you any sustain, rather more mobility. This could be useful at bot where you don't need as much sustain as you can recall (the sustain is mana wise). At mid, if the enemy is heavily skill shots based (ex. Lux or Morgana), you can buy the boots to dodge the skill shots. At solo top, you need AS MUCH SUSTAIN AS POSSIBLE, and this starting item DOES NOT QUALIFY.

Starting Items 2

Jungle Route

I personally DO NOT suggest this set for jungling. You do not need the Meki Pendant as you will already have the Blue Buff to get rid of your mana problems. You also don't get as many Health Potion and thus, you do not have as much sustain in the jungle. This build is basically only for junglers who are either starting somewhere besides the blue buff or an experienced player who knows why they are using this build ;)

Laning

Laning is where this setup really shines. At top, you can keep your mana regen high to get more mana to drain minions. This in turn means MORE HEALTH AND MORE MANA=MORE SUSTAIN, and that is what solo top is all about. At mid, this setup is great FOR HARASING WITH YOUR DARK WIND. You can keep spamming moves, go back a for a few seconds, then BAM another gay combo from Fiddlesticks. At bot, you can have more sustain than your teammate and hold the turret while they recall.

Starting Items

3

Jungle Route

If you are experienced enough in the jungle to use this in conjunction with the Flash+ Ignite combo, you are certainly a pro. ONLY ATTEMPT TO JUNGLE WITH THIS IF YOU ARE AN EXPERIENCED FIDDLESTICKS. With only one health potion to work with, this is certainly a difficult setup. However, that extra AP will be key to your success. Also note that this item will later build into the core item Hextech Revolver.

Laning

Using this setup in laning will either have you banging your keyboard on the ground angrily or shouting out joyful comments like “YES!” or “TAKE THAT NOOB!” or “HAHAHA PENTAKILL!” This build at top is very difficult to work with because you have no sustain. But with that extra amplifying tome you can dish out a ton of damage. When used in conjunction with the Q->W combo, you can harass a ton, and your E should do a visible amount of extra damage. At bot lane, you can carry hard with your teammate and dominate the lane. Overall, it’s a good set to practice with.

Here is my suggested jungle route for fiddlesticks:

1) Start off around blue and have your teammate leash for you. You should have picked your first skill as Bountiful Harvest. After killing the blue golem and its minions, you should reach level 2.
2) By level 2, you should pick Reap. Move on to the wolves camp. Clear it by draining the larger minion and using dark wind to finish them off. Mana should not be a problem for now, as you have your blue buff.
3) Next, move on to the wraiths. Use the same tactic on them as the wolves, and you should be able to kill them in no time.
4) By now, your Smite should have finished its cooldown. If it is close to finishing its cooldown, you should just start draining the red golem.
5) Finally, move on to the golem camp and finish your first jungle route.
6) Now you are level three and you have five options:

• Recall
• Gank
• Idle Path (Farming the wraiths and the wolves)
• Recall and repeat this pattern in their jungle if they have no jungler.

Tips:
1) Only smite the buffs when it is on low health; this prevents the enemy jungler from stealing your buff, and if you have the special mastery that increases the gold you get from smiting a minion, you also get extra gold.
2) While jungling, you should look out for opportunities to gank. If you see someone on critical health, you can easily Flash+ Ignite and pick up the kill.
3) If you feel like it, you can attempt to ward the enemy jungle and kill the enemy jungler while he is attacking a buff or he is on low health in general.

Keep in mind the minion spawns:

Small Camps:
1) Wraiths: Spawn time - 1:40 || Respawn time - 0:50
2) Wolves: Spawn time - 1:40 || Respawn time - 1:00
3) Golems: Spawn time - 1:40 || Respawn time - 1:00

Buff Camps:
1) Golem: Spawn time - 1:55 || Respawn time - 5:00
2) Lizard: Spawn time - 1:55 || Respawn time - 5:00

The buffs hold on you for 2:30 without "Runic Affinity"(the utility branch in the masteries), and ~2:50 with it(if im not mistaken)

River camps:
1) Dragon: Spawn time - 2:30 || Respawn time - 6:00
2) Baron: Spawn time - 15:00 || Respawn time - 7:00

The Baron buff holds on you for 4:00

To be quite honest, many people somewhat doubt using smite on some characters. I borrow this off from a guide on MobaFire “Jungling 101: Everything You Need to Know About Jungling”

Smite:

EVERY JUNGLER NEEDS SMITE
There is NO jungler than can "Jungle without Smite", and don't let anybody tell you different. I know, I know, junglers like Warwick and Fiddlesticks can kill stuff WITHOUT Smite, but that isn't the reason.

Advantages of Smite
- Securing of buffs/dragon/baron
- Much harder for you to be counter jungled
- Faster (in some cases, by a huge amount) jungle times
- More ganks, due to needing less time in the jungle for XP
- Ability to counter jungle a LOT easier, you can steal their buffs with Smite
- You only need a lower level to kill Dragon
- More/faster gold, for items

So called "Disadvantages" of Smite -
- They know you're a jungler?
Well, this isn't really true, it's kind of obvious that if don't see a Warwick (for example) in a lane and there's only one top that you're a jungler.
- It's "useless" late game
- I don't see securing Baron as being useless at ALL, sure, Exhaust might be a slight bit better, but to be honest, the time period you'll be jungling or using Smite will be a LOT more than not using it.
- It's only one small spell too; it's not like having to go without an ultimate.


Without Smite, you're not jungling at all. You're simply roaming around the map and killing creeps along the way. Smite is THE jungling spell, you'd be a fool not to take it. Without it, you'll have your creeps, dragon, and baron stolen, will be under-levelled, and can't properly counter jungle. Take Smite. No exceptions.

OK In my opinion in ranked games you HAVE TO. HAVE TO JUNGLE WITH Smite. It is way safer to secure your buffs and not get counter jungled, especially because Fiddlesticks can’t do **** without the blue buff. He is literally useless. Try taking down the wolves with no mana. Yeah, I thought so. The only part that I disagree in with the jungle guide is that the “useless late game” argument is sort of irrelevant. You should NEVER attempt to take down the baron with the whole enemy team up anyways, and yes, it is true that other summoner spells are more important late game than smite. In my opinion if you want to jungle without Smite in ranked, at least have your support ward the area or have your teammates defend the jungle in case of a counter jungler/invade. In normal games, the chances are you probably won’t get counter jungled, so it’s not really necessary.

While in early game, Fiddlestick's objective is to become less squishy, rather than stacking AP (that is viable if you are fed but then you can't really survive too well). This is the list of items that I build for, of course it depends on the situation.

Item Explanation:


Will of the ancients is key to Fiddlestick's early game. It gives a healthy amount of AP to deal extra damage, and gives you 20% spell vamp. This means that every 100 damage you do, you heal for 20 health. Now at the max tier for Bountiful Harvest you get 80% health back for the damage you dealt. With that extra 20% spell vamp... YOU GET 100% PERCENT HEALING. This in turn with give you a lot of sustain(by draining minions) or 1 v 1 an AD champ like Master Yi. THUS THIS IS AN ITEM THAT HAS TO BE BOUGHT ASAP!


In my opinion, this is the only boots that can be used on absolutely ANYONE. It gives you some magic resist, which can be useful overall and especially if you are laning against an AP carry. The tenacity it gives you is just lovely if you are versus a heavy CC team. It is also the cheapest tenacity item in the whole game... but it is also the most expensive pair of boots. Either way, feel free to use this set of boots whether its for the extra tenacity or magic resist.



To be quite honest, this pair of boots should not be on this list... but it is here for one reason. While laning, these boots are quite useless because the cooldown reduction really makes little to no difference from the high cooldowns of Fiddlesticks. However, while jungling, this item is heavenly--Your drain will have exactly the same cooldown as the duration. Thus, you will never run out of drain!



Standard AP carry boots: cheap and useful.

Rabadon’s Deathcap- Standard AP carry thing. Good AP buff and an awesome passive.

Passive: lowers the enemy’s magic resist by 10

To be quite honest, A Harmless Scarecrow is not the best compared to other passives. Unlike overpowered passives like Tryndamere's Fury or Blitzcrank's mana shield, its more like an addition that you can choose to exploit. It’s kind of useful because that way, you can deal more damage with your abilities. The only time it would be useful would be when you are jungling-the minions in it take more damage. Overall, you should ignore it completely and carry on as if you didn’t have the passive.

(Q) Fear: causes the enemy to flee for a duration, where they are unable to cast any abilities and walk in any direction randomly (slowed).
Cooldown- 16/15/14/13/12/11 seconds (-0.3 second cooldown per level increase)
Disable Duration- 1/1.5/2/2.5/3 seconds

Never, ever use this skill in jungling, unless you are early game and need to disable golem to take less damage. It takes up quite some mana out of your pool, especially early game, and doesn’t really do much help in jungling. However, while laning (especially top/bot), it is extremely useful because it is key to fiddlestick’s combo. Using Q ( fear ) then immediately using -> W ( Bountiful Harvest) means you deal damage to any character while they are unable to do anything (and they are slowed).

Drain: deals damage to anyone in range and heals Fiddlesticks for half that amount.
Cooldown-12 seconds at rank 1, 6 seconds rank 5
Damage- 50/75/100/130/160 (+40% of AP)

Your bread and butter skill. In jungling, this is key to your formula. You deal quite a good amount of damage, and heals yourself for 6 SECONDS. THAT IS OP! At level one, most junglers get half their health down from the golem WITH Smite. Fiddlesticks can easily cope with that and get ¾ of his health left without Smite. GJ! In laning, this skill is not that useful if your mid early game. This is because all mid does is super long range basic attack farming/uber far ranged harass. If the enemy is super aggressive and is melee (often the case top/bot), then you’re in luck! All you have to do is W, let the enemy basic attack you and deal some damage, then deal them more damage per second 6 times, heal for the damage they dealt, and run away. Ex. If you are Master Yi at level one, you deal around 324 damage in six seconds; if you fought a Fiddlesticks using drain, that means they deal 360 health and (half that) heal for 180 damage. They take 170 damage and deal 360. Drain a minion and you’re good to go once more.
Dark Wind: 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 (50% increased damage to minions) and silencing for 1.2 seconds each strike. Dark Wind may strike the same target multiple times
Cooldown- 15/14/13/12/11 seconds
Damage- 65/85/105/125/145

This would be your main harass skill. Early game (no matter what lane you are) just spam your E from an exceptionally long range and sit back, farming. It will bounce back and forth through minions, giving you a good farm and deal damage to the enemies. The silence is especially good versus heavy AP characters (who rely on abilities) who are usually at mid. Mid game, it will deal a somewhat OK amount of damage, since at mid game we focus on other items that are not pure AP (ex. Rod of Ages). It should only be used for the silence mid game. Late game, your Reap should take away quite a lot of health with your items.

Crowstorm: 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.
Cooldown- 150/140/130 seconds
Damage- 125/225/325 damage per second

I seriously don’t know how to describe this skill. It is SUPERB. Just think about it—325 damage per second for 5 times. Its main purposes are: ganking. The main flaw of crowstorm is that you need REALLY good positioning and timing. Also, it takes 1.5 seconds to cast, which could east seen so the enemy would’ve gtfoed long ago. Thus, its only useful if you gank from an unseen spot. To help this “ganking” you can also teleport over a wall, there’s an aura around you so your range is longer, and with your combo (R in -> Q-> W-> E -> Flash -> Ignite) it’s a guaranteed kill. Good times to use crowstorm would be: 1 v 1 a confident attacker, team fights, and ganks!

Fiddlesticks is extremely versatile. He can solo top (because he has so much sustain with free health from drain), mid (because his E is excellent harass and because of his sustain), bot with a teammate (because you can use Q to help your teammate get a kill). I will be breaking down this section into three parts: solo, with teammate, mid.

Solo 1 v 2: Fiddlesticks is not a very strong champion in terms of health. Because of this, you should always try to get your Rod of Ages if you’re solo top. It will give you a good amount of health, mana, and AP to get you going. If you are not farming well/not doing well, get the Hextech Revolver first. It’s a cheap item to help maximize you’re drain’s health regen as well as providing a good amount of AP. When your solo, try to level up your abilities according to the enemy. For example, if the enemy just keeps farming the minions, try to maximize your Reap first. This will help harass the enemy, greatly annoy them so they may be taunted into attacking you aggressively, or have one of them recall. Once they recall, you can try to kill the remaining enemy. On the contrary, if all the enemy does is strike at you when they can (and try to dive turrets) it’s a good idea to max your Q fear or W Bountiful Harvest so you can disable them and deal some damage. If you’re versus another solo top, you should treat the lane as if it were mid.

Mid: Fiddlesticks is a very good mid character (as most AP casters are). He has an exceptionally good range with his E Reap, and can heal himself for the damage he took. Fiddlesticks really has no killing chance before level six. The most you can do is spam E to get the enemy on their heels, or Q fear -> W Bountiful Harvest if you’re looking for a more aggressive approach. When you’re mid, you should always try to get you’re sorcerer’s boots first. It gives you great mobility, and your abilities/basic attacks deal more damage to units with high magic resist. This stacks with your passive which will in turn reduce the enemy’s magic resist by a **** ton. If you’re having a lot of trouble fighting a character at mid such as LeBlanc, you should try to build either the Rod of Ages (RoA) if you feel like you need more sustain, or you can build Banshee’s Veil (BV) if you are vs another very OP magic caster (the BV can be used versus nukers like brand or Veigar too!). At level six, you should recall, buy some items, come from side bush, use Crowstorm, and pick up the kill.

Bot: Fiddlesticks is an exceptional support in some ways. He can silence the enemy to protect your teammate, harass with dark wind, and fear enemies to help your teammate run away or pick up a kill, or drain an enemy closing in. Once Fiddlesticks gets to level six, you’re full potential is unlocked; start ganking lanes or driving the enemy back. A very solid strategy for bot is to have your teammate keep the pressure up (by adding up to the damage you had dealt with your Reap). By now, they should be turret hugging like ****. Position yourself so you are at the brush next to the turret (behind them). Tell your teammate that as soon as you see me casting Crowstorm, dive in. Cast crowstorm, then bam, double kill. At bot, if you are versus an easy enemy combo, try to buy your Rabadon’s deathcap first. If you are not doing too well or you’re enemies harass you, you can try buying Rylai’s crystal receptor or RoA.

Ahri
Skill Set: Fox Fire
Difficulty Level: 9/10 (Very Hard)
Usually Found at: Mid

Ahri is a an assassin mage who is usually found in the mid lane. The reason why Ahri is so high up in the difficulty level is because she has amazing harass with "Q", amazing sustain with her passive, and her Charm can disrupt your drain, not to mention her high mobility ultimate. She can easily outfarm you, out harass you, deal way more damage, and have more sustain (from blocking your W)

Tips and Tricks when fighting against Ahri

-Utilizing your E correctly can help you fight against this OP champ.
-Ahri's mana pool is pitiful and you may find her recalling often.
-If you can get a gank pre-level 6 (before she has quadra flash with ultimate), she may be -less of a threat.
-Try to maximize your CC to counter Ahri.



Skill Set:
Difficulty: Pre-6: 4/10 (Medium), Post 6: 7/10 (Hard)
Usually Found at: Mid and Solo top, sometimes bot as last resort.

Where Akali really shines is her Q-> Basic Attack burst. It deals quite a lot of damage. Her only set back is that she cannot get close enough to do that combo... until level 6. Pre Level 6, her only offensive moves are her q and e, and cannot really harass. However, her ultimate has a whopping 1 second cooldown and can be used three times! asdfkjdefniejrffru WTF!

Tips and Tricks while laning against Akali

-Using your disable and silence can really **** her burst/combo up.
-Remember to buy an oracles elixer to counter her invisibility gayness.
-

Akali is completely burst damage, and you can keep regaining your health with your - Bountiful Harvest and she has no CC to disrupt it.


Alistair
Skill Set: Pulverize=55
Difficulty: Pre-6: 5/10 (Medium), Post 6: 8/10 (Hard)
Usually Found at: Jungle, Bot Support, Sometimes Solo Top

Alistair is most commonly refered to as the “CC King” because of his huge amounts of CC. Early game, he deals TONS of damage and can easily bring enemies to their knees. On the other hand, despite Alistair’s “tons of damage” and OP CC, he has no harass and has to get close to attack. This means you can farm and harass with ease (just don’t overextend b/c if Alistair headbutts you from behind with the help of his jungler…GG. After level 6 Alistair gains a steroid ultimate that makes him super tanky. Just leave him alone while he activates his ult and try not to engage.

Tips and Tricks while laning against Alistair

-Late game Alistair cannot really deal much damage and is more of a support/tank
-Try to ward as frequently as possible if there is an enemy

Alistair because his Headbutt can block all your escapes
-Try not to Bountiful Harvest or Crowstorm him too close to him because remember that his CC can disrupt your Bountiful Harvest and your Crowstorm while you are casting.
-Try to stay behind Alistair when you are using crowstorm. This way, he cannot Headbutt you out of the way.