Skarner Rework: Give the Scorpion Poison, and let him DIVE!

This rework attempts to bridge the gap between the older diver playstyle of Skarner and the new flavours added with the Juggernaut update while still remaining true to old Skarner. The MAIN priority however was increasing the agency of the base kit to allow Skarner more options when the ult was on CD.

This kit attempts to walk the fine line between the two allowing Skarner to be played more like a vanguard diver if built like one, which means he sacrifices damage for survivabiliy, but if you build him more like a juggernaut with more damage, Skarner will be able to wreck most foes who come within in his range at the cost of having less mobility needed to not get kited or dive into a fight. Skarner still relies on having potent movespeed in critical moments to dive, but now if built like a vanguard he has more agency and more interesting ways to get faster and a stronger ability to rush straight into a fight w/o the need for a dash.

This kit also seeks to add more unique ways for Skarner mains to flex their skills, raising the skill ceiling and opening up new interesting ways to master the different ways that Skarner is played with a New skillful Q that remains simple in base form, and new unique ways to move around and close the gap. Skarner players will learn to maximize the way the move in fights to stay 1 step ahead of their opponents weaving like a scorpion would in a fight before closing the gap on a choice target. With new ways to master Skarner's base kit with more interesting abilities, Skarner will no longer be solely defined by his ult. This is enhanced by the fact that the Kit carries the theme of the Ultimate by enabling skarner to dive in and disrupt a choice target if played correctly. Further explanations can be found for each ability.

Of course the spires passive is gone bc its doesn't work and locks him into the jungle too hard leaving him a fraction of a champion w/o him

Passive: Crystal Venom Skarner gains bonus armor penetration from Armor. Every third basic attack and Frenzied Strike 3rd cast apply a Crystal Venom for 8 seconds stack Poisoning the enemy, taking an 5% of their max health as damage over 3 seconds. At 3 stacks, Skarner consumes them and his next basic attack is enhanced to deal bonus damage as well as stun the target for 0.5 / 0.75 / 1 seconds. This cannot affect the same target more than once every few seconds.

Design Notes: a gated effect where the application is applied slower but the applied effect lasts longer like a poison. Should combine the apex moments of being a scorpion - the poison, and being a crystal creature - the stun. Being able to use the Stinger should evoke high moments when it hits, it should mean the target’s time is nearing its end.

Q: Frenzied Strikes Skarner attacks in the target direction, damaging enemies in the area. Frenzied Strikes can be reactivated twice within the next 4 seconds dealing increased damage, with the second cast refreshing the timer. 1st Strike: Crystal Slash - Skarner swings his claws, hitting enemies in front of him in a wide arc 2nd Strike: Crystal Smash - Skarner slams his claw down in a small area in front of him, grounding enemies for 1.5 seconds. Enemies in the center of the smash are also slowed for 0.25 seconds. 3rd Strike: Crystal Sting - Skarner launches his tail 350 units. If Skarner's Tail hits a champion or large monster, his Attack Timer is reset. CD: 12/11.5/11/10.5/10

Design Notes: Skarner’s current Q feels too generic and doesn’t evoke the feeling or imagery of crushing your target with your claws, or the viciousness that he could attack with. This new Q is designed to add a bit of skill to Skarner, and a feeling of ramping up the effect, with increasingly damaging visuals and effects. The old Q doesn’t capitalize on Skarner's fantasy of a large aggressive scorpion, this should because it is a more direct way of Skarner expressing his aggression with his unique weapons. The ramping damage should be a cool set up for fights into the rest of his kit rather than a stand alone ability as it has become.

W - Crystalline Exoskeleton Passive: Each time Skarner is shielded he locks the direction he currently facing and is granted a burst of increased accelerating MS to either side, front, back respectively based on the cast of Frenzied Strikes he’s currently on. Active: Skarner gains LARGE physical shield for 6 seconds. While the shield persists, Skarner gains resistance to Slows. At rank 5 it becomes slows immunity. After 3 seconds reduced 0.25 sec upon damaging a unit Skarner damages nearby enemies and doubles the remaining shield.

Bonus MS: 60 (+ 50% shield value) Shield: x/x/x/x/x (+60% armor) (+9/10/11/12/13% maximum health) Slow Resistance: x/x/x/x/100%

Design Notes: Did not need a lot of changes, this is a solid ability for a fighter champion. Encapsulates the crystals theme by shielding pure physical damage and pulls from his lore by not really helping against magic based damage. But that means that AoE’s thats mages use won’t contribute to breaking the shield thus is should be easier to maintain the shield and the movement speed necessary to close the gap to get to a particular target. The crystal theme is also evoked by the shattering of the shield once he has reached the chosen target breaking it with the fury of his own blows once it isn’t needed anymore. The scaling of this shield will allow players to determine what kind of playstyle they want, building armor and tank items will allow Skarner to use W more like a diver, while building damage and health will allow for a more juggernaut approach.

E - Fracture After a short delay, Skarner launches an energy blast in the target direction that solidifies into a crystal of terrain at maximum range or 250 units behind a hit unit in knocking down and slowing units it passes through, and dealing (% of skarners max HP) dmg. The crystal leaves a trail for 5 seconds that grants Skarner bonus movement speed, casting abilities also spreads this trail where it was cast.

Design Notes: Skarner players really played him for the fantasy of diving in and pulling out a choice target. The Ult was what Skarner was all about. Players should be able to live that fantasy more often, it should be his whole gameplay not part of it, because using the tail is what makes it feel like you’re playing a scorpion. So even tho using the ult will allow player the true essence of Skarner they can still live as a disruptive diver due to E allowing them a way into fights disabling enemies ability to escape if used correctly. By combining basic attacks, Q, and W, skarner can keep the target in range.

R - Impale No change.