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Skarner Build Guide by

Skarner Builds for every lane and general guide

Updated on

9.2

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League of Legends Build Guide Author SkarSkarSkarner

Build Guide By 46 5

82,701 Views

6 Comments

46 5

82,701 Views

6 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author SkarSkarSkarner

Skarner Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (6) More Skarner Guides

Runes: Toplane-Default

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Resolve

Aftershock

Shield Bash

Conditioning

Overgrowth

Sorcery

Manaflow Band

Transcendence

Bonus:

+8 Ability Haste
+6 Armor
+10% Tenacity/Slow Resist

Spells:

1 2 3 4

Jungle

Chilling Smite

Ghost

Items

Toplane/Midlane/Jungle

Lane Start

Jungle Start

Mythic item options

Boots

Tank item options

AD item options

Example Build No.1

Example Build No.2

Support

Start

Mythic

Boots

Legendary item options

Example Build

Ability Order Lane

1 2

Skarner Passive Ability

More Skarner Counters

Champion Build Guide

Who am I?

Hi, I'm SkarSkarSkarner I have been playing LoL for 4 years now, in the 3 resent years I became a Skarner player do to my love for off-meta champs, Skarner top was my first off-meta I played, and do to this I finally became a better player, coz I never found a champ I truly liked and always played a diferrent in every match, but now I have the one and It's Skarner,after maining Skarner for such a long time I think I'm ready to share my knowledge that I gained in these two years.

Why skarner is my favourite champ and why you should try him

Skarner is a very old champ, his kit is very old, plus he is a stat checker. Due to these factors few people decide to play him or even main him.

But why do people even play Skarner? There are many reasons as to why someone would want to play him, but the reason I play him is, because of his diversity in build options and choices. You can basically adapt Skarner any way you like. Some examples are: Tank builds, Bruiser builds, Mobility builds, AP builds and even some have managed to have success with Crit builds. These are, but the general builds, not including all of the runes that you can take with Skarner.

So why do you play him in solo lanes?

Yes, that's a very common question you may get when you try him play in solo lanes, because his passive buff zones are in the jungle and river, which results in Skarner being much weaker. But instead you gain the safety of the turrets. A very common tactic among lane Skarner players is to pull your lane opponent into your turret for a very easy solo kill.

Another common question about lane Skarner is about his mana issues do to not having his passive buff zones aswell, this problem can be easily solved, by using Manaflow Band or Tear of the Goddess, there are other options, but these are the most reliable.

Why these runes specifically

So why use Aftershock, Lethal Tempo, Conqueror, Phase Rush?

Most Skarner players only go Phase Rush with Turbo Chemtank and that's not a bad thing. When you don't know what to go, you can simply go Phase Rush, because it's such a reliable rune. Plus, you get Manaflow Band. But by picking different runes a whole world of possibilities opens. For example:

In lane, Skarner has a hard time dealing with tanks, because of various reasons. You could build Divine Sunderer or you could take Lethal Tempo and be able to fight tanks head on, because now your q's %max health damage now starts to deal significant damage.

Another example:

Your team deperately needs a frontline, because they all picked damage dealers. In this case you don't need Lethal Tempo nor Phase Rush, because you don't need damage nor mobility, but you need to soak all the the damage for you team. So, you take Aftershock to be able to do that.

Why run different builds for every lane?

The answer is different needs. For Example:

Your team in is mainly made up of damage dealers in response to this you picked Aftershock, but before you could pick a tank mythic, your damage dealers fell behind and now are not as reliable. Now you decide to buy Sunfire Aegis so you would have tankyness and damage that your team lacks.

Another example:

Your team is fairly balanced. You have a tank and two damage dealers with and enchanter support. You don't need anything in particular, because your team is balanced. But the enemy team has a very tanky and split pushing oriented composition. You will need to face one of them by yourself, in the most common scenario. So in response to this you took Divine Sunderer and Lethal Tempo.

These are, but examples. In real matches it's even more complicated than that. Based on your and the enemy team you will need to think of what Keystone, runes, secondary runes to take and what Mythic and Legendary items to buy.

The jungle clear

This is the jungle clear I would tell anyone to use on Skarner- start your clear on the bot side
Red clear:
Red Buff -> Krugs -> Raptors -> Murk Wolves -> Blue Buff -> Gromp.

Blue clear:
Blue Buff -> Gromp -> Murk Wolves -> Raptors -> Red Buff -> Krugs.

If you know that the enemy won't be at the Scuttle you're at, skip Gromp/ Krugs to secure it.

Keep in mind that Skarner has a slower clear than most meta champs.

How to play the giant crystal scorpion known as Skarner

I will tell you how to play Skarner, so you wouldn't need to play him 6 times to understand how he works, cause until that time you would probably give up.

Combos: Skarner doesn't have anything flashy in his combos, but they do the work great

E -> AA -> Q -> AA
This is your typical trading combo, if you don't mess it up( if it's even possible) the enemy shouldn't be able to attatck back at you.

E -> R -> Q -> AA -> Q -> AA
This is the combo is typically used to pull your enemies under turret and gives the best chance at killing them under turret, this combo may be difficult to use at first, but enough training in the practice tool and you'll master this combo in no time and if the target was a bit to far you can use Flash before using Impale to extend the combo, you also can use Crystalline Exoskeleton to extend the combo even more and you could try chaining this combo with the combo for trading.

Laning:
In laning phase you should avoid trading and if enemies try forcing a trade just use Fracture and proc it, to avoid trades, if your level two you can use the trading combo for the same purpose.

After level six you can now try pulling enemies under turret with the combo I showed earlier, but it's a bit harder than just that, the enemy minions MUST NOT BE IN TURRET RANGE, basically you have to freeze the lane, and when the enemy tries going for CS that's when you strike.

Jungling:
Now that you know the clear, how do you gank?
Since you won't wait untill you get six to gank, because then you'll be just useless and lose before you can do anything, you should always wait for opportunities, be patient, when an opportunitie arises and you know you can do something about it to get your laners a kill or two, even if you started a camp, leave it, because kills are worth more than one jungle camp.

After six everything gets easier, you dont need to wait for opportunities anymore you can just go in and use Impale and get youself a kill.

If you engage an enemy in combat and they are in your Crystal Spires dont be afraid to fight because this build with Conqueror was made for this, this is your domain and they are the imposters.

Late Game(Top/Jungle/Mid):

If you get to the late game which is about the 30 minute mark, you basically win the game if the teams were even. Skarner dominates the late game, if you got enough items with Ability Haste you should be able to cc lock someone for like 3 seconds minimum. Don't be afraid to use your Impale on a wandering support without a team, use Impale to peel for your carries and on enemy carries aswell.

Your goal in the Late Game is to farm as much as possible, group with your team during teamfights, secure objectives.

Skarner powerspikes with every item you get, but don't let the game get to the Uber Late Game, coz then your tank items will not be as useful as in the earlier stages of the game, you cant let the enemy carries to catch up, coz then they can make you explode instantly before you get to them.

Cool tricks and tips

- Skarner Crystalline Exoskeleton takes time to get the full speed up and when the shield ends the speed up also ends, so be careful when you use it.

- Impale has a 0.25s Root at the start of the cast time.

-An interesting interaction is related with the Tip above, during that 0.25s Root duration if the enemy your targeting uses a knock back, they will travel with you. Examples: Tristana, Janna, Gnar, Vayne, Quinn.

- Crystal Slash can be cast at the same time your AA and can give some wreid burst of damaga.

- Fracture stops Skarner when being casted, keep it in mind when chasing.

- Fracture when going trough minions, jungle camps and enemy champions it's travel speed decreases, keep it in mind when laning.

How to deal with skarner

We went over how to play Skarner, but now I'll teach you how to deal with him if you ever meet one, because Skarner benefits greatly from your mistakes.

Number 1 never and I mean Never, try to fight Skarner when he's in his Crystal Spires, well unless you're pretty fed or can burst him.

Number 2 if Skarner is freezing the lane and is level six, Do not try to stop him, that might aswell cause your demise, you have to respect his Level 6 powerspike.

Number 3 if you can, invade Skarner's jungle and disable his Crystal Spires, then you can kill him easily and it will be hard for the Skarner to recover if the game doesn't last more than 20 minutes.

Number 4 during laning phase, you have to punish Skarner's early game and try not to let him get any CS.

Number 5 during late game, do not let Skarner get solo kills, it doesn't matter how fed you might be, Skarner can still kill you solo with his stuns and Crystal Spires.

Number 6 Skarner despite being a tank, is more like a squishy fighter during early game. So if you're a ranged champ and Skarner is trying too catch you, don't be afraid to kite him. Well unless he's right next to you.

What's this?

This is the very first guide I ever made, I can imagine there are better guides than this one I made, there is alot for me to add to this guide, to also clarify this guide wasn't made for those who want to climb( tho you can climb with these builds) the reason why I made this guide is because I want more people to try skarner and have fun with him so they would play him not as a pocket pick of sorts.

I want to improve this guide as much as I can and to do that I would need Your comment, suggestion, opinion on this matter.

I will read every comment, suggestion and opinion everyone writes, if some comments would catch my eye, I will try improving this guide with that comment in mind.

Oh, and one last thing. If you think of some kind of crazy build on Skarner, don't be afraid to try it, cause it might just work.

So, until next time, I hope you all enjoyed my Skarner guide.

(P.S. I really enjoy disscussing off-meta builds with people, so if you would, please I will always answer them!)