League of Legends S12: Skarner Jungle Build Guide

From runes to items, gameplay tips amd more, we've put together a guide to help you master playing Skarner in the jungle in League of Legends.

Be mindful that there are several ways to build and play a champion, and you'll need to be adaptable as the game and the enemy team progress.

That said, this guide is a good starting point to helping you get to grips with the champion and making an impact in your games.

Runes

Core Items

Turbo Chemtank

2800 Gold

Dead Man's Plate

2900 Gold

Build

Turbo Chemtank is the ideal item for tanks who like to initiate fights. 

Dead Man's Plate just adds to this raw engage speed, as well as providing lots of Armor.

Other good items include Force of Nature, Thornmail, Randuin's Omen, and Winter's Approach/Fimbulwinter, all for survivability and tankiness.

Starting Item & Boots

Refillable Potion

150 Gold

Jungle Item

450 Gold

Ionian Boots of Lucidity

950 Gold

Skill Order

While your choices may differ according to how the game progresses, the typical Skarner skill priority is:

R > E > W > Q

Summoner Spells

These are the summoner spells most typically taken by Skarner in this role. Naturally, this may change depending on match-ups.

Gameplay

Skarner is played as an out-and-out tank, whose job it is to close down the enemy carry. 

• Level 1 - Take Q - Crystal Slash, to farm jungle camps.
• Level 2 - Take E - Fracture, so that you can begin to look for ganks early on.
• First Back - Rushing boots will offer increased cooldown, allowing you to farm more quickly.

Tips & Tricks

• Kalista's ult will cancel Impale if Skarner uses it on the enemy support.
• Focus on controlling the Crystal Spires, so that you can move around and gank more quickly.
• Use Fracture to slow your enemy, before dealing damage. Chaining it with your Impale can lock down an enemy for quite some time.
• Crystal Slash can be used to reset your auto-attacks, for increased damage over the course of a trade.