Skaarf: The Fire Rises by ROFLChicken

Skaarf: The Fire Rises

By: ROFLChicken
Last Updated: Apr 7, 2015
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Build 1 of 1

Skaarf

Build: Build #1

Ability Path

Fan the Flames
Heroic Perk
Spitfire
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Goop
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Dragon Breath
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Threat Meter

Threat
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Threat Hero Notes
1
  No Threat
2
  No Threat
3
Skaarf Skaarf on Skaarf is pretty boring in the early game. Be careful later, though. If they went double Eve when you didn't, and you end up on the opposite side of each others' Dragon Breath, he'll come out much farther ahead than you will.
4
Glaive Glaive's Afterburn can disrupt your ultimate and leave you in a vulnerable position. Fortunately, he's slow and clearly broadcasts this attack. A mine in the lane bushes should give you enough warning when farming; reflex block should take care of the rest.
5
  No Threat
6
Adagio Adagio's greater range and the slow on his gift of fire make it risky to push out too far against him.
7
Ringo A good Ringo can bully you in the lane with his greater range. Don't farm too deep, or he'll tag you with an Achilles shot before one of his teammates ganks you. If you need to, tag him with some goop or a basic attack to draw his minions towards the safety of your turret.
8
  No Threat
9
Koshka Koshka hurts, but she's easier to spot than Taka. If caught alone, you stand a pretty good chance of at least escaping if you can avoid her stun. During team fights, hide behind your teammates and keep your finger on the reflex block.
10
Taka During the mid-game, Taka will probably murder you every time you enter the jungle. You can't really run away, so you might as well fight.

Build Theory Top

It's hard to escape the shadow of Skipper's double Eve build, and it's very likely that his build is just better. I've found it doesn't suit my play style, though. So I'll endorse his guide, and stick to highlighting what few differences there are between mine and his.

1. Boots: Skaarf is an incredibly powerful level 1 fighter, but his strength depends largely on using his heroic perk to burn enemies down. Opening boots will let you stay close enough to keep hitting enemies that start to run away, and can be used to position yourself to keep auto-attacking without taking too much damage from the target's teammates. At worst, they can be used to runaway.

Alternatively, I've seen some (admittedly better) Skaarf players open with swift shooter, to kill enemies faster with fan the flames. This is also a very strong opening, and will probably result in more damage during the early invades. It may also help you with farming in the lane. Personally, I'm not good enough to use this item as aggressively as necessary to justify the cost, and this will put you a little behind on boots and energy.

Basically, unless the meta shifts strongly against level 1 fights, don't open battery. The battery adds nothing to your combat abilities during the first jungle invade--you will almost never run out of energy during that fight, and if you do, you can pop a potion.

2. Clockwork: Most builds will either follow their Eve with a Shatterglass, or with another Eve. I'm not a fan of either. First, I think Shatterglass is a bad immediate followup because it helps most with team fights, but at this point we're still more concerned with farming. Moreover, the energy costs on abilities are starting to get really high, which means we need another battery. So we're building into either Clockwork or Eve.

Second, Skaarf is terrible at laning--his auto-attack does so little damage and fires so slowly that in the early game your minions and your turret will steal a lot of your gold. But once you hit level 8, you can wipe out 3/4 of a minion wave instantly and consistently with a single goop; you want to be able to goop as much as possible to make up for lost time. More goop also means more damage, so while it won't quite add an additional 25% lifesteal, it will make the first Eve that much more effective.

Third, the argument for the second Eve is sustainability, both in the lane and in battle. But in my experience, one Eve generally provides enough sustainability in the lane. And in team fights, I've rarely found that I would have survived meaningfully longer with a second Eve. There have been countless fights, however, where I've been one or two seconds short of casting another critical spitfire or goop. Being able to cast abilities frequently is especially important for Skaarf, since it's the source of all his damage.

Finally, Skaarf is essentially just a vehicle for his ultimate, and rightfully so--his ultimate can deal obscene amounts of damage. Being able to use it 33% faster is invaluable. One might think that slightly stronger ultimates less frequently are better, but I'm inclined to disagree. Not all team fights result in an ace, even in the late game, and the faster you're ready to fight again, the better able you are to take advantage of any kills you just achieved.

Random Notes Top

Different builds suit different play styles. While I don't see Skaarf played much, and don't have many chances to evaluate other builds, the best Skaarf I've been against went for a fast Alternating Current and killed everything, so what do I know? And Skipper's Vainglorious, so **** me, right? But I've had success with this build, and it got me solidly into POA through the solo queue.

Like all builds, the items bought should be adjusted according to need. If the enemy team has a Koshka or a Catherine, you might want to build reflex block before finishing Clockwork. If you're getting into a lot of team fights and find your side doesn't have enough DPS, buy a Prism.

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