They nerved he's heroic perk so much :( . Crystal Kiting Skaarf may not be valid anymore -cries-

Still worth a shot though i don't really recommend it now

Hey guys, Xyna here! Since it's my first time making a guide on Vainglory fire, please bear with me for any mistakes I did made. I'm playing from Southeast Asia and my highest rank achieved is Vainglorious Bronze. Believe it or not, Skaarf carried me Pinnacle of Awesome Silver solely by Solo queuing, and I got to Vainglorious Bronze by partying. Skaarf is my main and definetly my Bae out of all Heroes in Vainglory. Anyways, enough said about me and let's get onto the guide! I will be writing 2 GUIDE on Skaarf on this 1 GUIDE so please do not be confused about this! It will take sometime and effort but i hope you will appreciate the tips and tricks i have written down! Remember to upvote this!

Skaarf's Perk and Weakness ( For all builds )



The potential of AOE Skaarf build

Item build order and why I pick them ( AOE Skaarf )

Laning phase and what should you be doing ( AOE Skaarf )

Midgame and what should you be doing ( AOE Skaarf )

Lategame ( THE DREAM ) and what should you be doing ( AOE Skaarf )

Compatible heroes with you ( AOE Skaarf )

It's known to almost everybody that Skaarf is all about poking down the enemy's hit point before picking a fight or if you are strong enough, initiate a fight with Dragon Breath. One of the good things of Skaarf is indeed he's Poking ability, He's able to safely dish out damage from the back of he's team, slowly melting the hit points of the opposing team. He is also very efficient is clearing waves with he's Spitfire and Goop . With the changes to he's ultimate where it gives him Fortified health, it makes Skaarf more tankier during he's channeling and unleashing of he's ultimate which is also an added bonus. Basically, he's a team fight monster if placed in the right hand and can easily demolish the opposing team with he's ultimate since it's AOE.

Skaarf's weakness:

Skaarf is pretty weak during the early game against certain heroes and relies on he's Spitfire to actually start off he's run. Meaning missing your Spitfire on the enemy basically sets you back by alot until you actually land it on them. He's abilities also have pretty long cool down during the early game until you overdrive them. Skaarf is very vulnerable and have almost no escape abilities beside he's Goop but honestly speaking ,He's Goop doesn't really do much to help you escape. So rushing Tier 3 boots can also be a smart choice to do so.


AOE Skaarf:

This is where our AOE Build comes into play. What we are doing is actually make he's Dragon Breath into a devastating AOE Damage that annihilates the enemy team! Since AOE is so rare in Vainglory now, This makes Skaarf pretty unique! What makes him stand out from he's peers is he's shield piercing Dragon Breath! Having a 45% Shield pierce with he's Dragon Breath is just what makes him soo useful and Overpowered! Think about it! Almost 50% of your enemy's shield is completely useless against your Ultimate, that seems overpowered now right?

Crystal kiting Skaarf:

Crystal Kiting Skaarf isn't rarely seen nowadays in meta. This kind of Skaarf's gameplay requires good positioning and kiting skills from the players. The damage from Crystal kiting Skaarf isn't as much as AOE Skaarf as well but this build however deal tons of damage to enemies who stack HP.

The huge difference betwwen this build and the AOE Skaarf build is that this build relies on the meta. For those who do not know what does meta means, I'll maybe do a guide on it somedays. For those who do know however, the current meta in 1.17 and maybe 1.18 are fast assasins with huge damage to go with. One such example is Glaive and Taka. If you are going to be bursted down, then what is the use of kiting when you are going to die instantly? It makes no sense does it? AOE Skaarf however is seen more preferentially because of its ability to change fights and turn it around. We are currently living in a meta where Assasins roam around, all wanting to have a piece of the laner. With the fortified health from your Dragon Breath and Defensive item, you would be at least able to unleash your Dragon Breath on the enemy, potentially killing them as well! Thats why AOE Skaarf is prefered more.

BUT, This does not make Crystal Kiting Skaarf useless also. Remember that this build relies on the Meta. So if the Meta suddenly changes to an environment where high HP Tankers are seen more often or the reduction of Assasins in the Vincity, Crystal Kiting Skaarf will definetly thrive.

Rush Broken Myth followed by Tier 2 boots. If you are winning,Get a Frostburn before going Aegis and finish it up with Eve of Harvest and Shatterglass.
If you are forced to play defensive, Again rush Broken Myth but this time,Get Tier 3 boots and Aegis first! Finish it up with Frostburn , Eve of Harvest and Shatterglass!




Many people often ask me, Why do you rush Broken Myth? Isn't Eve of Harvest or Shatterglass a much better choice for Skaarf? Reason? Simply because Broken Myth amplify your damage.Having a Broken Myth is able to ensure that you have enough damage during early game to kill the opposing team. Some people may prefer Shatterglass but once the opposing team starts to build Defense such as Aegis or Fountain of Renewal, You realise that Shatterglass just doesn't seem to do that much damage anymore. Eve of Harvest used to be my Rush item but ever since they changed it, Its not viable anymore with the huge nerf in the Crystal Lifesteal %
Thus Broken Myth is seen as a much better choice among the rest.

Getting an early boots means that Skaarf will at least have a escape ability to get out if he ever gets into a sticky situation. Note, He's again,very vulnerable without the boots. Frostburn is our next rush. Since you will be constantly dishing out damage,Having a Frostburn allows you to kite better or chase down fleeing enemies better. It synergise well with your Spitfire and Goop, where Spitfire has such a long range and the slow from the Ignited Goop actually stack with the slow from Frostburn. It also turns Dragon Breath into a AOE SLOW to the opposing team! Look at the Value!! Now our Dragon Breath deals tons of damage and slows as well? Wait a minute.. since Dragon Breath speeds up nearby allies as well, Its a great ability to chase down those fleeing enemies. ( And burn them alive )

Aegis allows you to get out of certain abiities such as Ardan's Gauntlet or block devastating abilities that might potientially kill you such as ' Stun or 's Hellfire Brew. Its seen as a more viable choice then Fountain of Renewal because of its potiental to block abilites that actually stop your Dragon Breath or even worse, lock you down to the killing house.(Yikes!). A lock down Skaarf is considered dead as Skaarf again doesn't have any escape abilities and a dead Skaarf means GG because this build relies on your Dragon Breath.How are you going to unleash hell when you are dead?

Not really much explaination is needed for Eve of Harvest and Shatterglass. Eve of Harvest allows you to fight evenly with heroes that actually managed to get into the backlines and prevent you from unleashing hell. This is your backup plan in case you are not able to use Dragon Breath becayse some scumbag hero showed up in front of your face and interrupt the fun.( Boring! ) In case of such situation,placing a Goop on top of yourself and igniting it on the enemy means that you will be constantly healed from the damage done to the enemy through your Goop, Beside with the Frostburn , you should be able to get anyway easily as you will be able to slow them down and boost away with your boots. Just beware of enemy with Shiversteel.( They are nasty! ) If you are facing a ShiverSteel opponent, You are screwed if it's a Blackfeather. Nah i'm joking. Just try your best to stay alive. DO WHAT YOU MUST! Its your choice.

Shatterglass just helps to Increase your Overall damage and allows you to deal TONS OF DAMAGE ( League Reference ˆ^)

The Laning phase ,This is one of the most important phase in the game as it determines whether you reach your potential faster or go RAMBO and BURN Everyone to death based on how well you farm! . Refer to the Threat table to determine if you are the Boss or the Employee ( Boss if you can win, Employee if you are the scrub ) JK


Note:Do not over aggro even if you are the Boss as this might cause you to lose farm which is very important to you early game, Also by being Aggro, You are putting yourself at a risk of being ganked but trading off that the enemy's laner will not be able to farm efficiently.) For me,I'll be farming most of the time and only Aggro if I'm against a or any other annoying melee laner. But based on the 1.18 Update, I rarely even bother to fight them. The amount of time you have with your Fan the Flames is so little. Just be safe and farm well.

Buy a scout trap and ward the brush to prevent incoming ganks. And always assist your team down at the jungle unless you are being pushed or it does'nt seem to viable to help our your team. For example, sometime you will lose a huge wave if you go down to help, it depends on the situation but i usually go down and help my junglers and roamers ( BE GRATEFUL JUNGLERS AND ROAMERS!! ) Will do a more detailed talking about this on another guide

By Midgame, You should already have your Broken Myth and tier 2 boots at the least with a Reflex Block or Eclipse Prism. Take advantage of your long range poke and poke them down before a teamfight . Trust me, with Skaarf, you can probably win a fight even without fighting by just poking. Especially with your Broken Myth,you will be dealing tons of damage to the enemy even if they did build defense. So what should you do if a teamfight really breaks out? Well the first thing is to position yourselves where you are safe from the enemy jungler but close enough to poke from the outside . Once your team iniate or if you find a perfect opportunity to engage, Use DragonBreath and burn your way to victory.

Note the Crowd control that your opponent might still have such as ' Merciless Pursuit. These crowd control can honestly ruin your total damage output by cutting short of your DragonBreath. Try your best to gauge the stuns of your opponent and then using Reflex Block at the correct moment to prevent them from stopping your DragonBreath.

If the enemy jungler managed to get into your face, Use Goop and kite backwards, constantly using Spitfire to deal damage on the run. Hopefully, the jungler backs off due to your damage output if not, continue doing it until you are safe. Remember to constantly auto attack the enemy jungler, procing Fan the Flames perk. It might not seem to do that much damage initially but once you build enough stacks on it . It will burn the enemy jungler 60 damage per sec!

All rightey, you have finally reached your DREAM as you finished up your 2nd last item or even your last item. So what do we do? REMEMBER AGAIN, this build relies on Dragon Breath and if you are stunned while mid-channeling your Dragon Breath, chances are the game is gone! So time your Reflex Block propely and remember to position well!

So what do we do if we actually managed to get out our killer move, Dragon Breath? Well, try and position yourself in a advantageous spot first even before unleashing hell. Once you managed to pull out your Dragon Breath, ensure that you try and melt their carry, be it the opponent laner or jungler. Ooooh you will love the sight when you see their HP Bar melting away. Combined with Frostburn and your Tier 3 boots, there is no chance for the enemy to escape your wrath! So ROAR like the Dragon you are and burn them!

First on the list is

Ardan's Gauntlet is such a game changing ultimate and synergises well with Skaarf's Dragon Breath. Imagine, Ardan lock the entire enemy team in he's Gauntlet , making them trapped, and there you are, burning them from the outside of the wall! The enemy isn't able to react at all because you are safely channeling from the outside of Gauntlet . Trying to stop you would mean being stunned, buying you more time as well. Of course if the enemy were to build Crucible or Reflex Block, then the combo might not seem as awesome but with Ardan versatile kit to save lives and change the terrian, it's almost a must to have him on your team.

Rating: 8.5/10


2nd on the list is

If you are not able to handle your nightmare, then have your nightmare be your ally :D
Assuming you are ranking, picking up a Catherine as your teammate would means that you will have lesser crowd control to worry about! Beside that, Catherine also have her Merciless Pursuit and her Stormguard which makes her super tanky at the same time! Such value, you have lesser things to worry about when you unleash hell and now you have a super tanky roamer! ( YEAAA ). Catherine may not be as useful as Ardan but she still is a solid pick for roamers.

Rating: 7.5/10


3rd on the list is....

Tanky jungler... Check
High base damage output... Check
Peeling potential... Out of this world

Not many Glaive users realised but they can actually use their Afterburn to save their allies lives instead of always engaging! With Afterburn knockback, this can potentially save your life. Imagine this, you are being chased by an annoying Krul with Shiversteel's active. Life looks grim for you when suddenly, an hero emerge and kick the Krul away from you. And yes, that hero is Glaive ! He's HP's Pool and base damage is soo high that he is a beast itself without any items! It's also beneficial to you to have a Glaive as your ally instead of your enemy as well :3

Rating: 7/10

Item and build order and why do I pick them ( Crystal kiting Skaarf )


Early game and what should you do ( Crystal Kiting Skaarf )


Mid game and what you should be doing ( Crystal Kiting Skaarf )


Lategameee the DREAM and what should you be doing ( Crystal Kiting Skaarf )

Swift Shooter allows you to farm more efficiently as you can now last-hit as a faster rate. The downside of going Swift Shooter is that you won't be able to poke as frequently during the laning phase as your Spitfire takes up too much of your energy during the early game. Just constantly poke with your auto-attack and farm well.

Why do we rush Alternating Current ? Hey! It gives us attack speed and an added bonus to our auto-attack damage! We can now burn for more damage. It's a guaranteed get! Always rush this out first as this will be your first major item and will help you farm better and build towards your other core item. Getting an early Energy Battery allows us to poke more often now and apply those fan the flame perk which is what we need to actually start burning people!

Next on the list is Broken Myth! It is a very useful item as it helps you to deal and burn more of your opponent's healthbar. Getting a Reflex Block is optional but i would recommend getting it early. If you are playing against a Ardan or Catherine,I recommend getting it as this will help you to survive their stuns way much better. Having a Travel boot allows you to fly from danger or kite from a safe distance. It also gives you bonus HP for you to survive longer and allows you to travel quicker to fights or farm!

Now we have Frostburn. Did you know that your passive, Fan the Flame actually apply Frostburn's slow? Well, now you know! This is useful in allowing you to kite better or chase down fleeing enemies. With the slow from your Goop and Frostburn, no one can run away from you! It also gives extra crystal power which is of course, a nice bonus thing to have!

Aegis... A must have item to prevent certain death! It gives you the ability to go RAMBO for awhile due to it's high shield count and gives you the ability to negate crowd controls. Better yet, it helps to keep you alive for a longer period, which is important for Crystal Kiting Skaarf

And we now have Eve of Harvest. This item will work greatly as your final item as by then, you should be quite stacked with the crystal power. So Eve of Harvest will heal you for a huge amount! It also gives you extra energy which is important to us if we want to keep spamming those Spitfire for days!


Remember, to even start and be successful with this build, we need to apply our fan the flame perk on the enemy first. This whole gameplay on Skaarf relies on you hitting those Spitfire. So if you are those that sucks at aiming, I recommend you to go for the AOE Skaarf build. This build and gameplay requires steady hands and good kiting skills to even make this possible and is not for new players who just started the game!

So lets get into the laning phase! Laning with Skaarf can be difficult at times especially if the enemy is aggressive as heck. But not too fear! This section will cover the DO and DONT for the early game.

As you took Swift Shooter as your first item, you will realised that you will run out of energy very quickly if you contanstly spam your Spitfire. DO NOT spam your Spitfire and instead, save it for any crucial moment when you want to go for a snipe kill or just to start off your attack on the laner. I reemphasis this again, without your Fan the Flames perk, this entire build is for nothing! So, since Spitfire is one of your only ability that can actually proc your superb passive, there must'n come a situation where you are not able to Spitfire as this would mean you can only auto-attack and that deals peanut damage! So keep in mind your energy bar and save your Spitfire for later. Remember to ward the brush with scout traps! Don't always rely on your roam to help ward, sometime you have to take your own responsibility for your own lane! Try and aim for 40 CS by 6 min. This is considered okay by my standard and is possible to achieve if you farm constantly.

Your first back should have at least sprint boot and Blazing Salvo and also Heavy Prism by 5 mins if you farm correctly! It is not compulsury to exactly follow this but it just helps you guys to set a goal on what you should be working on!

Now is midgame and you are one step closer to your dream! LATEGAMEEE

Okay, by this time it should be around 13-15 mins and you should AT least have Alternating Current, Broken Myth, Travel Boots and Reflex Block. This is enough for you to start winning fights.
Now you should still not neglect your farm. The more farm you get, the faster you get your items and the higher chance of you guys winning fights due to your items!

You may ask me, what if a small fight broke out in the jungle? The first thing again is your positioning! Position yourself from a safe location and poke using Spitfire. Make use of Skaarf kit and burn them to death!

So what if the enemy started to engage on us? HIT your Spitfire on either the laner if possible, if not either the roamer or jungler. Use Goop if you see a chance for it to affect at least 2 people or you can even use it to block off the enemy's escape path! The slow from Goop will make them literally stunned! Beside that, igniting the Goop means AOE damage over time if the enemy were to ever step on them. Not only that, it also means another alternative way to proc your Fan the Flames perk. Auto attack the enemy with the debuff on them and watch them burn! With Goop AOE damage and Fan the Flames % damage per second, they will burn to death in no time.

Always remember about your positioning, do not get greedy and sprint after the kills! What determines a good Skaarf and a very good Skaarf players is on how you utilise your Goop and your aiming of your Spitfire. These 2 abilities can be devastating on the enemy if used correctly especially Goop. It will take time and pratice to get it right but you will eventually get there ^.^

Then what about my Dragon Breath? What purpose does it serve? Well, your Dragon Breath can be used to iniate a fight if your team is too scared to do so. The enemy will definetly run away from your Dragon Breath, giving your team a chance to engage on them! Dragon Breath will also apply Fan the Flames so its also very useful! But remember, setting up Dragon Breath requires you to channel it for a few seconds. Smart enemies will make use of these precious seconds to engage on your team or even go for you since you will be rooted to the ground while channeling your Dragon Breath. So it is not always a good thing to start off with Dragon Breath. Take note of the enemy position and distance between you and them. Overall, it is your call if you ever want to start off with Dragon Breath first.

Woooo, its lategame and the dream is just round the corner!

Now by this time, you should at least have Broken Myth, Alternating Current, Journey Boots, Aegis and Frostburn. These items will definitly be enough to ensure your victory if you play it right! SO what do we do? Engage with your team with your DragonBreath if possible. Starting off with it will help to deal some initial damage to their HP before you get into the kiting. So once your Dragon Breath have finished channeling, start to kite! By then, your opponent will start to re-engage on you, most probably want a piece of your booty :( . Use Goop slow and Frostburn Slow to keep the junglers or pursuers at bay, while melting them slowly. Do not panic and rememeber to always auto-attack them with your Fan the Flames perk on them, keeping the debuff on them active at all times.

This will result in their HP bar being melted away due to the % Hp per second damage. With your constant Spitfire and auto-attack enchanced with Alternating Current, the enemy will stand no chance and soon you will be victorious! ALWAYS REMEMBER to land those Spitfire to proc your passive. The key thing is your Fan the Flames! Remember that and pratice it. Soon you will be demolishing them as easy as pie :D

Remember that once you are locked down, You are basically useless. You have no way to escape unless your teama pull their entire resources to save you. Time your Dragonbreath well enough to unleash hell on them and remember again, Their crowd control! If possible, have your roam to protect you as well, helping you peel away from the enemy jungler. However if you are not doing well for example, You are feeding or really do not do any damage, Just try and 1v1 the enemy jungler. Fan the Flames will make it quite even unless the jungler burst you down.

Secondly, try and not to use Spitfire to farm unless you have really no choice. Your Spitfire have such a long cooldown that you will be vulnerable to counter-engage by their laner. Use your Spitfire only when you have a clear shot to the enemy's laner or to check for any incoming ganks from the brush. A neat trick for beginners is that you can actually use your Spitfire to check for any enemy in the brush without actually facechecking into it. Whenever you hit a enemy with your Spitfire, you will hear a sound, Indicating that you hit someone, and most probably that someone is their jungler, so immediately back off to the safety of your tower.

Well, that wraps up my Skaarf's guide. I will definitly add more information and changes when new updates come. Leave a Upvote if you like it and comment if you have any question, I'll try to answer all. If the guide goes well, I'll upload other guide as well!

Well, This is Xyna signing off! Cya on the Hacylon Fold :D

If you want to see more, Upvote this guide!! Leave any burning questions for me in the comment section!


Update: 24 May 2016
Added new builds for upcoming 1.18 AOE Skaarf build and added more threat to the threat tables

Update: 25 May 2016
Added and finished AOE Skaarf build 1.18 , rechecked and started slightly on Crystal Kiting Skaarf

Update: 28 May 2016
Added Threats table to Crystal kiting Skaarf and updated the threat table for the new hero Lance. Rechecked for any wrong.

Update: 29 May 2016
Finished a chapter on Crystal kiting Skaarf and made minor changes.

Update: 1 June 2016
Finished 2 chapter on Crystal kiting Skaarf

Update: 1 June 2016
Officially finished with the guide!