6 Gaming

Everything we know about Skarner’s LoL rework: Abilities, release window & more

Skarner’s rework is well on its way and, after a number of delays, we finally have a release window for the champion. Here’s everything we know about him so far.

Skarner’s been due for a rework for a while, and, funny enough, his rework is also way past due since Riot have delayed it a few times thoughout development.

He took home the Season 12 VGU poll convincingly with over a third of the vote, and now mains of the Brackern have plenty to look forward to across the next year. Skarner’s rework will involve a full ability overhaul, as well as a visual upgrade and new lore.

It’s been a while since we’ve gotten news about Skarner’s VGU, but a new dev blog has finally shown off some new details about the rework. While we’ve yet to get a full reveal, we know a lot more about what this rework will look like along with his new abilities and look.

There’s some information we don’t know still, but the vast majority of this rework has been shown off with the caveat that it’s still subject to change ahead of the projected 2024 release.

Here’s what we know about Skarner’s rework in League of Legends.

Skarner reworked abilities in League of Legends

While Skarner is still in development and his kit is subject to change, all of his abilities have been shown off.

Now that the rest of Skarner’s abilities have been shown, here’s what you can expect:

Skarner Q

Skarner’s new Q will allow him to pick up a big ol rock and throw it toward enemies. It appears to do AoE damage and slow enemies. Additionally, it seems that he can hold on to the rock for a while and choose when to throw it, though it’s not clear just how long he can hold onto the boulder.

Skarner W

Skarner’s W is a massive damage field that provides him with a shield. It seems fairly similar to his existing W, though it’s not clear if his new ability will grant the same attack speed benefits non-reworked Skarner had. It also isn’t yet clear if this ability has CC.

Skarner E

Skarner’s E is certainly the newest ability of the bunch. It allows him to scuttle his way through a wall, drifting toward his opponent and grabbing them, CCing them if they collide with a wall. It isn’t yet clear how this interacts with other champions and whether he goes right through other enemies or stops upon hitting multiple champions.

Skarner R

It was already confirmed that Impale would be sticking around in some way in a prior blog post from Riot developers, and we now know that it’ll allow him to grab a whole group of enemies rather than just one.

That said, it’ll also be possible to miss this ability now, and it’ll do half the amount of damage if someone cleanses out of it with it now having 2 stages of damage. There are some upsides in comparison to the original and some downsides, but it has much more of an effect on the game now than it did previously.

This info is a bit old at this point and his ultimate hasn’t been shown in new gameplay footage, so it remains to be seen if this information is current. Skarner’s passive has also yet to be addressed.

Additionally, Riot have completely gotten rid of his crystal theming and made him all about being a big-ol scorpion, now with 3 stingers!

Early concept art gave this scorpion 3 stingers, and that appears to be a design philosophy that’s stuck around even though his in-game model looks a bit different from early designs.

Now, some of the concept art for his remade skins has shown off the direction Riot’s taking with his design.

Skarner’s Guardian of the Sands skin, for instance, sees Skarner realized in a way that’s much closer to the skin line’s Shuriman themeing.

And, thanks to some new information provided at the outset of Season 2024’s reveal, we’ve got a new look at Skarner’s fully realized in-game model with updated textures.

It’s taken a bit to get here, but Skarner’s long-awaited rework seems to be nearing release.

Skarner rework skins in League of Legends

Of course, Skarner’s rework will also include overhauls for his skins. The scorpion’s visuals are outdated compared to the majority of League’s roster ⁠— and some of these haven’t been updated since his 2011 release.

He already has a handful of skins, all of which will be getting drastically changed with his rework:

  • Earthrune Skarner: 520 RP
  • Sandscourge Skarner: 975 RP
  • Guardian of the Sands Skarner: 975 RP
  • Cosmic Sting Skarner: 1350 RP
  • Battlecast Alpha Skarner: 1820 RP

When is the Skarner rework coming out?

It was revealed in a 2023 dev blog that Skarner’s rework has been significantly delayed, to the point where he wouldn’t even be coming out until 2024.

It was recently revealed that Skarner’s rework would be arriving to the PBE on March 19th, 2024, meaning the scorpion should hit the live servers on April 3rd, 2024 (Patch 14.7).

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