Talk:Skarner/@comment-8921599-20140123212706/@comment-20434720-20140127230614

85 at max rank.... plus 72. At 1.0 AS the effective cooldown is 2 seconds. Q -> AA, 1 second later it's at 2s cooldown, AA is "off cooldown", another AA puts it at 1s cooldown (total 1 second passed thus far), another second Q is up and AA is ready once more. Stack CDR to the cap and the cd is 3.5 * 0.6 = 2.1s cooldown. In which case you can Q->AA, and once the AA timer is back up it's off cooldown. Effective 1s cooldown. Throw on a triforce proc (130 * 2 physical damage) and each Q-> AA damage is 150 + 260 + 130 = 540 damage. Every 2 seconds. With one ability, base AA speed, base AA damage, and a sheen proc.

By comparison, the sacred shyvana does 85 W AOE magic damage every second with her W base damage. While Skarner with CDR and 1.0 AS (he naturally has this with his AS steroid, and it will be easier to keep it up after the rework) does 150 Q AOE damage every 1s with his base Q damage. Yet people complain all the time about how "ridiculous shyvana's base damages are!".

"They made his ganking pre 6 easier, and nerfed everything else"

The AS buff is now able to be maintained easier with less mana for longer. I don't know about you, but when you're slugging it out with the enemy jax 1v1, you'd much rather have perma-AS buff than perma-slow. Which, with IBG and your E, you still have (2s slow field duration, 2.5s E slow, you can easily get 4 AAs off lowering the CD by 4 naturally and by AAs for another 4, down to 2s. With the CDR from IBG, it's a permaslow.)

Nowadays in the jungle, simply taking less damage is usually more important than being able to heal - runes, masteries, and a couple items + the new spirit stone passive means that you will now for the most part never lose health in the jungle unless you are OOM, which the new spirit stone passive also helps with. The sustain will mostly be missed in top lane, but perma-AS buff makes that stronger anyway.

The ult received some Quality of Life changes to make it easier to use. I don't understand how anything of skarner's was nerfed. The AS buff is improved, the MS buff is improved, all the base numbers/ratios stayed the same or went up, in the case of the shield (IIRC), the only thing Skarner lost is the E sustain, but at the same time he gained a stronger, ranged slow which makes the slowing aspect of his kit less feast-or-famine; pre-rework, if you couldn't get in range for the 2nd Q, it wasn't enough, and if you did, it was too stronk; by moving the slow to the E, they've made it more reliable and useful for picks. Skarner's already-fast clear times are also now even faster, thanks to the first-max Q now also having the AS buff, so his 1-9 jungle farming is improved (costs less mana, too).

I'm looking forward to seeing these changes in effect. Improved mana management, improved clear times, improved reliable ganking, at the expense of a small and situational heal.

I don't know what you're looking at, but I don't see nerfs.

@Bia-Kaboose, only Vi can come even close to Skarner in terms of damage. J4 provides some cc and a single slightly damaging AA, and an ult that traps allies as often as it does enemies. Nautilus provides 4 ccs, but little damage after his full combo is blown. Skarner's Q-spam + passive provide him with higher damage than either of them, and his W, new E, and R all provide exceptional utility. The new E has an AOE slow as hard as Kayle's Q that lasts for 0.5 seconds less. With much higher range.