Some Tips and Builds for Skarner 3.0

http://leaguecraft.com/meme/asset/meme_760px_12143.jpg

So there is a lot of....mix feelings around this Skarner rework and I know that feeling is only going to increase when the masses get their hands on them. If there is one thing the Fiora rework has taught me is that people will go to build and max what they did on the champ before the rework, which for Skarner right here is going to be really bad. So I am going to offer what I have found during plays, watching others, and checking all his stats changes so that you can understand and make your new Skarner games much smoother, easier, and of course, fun.

Keep in mind this is for Jungle Skarner, not lane Skarner...I'm not that good at lane Skarner. :(

1. DON'T MAX Q!!! MAX E!!!!

This is going to be the biggest problem most people are going to have when they try Skarner. Everyone is so used to maxing Q and leaving E as a 1 point wonder, but that is going to have to change.

Yes you should get Q at level 1, but it should stay at 1-2 points. Why? let look at what it does when you level it both Q and E up.

Q:

COOLDOWN: 3.5 / 3.25 / 3 / 2.75 / 2.5

COST: 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 mana

Physical Damage: 33 / 36 / 39 / 42 / 45% AD

Bonus Magic Damage: 33 / 36 / 39 / 42 / 45% AD (+ 20% AP)

E:

COOLDOWN: 13 / 12.5 / 12 / 11.5 / 11

COST: 55 mana

Magic Damage: 40 / 75 / 110 / 145 / 180 (+ 40% AP)

Slow: 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65%

Bonus Stun Damage: 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 / 125

I would like to point out that there is NO BASE DAMAGE ON Q. All maxing Q does is slightly lower the cooldown and increases the mana cost. Unless you are buying early AD, maxing Q does almost nothing damage wise and just make it cost more. Maxing E on the other hand lowers cooldown, increases slow, and increases the base damage on both the first hit and the stun damage. Also stunning a target takes 1 second off E for each target stun, that makes the lower cooldown on each rank more noticeable.

2. BUILD HEALTH/TANK

Skarner W now scales with his max health (12-16% of based on rank) I would argue maxing this second after maxing E first but what you max second can be flexible based on the team comps. With the tanky health Skarner you will have a powerful shield and will still deal lots of damage with the new item Titanic Hydra

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pWzgrhsY3M0/VcupUiOV_KI/AAAAAAAAvvI/mjZC59Ula_I/s320/titanic1.jpg

This item gives 400 health (good for Cinderhulk and Skarner's W), 50 AD (Good for Skarner's Q) and Health regen. But the big thing is it passive, It's passive and active makes your auto attacks do bonus damage based on your max health. So buy building this item with health and tank, Skarner can not only take the hits, but can deal so much more back. Speaking of health....

3. New Warmog http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wNPT2-Zql0E/VcFmSBo8pYI/AAAAAAAAvIk/iVtHsJKhxpQ/s320/warmogsarmor.jpg

This change only heals you if you max health has gone pass 3000 (which if you are building health tank is easy to do), but now the heal is 3% of your max health PER SECOND when out of combat. Skarner's new passive has him recover 3% of his max mana PER SECOND when you are in his special zones. With both the zone and warmog, Skarner can get back to max health and mana very fast, making the need to recall to heal pointless. Once you get watmog, you will only ever have to recall to buy items and wards. Because of that.....

4. 

This boot enhancement is actually much better for Skarner to use than homeguard. With the health and mana regen Skarner will be getting from warmog and his passive zones, you will hardly recall, if you are not recalling much..you are not using homeguard much. Furor on the other hand Skarner can use all the time and to great use.

And that's about all I got. Hopefully this will help you guys out when you play Skarner. If you have any questions let me know and I will try to answer them.