Skarners BACK!

Jingerbeardman·Jun 19, 2014·9 votes·3,292 views

Re-visited with new opinions

OMG... Yes yes and more yes. You really came through this time, great job! He has gusto, he has feel, he has FUN! You feel like you have a goal to reach in ganks and fights and are not just floundering around. My love for my favorite scorpion is back.

But what good is all praise... none I say. So i must give thorough feedback!

Crystallizing sting... what can I say, I am in love but that doesn't mean it is perfect. The only thing I would like to see added is a countdown ring until the passive can be applied again on my targets. (on a side note this would be nice for Braums passive as well)

old opinion that I feel, after more play time, is not needed and requires no changes.

I would also like to pose a question. Would it be possible to apply stacks of poison immediately after the stun is triggered? The new interaction with Impale, still wish it was called something different or at least had a different animation that would "impale" your target, is awesome but difficult to get the full benefit of casting when a target has 3 stacks. Since Crystal Slash increases attack speed now it can be rather difficult to stop yourself before you end up consuming and stunning your target leaving you with no bonus damage for your ult.

Crystal Slash: Thank you so much for cleaning it up and really going the extra mile here. the increased move speed is amazing and was so needed. Keeping the old passive here was a nice touch. Great job!
Additional opinion While I absolutely love the move speed increase and hate to see it changed... For the sake of game health I feel it might be a tad bit to high especially as you rank up the ability. 3/3.5/4/4.5/5 might be a bit more fair. If you pick up the boot enchant furor there is pretty much no way to shake Skarner off when he gets 3 stacks

Crystalline exoskeleton: It finally has a proper place in the pattern for Skarner. nicely done!

Fracture: Great way to bring some interaction between Crystal Slash and Fracture. Now that they feel connected fracture isn't a boring blah spell to cast anymore. Another feather in the cap I'd say.
Additional opinion The slow is great but it could really use a little more damage at least in the earlier ranks... 70/90/110/130/150 would feel a lot better and would really help with his early ganks that still feel kind of weak right now.

Impale: love the poison interaction. Another victory for the rework team!

And last but not least, I would like to take a moment of silence for Skarners old passive...
...
...
...
you will be missed, but never forgotten!

All in all, Thank you for following up here. You came through Rework team and have earned my trust back. At least until the Sion rework comes out... I'm joking... I hope?

29 Comments

RiotRiot BaconhawkJun 19, 201410 votes

I just played a game with my D1 friend last night and he LOOOOVED the new Skarner. I am personally so glad to see our original favorite bug (sorry Kha!) back in the action!

khaaa sizzle

JingerbeardmanJun 20, 20146 votes

technically hes an arachnid, totally different from the insect family... now you know, and knowing is half the battle

G.I. JOE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. thanks for the post of the day or whoever does that!

RiotRiot BaconhawkJun 20, 20145 votes

RiotRiot ScruffyJun 20, 20144 votes

It's pretty fun being a Naskarner.

I neeeeeeeeed itJun 20, 20142 votes

I agree, being a Raskar (ray skar) is fun

DylphJun 19, 20143 votes

I am a huge fan of Skarner's latest rework. Back in Season 3 when I got Skarner, I thought he was cool, although he wasn't the strongest jungler. I would pretty much avoid using or ranking up fracture (E) altogether because his Q and W were so good, and he didn't have enough mana to use fracture anyways. When I heard he was getting a rework in S3, I was like "Great! Skarner's going to be like a brand new champion!"

When the first rework came, it seemed too similar. It also seemed worse in some ways. It felt I had to use Fracture now, but I still really didn't want to. I also didn't see how Skarner's permaslow was any worse than that of Ashe, Gangplank, Shaco, Dr. Mundo w/ cdr, Nasus w/ cdr etc.

I really like this new rework though. Since fracture now stacks the passive, it no longer feels like a waste of mana. The new passive adds a new level of skill, trying to keep track of the stacks on enemies and trigger the stuns. The 0.5 seconds of stun seems a little short, but I can live with it. This is the brand new Skarner that I've been waiting for since season 3.

L7xLoTekJun 19, 20142 votes

Yup, I'd say this was a successful re-rework. While the numbers may look bad, it's fine ingame and getting rid of the old passive really was the way to go; It just didn't work without the permaslow.

That said, Crystal Slash still needs to be "warmed up" and Crystalline Exoskeleton still has a ramp up, because reasons, and the manacosts are a bit too high for my tastes (either that or his base mana regen is too low). I've fairly successfully compensated by running mana regen per level blues and the mana regen mastery, but those do feel like a necessity, not an option, since Skarner can't afford to buy any mana regen items or he'll fall off in damage and/or durability.

JingerbeardmanJun 19, 20142 votes

I agree with the mana, but he has always been like that to a certain extent. its why iceborn gauntlet is a staple for him. Though there is one new option now that i am finding does a pretty good job of helping him last in long drawn out fights. Essence reaver helps keep his mana up and gives him a little extra sustain with some cdr. Even had some success laneing as skarner rushing it first. Otherwise you could always try building mikaels or athenes. I found they did a pretty good job in the past for me.

L7xLoTekJun 19, 20142 votes

Yeah, I used to build chalice, but nowadays it hurts Skarner's damage output pretty badly (was fine back with permaslow, though), since it delays building item 3209 , and I do prefer item 3146 for sustain (and the tasty tasty active, getting your slow options up to 3 with item 3025 and Fracture). And while Essence Reaver looks really good for Skarner, that's a 2650g investment before you get any mana sustain.

I'm talking strictly from a jungle perspective, though.

JordianJun 20, 20141 votes

Well I'll tell you a fact you should of never built chalice on Skarner hurt his dmg output or defensive stats way to much when you could build like frozen heart or something useful. Anyways if you want more damage on Skarner go for a BORK or Trinity those are really your only choices I wouldn't get a Hextech Gunblade because he scales better with attack speed and doesn't need life steal or spell vamp.

JingerbeardmanJun 20, 20143 votes

before the rework skarner scaled pretty well with ability power on fracture so it wasnt bad to build athenes on him... not so much now.

L7xLoTekJun 20, 20141 votes

Well, I may be biased in that I just really want to use item 3146 in a build (and I can't really justify item 3124 dag nabbit), but don't discount the 12% lifesteal + 20% spellvamp for sustain in a teamfight when coupled up with your shield (kinda like the pre-rework Fracture). If it comes to killing individual targets, item 3153 is prolly better though (less so against squishies, naturally). Aside from those, item 3091 gives a huge damage boost.

JingerbeardmanJun 20, 20141 votes

yeah i dont get reaver in jungle till much much later if the match lasts that long. In lane though it is pretty useful as a first item. It is possible to lane skarner still so you know.

TahaldenJun 20, 20142 votes

All I can say is I love the new Skarner. My fav bug of the League!

FinnTBoBulousJun 20, 20142 votes

Hm, I will have to try out the new skarner...

The Red WardenJun 19, 20141 votes

My only main problem with it is that the e is back to feeling somewhat worthless compared to the rest of him

FlintfallJun 19, 20141 votes

Really? I saw one E pull half the enemy team to a crawl.

JingerbeardmanJun 20, 20142 votes

i know his E hasnt changed but you dont have to rely solely on it anymore which is what is important. E is actually a good ability with its range and heavy slow

NortwinJun 20, 20141 votes

They halved the AP ratio, however it's great for ganking and slowing down teams / getting closer to ADC in teamfights. Do you remember when it was slow, short and you had to rely on it to be successful?

JingerbeardmanJun 20, 20141 votes

ummmmm wow... i got post of the day... that was extremely unexpected

JordianJun 20, 20141 votes

can we do something about the sound of his passive when it's got 3 stacks on something? I keep spamming Q in the jungle and it's so annoying.

Also PLEASE make it so your abilities can proc the stun on his passive it would feel so good instead of his auto attacks.

PhoenixSlayer13Jun 20, 20141 votes

There's an easy way to fix that in the jungle: when you get to three stacks, attack each of the jungle creeps that you've been Q'ing. Should also increase your clear speed.

NortwinJun 20, 20141 votes

I love that sound, helps me keep rythm for the Q cooldown.

JingerbeardmanJun 20, 20141 votes

what phoenix said. honestly, i dont mind the sound it makes. Since it sounds like you are tapping a crystal glass with metal it is really fitting and in fact I rather like hearing it.

NortwinJun 20, 20141 votes

I play him Top lane, rushing Sheen - Trinity Force, Hydra and Wit's End. He does IMMENSE damage, and is a valid counter to Jax.

Nameless VoiceJun 22, 20141 votes

Really liking the new Skarner. I only started playing Skarner after his previous rework, so I'm not that familiar with his original state (I think I played him once or twice back then?).

I thought he was quite decent before these latest changes, despite what other people have said, but this new rework just made him feel much better. I'm left feeling stronger and more useful throughout the game. I feel better at duelling and better able to defend myself from counter-jungling. It's strange, considering that his damage was nerfed, but that tiny bit of CC and extra burst seems to help him get an edge in duels.

The only minor issue I have is that the sound of his passive is slightly too loud compared to most other in-game sounds.

Also, I think the tooltip for levelling up his ultimate doesn't show the increased damage-per-stack (e.g. it doesn't show 50 -> 75)

JingerbeardmanJun 22, 20141 votes

ha ha yeah, the passive sound is a bit loud, but I don't find it bothersome. I suppose it could be a bit softer, or the tone a bit lower.