Overview and Abilities Top
Skaarf isn't the most natural jungler, but in some circumstances and with caution, can carry out enough of a jungle role to secure a win. If your teammates decided to go all lane characters, after you locked in,
Skaarfcan replace the roamer, and control the jungle.
Ability Breakdown
Fan the Flames
Spoiler: Click to view
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Fan the Flames does more damage the more often you hit, consider attack speed to help the damage stack up faster, or crystal lifesteal/damage to last in fights longer.
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Spitfire
Goop
Spoiler: Click to view
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Goop is a strategists dream. It slows, it bursts, and it burns. In the jungle, use it to take out the minion pairs, focusing on the larger one and letting the small one burn. With Eve of Harvest, it can also be used in the lane to regain life quickly by targeting grouped minions.
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Dragon Breath
Spoiler: Click to view
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Dragons breath is a tricky ability to use correctly. It's best for teamfights, don't waste it on Kraken or turrets. Be careful not to be stunned out of it, and be aware you can move while spewing flame, allowing you to chase enemies. Dragons Breath is best used with your team in mind, it pushes allies, and can slow the enemy, use that to your advantage, don't just look at the massive damage potential.
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Early Game Fighting Top
Wait until you have
Goop leveled before taking the minion pairs in the jungle, and use ignited goop to kill the small paired minion, while attacking only the large one, to clear the camp as efficiently as possible. Try to go help clear minions in the lane. Try to avoid attacking enemies by yourself, unless you're sure you can take them on. Surprise is key with The Roaming Skaarf, don't give enemies time to counter, only burn. Use your
Halcyon Potions offensively, surprise enemies by making a health recovery mid-fight, leaving them lower on health, and a smaller chance to escape. Remember that you can also go into lane to help push, since it is Skaarfs' natural habitat. Treat Skaarf like a supporting assassin, sniping an overreaching enemy to help push the lane.
Early Game Item Strategy Top
For a roaming
Skaarf, health is always a big issue. Try to keep one or two
Halcyon Potions on hand for easy regeneration. Get a
Crystal Bit first, then go for a
Dragonheart ASAP to help give more of a health cushion before going for
Eve of Harvest to supplement regeneration.
Dragonheart (aptly named) is usually enough to last until mid game, although consider getting
Crucible if going against
Catherine,
Koshka of
Glaive, to prevent them from knocking a
Dragon Breath fueled ace out of your hands. Alternatives to straight health would be:
Fountain of Renewal, if enemies are going more crystal heavy, or
Atlas Pauldron to counter weapon damage.
Mid Game Fighting Top
Mid game is where roaming Skaarf does best, he can gank to score a kill, he can push lane with allies to to pressure the enemy, he can ambush enemies attempting to take minion mines. With that being said, Mid-game is also hardest for Skaarf, because enemies recognize the threat, and will go for you first. Outside the lane, crossover into the enemy jungle to
Spitfire ->
Goop combo the enemy minion mine in 5 seconds, and dart back or even steal some camps to slow enemy progression. Nothing is more disappointing then to find your beloved minion camp empty :P After getting
Eve of Harvest, Skaarf gains an almost
Krul level of life regeneration,
Goop ->
Spitfire the enemy lane minions to get 100-300 health in the space of a few seconds, and up to 300 gold if done correctly. Don't be afraid sacrifice yourself to take down an enemy, by chasing and refreshing the burn; to pull off a roaming Skaarf takes a lot of money, and pushing an enemy out of the lane will snowball to more gold. Turrets give significant gold and open the enemy jungle by providing more ingress and egress routes. If allies are killed, you can still step up and push lane, with items, and strategic thinking, Skaarf can be a multipurpose pressure machine.
Mid Game Item Strategy Top
After
Dragonheart, focus on getting to
Eve of Harvest, and
Travel Boots as fast as possible. Skaarfs ability to stack up damage quickly with basic attacks allows him to take the gold mine without much difficulty. If you have the extra money (From burning heroes alive), go for either a
Serpent Mask, or
Tornado Trigger. If you're more inclined to just holding the jungle, go for
Serpent Mask, so the extra lifesteal will help keep him from being too easy of a target for marauding enemies. If you want to kill enemies easier, use
Tornado Trigger to stack up his burn damage as fast as possible.
Halcyon Potions remain useful, if you aren't comfortable with your current health.
Late Game Fighting Top
Skaarfs' biggest strength at this point is as a support. Enemies usually try to counter him, making him less effectiveas an "assassin", but still effective as a tank buster, and minion clearer. If your team is pushing, he can clear out the enemy jungle and mine, and weaken the enemy lane. Skaarf isn't meant to jungle, and that becomes obvious late game. If your team hasn't pushed far enough into the lane , Skaarf will just feed the enemy junglers. The only real hope for a late game save is to take the Kraken, and ride her all the way to the crystal. I recommend
Flare Guns, and
Scout Traps, to watch the enemy for ganks.
Late Game Items Top
If your on the upswing, just complete your items, see "Core" above. Work toward
Shatterglass with money from turrets, and the enemy minion mine.
Serpent Mask can be substituted for
Tornado Trigger, and
Frostburn for
Shatterglass, if you're more support oriented. If on the downstroke, focus on getting damage items, and getting as much damage out on them as possible, and killing enemy heroes. The game is almost unsalvageable at that point, with 3 laners, you can't expect to beat a well balanced team, but you might as well burn as many as possible.
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