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Skarner nerf/ Underwhelming update

MugfaceTGE·8/6/2015, 8:31:38 PM·24 votes·1,931 views

Now im a actual Skarner main about 150 or so ranked games, he's my only level 5 champ. Im still bad though don't get me wrong im only b2, im not sure if my opinion is even allowed . But I truly feel like this new Skarner update is a nerf and underwhelming. The spires provide MS and AS to only Skarner which is a buff hands down but they spawn in the enemies jungle and they provide gold to the enemy if captured. So all I see is a way for the enemy jung to get extra gold and for you to possibly clear faster ."POSSIBLY". Now I fear that you may take away his passive to stack MS and AS. Please don't do this, this would be a true nerf to Skarner and take away some of the core components of his gameplay that I love. But in regards to the rest of the updates (Darius, Mord, and Garen) in comparison Skarner got the shit stick. HOW THE **** do Darius and Garen get a buff to their passive they allow for op executions and Mord gets a freaking dragon. Then there's poor Skarner who gets a possibly useful mobility buff. Now I love League and don't plan to stop playing anytime soon I just wanted to voice my opinion. RITO PLS RESPOND IN COMMENTS.

26 Comments

LostFr0st8/7/2015, 4:08:31 AM5 votes

Guys read the new update, he refreshes e on new passive buff proc.

http://boards.pbe.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/champions-gameplay-feedback/d2bmpMif-skarner-pbe-changelist-and-feedback-thread

tldr; New Skarner still sticky.

-LostFr0st

Very Hard Engage8/6/2015, 9:24:36 PM3 votes

ive always loved skarners theme, being a scorpion and all, get in and pierce and drag em, so much fun, but with his new passive, will it really be his? and why the base movement speed nerf, didn't they think about how that will affect him in the team setting at all? his abilities are still lackluster to begin with and they feel the need to nerf his base stats?

darius is going to be OP as ever with all his base' increases (already was a lane winner), and THE 175 AUTO RANGE, my god, last hit behind minions and trade from inside the wave against other melees, RIP melee champions. (still wont be a great team player, but he will be monumental in the early laning phase)

Clapper of Asses8/6/2015, 8:40:29 PM3 votes

Im sick of this sh*t, I love Skarner since season 3 and when he got his 1st rework i was very upset since the halved all the ratios on his abilities just to give him a crappy stun that takes 3 stacks to apply, also did not heal him anymore. This pissed me off he was so dependent on his mid game, he would either snowball like crazy or be completely useless.

Now they want to rework him again, so how do we improve the champ that is heavily dependent on sticking to people, IDK LETS NERF HIS MOVEMENT SPEED YAY, NOW NOT ONLY DOES HE NEED ICEBORN GAUNTLET TO STICK TO PEOPLE, BUT HAS TO FLASH TO GET INTO RANGE NOW. Also the one good thing from his previous rework the stun, yep let's remove it and replace with ROCKS!!!!!!! Yep now you get a bunch of rocks that give vision in the jungle , for that occasional shaco counter. I would not mind this if trinkets weren't a thing, but too little too late rito.

Now his q I don't really like the fact the removed the movement speed and attack speed buff cause Witz end would murder people if you stuck to them.

His w Great Job seriously scales of maximum hp I love it.

Now his E is still really lackluster you nerfed it basically his slow is worst which he was very dependent on landing, and it applies his old passive which his other abilities use to be able to do.

His ult what his is best known for got its damage reduced and no longer does extra damage when you have 3 stacks of crystal venom, but his mana cost is lower, instead of lowering mana cost why didnt you just lower the cooldown i would not mind trading the damage for a lower cooldown on it.

I personally dont like this rework, I know not a lot of people play this champ and i don't think his rework is gonna get him a lot of popularity. This my opinion and maybe when it hits life servers i might be wrong but on paper doesn't sound too appealing to me.

The Ecdysiast8/7/2015, 6:56:24 AM2 votes

Don't forget the the stats it gives. AS and... Nothing. Movespeed means nothing considering it's next to a stationary buff. What's it for? At best it just means you get to run away if the enemy shows up.

Messaiga8/6/2015, 9:35:20 PM2 votes

Just cause you're bronze does not mean your opinion means nothing, any sensible person shouldn't care about rank when discussing the feel of a character (rather than their balance).

About Skarner, I can understand what they are trying to do with the rework. They want Skarner to have unique gameplay for the sake of unique gameplay (with play patterns other than run up to a guy, spam Q, maybe R someone into your team). They attempted to add a little capture the flag mini-game for Skarner with the crystals and it's a decent idea but the execution isn't so great. He remains feast or famine (either he snowballs and gets to maximize his passive usage or he falls behind and he rarely gets to make use of his passive) due to the nature of the game (since killing towers gives better control over the map, and losing towers lessens your map control).

Secondly much like Cassiopeia's rework, all his passive consists of is stats. Sure you feel extremely strong while in the zones of these crystals, but other than that there is little that is different. Because he gains such large amounts of stats in these zones, naturally he must be weak outside of them. Without the stacking MS/AS mechanic on his Q he will struggle to keep up with opponents and apply damage. He'll be just like how Skarner was in his initial rework (in patch 4.2). He may be able to inflict massive damage, yet his chances of being able to attack you are unlikely.

When it comes down to it, Skarner's probably going to have the crystal passive whether we like it or not. They're buffing him on PBE sometime today so we'll see if the increased radius of his crystals will help.

Anfiniti8/7/2015, 12:28:20 AM1 votes

I've been a big player of Skarner since he came out These proposed changes don't sound good at all.

These changes may be good if they're buffed so Skarner only benefits from the spires.

The the spires can have a cooldown and with a 1-2 sec channel time and provide a possible speed as well as stat boost while near them

Only Skarner should be able to capture them, and they should provide only Skarner with vision.

Zondervain8/7/2015, 8:09:23 AM1 votes

My big issue with the rework is that outside of the zones he is underwhelming. Inside of them he is REALLY strong, but outside....

I love the damage change, lowered mana cost, and lowered cd to his Q, including the nerfed cd reduction on hit against mosters. I love the shield value change on W. I love the ad Ratio on his Ult. It's just that his passive has too much in it.

Also, it kills top Skarner, and while I know it doesn't see much play at all, it should at least be kept as an option.

Icestar11868/7/2015, 6:05:56 PM1 votes

im only b2, im not sure if my opinion is even allowed

Your opinion is not only allowed, but welcomed.

Celeste Benal8/7/2015, 9:31:31 PM1 votes

I'd like to see Skarner gain the ability to place or move shrines, rather than have them in static locations. Static locations ties his power to those locations, and means he will be operating at reduced power everywhere else. Static locations used in this way are bad.

If we stick with static locations, I'd rather see Skarner get a small global bonus for each shrine that he controls. This would reward him for good map control, while also rewarding the other team similarly by removing his bonuses. Requiring him to sit on the pet rock like a mother hen to get any bonus at all is bad game play imo.

Lugg8/6/2015, 10:03:13 PM1 votes

Underwhelming may not be a strong enough word.

KoadMaster8/6/2015, 10:54:30 PM1 votes

So, Skarner is basically my first champ in the role I actually main (jungle). I have played him for about two years now (though that doesn't make me a master or anything). Now, to be honest, the rework I thought was going to be simpler, I thought he was just going to get the pillar things and the rest of him was going to be basically untouched (maybe small changes to make up to the small buff the pillars are), and I was excited, I was actually thinking that it would make skarner more fun to play and "unique". The actual update seems really silly to me, as it is fixing things on him that were not really broken. However, the thing I hate THE MOST about this change is the MS lose on the 'q' he was literally the only champ that had that kind of passive (and was melee [ sivr ] ), and it was great, you could just build him to be super sticky, and (IMO) really fun, so removing that kinda ruins that champ for me. The change to his stun was kinda meh, it should help (sorta) in gank situations, but late game it is going to basically not be a thing. His 'w' change was kinda nice, but I don't really think it was needed, and I doubt it will make a big difference. His 'e' will continue to to what is does, namely, set up your ability to get to people, but without the 'q' speed I don't think it will be as useful. Any change to his ult doesn't really change anything for me, his ult is basically just a handy thing on the side if there is like a feed kat on the other team, and so any change to that is mostly irreverent.

Altogether though, I think something intelligent to do would be to keep the spires (they are a kinda cool idea anyways), probably make the stats they give you somewhat less. Then, (assuming you have live skarner) you reduce (potentially remove) the AS part of the 'q' (as the MS is the real deal). Probably reduce the base on the 'w' and give it a (smaller than what is was in PBE) max health scale. Then maybe give the 'e' a little more sizzle to it. Altogether, I think this would make him more special (that is what riot is going for right?), but still keep him with the same (and actually pretty unique) play style he has*. Honestly, I think he is a fine champ as he is (though, I am probably the odd man out there), but he is special in his own way already, just no one plays him because they nerfed him down into a state where you have to really know what to do and build to be good (right after IWDominate played him in LCS). However, if they really want to add spires in the make him 'unique' (even though he already was [IMO, but if someone has another champ that does everything that he does but better please tell me in case this rework goes through as is] ).

Anyways, cheers guys, thanks for reading my opinion.

*He is one of the few champions that is a great user of furor boots (try it sometime [with phage] ) <---- this makes him both super fun and super unique, and he has a cool ult drag catch ability.

Nekusen8/6/2015, 11:21:51 PM1 votes

enemy capturing it shouldn't give gold. also, im not sure if the stones give vision, but they shouldn't

AutoreactiveCD48/7/2015, 12:18:39 AM1 votes

One thing I feel they missed when looking at skarner is that he isn't what they described as a "juggernaut". Movement speed has always been key on skarner and you had to essentially "bob and weave" with him. Know they changed him into a tank and the only time you get to feel somewhat like old skarner is on those pillars...If I wanted to play capture the flag I would go play dominion.

Riot used to insist that they keep the identity of the reworked champions, with skarner it seems they've thrown it away.