Lol Skarner 2024 Rework: Abilities and More

In Patch 14.7 of League of Legends, our beloved Skarner finally got a VGU( Visual & Gameplay Uptade).

In this article of ours, we will go through Skarner's new skills, design, and how to maximize your performance while playing him! Let's get started with his abilities

If you are a visual learner make sure to check out this video for Skarner’s abilities and new design.

Skarner’s Passive Ability

Details:

Skarner's basic attacks, his Q (Fracture), and his R (Impale) apply a stack of "Quaking" to enemies hit.

The Quaking effect lasts for 4 seconds and can be refreshed up to 3 times by dealing damage with those abilities.

Enemies affected with 3 stacks of Quaking take magic damage equal to:

7-12% of their maximum health (based on Skarner's level)
This damage has a cap of 100-300 (based on Skarner's level) against monsters

How to Use:

• This provides Skarner a decent jungle clear and for top lane, as long as the cooldowns and auto attacks are used properly it grants an outstanding trade setup.

Skarner’s Q Ability

Details Of Shattered Earth

Skarner pulls a boulder out of the ground, granting him 3.5 seconds of empowered basic attacks. These empowered attacks have:

• Uninterruptible windup
• 25 bonus range
• Bonus attack speed
• Bonus physical damage to the target and nearby enemies (50% vs structures)
• Each empowered attack refreshes the 3.5-second duration.

The 3rd empowered attack slams the boulder, dealing bonus physical damage equal to 15% of each enemy's max health (not applied to structures, capped vs monsters).

• This also slows enemies by 40% for 1.25 seconds.
• After 0.75 seconds, Skarner gains the ability to cast Upheaval but loses this if he uses the 3rd empowered attack.

Details Of Upheaval

• Skarner throws a boulder in a target direction
• The boulder explodes on the first enemy hit
• The explosion deals physical damage to enemies in the area
• The explosion also slows affected enemies by 40% for 1.25 seconds
• The explosion damage is reduced to 50% against structures

How to Use:

• As Top Lane Skarner, use this to your advantage by auto-attacking 2 times after using your Q for wave clear and then throwing upheaval onto the opponent to poke and gain priority at the same time.
• For Jungle Skarner this is just a basic combat and camp clear ability.

Skarner’s W Ability

Details:

• Skarner slams his claws into the ground
• This gives Skarner a shield equal to 9% of his max health for 2.5 seconds
• It also releases a shockwave that expands around Skarner
• The shockwave deals magic damage to enemies it hits
• The shockwave also slows any enemies it hits for 1 second

How to Use:

• The range of shockwave is outstanding and it has a slow while ganking as Skarner Jungle use that to your advantage by slowing the opponents down.
• As a Top Lane Skarner, especially against champions with burst potential, this skill plays a vital role in winning short trades.

Skarner's E Ability

Details:

Skarner charges forward for up to 2.75 seconds. During the charge, he:

• Gains immunity to slows
• Becomes ghosted (can pass through units)
• Ignores terrain collision
• Gains unobstructed vision in a 650-unit radius
• Skarner automatically navigates the charge, with a slowly increasing turn rate that resets when he changes direction
• After 1 second, Skarner can recast the ability, and it will automatically recast when the initial duration expires

If Skarner's grasped target collides with terrain during the charge:

• The charge ends
• The target is detached from Skarner
• The target takes physical damage and is stunned for 1.5 seconds
• Skarner's "Ixtal's Impact" ability cooldown is reduced by 35%

How to Use:

• To use this skill efficiently, you have to test it out in practice mode a lot of times
• For Top Lane Skarner, use this skill to your advantage only when escaping a lost fight or when you are confidently going all in to your opponent.
• For Jungle Skarner, use this ability to engage and gank onto enemies from unexpected angles.

Skarner’s R Ability

Details:

• Skarner winds up his stingers during the cast time, gaining immunity to displacement effects
• He then lashes the stingers forward in a cone in the target direction
• This deals magic damage to any enemies hit
• It also impales up to 3 of the closest enemy champions within the area
• Impaled champions are suppressed (unable to move, attack, or use abilities) for 1.5 seconds

How to Use:

• Make sure to use your ultimate on targets that are already in crowd control, as your R is now dodgeable.
• Make sure that you have follow-up damage after suppressing opponents, as Skarner lacks damage compared to hyper carries.
• You can't move while you are casting your R. Don't cast it in positions which you can get killed in a couple of seconds.

What Role Should Skarner be Played?

Skarner currently has a %44 winrate in Jungle, meaning it doesn't have the results that he is used to getting as he was sitting at a %48 Win rate in jungle before the update.

At the top lane, on the other hand, he stands at a %48 win rate after the VGU, meaning he has a higher success rate in top lane compared to jungle.

Keep in mind that every champion that gets VGU has a low win rate after the first release, as players often test out many things through playing.

Meta Build and Skill Priority for Skarner Top Lane

Meta Runes for Skarner Top Lane

Meta Build and Skill Priority for Skarner Jungle

Meta Runes for Skarner Jungle

Conclusion

In the first patches, after Skarner got his VGU, it's not the best option to spam games ranked with him.

The reason for that is, that the champion is at a test phase which Riot will adapt him depending on his performance and struggles in the first phases.

Therefore our best recommendation is to play him on other game modes and train the champion to improve on it without risking losing your Division!