Boards›Gameplay

Plans for Skarner

Jenova Synthesis·1/14/2015, 7:07:15 PM·4 votes·1,495 views

http://media-copper.cursecdn.com/attachments/28/479/skarner_originalskin.jpg

Now, let me make this clear. I haven't heard anything conclusive as to whether or not anything I say is true (unless it's opinionated, of course) and I'm not trying to say anything about what should/shouldn't happen. I'm simply giving some opinions, saying some things, and asking some questions. Now that we got that out of the way...

1.) I've seen a whole lot of people say some things about Skarner. The main thing I'm curious about is, **does Riot really disapprove of Skarner ** as a whole? Many people say that Riot hates Skarner's place as a champion in general and would rather remove him from the game. Is that true, or just people crying about no Skarner updates?

2.) Does Riot have any plans for Skarner in the future? He is quite unpopular and generally on the weaker side. Has Riot addressed any possible Skarner changes recently that I may have not heard about?

3.) Where does Skarner stand on terms of viability? Considering I'm a Skarner main, I may be biased on some things. That being said, I do think that he is slightly weaker than he should be and has significant potential. His utility is what I enjoy most about him, but unless you build him as a fighter (like how you would build a fiora) he has very low damage potential. Let me expand on this a bit.

Let's think of some common or popular tanks. Nasus, Sion, Leona, Maokai, and finally Udyr.

Four out of these Five all have something in common. They all are

  1. Naturally tanky.
  2. Have high damage potential.
  3. And have reliable utility.

Skarner does fit into these categories, but not very well. He is fairly tanky, due to his shield. He has a move speed boost, and a single target suppress which is great, but is it enough?

Nasus has a single target slow, attack speed debuff, armor shred, his infamous Q which scales with amount of stacks he has as well as AD, and 2 AoE Damage abilites.

Sion has good map presence (due to his ult), AoE shield that does damage if not destroyed, ranged slow + Damage, and an AoE knockup + damage.

Maokai has a single target root, a lot of ward like saplings that do damage, AoE Damage (Ult), and a knockup + damage.

Udyr has practically infinite stacking mobility, Scaling DoT, Stun + Move speed, attack speed buff, AoE damage on basic attack, Shield + extra Lifesteal.

Now let's take a took at Skarner.

He has: A short+ stun every few attacks An AoE damage A shield and Move Speed Buff A Slow + Damage and a Single Target Suppress.

He has practically the same amount of utility as any other common tank, excluding Nasus. So why do people still complain about him? He seems to have just as much Utility, Damage, and CC as anyone else? So what's wrong with him?

Here's a hint: Nothing.

With a few **minor **exceptions, Skarner is in a great place. He definitely could use a better gap closer (buff his E move speed early game maybe?), but besides that there's not a whole lot wrong with him.

Yes, I did say he has very low damage potential, because he does. I've played many games as my favorite crystal scorpion, and I've found through experience that full tank is by far the best way to go (and honestly, it's the only way to go.) He does have good utility, and yes he does have a spammable AoE damage ability, but somehow he still seems to be lacking damage. Even with a full tank build, you're going to die a whole lot faster than a Udyr would with the same build, which is strange.

In a typical full-tank build, there just seems to be no room for any damage items without losing the tankiness he needs due to low mobility. Since he does have fairly low mobility, it's hard to get into a fight without dieing immediately which is why full-tank works so well.

All that being said, yes I do think Skarner is in a good place. He does have low mobility and low damage, but he makes up for it in other ways. I think his kit is fairly well rounded by itself, and when you compare it to specific other champions it seems weak but it still works in ways other champions couldn't pull off.

Personally, I think his biggest strength is in his ability to single out stronger enemies. His kit implies that he is a duelist, which could work in certain situations but not generally.

Skarner was by far my best purchase in this game. He instantly became my favorite champion and he is extremely strong against typical picks in ranked (most assassin or burst types). He's just a lot of fun. I know that some people are going to disagree with the last couple of paragraphs, but if you do I would appreciate it if you did it in a polite way in the comment section. I'm okay with a discussion, in fact I encourage it, but I don't want to be harassed for my opinions.

Any answers you guys have to the first few questions would be appreciated. I don't keep up with any Riot Employee's social medias or anything like that. What I know comes from either the boards or the League of Legends News. Thanks everyone for reading.

12 Comments

Kowe The Ewok1/14/2015, 9:31:04 PM5 votes

Imho Skarner's main problems can be summerized in 2 main points:

  • He gets kited to easily when initiating. (Active movementspeed items feature inusfficient bulk on him hence they're too inefficient to be used)

  • His ultimate is horrible compard to abilities with similiar effects (Blitz / Thresh hook). (He simply get's CC'd when he tries to drag his target. Hilariously enough most non-ultimate CC's have a longer duration)

Suggestion:

Change his ultimate to: "Skarner gains 30 / 40 / 50 % additional movementspeed and starts crawling towards his target. If he reaches it within 2 seconds the bonus movementspeed is lost, but he brings his stinger down, dealing magic damage and suppressing his target for 1.75 seconds. If he does not manage to get to his target within the duration this ability goes on a 15s global cooldown. For the duration, Skarner can move freely and drag his victim around with him but cannot attack the victim. After the duration end Skarner flings his target behind him. "

  • Improved initiation

  • Range actually gets slightly extended to be closer to (non ultimate.........) hooks

RagingBulk1/19/2015, 4:30:49 AM4 votes

I wish they would just buff his E's base damage, so many times I have used it on low HP champs thinking it would finish them off, but it is honestly disgustingly low. 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 (+ 40% AP).

40 base damage? It's a similar tool as Olaf's Q, which has incredibly high base damage, and a just as powerful slow, which can be constantly re-applied.

Venowolf1/25/2015, 2:10:39 AM4 votes

Skarner need tweaks in his kit specially in the dmg on his E

Meep Man1/14/2015, 9:36:03 PM3 votes

Skarner Skarner

Impale

  • Pull Duration increased to 2.5 seconds from 2 seconds
  • Can not be escaped in any form
  • Range increased very slightly

Boom, Skarner is viable. Not too complex. Maybe throw in some boosts to his movement speed boosts and thats it.

Vicvictorw1/19/2015, 4:46:52 AM1 votes

I think Skarner's power's fine as is, but I would really love for the movespeed on that W to not need to ramp up. You barely notice the fact that it even gives movespeed.