Changelog Top
Version 1.2: Added several showcases for case study.
Version 1.1: Replaced
Broken Myth with
Frostburn for better mana regeneration and spammable skills.
Version 1: Guide is finished, come back after it have been polished.
Press CTRL + D (on windows) or CMD + D (on Mac) to bookmark!
Preface Top
As a first mage in Vainglory, his popularity are not well established. Lots of player in the forum are dissapointed to bought him and called him too squishy. I share the same voice with them...
...until I played enough
match with him. If played well, he is a beast. Believe me. Just so you know, mastering him isn't easy. All of his skill require proper timing and pure skillshot. As cliche as it may seems, the only way to get better with him is to play often.
Abilities Breakdown Top
Abilites Roadmap Top
The key to play successful
Skaarf is to maximize his heroic perk usage;
Fan the Flames. After you successfully burn enemy with
Spitfire or
Dragon Breath, immideately auto attack them with your basic attack. If successful, for the next 3 seconds you will burn their health by 3%, 6%, 9%, and 12% from
max health respectively; very effective for cathrine.
Compared to other guides, I'm focusing to maximize
Goop compared to
Spitfire first, because
Goop explosion damage on level 5 is big; and also the cooldown time halves from 20 to 10 seconds—which is a lot. Notice that I only upgraded
Dragon Breath twice, because you can get damage from
Shatterglass crystal scalling. The 12th upgrade is better invested on
Spitfire for high burst damage.
Items Explanation Top
The almighty
Energy Battery will gave you spammable
Spitfire to harras your lane enemy!
You should get
Eve of Harvest as soon as possible. Why?
- All of
Skaarf abilities are burst crystal damage. You can get regain lots of health with
Goop and
Spitfire combo, and also
Dragon Breath.
- Did I mention
Dragon Breath?
- Low on health?
Goop and
Spitfire jungle minion. You'll get 1/4 of your health back (1/3 on lane minion)
- Increase in crystal damage, mana regeneration, and also maximum mana.
- Amazing damage.
Secondly, get
Fountain of Renewal to make you much less squishy and to support your team. Don't forget that Vainglory is a team play. In my experience, support item beats damage and abilities item—because it affect your whole team. This item is important to get quickly. If you are fighting
Koshka,
Adagio,
Ringo or any other crystal and burst damage hero, consider build
Crucible or
Aegis instead of
Fountain of Renewal. Don't get
Atlas Pauldron or
Metal Jacket, you'll be dead anyway if the enemy have reached you.
Third one, get
Frostburn. Actually, in my previous build I didn't recommend this item but after I played again for a while with previous build—I notice that Skaarf doesn't have enough mana. That's why it's important to get
Frostburn (I have tried it with clockwork and aftershock for mana regeneration, but it simply not last long enough. If
Frostburn is not your cup of tea, you can get another
Eve of Harvest!
Several reasons
Frostburn good for Skaarf:
- You can slow enemy with your
Spitfire.
- When they are burning, they are also slowed!
-
Goop when lit up will slow them from burning.
-
Dragon Breath already had slow, but you can see
Frostburn effect into the action.
On late game, get another
Fountain of Renewal to support your teammates. "Why don't you get another
Shatterglass or
Broken Myth?"; you may ask.
Several reasons:
- To support your teammates.
- Your damage is already ridiculous.
- You'll be more less squishy!
- If you are on winning side and very confident, then get it.
Lastly, get
Broken Mythif the enemy build shields. This is important to scale your burst damage.
How to Play Top
If possible, get into the lane. Trust me, I almost always get 3 kills before minute 5. The secret is to maximize fan of flames. If you meet
SAW, you are very lucky. He will hardly farms and forced to go back to base very often from the damage.
-
Spitfire your enemy.
- attack them consecutively.
- if they hit you back, nevermind. Keep attacking them to maximize fan of flames
- when they reached 1/4 of their health, retreat. They'll be dead from burning.
...and you get your first kill.
To keep lane hero from farming, do that
everytime they surfaced. Use
Spitfire then hit once (twice if you can). They will retreat and cursed you off in real life.
Get
Goop? Great. The damage will get more dangerous.
-
Spitfire your enemy.
- If you successfully hit them,
Goop.
- attack them consecutively.
- they'll run away.
Don't do
Goop first, then
Spitfire. The success rate is low. By doing above, you will get 100% success rate of burning them off. This combo is also amazing for getting money. Go to lane and do that. Minions will instantly die and you'll get lots of money and regain health.
You can also support your team with
Goop. Help your running teammates by cast
Goop on the way. The enemy will be slowed down.
Spitfire it when they are on
Goop for burst damage and heal yourself (from
Eve of Harvest).
#protip while fighting
Taka, you have a high chance to win. How? Wait when you attacked with
X-Retsu and
Kaiten. After
Taka landed, attack with
Spitfire and
Goop—thus you'll regain 1/3 of your health and also burn 1/3 of his health. If he kept attacking you, he will get burned by the
Goop—which makes you heal at faster rate; and at the same time—damaging him overtime. Do this twice or thrice, he will target another hero and leave you alone.
Dragon Breath is the most crucial skill to win the game. Always cast it when you are sure that enemy's cathrine and
Glaive have landed it's stun. Use it to slow running enemy, and accelerates teammates speed. Don't be to cocky to use it to help your teammates runaway!
Some best practice and scenario:
- Do it from bushes while your teammates are chased.
- Do it from bushes even when teammates are not chased.
- Get one of your teammates build warhorn and activate it when you are on
Dragon Breath (this is absolute horror).
- Use it to burn turrets.
Dragon Breath will make your enemies health reach zero, or if not—
Goop them afterwards and keep auto attacking them. They'll be burned to death. You'll also get health lifesteal from
Eve of Harvest!
Showcase Top
Conclusion Top
Still hate
Skaarf? Try it again. You'll change your mind.
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