League of Legends developers have shipped a hotfix for Fiddlesticks just days after his rework, as players have struggled to adapt to the Ancient Fear’s new kit.
The Fiddlesticks rework has been a while in the making, and fans have now had a chance to pick him up on live servers. His kit has been modernized, and his animations are truly horrifying.
However, he has fallen a bit flat with players. His win rates in jungle and support — his two primary roles — have plummeted post-rework. So, to survive the changes, Riot is giving him a leg-up.
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Why is Fiddlesticks getting hotfixed?
Although Fiddlesticks is currently being picked and banned in almost every game, that doesn’t mean he’s strong. Players often want to try the new content as soon as it drops, or take it away from others.
When Fiddlesticks has gotten through the cracks of ban phase, he’s been underwhelming. His jungle win rate currently stands at 43.29% according to stats site op.gg, while in support he’s faring even worse, with a 42.82% win rate.
He is currently the lowest win rate champion in both roles, despite climbing to have top 15 ban and pick rates.
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Fiddlesticks receiving W buffs in hotfix
It’s reasonable to assume having a champion reworked will affect their win rate. Their playstyle could be completely changed, and everyone will want to play them, not just mains. However, Fiddle has fallen below the threshold Riot expected of him.
To combat this, he will be hotfixed on April 3 as players try to adapt to his new kit.
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The changes focus on his W, which is a huge part of his jungle clear. Its damage is going up by 20 at all ranks. The final tick will also do an additional 2% of missing HP at rank five.
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The full change list is here:
- W damage: 100-340 > 120-360
- W final tick: 12-16% missing HP > 12-18% missing HP
Fiddlesticks buff hotfix going out this afternoon:
-W damage 100-340 >>> 120-360-W final tick 12-16 >>> 12-18% missing HP
It's a small buff, but we think there's still a good amount of learning the new kit to do before players are accessing Fiddle's full power.
— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) April 3, 2020
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Fiddlesticks “learning curve” steep, says Rioter
Riot doesn’t expect Fiddle to flounder for long; however, they have highlighted him as a “rare case.”
Mark ‘Scruffy’ Yetter, lead gameplay designer for League, elaborated that while most champions will climb in win rate as players “learn to correctly play them,” Fiddle could suffer the opposite.
“Fiddle might be a rare case where the playing-against learning curve might match or eclipse the playing-as curve,” he said in a April 3 blog post.
“A certain type of champion design that is very trickery focused can have a similarly steep learning curve for opponents, as they get familiar with the types of tricks that they should be looking out for when playing against them,” he continued.
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“Our current expectation is that Fiddle should still have a normal curve where its win rate will climb over the first week because it has a very unique jungle playstyle that will take some time to master.”
The Fiddlesticks hotfix will be shipped on April 3 as part of League Patch 10.7. If he needs further changes, they’ll either hotfix him again, or get some buffs planned for League Patch 10.8 on April 15.
