Hello folks =)
this guide is obviously about skarner the crystal trollface. I've red alot of guides here on skarner and most of the have a fair point and very good guidelines for when i started playing him. but now i want to contribute to everybody with my own modified skarner build. I'll cover jungling for the time being but ill take the soloing part when i got the time xD

so lets get started shall we?

PROS

Fast Jungle
good Ganking spells
Supress Ulti
Funny trollface for once -.-
and CD reduce passive huehuehue

CONS

Very Short Range
Only fast when got his shield up

Cant Think of anything else xD comment if you got any tips :P

my runes are supposed 2 balance the most needed stats eaarly on for jungling EXCEPT the MR runes which i like so those mid mages will hate.
i get the Greater Mark of Desolation because it reduces the armor of most creeps to 0 so you got full dmg yay :D
why and Greater Quintessence of Strenght ?
well they hurt ppl cuz its still effective dmg on AA(auto attacks) and your Q. so they help jungling and ganking. seals and glyhps are quite optional but i recommend having them as they work great for me :P

there isnt much 2 say here. i feel that these are quite standard tanking masteries which got secondary spec for easy jungling, quite obvious isnt it :D

BUT i have a weird choce for my def spec and that is the gold for kill/assist
i have it because extra gold doesnt hurt me as i didnt have any better choice IMO and its worth it if you can effectivly gank opponents.

okay now is the fun part :D my items huehuehue
alot of times when i play skarner i feel like im dying instantly because i dont like going in as a melee with trinity and hextech, now some might think "U MAD?" but no im not. skarner to me is the character which sticks to another players *** and does not get out of there until the job is done.
how do i do this? its quite simple, i tank so i can sustain fights so ill almost NEVER lose my prey.
but ofc every build gotta start somewhere and mine starts with a simple and 2x
on my first back from the jungle i must be able to afford my and maybe a longsword and more always help.
on my second recall i should have atleast attempted 2 gank twice, but dont feel pressured to do so if you don't think you got a good chance.
if you have done your jungle and maybe even invaded theirs and got one succsesful gank you should be able to afford and a Null Magic Mantle, if you got a good farm going on you might even get Vampiric Sceptre or

Just keeping creeping and ganking until you got about 1,6k Gold, then recall(or if you died SHAME on you ;P) and get + . BUT only get Giants belt if you think you will need armor later on because you will build it into otherwise you should get the needed items for in the order that fits you. but as the and are the core items of this build you will eventually get them both.

After this its pretty much up 2 yourself what items you will need to "block" as much dmg as possible.

FOR EXAMPLE
if im facing a team where ad outnumbers AP I will get either or . A Good choice is also the with one of these items.

If you got AP heavy Opponents you can go or , I'd go if they got alot of CC

Then you CAN trade int that little wriggle of yours, doesnt mean you have to though as i really like the lifesteal and freeward you get. but if you are trading in this item get an Aura item for the team, so which one 2 pick? well in my days of playing LoL i see support go 2 aura items and which IMO is all the supports need 2 go so he/she can then get whatever they need. So the choices that i think HELPS are , and maybe but i haven't tried this one so you know ^.-

i think that explains it hope it helps :P

Nothing 2 say here excpet go CRYSTAL SLASH and my LAZOOR tail ulti.

is picked cuz im jungling ofc nothing more 2 say and always save it until last when going dragon/baron so you can last hit/steal it huehuehue

is gr8 IMO even though it got nerfed now it only requires some more skill to use properly. so its still gr8 as ill jsut flash in ulti and thne they go Bye BYE whne my team swarms the prey.

OTHER CHOICES

There are none, w8 maybe (woooh im a ghos MF im a ghost)bad joke soz
it gives lots of movement spped but i still dont like it cuz then i wont have a GOOD escape mechanism. but popping while ulting is fun :P

ofc you start at number 1 and work your way down. you will need a leash but it doesnt have to be super strong, you can also start at the wolves then go golems(blue buff) but only if you feels secure enough with it.
after you have gone form camp 1-5 you can gank, but it wont be very easy without boots. but if you got a good chance then take it. otherwise camp 3 will have respawned and go take it then back to camp 2 and then camp 5, you can reapet this step until you need to go B or you can fetch one of those lovely buffs. its quite simple actually xD
also i've never had smite when i reach red buff for the first time BUT i still make it so don't worry.

Even though jungling is insanely easy you will have a hard time getting good ganks as skarner if you are new to jungling/skarner. A key to jungling is also to ward key mobs of the jungle such as drake, or golem buff/lizard buff. placing wards in your own jungle will make it easy 2 counter invade if you aren't even near when he/she gets spotted.

also placing wards in their jungle will make you able to see if he is leaving it to gank/invade. this gives you opportunites that will help alot, otherwise you might be so close that when their jungler is attempting to take a buff that you or a teamm8 can steal it, woohooo FREE BUFFS FOR EVERYONE!

THIS CHAPTER IS A WORKING PROGRESS for your attention :P

A key to jungling in general is ganking. so what is ganking? well its really outnumbering opponents with an ambush. this is what makes junglers great because they can do this easyily on any lane as they dont have a lane to protect in the first place. of course there are things that make ganking harder such as traps( , and ). then we have the almighty ward that makes it alot harder to gank IF your victim has any kind of map awareness.

Ganking as skarner is good, but it gets INSANE when he hits lvl 6. think of it like this, an Ashe is shooting some minions thinking "haha this cait sucks! my cs is so high" while she is so smug you come there lurking in those comfortable bushes with your boots shield and a ulti that surpresses and lets you drag em around at the same time. BUT you will need to position yourself good to even land a decent ulti or you might just waste it.(i'll link some vids on this when i get the chance of even making one xD ). an important thing is that ganking before boots isnt very ideal imo aka waste of time. what has worked for me most of the time when i gank is something so simple as sheeping(i think that is right), its running behind the one(s) you are trynig to gank so they will have to run into you or you m8's.
this might seem stupid but there is actually a rotation to skarners spells, when start shepping dont turn on your instantly, w8 until you are at an apppropiate range so you can utilize its AS increase. as for your you should use it between your attacks beacuse you actually move AHEAD of it so it wont always hit and you will actaully maximize dmg when you do it.

Remember kids, spin 2 win is out! or w8 was that right ? nvm thx all players who have played against me and learnt me to see skarners weaknesses and strenghts :D this build also focuses on tanking as skarner so they will hate ya. I hope this guide helps new skarner players and maybe even a veteran players to :P

ill update this guide and keep working on it :D
ill also upload vids on youtube of me doing the route in a real game. and some ganks too!
HAPPY JUNGLING