The League of Legends developers have hotfix nerfed Skarner after his rework due to his early dominance in the top lane despite players still learning the champion.
Skarner’s rework has seemingly given the champion a new lease on life. Going from one of the least popular champions in Riot’s MOBA, the character has seen a surge in popularity thanks to players wanting to test out the new kit.
Players have discovered that his reworked kit is far stronger in the top lane, causing the devs to release a micro patch to bring the Scorpion down a notch.
The new nerfs to Skarner look to bring down his lane dominance by reducing his ability to trade with W while buffing his jungling capabilities to assist players learning him in that role.
We're micropatching some buffs to Skarner JGL and nerfs to Skarner Top! Right now, Top is outperforming Jungle when at low mastery (yet to be seen whether that's the case when mastered though). High mastery Skarners are performing pretty well on him. We think despite his low…
— Matt Leung-Harrison (@RiotPhroxzon) April 5, 2024
Skarner’s mana growth is being reduced, while his W’s mana cost is being increased. This should result in the champion’s ability to trade being greatly nerfed, as he won’t be able to consistently spam the ability to harass enemy laners.
However, the champion is seeing buffs in his jungling capabilities, with increased monster damage caps on his Passive and Q, allowing his clears to be a bit faster across the board. Skarner’s main ganking tool, his E is also receiving a buff to its cooldown, letting him roam the jungle that much faster.
April 6 Skarner Hotfix Notes
Base Stats
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- Mana growth decreased: 60 >>> 45
Passive: Threads of Vibration
- Monster damage cap increased: 75-250 >>> 100-300
Q: Shattered Earth/ Upheaval
- Monster damage cap increased: 100-400 >>> 150-450
W: Seismic Bastion
- Mana cost increased: 40-60 >>> 50-70
E: Ixtal’s Impact
- Cooldown decreased: 24-16>>> 20-16 seconds
Skarner will likely see further changes to his kit as he settles into the Rift, but this may be scheduled for later patches with MSI breaching the horizon.