Skarner Rework - Thoughts?

Panicjsp · Oct 19, 2013

Hey all, exciting news! Skarner is coming to the pbe in the next update with his new reworked kit. Here is the changelist and some explanation for why we ended up with these changes:

Base Attack speed lowered by 1%

Crystal Slash
-Mana cost reduced from 20/22/24/26/28 to 16/18/20/22/24
-When target is hit, applies an attack speed buff for 6s that stacks up to 3 times 4/5/6/7/8
-Slow removed from Crystal Slash (moved to Fracture)

Exoskeleton
-Attack speed component removed
-Cooldown lowered from 18s to 14s
-Max movepseed increased from 15/17/19/21/23 to 24/28/32/36/40 and ramps up over 3s
-Duration remains at 6s
-Shield value increased from 70/115/160/205/250 to 75/125/175/225/280
-Shield AP ratio increased from 0.6 to 0.8

Fracture
-Mana cost reduced from 50/55/60/65/70 to 30/35/40/45/50
-Heal removed
-Targets hit are slowed by 30/35/40/45/50 for 2.5s
-Missile range increased 800->1000
-Missile width reduced 120->90

Impale
-Impale now roots targeted champion during the windup animation
-VO for “feel my sting” etc will happen on successful grab instead of cast start

Explanations
-The attack speed buff was moved from W to Q to make Skarner more consistent and less feast or famine
-The slow was moved from Q to E to get rid of the frustrating perma slow of his old Q but also to allow him some more flexibility and ability to make catches/plays with the ranged slow on E
-W speed values are buffed to bring him in line with other similar bruisers
-R now has a more consistent ability to grab targets once he has started casting on them

These changes are still not final, and I want everyone to play the new kit and give us feedback.

-Scruffy

Thread here: http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?p=42325083#post42325083

Heeatz · Oct 19, 2013

I've never played Skarner, will be interesting to see if he becomes popular again after this

Direchampion · Oct 20, 2013

Im glad they fixed some of his mana issues but i'm not liking the new kit too much. I think they have a bit of tweaking to do though. As it stands his fracture has a hefty 10 second cooldown and combining that with a lackluster slow i'm thinking he'll have some trouble becoming top tier.

Many of the top junglers right now have a solid CC or high mobility (or both). Skarner lacks both of these components.

Not feeling too strongly about the changes i'm seeing here. I would have MUCH preferred to see just mana reduction and the ult flash cancellation reintroducted while keeping his kit the same.