Fiora LoL Classic Top: Blade Waltz Is Back
Fiora arrives in League Classic on September 10 with patch 26.18, and she is bringing Blade Waltz, the untargetable teleporting ultimate that Riot removed in her 2015 rework and has never put back.
She is not live yet, so this is built from the PBE tooltips rather than played games, and the numbers could still move. But there is one line in her ability text that decides how she should be built, and it is worth getting ahead of.
Planned approach: max Q, then W, then E, with R at 6, 11, and 16. Build on hit and Attack Damage rather than pure critical strike, because Blade Waltz applies on hit effects on every one of its five strikes.
The Kit
Key | Ability | Numbers that matter |
|---|---|---|
P | Duelist | Regenerates 8 Health over 6 seconds each time she deals physical damage. Striking champions stacks it up to 4 times. |
Q | Lunge | 60 mana, cooldown 16 down to 8. Dashes forward and strikes for 40/65/90/115/140 (+60% bonus) physical damage. Can be recast within 4 seconds for a second dash at no mana cost. |
W | Riposte | 45 mana, cooldown 10 down to 6. Passive: +15/20/25/30/35 Attack Damage. Active: parries the next attack within 1.5 seconds and reflects 60/110/160/210/260 (+100%) magic damage. Works on champions, monsters, and large minions. |
E | Burst of Speed | 55 mana, cooldown 15 down to 11. 60/75/90/105/120% Attack Speed for 3 seconds. Each attack or Lunge grants 7 to 15% Move Speed for 3 seconds, stacking three times. Killing a champion refreshes the cooldown, assists reduce it by 5.5 to 7.5 seconds. |
R | Blade Waltz | 100 mana, cooldown 130/120/110. Dashes around striking random champions 5 times for 160/330/500 (+15% bonus). Repeat hits on the same target deal less. First and last strike hit the same target. Each strike applies on hit effects. |
The Line That Decides the Build
Each Blade Waltz strike applies on hit effects.
Five applications of every on hit item you own, delivered while untargetable, across a 100 mana ultimate. That is the same interaction that makes Blade of the Ruined King correct on Warwick, except Fiora gets it from an ability that also repositions her through the enemy team.
This is why the build below leans on hit rather than stacking critical strike. Critical strike does nothing for the ultimate. On hit fires five times.
The Other Detail People Will Miss
Riposte's passive grants up to 35 flat Attack Damage just for having ranks in it.
That is not a small number in a mode where Long Sword gives 10. Ranking W is buying you the equivalent of most of a Attack Damage item, and it comes attached to a parry that reflects damage back at whoever attacked you.
The parry works on monsters and large minions too, which is worth knowing if she ends up being played in the jungle by anybody.
And Burst of Speed refreshes entirely on a champion kill. Take a kill in a skirmish and your attack speed steroid is immediately available again for the next one. Assists cut most of the cooldown as well. This is a champion designed to snowball through consecutive fights rather than one big one.
The Planned Build
Start. Doran's Blade and a Health Potion. Your passive regenerates health whenever you deal physical damage, so the Blade compounds with your own sustain.
Ravenous Hydra. Attack Damage, life steal that applies to the splash, and wave clear that turns your lane into a roaming lane.
Boots. Berserker's Greaves if the lane is going your way, Mercury's Treads if the enemy has the crowd control to end you mid dash.
Trinity Force. Sheen procs off Lunge, which is a dash you press twice, plus health, movement speed, attack speed, and the on hit slow.
Blade of the Ruined King. Attack speed, life steal, current health damage on hit, and an active. On hit that fires five times during your ultimate, life steal that stacks with Duelist, and attack speed that Burst of Speed multiplies. Every part of this item does two jobs on Fiora.
Frozen Mallet or a defensive item. Mallet for the health and the permanent slow, or Guardian Angel if you are ahead and dying is what ends fights.
The Bloodthirster or Last Whisper. Bloodthirster if you want more attack damage and sustain, Last Whisper if they have started buying Armor.
Skill order: Q, then W, then E.
Q first because the cooldown halves from 16 seconds to 8, and a 16 second gap closer at rank 1 is genuinely restrictive when it is also your damage.
W second, and this is the interesting call. Most people will rank E for the attack speed. W gives you flat Attack Damage on every rank plus a shorter parry cooldown, which improves your basic attacks, your Lunge damage, and your ultimate all at once.
E last, though take one point early, because 60% attack speed and stacking movement speed at rank 1 is already a real trading tool.
Runes and Masteries
Proposals rather than a settled page.
Marks of Attack Damage or Armor Penetration. Everything scales with Attack Damage, and penetration compounds if you plan to buy Last Whisper later.
Seals of Armor. Melee top lane.
Glyphs of Magic Resist. You will dive mages and you have 400 something base health.
Quintessences of Attack Damage. Straightforward, and they make the Riposte passive stacking feel meaningful from early levels.
Masteries: 21 offense, 9 defense. Offense for the Attack Damage, attack speed, and cooldown reduction. Nine defensive points because Fiora with no ultimate available is a melee champion with one dash.
How It Should Play
Lane phase is about the double Lunge. Q, recast, and you have crossed a surprising amount of ground. The free recast means the mana cost of a full engagement is only 60, which is cheap for a gap closer that doubles as your damage.
Trade with Riposte ready. Parrying an important basic attack in a melee exchange flips the trade twice: you take nothing and they take up to 260 plus a full ratio in magic damage back.
Duelist means you win long fights. Four stacks of health regeneration while you are actively hitting a champion is real sustain, and it is why Fiora should be looking to stay in an exchange rather than trading and stepping out.
Blade Waltz is untargetable and hits randomly. Both halves matter. Untargetable is a genuine defensive tool, so ultimate out of a stun or a channelled ability that was about to land on you. Random targeting means it is at its most reliable when there are fewer champions nearby, and least reliable in a full five versus five, which is the same tension Kennen has with his ultimate in this mode.
Remember first and last strike hit the same target. So the person you cast it on takes the opening and the closing damage. Pick that target deliberately.
What Beats You
Hard crowd control. One dash and no other escape once the ultimate is spent.
Ranged poke. Standard melee top problem, made worse by a 16 second Lunge at rank 1.
Full teamfights. Random targeting means your ultimate damage gets spread across whoever is standing there.
What Changed From Modern Fiora
Nearly everything.
No Vitals. Modern Fiora's entire identity is hitting four directional weak points. There are none here.
Riposte is a parry with an Attack Damage passive. No stun, no reflected crowd control.
Burst of Speed is a straightforward attack speed and movement speed steroid that refreshes on kills.
Blade Waltz is back. Untargetable, five strikes, random targets, on hit effects each time. Modern Grand Challenge is a completely different ability built around Vitals and a healing zone.
The habit to unlearn is looking for weak points. There is nothing to aim at. This Fiora just fights you.
The Honest Caveat
She is not out until September 10 and these numbers come from PBE tooltips. Treat the build as a plan, not a verdict. The on hit interaction on Blade Waltz is the part I would bet on staying correct regardless of how the numbers land.
Want to be ready on release day? Read our guides on climbing the Summoner's Journey and leveling to 30 fast.
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