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Skarner Build Guide by

Skarner, the AP Crystalline BAMF

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6 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Eithyr

Skarner Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (6) More Skarner Guides

Spells:

Ignite

Flash

Items

Starting Items

Early Game

Core Build

Situational

Luxury

Ideal Full Build

Ability Order

Skarner Passive Ability

More Skarner Counters

AP Skarner Mid

Introduction

ENERGIZE

Please read this guide and try it out before commenting or voting. This guide is in no way, shape, or form meant to be a troll build. It is simply to allow you a new perspective on a possible way to play Skarner other than the traditional Jungling role that he has.

His AP ratios are actually pretty high. His is a 1:1 AP ratio, is a .7:1 AP ratio (for the damage) and .3:1 AP ratio (for the heal), is a .6:1 AP ratio, and is a .4:1 AP Ratio. He is able to dish out a ton of damage if built AP.

SPECIAL THANKS: Credits to jhoijhoi for the template, which you can find here.

Pros / Cons

Pros

+ High Early Game Sustain with
+ Very Bursty with his Fracture and his
+ Amazing Shield Ability
+ Extremely Spammable Abilities Due to Energize (Also fills up / really easily)
+ is one of the best single target ultimates in the game.
+ helps you farm very easily if built AP.

Cons

- Melee, so you can be harassed fairly easily early game.
- Hard to escape if your gets bursted down.
- Gets focused due to being in the front lines most of the time.
- requires you to run directly to the target in order to use. May be hard to use on the enemy carries if they are positioned well enough.

Masteries

These are my standard AP Masteries. I personally go 21/0/9, but if needed you can go 21/9/0. I scale into the utility tree for and because Skarner is very mana hungry early game as you're going to be using your a lot to sustain, last hit, and harass. In addition, the extra movement speed bonus from allows you to run faster in order to get your off.

Runes

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power: Early game flat Ability Power quintessences to boost up your Ixtal's Impact's early game sustain and damage. Also helps boost your shield.
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: Although Ability Power is extremely useful early game, Magic Penetration scales better into late game than ability power, so it's better to have a mix of both ability power and magic penetration runes to balance out your early game and mid game.
Greater Glyph of Ability Power: Early game flat Ability Power glyphs to boost up your Ixtal's Impact's early game sustain and damage. Also helps boost your shield.
Greater Seal of Mana Regeneration: You could swap this out for armor/magic resist. I personally find myself mana-hungry at times early game, so I get flat mana regeneration to help sustain my mana pool until I can farm up my Tear of the Goddess.

Summoner Spells

: One of the best utility summoner spells in the game. It can be used for initiating (especially because you need to get close to use your ), to escape when you're in a sticky situation, or to flash in for that extra range for a . Do note that you cannot use flash while you are ing someone.

: This summoner spell helps you net those one-more-hit-but-just-barely-out-of-range kills. If they're getting low and you know they have the capacity to escape, just pop this on them and nuke them down and they won't be able to escape the burn damage. Also, you can use this on champions that rely on sustain (such as or ) and you'll be able to out-damage their sustain abilities.

: This is also another utility summoner spell you might want to consider. Ghost allows you to stick to your enemies and constantly slow them if they're a tad bit too fast for you to catch up. In addition, ghost allows you to engage extremely fast for a quick ultimate. The difference from this and flash when it comes to your ultimate is that Ghost lasts over a duration, meaning that ghost allows you to increase the possible distance you can pull the enemy. It is possible to pull an enemy with ghost and Seismic Bastion from their Tier 1 Turret all the way across the river and possibly further.

Ability Explanation

Energize

Energize Energize: Reducing your cooldowns by half a second might not be that much, but remember that it activates with each attack. On champions, it reduces by a full second, meaning that your 110 second cooldown Impale can possibly be reduced to around 60-70 seconds if you're constantly attacking.
Crystal Slash (Q): On another build, this would be one of your best abilities in your toolkit. However, it is not your main weapon on an AP Skarner build. Its utility is for proccing your Ixtal's Impact stacks and slowing enemies in order to get more autoattacks and thus lower your cooldowns more. Late game, your crystal slashes can reach a surprising amount of damage, even with a .3:1 AP Ratio
Crystalline Exoskeleton (W): Your steroid spell. This allows you to catch up to enemies to Impale, slow with Shattered Earth, or simply run away. It's attack speed buff is extremely important as it helps to lower the cooldowns of your abilities to the point where they're extremely spammable. The shield is also amazing, as it has a .6:1 AP Ratio. You can also stack this shield with Seraph's Embrace, sometimes giving you up to 1000-1500 damage shields.
Fracture (E): One. Of. The. Most. Important. Skills. In. Your. Toolkit. It has a .7:1 AP Ratio. Do not underestimate this ability. It HURTS with an AP Skarner build. It's also a quick heal/sustain rivaling that of Cho'Gath. With Rylai's Crystal Scepter, you can use this as a slow to help you catch up to Impale or start your Shattered Earth spam.
Impale (R): 1.75 second duration disable that allows you to displace enemies into your team. It also has a whopping 1:1 AP Ratio (well, .5:1 AP ratio that deals damage on cast and on finish, so pretty much 1:1 ratio?), so it can really nuke an enemy down. Also note that you cannot use any targetting abilities while using Impale, such as Flash or Ixtal's Impact. However, non-targetting abilities, such as Ghost, Shattered Earth, and Seismic Bastion, work.

Ability Sequence Order

> > >

is one of the best single-target ultimates in the game and should be skilled whenever possible. is your wonder-skill that allows you to harass/last-hit/sustain, so max this as soon as possible. Leveling increases both the movement speed bonus (needed to land your and es) as well as your attack speed bonus (needed to proc Energize so you can spam your abilities). I max last because I really use it for proccing the stacks on minions/champions in order to heal. You'll mostly be harassing from afar with your and going in for the kill with your which needs the movement speed from .

You can vary investing a skill point in at level 2 or level 4, depending on the situation. If you're getting harassed, put a skill point into at level 2. If you're winning the lane, put a skill point into . If you need the utility of both, level up all of your abilities by level 3.

Items

Item Sequence

Early game items. In mid-lane, you're going to need the movement speed to avoid sustained harassment from the enemy AP Carries. In addition, if you're engaging, you need the extra movement speed bonus to actually get close enough to autoattack (for the Energize procs) or (for the slow). You may also need to use your to activate the stacks on the enemy minions, so movement speed will help you get in and get out quicker.

Unless you have a full mastery and rune page of mana/mana regeneration, you are going to be extremely mana-hungry due to the fact that your sustain ability costs mana and needs to be spammed. I rush this as soon as possible to start charging up its bonus maximum mana so I can get my earlier.

If you're doing well and the enemy team doesn't have that many crowd control abilities, I'd recommend Sorcerer's Shoes to increase your damage output. If your enemy AP Carry is getting fed/farmed and is dealing a large portion of the damage in teamfights/ganks and your enemy team has a substantial amount of crowd control abilities, invest in Mercury's Treads instead. It'll allow you to get out of stuns/snares/fears/etc. quicker so that you can run in and land your

This item might seem a bit controversial for you. Well, the mana provided from Archangel's/Seraphs practically solves all your mana problems. Seraph's Embrace also stacks with the shield from , helping you tank a large amount of damage. The amount that the shield absorbs can easily reach over a third of your total health, giving you the extra time to kill and/or escape.

Almost mandatory on any AP Carry. Besides the 120 AP that it already gives, it boosts your total AP by 25%. Easily gives an extra 100-200 with that 25%.

You're a melee nuker. This item is situational in the sense that you should get it if the enemy AP Carry is doing well. However, almost all the time, your abilities will be in range of the magic resist debuff aura, so it's also a good item to have as an offensive item as well.

Your is a sustained spell damage ability. However, I wouldn't recommend getting this item unless the enemy team is building a large amount of health.

Stacks another 15% slow on top of your . In addition, it allows you to slow with , giving you the extra boost to help you catch up with an enemy that you want to . Should be bought in the scenario where you are getting focused and need to build tankier.

's effect ends if you die, so if you are getting focused down extremely hard to the point that your lasts for less than half a second, this item will allow you to run in, someone and turn invulnerable as the rest of your team whacks the target.

Your has an extremely low cooldown, allowing you to get your Lich Bane attack bonus easily. The movement speed bonus from this item also allows you to get your off easier as well.

Useful against enemies with a lot of health. The magic damage amplification also steroids the damage on your spells.

Teamfights

In teamfights, you should try to harass/poke as much as possible with your . If you are chasing, stick close to the enemies and to slow. Use your judgement and focus the most dangerous person on their team. If you can do it with minimal risk, run in and the enemy carries and displace them from their team. Your initial nuke from your is already extremely high, and your team should be focus firing the target you choose (unless you choose the wrong person/their health is too low to fight). Make sure to use your whenever possible and autoattack when there is little risk to help get your cooldowns back up using Energize's effect.

Hall of Fame

A couple games with AP Skarner:

Summary

, although mostly played as a jungler, is also a viable and fun to play middle AP carry. Before commenting/making judgments regarding this guide, you should actually try this build out, as it might just be able to surprise you.

If you enjoyed this guide, please give it a thumbs up! If you truly feel that this guide should be downvoted, please tell me why and what to improve (besides "Skarner is a horrible AP").

Enjoy!

-Eithyr.

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Skarner, the AP Crystalline BAMF

Skarner, the AP Crystalline BAMF

Recommended Items

Spells:

Ignite

Flash

Items

Ability Order

Threads of Vibration (PASSIVE)

Shattered Earth (Q)

Seismic Bastion (W)

Ixtal's Impact (E)

Impale (R)

AP Skarner Mid

Pros / Cons

Masteries

Runes

Summoner Spells

Ability Explanation

Ability Sequence Order

Items

Item Sequence

Teamfights

Hall of Fame

Summary

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