Skarner Rework: Final Version
I have played Skarner in the Jungle since I was around level 3, and I'm level level 30 now! I've learned a lot about League and seen enough to know my champion's strengths and weaknesses. Chasing and dueling are some of Skarner's dominant strengths. However his weaknesses to burst, ranged, or sustaining champions are all too apparent. He is well rounded, but not powerful enough to meet the threat that most champions present. Looking at what he used to be and what he is now, I know that there is a middle ground between them that would make him viable.
Many Summoners didn't like his nerfs, and I wasn't one of them. The old Skarner was broken in too many places, and the current Skarner is too weak. I'm not complaining about the past because I'd rather look to the future. It simply isn't going to work for us to complain and petition for a rework because we need to give better reasons than "he's trash." His kit is well rounded and the ideas that brought it into being were good. However, it is possible to be rounded and at the same time be poor all around the board. I am asking for a rework to most of his kit that retains the integrity of what he is now, while raising his skill ceiling. Well, I did say that improvement will not come unless I give reasons and suggestions, so let the essay commence!
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NEW PASSIVE Bracken Blade:
After using an ability, Skarner's next basic attack slows the target by 2 / 4 / 6% per stack of Crystal Venom (8 / 16 / 24% slow at four/full stacks) for 1.5 seconds (upgrades at levels 6 and 11). If this is added, then Skarner's perma-slow returns in exchange for his only non-ultimate Hard CC. The slow is different from his old perma-slow in that it isn't AoE, and it takes a while to ramp up. It grants better peel in teamfights and will change his ganks up a great deal. (Once again encouraging the ult's use as a finisher)
Reason: Bracken Blade weakens his early clears, which balances it with that of other Junglers; Skarner without any armor runes can stay extremely healthy in the new Jungle. It sacrifices clear speeds for ganking power, as the new slow, albeit small, boosts his early game potential substantially. Stacking this with Crest of Cinders/Iceborn Gauntlet/Trinity Force helps him stick more than he already does. Though he will have (weak) perma-slow, it makes counterbuilding Skarner EASIER as Boots of Swiftness, which didn't guard against his stun, now reduce most of his CC. Since Bracken Blade is always on, he can quickly switch targets in a teamfight since Venom stacks via an AoE ability. This is a good compromise from his old permaslow. This isn't an AoE slow, it takes a long time to fully stack, it's not massive when it is, and his stun is gone.
The Skarner of Old's Passive: It used to be Energize, an ability that would reduce ALL of his cooldowns (yes, ult too) by 1 second every time you AA a champion and .5 seconds for AAing all other non-structures.
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Tweak Crystal Slash:
Cooldown: 3.5 (unchanged)
Mana Cost: 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 (unchanged)
Physical Damage: 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 (+30% AD) from (+40% bonus AD)
Magic Damage: 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 (+30% AP) from (+20% AP)
Attack Speed per stack: 8 / 10 / 12 / 14 / 16% (max/four stacks: 32 / 40 / 48 / 56 / 64%) formerly (max/three stacks: 24 / 30 / 36 / 42 / 48%)
Movement Speed per stack: REMOVED formerly 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6% (max 6 / 9 / 12 / 15 / 18%)
Raise the Physical Damage's ratio to 30% AD, and bump the Magic Damage's to 30% AP (was 20%). The AD boost is compensation for the loss of the passive's 100% ratio, and makes use of his high base AD.. The AP ratio was increased due to the loss of a ratio on W. The buffs are to make Skarner actually deal damage without being super squishy.
The initial weak hit before you can start stacking the spell will be removed. It's a holdover from when Q slowed so it's not needed for balance. Since there are four levels of Crystalline Venom now, there are also four levels of Crystal Energy. The first hit of this spell will stack Venom and charge Energy. The bonus movement speed was removed in favor of his new passive, Bracken Blade.
Reason: Currently Crystal Slash doesn't do much damage late game, so its only use is for the active: Spellblade and his passive/ult. With this buff it will deal a bit more damage and will benefit any build type in a similar fashion. It's also for his camp-clears, which right now suffer quite a bit if you build AP.
The Skarner of Old's Crystal Slash: Crystal Slash used to have a slow, an 80% AD ratio on the physical damage, and a 40% AP ratio on the magic damage. It didn't give him MS, but it had perma-slow. The reason why the initial weak hit of Crystal Slash is there is not because of balance, it's actually a carry-over from the old Skarner. He had that so that he couldn't get the perma-slow immediately. That's why it should be removed, his new perma-slow is balanced by other factors.
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Remove Crystalline Exoskeleton and replace it with Crystal Carapace: Credit to Zeke the Zealot for coming up with the name and function of this ability.
Crystal Carapace (toggle):
Cooldown: 5 (affected by Cooldown Reduction) from 13 / 12.5 / 12 / 11.5 / 11
Mana Cost: 50 from 60
Solidify – Skarner gains 12 / 24 / 36 / 48 / 60 passive Armor and Magic Resistance and a 12% movement speed reduction (3 second channel). Other players can see what form he's in and when he's channeling; the channel does NOT inhibit movement, and is interrupted by Hard CC (placing this ability on full cooldown)
Shed Exoskeleton – Skarner sheds his bulky carapace, losing the passive resistances and the movement speed penalty, instead gaining 12 / 24 / 36 / 48 / 60 movement speed (3 second channel) and a 25% MR and armor reduction.
Both forms have their disadvantages. In a teamfight you can be easily peeled because of the reduced MS, and when ganking you need to be careful of turnarounds. The cooldown is also high enough that you can't switch back and forth every time you need to juke a skillshot or a Katarina initiates onto you. With Crystal Carapace you have weaknesses that can be exploited same as now with Crystalline Exoskeleton. Sticking to just one form in the Jungle is suggested due to the mana cost that comes with the ability (unless you have blue buff). Cystal Slash no longer grants movement speed so it won't conflict with the new W.
Strategy: Solidify is great for farming in the early Jungle; you have blue buff and can handle toggling from camp to camp. It's also great for ganking bot-lane, you shouldn't need the MS as the laners will provide CC, and the resistance will help from getting focused in case of a turnaround. Solidify will help with ganking mid also; Skarner won't be doing much chasing and the resistance will limit enemy burst.
Shed Exoskeleton will create a presence across the map. A constant movement increase is a great thing but leaves you vulnerable. Should you have poor vision control then it can make counter-Junglers' job easy: one burst and you're dead. Remember you cannot switch between modes instantaneously, so you are more vulnerable than you think. It has a three second channel, which gives the enemy more than enough time to catch you with CC. I feel that it's important to emphasize that it isn't a get out of jail free card.
Reason: Skarner has very little innate tankiness other than base stats. Right now his W is an AP scaling shield. Most champions with AP shields are supports who put them on other people. So to have a tank with one, it is counter-productive to how you want to be building. What you want are additional bonuses for building defensively like Nautilus' HP scaling shield, or Rammus'...everything. This does that, not with fancy ratios but by enhancing your build's playstyle. The shield doesn't help him all because it had to be weak to account for the Movement Speed along with it. It was primarily for ganks or escape, with his tank archtype left as an afterthought. Now, both the tanking and ganking aspects of Skarner are preserved in return for a way to counter him better. A tank's weakness is kiting, and thus he will be tankier but more easily kited. A ganker's weakness can be vulnerability, and so he gets better ganks but is squishier.
Shed Exoskeleton is a reduction in speed from Crystalline Exoskeleton but the speed is constant. It slows down his currently amazing ganks in return for better resistances and map presence. Playing him gives greater reward for advancing your skills.
The Skarner of Old's Crystalline Exoskeleton: The bonus movement speed was instantaneous, not ramping up over 3 seconds like it does now. The shield itself was a bit weaker, but it also gave Skarner Attack Speed while it was active. Oh, it was also up every two or three seconds because of his old passive.
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Add something to Fracture:
Cooldown: 12 / 11.5 / 11 / 10.5 / 10 (unchanged)
Mana Cost: 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 (unchanged)
Magic Damage: 40 / 75 / 110 / 145 / 180 (+40% AP) (unchanged)
Slow: 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50% from 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65%
Keep the damage magical, and don't tamper with it because it could hurt Skarners who play in the lane. To compensate for the slow on Bracken Blade, Fracture's slow is reduced by 15% at all levels. To fit with the "utility/tank" theme of Skarner, Fracture is getting a facelift.
Empowered Effect: When Skarner has full stacks of Crystal Energy, Fracture is empowered and applies a debuff. It marks foes and gives Skarner 15% Tenacity (multiplicative) against CC they apply within the next 2 / 2.5 / 3 / 3.5 / 4 seconds.
Reason: Once again the problem with Skarner is that there is a very low skill cap. There needs to be a reward for playing him well that doesn't just make the champion needlessly complicated. Tenacity complements Skarner's kit very well. The addition also rewards players for maintaining stacks of Crystal Energy (especially in teamfights). The Bracken can't just be all Irelia-like and assassinate people while CC immune. It takes him a very conspicuous amount of time to get the empowered effect.
The Skarner of Old's Fracture: The old Fracture didn't slow, instead it healed Skarner for every marked enemy he hit. It was eventually given a slow. However it also used to deal 240 damage at max with a 70% AP ratio so...it was actually a bit better considering Skarner had AoE permanent slow on Q back then. Remember, it was up every couple of seconds thanks to Energize. Unlimited sustain to keep going and going and going...
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Tweak Impale:
Cooldown: 110 / 100 / 90 (unchanged)
Mana Cost: 10% / 15% / 20% Current Mana from 100 / 125 / 150
Base Physical Damage (applies both hits): 50 / 100 / 150 (+50% AD) from 100 / 150 / 200 (+50% AP)(magic damage)
Bonus Magic Damage per stack: 25 / 37 / 50 (+25% AP) (max/four stacks: 100 / 150 / 200 (+100% AP) from 150 / 225 / 300 (max/three stacks)
This is by far the most technical change I've suggested yet. Make the normal damage physical, reduce the base damage, and give it a 50% AD ratio (each of two hits)(from 50% AP). This is to make sure that as an initiator there isn't much damage coming from the spell. Pulls are meant to not deal much damage because your teammates will be doing that. It further cements Skarner's playstyle to something that requires immense skill.
The base bonus damage from ulting someone with max stacks of Crystal Venom should be reduced but given an AP ratio. It will add magic damage for each stack of Crystal Venom the enemy has. This cannot be exploited by building 500 AP because you *need* tankiness in order to get all four stacks on an opponent without being insta-popped. It solidifies the ult as a finisher, as it is meant deal more damage the longer you stick to the target. *Remember it now costs a percentage of Skarner's current mana* If you're at 2000 mana then it will cost 400 at rank 3, or if you have 200 mana left then it costs 40. Anyway you look at it the spell will be expensive, and this will make Skarner players a bit more cautious when using it. It leaves the champion's mana pool a bit dry, giving enemies a chance to capitalize on it.
The whole change is a great rework, because of how annoying Skarner's ult can be. Many people don't think he needs buffs **just because his ult is decent!** If this train of thinking continues then he will always be a one trick pony. It deals a fair amount of damage but uses up enough mana so you'll probably have to recall. It also promotes better mana management and gives Skarner a bigger weakness to exploit in return for a positive changes. In the Jungle his mana management will be easy, but in ganking he will have mana issues. I feel like this is the kind of change that Riot enjoys making, "Feast or Famine" and all that.
Reason: As it stands, Skarner can be countered by anyone with a good MR item and the ability to kite. Riot has said that the way for you to counter Skarner is to counter his build. It's sad because what Riot said, didn't quite work, the way you counter Skarner is by just picking a good champion. This boost helps those counters relevant, but not excessive. It's better just to ult someone and pull them in your team than stack it. Many complain about this and for good reason. These changes round it out as an initiator that needs team support to work, and a dueling move that costs a lot of mana to take advantage of (the cost of the abilities to stack it in addition to Impale's cost). He gets some bonus resistances, still doesn't deal tons of damage (nor should he), and separate playstyles instead of just being a sticky tank with a pull. Riot, even if you aren't going to institute all of my suggestions, at least you might draw some ideas from them. These are good suggestions here on how to make Skarner viable. (please don't make another champion from these ideas, just use them on Skarner)
The Skarner of Old's Impale: It did less damage, but also was up more often. His old passive made it so ALL of his spells were up much sooner than they were normally. If he had full AS and he attacked a champion then it would be up every 19 seconds! He had no need for CDR.
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This is the middle ground between the old and current Skarner. His weaknesses still carry over: he has some mana issues, troubles with kiting, and a lessened but still obvious vulnerability to burst damage. Junglers with Armor Reduction (Trundle/Nasus), infinite sustain (Warwick/Rek'Sai), unlimited mobility (Rek'Sai/Lee Sin), amazing team-fights (Amumu/Malphite), or burst damage (Master Yi/Evelynn) will still be good against Skarner. The matchups can be softened by changing your playstyle and his mechanics support that.
This is has definitely changed enough of the scorpion's kit to be called an overhaul and not a buff/tweak. Currently, Skarner's a one trick pony. People realize this, and that's why he is picked less than 1.25% of the time. His win rate hovers around 51% not because he's good, but because he is picked so seldom that the matchup is not widely known. Riot, please make Skarner an interesting and good champion. Branching out from playing Skarner has shown me how weak he has become. I feel like my suggestions give his entire kit the synergy that it lacks.
The Crystal Vanguard has the start of a great skill-set. Debuff reliant, my new Skarner would feel similar but require a deep understanding and management of abilities. The player would be required to know the champion fully and never stick to one build. Once again let me stress that the Skarner I created is better balanced than his pre-4.20 self, but more skill-based than post-4.20. This is the Skarner that I wanted since I started playing League!
Zeke the Zealot's thread can be found here: forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=4565799
Shyvana Rework Thread: http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/uqY9OsKm-dragons-ascent-tweaks-for-shyvana
Amumu Tweaks: http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/yEZRYadc-amumu-tweaks
I ask that you read the whole thing before voting!
