Wondering when Skarner is receiving the next visual and gameplay update (VGU)? Here is what we know about the champion so far.
Image Credits | Riot Games
Skarner VGU 2024 – Everything We Know So Far
Skarner was voted by the community as the champion that would receive a rework in 2023. Being one of the least-played junglers in the game, due to his dependency on the spires, Skarner will hopefully get a new exciting kit like the recent Aurelion Sol CGU.
At the start of the new 2023 season, Riot Games’ development team updated fans on the upcoming Skarner VGU: “The Skarner VGU team has started exploring ways to dial up his scorpion fantasy,” is what Lexi Gao, Riot’s champion product manager said in the new season announcement video. “At this phase, we’re leaving no arthropod-hiding stone unturned to find exciting themes, kits, and stories.”
The champion won the fan vote last February, beating out Shyvana, Kog’Maw, Tryndamere and Nocturne. This means that it’s been one year since the rework was decided. According to the dev post made by Rioter Lexi “Lexical” Gao, Skarner is one of the least popular champions in League in all areas that we survey, except for familiarity with backstory.
After nearly a year from the previous update, Riot is finally releasing the reworked Skarner. It’s been one hell of a ride, but here we are.
When is the VGU going to hit the live servers?
Riot will be releasing Skarner to the live servers with Patch 14.7, which is planned to be released on April 3, 2024.
Skarner’s new theme
In the dev update, Art Directo Larry “The BravoRay” Ray went on to break Skarner down based on his visual cues: scorpion, crystals, and the good hero archetype. While they did consider keeping the crystal theme, Riot ultimately decided to amplify his good/lawful character archetype and scorpion fantasy, completely omitting the other.
Image Credits | Riot Games
In the end, after considering different power fantasies, they went for elemental magic, thus the link to the Ixtal region.
This allowed us to explore different power fantasies in the Runeterran universe, from Voidspawn to Hextech-empowered. But we decided to hone in on the elemental magic, as we felt it left a lot of creative freedom for every aspect of his development.
“We brought in more of a crustacean’s heavily-weighted shell shape while leveling up his scorpion tail to a three-pronged stinger for grabbing his prey, making him appear like an intimidating indestructible beast to his enemies,” said Larry.
Riot also updated the champion’s description, which you can find below:
The ancient brackern Skarner is revered in Ixtal as one of the founding members of its ruling caste, the Yun Tal, and is devoted to keeping Ixtal safe from the rest of the world by maintaining the region’s isolation. As more members of the Yun Tal begin to question this decision, Skarner grows increasingly paranoid and will do anything to keep Ixtal and its people safe—no matter the cost. 2/2 “I am the first Yun Tal, and I will be the last.” “I am the vanguard of Ixtal’s protection.” “All crumble in the wake of my calamity!
The Skarner Gameplay Rework
In one of the latest dev blogs, we finally got a preview of how Skarner’s kit will look like in the game. To know all the numbers, check out our Skarner ability rundown.
Q ability
The Q will be his moment-to-moment combat ability: Skarner tears a piece of terrain from the Rift itself and carries it around with him. While it’s supposed to have a long cast time, Skarner’s boulder empowers his auto attacks, but he can also throw the boulder for a slow and a big chunk of damage. This should help him improve his clear and then give him the ability to finish off the escaping enemies.
W ability
Skarner smashes the ground, releasing waves from the earth and gaining a shield.
E ability
Skarner’s E is also completely revamped. The champion continually gains movement speed with limited controls and tries to collide with a target. If he finds a target to grab he has a short window to pin them to a wall for a stun and bonus damage. If he manages to smash the target into the wall, Skarner will be able to grab another rock that he can throw with his Q.
R ability
For the ultimate, Skarner can now Impale up to three enemy champions, all while damaging and suppressing them while he gains bonus movement speed for a short time before carrying that champion until the effect ends.
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