Riot details Skarner’s new LoL abilities, including massive boulder toss

For the few Skarner enjoyers out there who have been waiting patiently for an update on their favorite scorpion, Riot Games has released a new League of Legends developer blog post to finally share some details on the champion’s new abilities in his upcoming visual and gameplay update.

In the update, Brad “Hoboboy” Gaffney broke down the plans for Skarner’s new kit, including a whole new set of abilities for his Q, W, and E—and safe to say, they are earth-shattering. For example, his Q ability is a combat ability where he tears a piece of terrain from the Rift itself and carries it around with him, ready to toss it at a moment’s notice.

The act of ripping some terrain from the Summoner’s Rift will have a relatively longer cast time, but once he finally has a rock in his claws, he’ll be able to dish out some real punishment. This boulder will empower Skarner’s auto-attacks, but can also be chucked toward an opposing champion to slow them down while dealing a large amount of damage.

Although Skarner’s W wasn’t completely explained, the GIF that Riot provided seemed to have the Ixtali defender slam the ground, giving himself a shield while also dealing magic damage to the closest enemy. This could be a good ability to provide players with some relative durability when diving into an enemy team to get into range for the rest of his abilities.

Skarner’s E, on the other hand, is a frightening ability that gives Skarner ramping movement speed with limited maneuverability, as he travels towards an enemy champion. If he finds an enemy, he will grab them and carry them a short distance, while also having a short time window to pin them to a wall for a stun and bonus damage.

While activating his E, Skarner can also plow through certain terrain, and while breaking through, he can also pick up a boulder to use against his enemies. It’s a terrifying tool for ganks since he can drive through terrain to pull off a flawless attack to help out his teammates.

His ultimate ability might be the only part of his kit that isn’t getting completely changed, though some hints from game designer Jacob “Llama” Crouch suggest that Impale will no longer be point-and-click. The team wants a version of Impale “that had awe-inspiring moments but could also get you question mark pinged by all four of your teammates,” meaning that the iconic ability could be a skillshot in the near future.