2011-08-12, 05:13 AM
(This post was last modified: 2011-08-12, 06:22 PM by KajitiSouls.)
Okay I found the source of WillDaSnail's losing streak misery: he plays solo queue!
That aside, here are some additional notes about Skarner...
--Ult doesn't feel any more different than a Singed Fling or, at the extreme end of things, a Blitz Grab. They all have a hard CC built in, they relocate the enemy champ. Other than possible rare circumstances, I suppose Skarner's ult is the best for "pushing" away a guy at an awkward angle.
--I have solo'd Baron at the 30-31 minute mark with blue buff, Wriggle's Lantern, Hextech Gunblade, Guinsoo's Rageblade, Doran's Shield, Mercury Treads, and Manamune. Ended with less than 200 HP. Normally one would solo Baron with excessive amounts of lifesteal and auto-attack DPS. Or in Soraka's case, healing and a bajillion Starcalls.
--You know how Xin Zhao's ult gives bonus defense stats the more champions it hits? Skarner could really use that. Worse yet, he doesn't have a good gap closer. Most of the time people just squish Skarner because he relies on his shield to do damage that doesn't suck. If his shield breaks, he's vulnerable, and must rely on healing to survive. And his heal sucks, doing 180 base at most at level 5. Understandably, the heal is kinda pathetic because of the potential of Skarner putting up shields faster than Janna and Lee Sin combined. But that's only if Skarner is ignored in a fight.
--One criteria to judge the effectiveness of a champion's killing sequence is how much mana is consumed. In my experience with AP casters, you'd typically have to expend over 60% of your mana pool to kill someone 1v1 from full to zero early-mid game (no Sorc boots). Against tanks, this number is closer to 80%. In Skarner's case, this is more or less true with AI bots, but against real people, he just OOMs. With many tanky DPSes, they have a self-heal, and Skarner is no exception. However, Skarner's self-heal costs mana. At this point, I'd chalk it up as one of his weaknesses (he pretty much never runs out of mana if he builds Tear, and my gawd he charges that thing really fking fast if he doesn't die all the time).
--Lane sustain is reasonable and in line with many other tanky DPS champs in a 1v1 situation.
--Chasing with Q early game is blech. You can't just mash Q every time it comes up, as one misstep can end the slow-lock and your potential kill will get away. Even then, it requires a wind-up time, as the first Q does not slow. It's not too big of a deal as a lane skill, but this really hurts his ganking potentials.
--Unless you absolutely must run, why wouldn't you attack Skarner to destroy his shield? His shield values are typical of other support shields, but any offensive ability or an auto-attack or two would destroy it on an offense Skarner. I don't have too much hope for a tanky Skarner either, simply because his DPS seems low enough as it is, and as mentioned earlier, he just dies in team fights.
Research questions and answers, if found:
--What happens when Skarner and Skarner ult each other? No idea so far. I would guess that both would get suppressed. But then again I'm not even sure if it counts as a channel. Probably not xD
--Does Q and W have the potential to interrupt his auto-attacks? So far, I'm finding that it's not too big of a deal, but I could swear that this is a possibility.
--Is it possible for Skarner to attack his ult victim, other than DoTs? I'm not clear on whether his Q has any effect. Everything else seems to be a negative.
--Can you Flash while ulting someone? No. Ghost is still available though. Like the game is going to stop you from pre-emptively popping it anyways.
--What items would be best on Skarner? If you're going offensive, Rageblade is t3h sex. It's really easy to get the full 8 stacks anytime, so long as you can get into melee range. Trinity Force is gravy as well, although it is expensive. Defensive... other than Merc Treads and maybe Banshee's Veil, not sure.
EDIT: Saw a Skarner train today xD Enemy Skarner ulted someone on my team, but nearly at the same time I ulted the enemy Skarner. Wheee!!
EDIT2: Apparently the proc from Sheen can be used in Q? wtp? Other on-hit items don't work.
That aside, here are some additional notes about Skarner...
--Ult doesn't feel any more different than a Singed Fling or, at the extreme end of things, a Blitz Grab. They all have a hard CC built in, they relocate the enemy champ. Other than possible rare circumstances, I suppose Skarner's ult is the best for "pushing" away a guy at an awkward angle.
--I have solo'd Baron at the 30-31 minute mark with blue buff, Wriggle's Lantern, Hextech Gunblade, Guinsoo's Rageblade, Doran's Shield, Mercury Treads, and Manamune. Ended with less than 200 HP. Normally one would solo Baron with excessive amounts of lifesteal and auto-attack DPS. Or in Soraka's case, healing and a bajillion Starcalls.
--You know how Xin Zhao's ult gives bonus defense stats the more champions it hits? Skarner could really use that. Worse yet, he doesn't have a good gap closer. Most of the time people just squish Skarner because he relies on his shield to do damage that doesn't suck. If his shield breaks, he's vulnerable, and must rely on healing to survive. And his heal sucks, doing 180 base at most at level 5. Understandably, the heal is kinda pathetic because of the potential of Skarner putting up shields faster than Janna and Lee Sin combined. But that's only if Skarner is ignored in a fight.
--One criteria to judge the effectiveness of a champion's killing sequence is how much mana is consumed. In my experience with AP casters, you'd typically have to expend over 60% of your mana pool to kill someone 1v1 from full to zero early-mid game (no Sorc boots). Against tanks, this number is closer to 80%. In Skarner's case, this is more or less true with AI bots, but against real people, he just OOMs. With many tanky DPSes, they have a self-heal, and Skarner is no exception. However, Skarner's self-heal costs mana. At this point, I'd chalk it up as one of his weaknesses (he pretty much never runs out of mana if he builds Tear, and my gawd he charges that thing really fking fast if he doesn't die all the time).
--Lane sustain is reasonable and in line with many other tanky DPS champs in a 1v1 situation.
--Chasing with Q early game is blech. You can't just mash Q every time it comes up, as one misstep can end the slow-lock and your potential kill will get away. Even then, it requires a wind-up time, as the first Q does not slow. It's not too big of a deal as a lane skill, but this really hurts his ganking potentials.
--Unless you absolutely must run, why wouldn't you attack Skarner to destroy his shield? His shield values are typical of other support shields, but any offensive ability or an auto-attack or two would destroy it on an offense Skarner. I don't have too much hope for a tanky Skarner either, simply because his DPS seems low enough as it is, and as mentioned earlier, he just dies in team fights.
Research questions and answers, if found:
--What happens when Skarner and Skarner ult each other? No idea so far. I would guess that both would get suppressed. But then again I'm not even sure if it counts as a channel. Probably not xD
--Does Q and W have the potential to interrupt his auto-attacks? So far, I'm finding that it's not too big of a deal, but I could swear that this is a possibility.
--Is it possible for Skarner to attack his ult victim, other than DoTs? I'm not clear on whether his Q has any effect. Everything else seems to be a negative.
--Can you Flash while ulting someone? No. Ghost is still available though. Like the game is going to stop you from pre-emptively popping it anyways.
--What items would be best on Skarner? If you're going offensive, Rageblade is t3h sex. It's really easy to get the full 8 stacks anytime, so long as you can get into melee range. Trinity Force is gravy as well, although it is expensive. Defensive... other than Merc Treads and maybe Banshee's Veil, not sure.
EDIT: Saw a Skarner train today xD Enemy Skarner ulted someone on my team, but nearly at the same time I ulted the enemy Skarner. Wheee!!
EDIT2: Apparently the proc from Sheen can be used in Q? wtp? Other on-hit items don't work.