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Hi guys. Welcome to my 3rd guide here on mobafire, this time for SKARNER. I'm BroxXx95 and I play on EUW. In this guide I'll show you a few ways for playing Skarner, based on my current knowledge about him.
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I played Skarner since the day he was out. True, I was playing for about few months and I didn't have much experience with this game, but I learned to jungle with him. He has quite fast jungling speed and can gank successfully even before level 6. Some people may say that he is boring, but I disagree with them. Skarner is fun champion to play with since he constantly spams his Shattered Earth during fights and he can even pull enemy into your team. Plus, he can be built in many different ways, depending on what your team needs!
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Here's Skarner's lore for those who are interested in it.

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Advantages: Fast jungler Constant slow with Shattered Earth AS/MS buff with Seismic Bastion Great ganker even before level 6 Reduces cooldowns with every AA

Weaknesses: Dependent on blue buff Easily kited Squishy without survivability items No natural escape except Seismic Bastion's MS boost

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greater mark of armor penetration greater mark of hybrid penetration Greater Mark of Attack Speed are great choice, as they will increase your jungling speed and your passive will be used more often. greater mark of armor penetration are also good option when you are going AD Skarner. These will increase you the damage you deal with your AA through whole game and help you ignore some of enemy's armor, since you won't get ArPen items. Greater Mark of Magic Penetration are runes you'd want to take for AP Skarner, since you will be dealing more damage with your abilities. These are also helpful through whole game. greater mark of hybrid penetration I have never used. But I assume they are also useful, since Skarner is dealing both physical and magic damage. Greater Seal of Armor are needed for early sustain in jungle, as well as for early-mid game, against AD champions.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist are needed to deal with AP champions through whole match. Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed are really useful when it comes to ganking and chasing, as well as escaping from enemies. Can help you move faster through jungle too. Greater Quintessence of Health will nicely boost your early game health and give you more sustain in jungle. Take them if you feel you need them. Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage are great early AD boost for your AD Skarner. You will be killing monsters more quickly and your Shattered Earth will also do more damage. Greater Quintessence of Armor can be considered if you are going against heavy AD team. Along with Greater Seal of Armor, these will provide even more durability against AD champions.

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There is not too much to explain here. I suggest going 0/21/9 masteries, as this can really help your early game tankiness. Skarner is rather squishy without items and this setup really helps him early game. In Defensive Tree take:

• Durability and Veteran's Scars for extra HP;
• Tough Skin for more protection while jungling, and Bladed Armor for increased damage to neutral monsters;
• Relentless and Tenacious for reduces CC and slow effects;
• Hardiness , Legendary Armor and Honor Guard for more overall toughness;
• Summoner's Resolve for extra gold when using Smite.

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In Utility Tree take:

• Summoner's Insight for less CD on Flash;
• Wanderer to move faster through jungle;
• Mastermind for less CD on all Summoner's Spells;
• Runic Affinity for longer buff duration.

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S U M M O N E R S

S P E L L S

Smite - Absolutely a MUST HAVE spell. Crucial for early jungling and securing Baron Nashor or Dragon. Flash - This spell provides you great utility. You can use it to escape enemies, by flashing over "walls", or to get in range for Impale, and many more. Keep in mind that you can't flash while your ult is active! Ghost - An OK alternative instead of Flash. Gives you high MS boost and can be activated while Impale is active, giving you chance to pull your target more. Exhaust - It's an OK spell to take instead of Flash when you want to secure those early ganks. Later it can be used to reduce potential of enemy champion in team fights. Still, you won't be able to escape if you get caught.

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energize

Energize: Basic attacks lower the cooldowns of Skarner's abilities by 1 second against champions and 0.5 seconds against non-champions. Not too much to say about this passive. It will allow you spam your abilities often, whether you are jungling or fighting an enemy.

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Crystal Slash: Skarner lashes out with his claws, dealing 25 / 40 / 55 / 70 / 85 (+0.8 per bonus attack damage) physical damage to all nearby enemies and charging himself with Crystal Energy for 5 seconds if a unit is struck. If he casts Crystal Slash again while empowered by Crystal Energy, he deals 24 / 36 / 48 / 60 / 72 (+40% of ability power) bonus magic damage and slows all targets hit by 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 % for 2 seconds. This is the ability that makes Skarner a good ganker even before level 6. It deals some nice damage and also keeps your target slowed as long as you want and increases damage dealt by Liandry's Torment. It also allows you to proc Sheen constantly during fights.

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Crystalline Exoskeleton: Skarner receives a shield for up to 6 seconds which blocks 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+60% of ability power) damage. While the shield persists his movement speed is increased by 15 / 17 / 19 / 21 / 23 % and his attack speed is increased by 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 %. This ability grants you shield and bonus AS and MS while shield is active. Use it to chase an enemy, or escape from them, or even to prevent some damage. With Seismic Bastion active you will be able to reduce your CDs even more, due to bonus AS. Building more AP will increase your shield amount.

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Fracture: Skarner summons a blast of crystalline energy which deals 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240 (+70% of ability power) magic damage to enemies struck and marks them for 6 seconds. Any further damage dealt to marked targets by Skarner will allow him to consume the mark to heal himself for 30 / 45 / 60 / 75 / 90 (+30% of ability power) health. Subsequent marks consumed will heal for 50% of the last. This ability allows to stay in jungle more and heals you for nice amount. If you built some AP items, both damage and heal will be stronger. Healing is also affected by Spirit Visage passive.

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Impale: Skarner suppresses an enemy champion for 1.75 seconds and deals 100 / 150 / 200 (+50% of ability power) magic damage to it. During this time, Skarner can move freely and will drag his helpless victim around with him. When the effect ends, Skarner's target will be dealt the same amount of magic damage again. This ability makes you even better ganker after you hit level 6. When you use it on enemy, you can actually move them around for a few seconds. Use it after enemy flashes away, to pull him back, or to prevent them to flash, or to keep your enemy under your turret if it's attacking them. It is vital to use Impale on right targets in team fights, to pervent them doing any damage.

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Crystal slash is your main damaging ability, and as such it should be always maxed first, by level 9.
Crystalline exoskeleton is usually maxed second, as it gives you both offensive and defensive boosts, nice mix of shield and bonus MS and AS.
Fracture is not needed early, but you can take one point at level 4 if you want to.
Of course, Impale should be taken whenever you can, at levels 6, 11 and 16.

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Skarner is a natural jungler. He can be successfully played as a solo top champion, but in jungle he is even better. His jungling speed is pretty fast, due to his Shattered Earth. He has nice sustain thanks to both Seismic Bastion and Ixtal's Impact and he has ability to successfully gank even before level 6, due to slow from Shattered Earth.
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But, he is also very mana-hungry champion, and as such, he needs blue buff, at least for early jungling. If possible, take first two, or even three buffs for yourself, unless your mid really needs it.
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At the beginning, start with Hunter's Machete and five Health Potions. Alternatively, if you don't have armor runes (for some reason), start with Cloth Armor and 5 Health Potions. Ask your teammates to help you at wolf camp and blue buff as much as they can, so you can gank early. Here is Skarner's usual path:
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Wolves -> Blue Buff (Golem) -> Wraiths -> Gank mid lane (if possible) -> Double Golems -> Red Buff (Lizard) -> Gank (if needed, or there's opportunity)
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Here are paths for ganking, based on in which team you are. Generally, if you are in the BLUE team it will be easier to gank Top Lane, cause you can go through tri-bush and gank enemy from behind. If you are in the PURPLE team, you can do the same to enemy Bot Lane, just like it's shown on the map.
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Also, as a jungler, your job is to ward crucial locations on the map like Baron Nashor and Dragon. Here's map that shows where to put wards and how important that location is:
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GREEN = It should be warded by someone else already, but put a ward if needed.
Yellow = Can help you see where is enemy moving through jungle, but not necessary.
ORANGE = It's advisable to put wards here in case you want to counter enemy jungler, to gain an advantage.
RED = You should always have at least sight ward on these locations, as there are important team objectives.
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AD Skarner is really strong way to build him. I use this build most of the time, cause with it, his damage is really high after you get Sheen. Also, your Shattered Earth will hurt your enemies pretty much. Go this way when your team needs more physical (or hybrid) damage.
Start with usual jungling item , Hunter's Machete, for increased damage to neutral monsters and faster jungle clearing. Farm and gank as much as you can and get your core items, Wriggle's Lantern and Sheen, as soon as you can and buy early Giant's Belt. Later in game upgrade Sheen to ether Trinity Force or Iceborn Gauntlet. After core items choose your next items from the list bellow:
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- Gives you AD and AP to boost you damage and bonus AS that stacks, so you can proc your passive more often. Also, it will grant you even more AS and bonus lifesteal and spellvamp if you wall bellow 50% HP.

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- Great item against against Burst AP champions (e.g. LeBlanc, Annie, etc.) as it will give you nice amount of magic resist, AD and two sweet passives. If you fall bellow 30% HP you will gain shield that blocks some magic damage. Also you will gain more AD the less HP you have, making you even stronger.

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- For more tankiness and some nice DoT I suggest taking it, especially if you need more armor. Synergizes well with Atma's Impaler.

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- This item provides you great amount of HP as well as high health regeneration. Like Sunfire Aegis, it has great synergy with Atma's Impaler.

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- Great item for more HP, mana and, of course, magic resist. It also grants you spell shield every 25 seconds to help you against combo-based AP champions.

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- Awesome item to counter AS-dependent champions, like AD Carries. Grants you high amount of HP and armor.

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- I suggest taking it as you will have a TON of health and it will boost your AD greatly and give you even more critical chance and armor.

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- If you build more offensive than defensive items you will become even bigger threat to your enemies. They will probably focus you more so Guardian Angel is great choice to avoid dying.

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Another possible way to build Skarner is to build him like an Tanky AP character. I do not use this build very often, but it can be useful when your team is mainly AD and you need more magic damage. Also, you will have more sustain and you will rely on your abilities to deal damage. Go this way when your team lacks magic damage.
Start with usual jungling item and jungle as you normally would. Go rush Spirit of the Spectral Wraith for some nice bonus AP and spellvamp, which will increase your sustain. After you get it, go for Iceborn Gauntlet and boots (depending on enemy team] and choose items bellow:
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- Good item with nice stats. Gives you some AP, health and magic penetration, which will help you as your damage will mainly be magic. Also, passive is really handy when it comes to high-health targets. It will easily deal double damage as you can keep them slowed constantly.

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- Another nice items that provides nice amount of AP and magic resist, increasing both your damage output and survivability. It also gives you an aura that reduces all nearby enemies' magic resistance, which can help your team too.

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- Stats this item gives you can be very useful. Bonus AP makes you deal more damage, bonus HP makes you more tanky and it's passive makes your abilities slow your targets, although I do not find it necessary, so I'd rather take LT instead. Still this is viable item to take.

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- This cool item that gives you HP, magic resist and CDR. Also, its passive will increase all healing effects on you by 20%, making your already high sustain even higher, as your Ixtal's Impact will heal you more.

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- Frozen Heart is really viable choice as it gives you bonus mana, armor and CDR. It has also a great passive that decreases AS of all nearby enemies by 20%, making them less dangerous in team fights.

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- In late game, when your build is fully finished, replace Spirit of the Spectral Wraith with Hextech Gunblade, as it gives you higher damage output and nice active, to slow your targets from distance.

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This is one more way to build Skarner. Absolutely viable in almost all team compositions, but it's most efficient when your bot-lane support is not actually a full support (e.g. Lux, Nidalee, etc.). In that case you will be taking roles of support and tank, someone who can initiate a fight and still support his team with aura items.
Of course, start jungling as you usually would and rush Spirit of the Ancient Golem, Mobility Boots and Sheen. Mercury's Treads are not really needed, cause SotAG already gives you tenacity and it DOES NOT stack with MT. Sheen will later be upgraded to ether Iceborn Gauntlet or Trinity Force (depending on your needs), and after that pick items from list bellow:
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- Upgrade Sheen to ether IG or TF, depending on your needs. IG gives you more survivability, CDR and mana to spam your abilities, while slowing multiple enemies around you. TF gives you more single-target damage and improves your overall stats.

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- A great support item that gives you HP, CDR and health and mana regeneration, and an awesome active that can be used to ether initiate fight or escape an enemy.

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- Another great support item that gives you HP, armor and magic resist and makes your whole team tankier in team fights. It doesn't have to be upgraded from Aegis of the Legion until late game, or until it's needed, cause they both give same aura.

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zeke's herald

- This item gives you HP, CDR and bonus AD and lifesteal aura to your whole team. It's great to take when you want to deal more damage, as it will boost all AD champs in your team too.

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That would be all from me this time, but I will be updating this guide whenever I can. =] Don't forget to vote and leave a comment whether you like this guide or not, and help me improve it!

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If you already didn't, please check my other guides:

• Night Approaches, for Diana;
• True Damage - True Carry, for Vayne.
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And of course, special thanks to jhoijhoi for her Guide Making Tutorial!

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PUBLISHED ON: 12/02/2013