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Skarner, The Crystal Vanguard [Rework Concept]

Rykagnar·10/3/2017, 7:49:22 AM·6 votes·1,097 views

Hey all,

So after checking out Malicious Metal's Power Fantasy post a while ago, it inspired me to come up with some form of rework for Skarner that would match the power fantasy that his epic lore gives to him. This rework concept is primarily focused on abilities, making Skarner feel more like a true vanguard, rather than his currently muddled identity of an off-tank/full-tank/brawler/off-support.

NOTE: This may be a long post, but please do read all of it! I would absolutely LOVE if a Rioter were to see this! I welcome all critique and ideas on this topic! If you only care to see the updated abilities, feel free to ignore the extra stuff and just read up on that. Thanks, and hope you like the concept!

Passive : Protector of Ages -- Skarner generates an Essence Ring of crystal energy from the life source of his kin whenever he enters combat. He cannot generate another Essence Ring for a period of time.

  • Cooldown: (60-30 seconds, depending on level)

The Essence Ring slowly fades over 4 seconds to 10 seconds (depending on level). While allies are within Skarner's Essence Ring, 10/12/13/14/16% of all damage dealt to allies is redirected towards Skarner.

Whenever an ally champion is damaged within the ring, Skarner temporarily gains +25/+40/+60/+80/+120 (+20% Current HP) Armor and Magic Resist. (Does not gain additional Armor and MR per champion.)

Passive : Adaptive Exoskeleton -- For every 15 seconds Skarner is in continuous combat, he permanently gains +5 Armor and Magic Resist.

[Q] - Deadly Pincers : Skarner violently slashes his claws in front of him three times, with the ability to slightly redirect himself for each slash. Each hit deals 30/50/60/70/85 AD + (100% AD) and slows the target by 20% for 1 seconds. If two slashes hit the same target, the slow increases to 40% for 1.5 seconds.

Should all three slashes hit the same target, that target is knocked back slightly and stunned for 1 second.

  • Cooldown: (13s/11s/9s/7s/6s)
  • Mana Cost: (60/55/50/45/40)

[W] - Crawling Doom/Venomous Ambush : Skarner can climb on the side or on top of nearby terrain for a duration of 3s/5s/5.5s/6s/7s. If he is crawling towards either ally or enemy champions, he gains 15%/20%/25%/30%/35% movement speed while pursuing the target.

While on walls, Skarner has a radius of 300/380/400/440/480 units around him. If an enemy target comes within that radius, Skarner can recast "Venomous Ambush" to leap quickly off the wall and bite the target, dealing 60/80/100/140/160 AD + (20% Armor & MR) slowing them by 20% for 1 second at all ranks.

If no targetable enemies are in range, recasting "Venomous Ambush" will cause Skarner to launch in a target direction, cleaving enemies for a short distance in front of him and giving him +50% movement speed for 2 seconds.

  • Cooldown: (17s/15s/13s/10s/8s)
  • Mana Cost: (65/60/55/45/40)

[E] - Sentinel of Hope : Skarner summons a crystalline pillar that lasts for 2/3.5/4/4.5/5 seconds. The pillar provides increased Armor and Magic Resist for all allied champions within 400 units. The pillar also absorbs all ranged attacks and abilities and re-directs the damage towards Skarner, dealing an increased 1%/2%/4%/5%/6% true damage to him.

After the pillar is summoned, Skarner can choose to attach his stinger to the pillar, allowing him to drag the pillar in the direction Skarner moves. While dragging the pillar, Skarner has 10%/15%/20%/22.5%/25% increased movement speed while moving towards champions, both allies and enemies.

If Skarner uses "Deadly Pincers" or "Crystalline Whiplash" while dragging the pillar, the pillar will drop at the location it was when Skarner used the ability. Skarner can cast "Crawling Doom" while dragging the pillar.

  • Cooldown: (25s/23s/20s/19s/17s)
  • Mana Cost: (90/85/80/75/70)

[R] - Crystalline Whiplash : Skarner elongates his stinger, and slashes it outwards with immense strength, dealing 100/140/180/200/300 AP + (25% of bonus AP) in a full circle around him, and slightly knocking back all targets. Skarner marks all enemy champions with the debuff "Death's Sting".

Within 1.5 seconds after casting his ultimate, Skarner chooses one champion marked with "Death's Sting" within a range of 800/950/1100 units and brutally impales them, dealing 150 true damage to the target and hooking them onto his stinger, stunning them for 2 seconds. The target becomes bound to his stinger for the duration of "Death's Sting", and drags along the floor in the direction Skarner moves.

While the target champion is stunned, Skarner can choose to fling the champion in any direction within 500 range. While using his ultimate, Skarner has 20%/25%/30% decreased Armor and MR.

  • (Cooldown: 140s/120s/100s)
  • Mana Cost: 100

KIT EXPLANATION

I designed this kit to make Skarner feel more like a frontline, more like the badass crystalline scorpion that he is.

His passive encourages teammates to remain close to him, so that they don't take as much damage. This fulfills Skarner's role as a protector.

His Q shows his strength, and his offensive side. It allows Skarner to be played diversely. If a player wants to go full AD Skarner, they can - however, they will sacrifice protection of teammates.

His W makes him feel more like the creepy-crawly that he is. Instead of just being another terrain-ability, such as Kayn, he also has the possibility to set up an ambush on a caught out target, which could turn the tide of the game. It provides him with a certain mobility he didn't have before, and also gives him a unique play-style.

His E emphasizes his "I'm going in first, get behind me, I will protect you" personality. Being a Vanguard, his priority is keeping his allies safe. The pillar provides bonuses for teammates, which can protect them from flanks and deadly assassins. However, should Skarner decide to use another ability, he will leave behind his source of protection in order to peel for a teammate, or catch someone out. Allowing his W to be used alongside his E provides a new level of skill, figuring out new ways to combine both abilities to make flashy plays or save a teammate.

His ultimate allows him to express the pent-up rage over the demise of his kin. He truly gets to feel like a deadly scorpion monster, and while being an extremely aggressive ability, it also provides a healthy amount of crowd control. The reduced armor and MR while using it further emphasizes that Skarner is enraged, and that he may be reckless while being aggressive.

##ITEMIZATION:

Skarner is meant to be a frontline tank who can soak up a large amount of damage but also provide some offensive capabilities and Crowd Control.

  • Note: Itemization will be done for Skarner in an example build for top-lane.

Core Build:

item 3083 item 3001 item 3742

  • Warmog's works very well with Skarner's Passive, "Protector of Ages", as it increases the amount of Armor and Magic Resist he gains while allies are damage within his "Essence Ring", allowing him to be extremely tanky while providing him with good regen to stay out of the fountain longer.
  • Deadman's goes hand-in-hand with his movement speed passives on both "Sentinel of Hope" and "Crawling Doom".
  • Due to Skarner's high mana-costs, he needs some way to restore both. Being a frontline, taking damage is the perfect way for him to regenerate mana. Using abilities like "Deadly Pincers" will allow him to restore his health and stay in the fight for a longer period of time.

Full Build (Example 1):

item 3047 item 3742 item 3193 item 3001 item 3075 item 3083

  • This build is aimed towards dealing with AD heavy team compositions. The bonus Armor will significantly protect his teammates against high-damage targets. Gargoyle Stoneplate is a huge power-spike for Skarner, as it goes extremely well with his passive, "Essence Ring". In addition, allied champions within the ring will make Skarner an absolute damage-soaking behemoth.

Full Build (Example 2):

item 3111 item 3001 item 3194 item 3083 item 3193 item 3190

  • When versing extremely heavy Ability Power team-comps, Skarner needs to be able to survive burst damage. Since a lot of mages have ranged skillshots, Skarner's "Sentinel of Hope" will do miracles for his team. In addition to reducing damage with his passive, "Essence Ring", Skarner can tank DPS abilities from mages and reduce damage furthermore with the use of Adaptive Helm. Locket is also a great choice, as it provides a shield for teammates to help them survive longer.

##VOICE LINES:

Skarner is a wise, millenia old crystalline scorpion who's lost all of his kin. His current voice over is decent, but there is much room for expansion. Skarner should speak with wisdom, having experienced much, but have an underlying tone of anger within him. He needs to feel like a wise, aggressive scorpion without sounding like a mindless monster who's only purpose is to kill.

**Champ Select (Pick): **

"In honor of the Brackern, I shall be your protector."

Champ Select (Ban):

"The foolish enter battle with nothing but a sword."

Spawn:

"No ally of mine shall fall this day."

"The vanguard has arrived."

**Walking: **

"Be cautious. The enemy seeks to reap destruction."

"They believe me to be a worthless relic of the past...they will soon be proven wrong."

"Their arrogance will be silenced by the edge of my stinger."

"I will cleanse their greed with my venom."

"All those who oppose me, fear me. Rightfully so."

"I may be a millennia old, but crystals do not fade"

"The intent of a human is nothing more than to survive and please themselves."

"If only my kin were here...how I long to see them again..."

"This rift possesses a familiar power..."

"I have witnessed all strategies of battle, their strengths and weaknesses. But no strategy surpasses that of a strong protector."

"Choosing battles requires the wisdom of a prudent being."

"If I could, I would sacrifice myself for my kin to exist once more. But would it be in vain? Would my kind go extinct again? Who, then, would preserve them?"

"I may be one creature, but I possess the strength of a thousand generations"

"I cannot fail. For myself, and for my brethren."

Attacking:

"Does it sting?"

"I shall cut you in two!"

"The venom...is it seeping in, yet?"

"Dare you oppose the Crystal Vanguard?"

"Argh!"

"That tickled!"

"Try to scratch the surface next time."

"How it joys me to see greed backfire!"

"Does the ant wage war against the scorpion?"

Ultimate Lines:

"EMBRACE THE STING OF DEATH!"

"You are MINE now!"

"Feel the wrath of a thousand generations!"

"FACE THE FEROCITY OF THE SCORPION!"

"You are as easily killed as a flea."

"Let's play 'toss-the-fool'!"

Death:

"No...it can't be..."

"I have failed my kind."

"They cry out in sorrow..."

"I am sorry, brothers."

"I weep in life...and now I am shunned in death."

Taunt:

"You brought bugspray, I see. Too bad it is only effective against the likes of you."

Joke:

"Ska-Ska-Skarner!"

"Thank the Crystal Scar I'm not a bee. I'd...bee...dead by now. My apologies."

"My sense of humer? Well, I don't really have one, considering I have claws and all."

"Oh no! I seemed to have stepped on one of my cousins!" (Kept it because this joke is priceless).

"You see, this is why I keep my claws dull. Well, for the most part, anyway." after scratching his back and sighing in relief.

Side Note : If any of the numbers are overhauled/undertuned please let me know - I dabbled in the numbers in comparison to other champs and their abilties.

I would love constructive critcism on this! Tell me what you don't like, what you like - what you think needs balancing and what needs nerfing! I would love to see this become the new Skarner - one can only hope! ^^

Contributors to Additional Concepts/Changes: Nelogis

##Change Log

10-3-17

  • Old "Sentinel of Hope" scrapped, reworked.
  • Slow increased on "Deadly Pincers".
  • Debuffs on "Crawling Doom" removed. Added second function to "Venomous Ambush".
  • "Protector of Ages" changed. Activates while in combat, instead of at random times.
  • Added "Voice Line" section.
  • Added "Itemization" section.

10-5-17

  • Added another VL to "Joke" section.

8 Comments

nelogis10/3/2017, 10:39:01 AM1 votes

If I were you I would change that passive because:

A) It sounds absolutely MASSIVE! A little number example, if Skarner has 200 Armor and MR and is at 2K hp this thing will bump it up to 700 Armor and MR as long as an ally is taking dmg near him. He soaks up 16% of that dmg and that dmg is almost completely negated by that 700 armor/MR.

B) It isn't a very interactive passive since you can't do anything outside of just killing Skarner to turn it off (16% dmg reduction is a lot).

I would change it to something like this:

Whenever an ally is taking DMG in Skarners area he gains a shield (10% of his max HP), +30%/40%/50% Movementspeed and +20% Tenacity for 3 seconds (15/10/5 second cooldown) (Scales at lvl 6/11/16)

I do like the adaptive Exoskeleton idea that could stay!

Q: 10% slow for 0.5 secs sounds weak to me... I would change that to 20% slow for 1 seconds for the first two hits (if Skarner hits the first hit it slows for 20% and the second will make it a 40% slow for 1 second) and the last hit has a 0.5 second charge up time and stuns the target for 1 second. I would also slap some %hp dmg somewhere so his dmg doesnt fall off late. Also making this like a Riven type of Q where he can auto-cancel would be cool.

W: Feels clunky to use, so you walk up to a wall (melee range) and then cast this ability, get slowed and have a small range to jump on someone? So you cant chase anything similar to kayn or camille with this... the only usable scenarion is when someone is chasing YOU (but then I think you are almost dead) or when both of you are fighting near a wall.... I don't know, even in a teamfight you have to walk to a wall and then you cc yourself... and this whole time a Tristana could be auto-attacking you... not talking about that 0.7 seconds slow thats way to small of a cc for this kind of ability.

I don't have an idea on how to redesign this ability tough ^^

E: To be honest this thing feels unusable in a teamfight... you are most certainly going to get hit by random AOE / still have a DOT on you from a random rylais or that DOT mastery / get hit by a random Ludens or Stattik or basicly get focused down.

What I would do is to change this ability to a mini-pre-rework Maokai ult and scale down the buffs you gave the ability. Let's say enemies outside of the circle deal 30% less dmg for allies in the circle (the circle follows you). The circle radius increases the longer you charge the ability (kinda like Galio taunt) and Skarner gains 10-40% movementspeed after finishing casting the ability (scales with charge up time 0-1.5 seconds)

R: This feels cool, just one thing tough, so you can grab someone from 1300 units (after applying that mark) point and click and then drag him 2 seconds long? that 1300 units seem strong in this case....

I would also remove that debuff with the true dmg and scale down the buff to 20%/25/30% bonus resistances

GodJormungandr3/15/2018, 3:01:43 PM1 votes

I strongly Disagree as a skarner main, your ideas on Skarner's rework is quite bad and makes nonsense on a scorpion dueler. You made him a warden with this concept, and that is never what skarner meant to be, he is meant to be a dueling scorpion, he supposed to be that mean badass scorpion dude why just humiliate every living creature near him with his pincers and stinger

Mystery Ghost3/15/2018, 3:41:30 PM1 votes

[sg-ahri-1]