For this final comparison, Skarner will be compared to Hecarim.
With AoE Q attacks with reduced cooldown, a tanking aspect from a shield/heal, a sprint and CC, the two have, what I feel as similar kits and are played similarly in terms of their purpose.
Let's start with a quick run down of both Skarner and Hecarim's skillset.
Hecarim - Warpath: Ignores Unit Collision and gains (10/12.5/15/17.5/20/22.5/25%) BONUS Movement Speed as BONUS AD
[Q] Rampage - RANGE: 350 - COOLDOWN: 4 - COST: 24/28/32/36/40 MANA
PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 60/95/130/165/200(+60% BONUS AD)
66% Damage to Creeps - MINION/MONSTER DAMAGE: 40/63.3/86.7/110/133.3(+40% BONUS AD)
Hitting an enemy grants a stack of Rampage, reducing CD of Rampage by 1 second per stack. Max 2 stacks. Stack Duration - 8 seconds.
[W] Spirit of Dread - RANGE: 525 - COOLDOWN: 22/21/20/19/18 - COST: 50/60/70/80/90 MANA
MAX DAMAGE: 80/120/160/200/240(+80% AP)
Duration - 4 seconds.
Hecarim is healed for 20% of the damage dealt by ANY SOURCE to enemies within the area.
Healing from damage dealt to enemy champions is unlimited. Healing from damage dealt to creeps capped per cast - MINION HEALING CAP: 60/90/120/150/180
[E] Devastating Charge - COOLDOWN: 24/22/20/18/16 - COST: 60 MANA
MINIMUM PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 40/75/110/145/180(+50% BONUS AD)/MAX PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 80/150/220/290/360(+100% BONUS AD)
Duration - 4 seconds.
Initial Bonus MS - 25% / 1-3 seconds after cast - ramp up to 75%.
Damage increased based on distance Hecarim has travelled during the charge.
During charge Attack Range is increased to 375 and next basic attack knocks target back. Can jump over small walls to target.
[R] Onslaught of Shadows - RANGE: 1000 - COOLDOWN: 140/120/100 - COST: 100 MANA
MAGIC DAMAGE: 150/250/350(+100% AP)
The damage is applied along the full length of the cast.
Hecarim chooses where along this cast range to stop and enemies within (200? 250?) range of where Hecarim stops are Terrified for 1 second.
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Skarner - Energize: Basic attacks reduce Skarner's ability cooldowns by 0.5 seconds. Increased to 1 second from attacking enemy champions. Does not trigger from structures (Towers/Inhib/Nexus)
[Q] Crystal Slash - RANGE: 350 - COOLDOWN: 3.5 - COST: 20/22/24/26/28 MANA
PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 25/40/55/70/85(+80% BONUS AD)/BONUS MAGIC DAMAGE: 24/36/48/60/72(+40% AP)
Hitting enemies will grant a stacking 8/10/12/14/16% AS buff per stack. Max 3 stacks. Stack duration - 5 seconds. 24/30/36/42/48% AS buff at 3 stacks.
[W] Crystalline Exoskeleton - COOLDOWN: 16 - COST: 60 MANA
SHIELD: 80/135/190/245/300(+80% AP)
MOVEMENT SPEED: 20/24/28/32/36%
Duration 6 seconds.
Movement Speed Bonus ramps up over 3 seconds.
Movement Speed Bonus lost when shield breaks.
[E] Fracture - RANGE: 1000 - COOLDOWN: 14 - COST: 40/45/50/55/60 MANA
MAGIC DAMAGE: 80/120/160/200/240(+70% AP)
Enemies hit are slowed by 30/35/40/45/50 for 2.5 seconds.
[R] Impale - RANGE: 350 - COOLDOWN: 130/120/110 - COST: 100/125/150 MANA
TOTAL DAMAGE: 200/300/400(+100% AP)
Target enemy champion is Suprressed for 1.75 seconds. Skarner can move around freely and Suppressed target is dragged along.
Half total damage is dealt at cast and half at end of Suppress.
From a quick glance, it is evident that Skarner has the advantage when it comes to Cooldown length and Mana costs, mainly due to his passive and Hecarim's last round of nerfs.
Let's look more in depth...
[Q]
Jungle:
Here Skarner is clearly more powerful than Hecarim at clearing the jungle which is a mixture of:
33% damage reduction on Hecarim's Rampage putting it to a lower base than the two parts of Skarner's.
Skarner doing Mixed Damage where most jungle camps have no Magic Resist or even negative whilst having some armour.
Skarner gaining an Attack Speed buff increasing single target damage and allowing 2-3 auto attacks between casts resulting in a cooldown almost exactly the same as Hecarim's.
Gank/Teamfighting:
When it comes to champions, the damages are comparable although Skarner's is harder to itemise for, both for Skarner to maximise damage done, and his opponents to minimise damage taken.
[W]
Jungle:
When it comes to early in the jungle, there is no clear stronger skill.
Hecarim will clear faster with the extra damage whilst Skarner mitigates a little more damage and can travel between camps faster.
Gank/Teamfighting:
Once champions are involved, Hecarim comes out far far ahead.
Theoretically Hecarim can be healed for an infinite amount during the 4 seconds and deal a good amount of damage.
Skarner on the other hand, shields for a flat amount including Armour and Magic Resist.
The issue for Hecarim is the unreliability and reliance on his teammates to deal significant damage to the enemies within the skill's radius.
Meanwhile Skarner's shield is much more reliable and consistent.
Hecarim [E] and Skarner [E]/[W]
Jungle:
In the jungle these skills are of very little use apart from maybe for Hecarim to hop over a wall or Skarner to do a ranged pull.
Gank/Teamfighting:
When it comes to dealing with champions and ganking, these are their most important skills.
Skarner here has the range advantage on his slow, allowing him and his teammates to catch an opponent.
This slow also means the shield speed boost from [W] is more effective at closing people down.
Hecarim meanwhile, has a sprint that exceeds Skarner's in terms of speed massively. It also cannot be removed by hitting Hecarim unlike simply destroying Skarner's shield.
Though it doesn't last as long, the exceptional speed allows Hecarim to surprise his opponents much easier and it comes with a knockback component tied to a basic attack as well as being able to hop over small walls.
Being able to displace champions is a strong form of immediate CC that puts enemies into bad positions allowing teammates to capitalise much more easily compared to a slow.
The positioning and chase factor of this sprint is also helped incredibly by Hecarim's passive, allowing him to pass through minions.
Both of these requires different management.
Hecarim needs to be able to get in behind his target otherwise he could very easily push them into safety whilst putting himself in a bad position.
Skarner has to be able to hit his skillshot and decide when to use his shield for the sprint.
So whilst Hecarim has a better ganking tool with high pick off potential, Skarner has the better teamfight chase due to the range and AoE nature of his [E].
[R]
Jungle: N/A
Ganking/Teamfighting:
The one biggest difference and the defining factor that makes Hecarim fundamentally stronger than Skarner.
Skarner's advantages here are a higher CC duration and a shorter cooldown factoring in the likelihood he will auto attack at least 10-20 times in 100 seconds of starting the cooldown.
In all other respects, Hecarim has a supremely more powerful Ultimate.
The Onslaught of Shadows is an extremely wide ranged skillshot along which Hecarim can choose to stop and terrify all opponents in the surrounding vicinity.
Wide AoE Damage and CC, high range and immunity to CC during the charge.
This allows Hecarim to get onto his target from obscure places and terrify an intended target back into his team whilst the rest of the enemies are dispersed away and less able to protect the one singled out.
It also means Hecarim can instantly engage a fight without warning and be in the middle of the enemy team dealing damage before they can react.
Skarner has issues of being unable to actually enter a fight before he begins to be attacked and kited to death.
He has to get into such a short range that he is usually CCed before being able to grab a target or drag a grabbed target away from their team.
His tools to get into the fight are lacking as well.
A slow with the same range as Hecarim's Ult is good, but as described before, not a good enough engagement tool.
Following the slow up with the shield sprint is also lackluster as it is easily broken by ranged champions thus removing the speed buff.
Any teams with good peel and/or mobility will still lead to Skarner's inability to affect the game at most stages.
Both of these junglers have high gold requirements to be relevant, however Skarner suffers a far worse fate when starved of gold in comparison to Hecarim and yet cannot snowball as well when rich.
They thrive in chaos, dealing good damage and being able to take a beating, but whilst Skarner's potential for picking off stray champions is marginally higher due to his Ultimate, Hecarim performs that role almost as well and includes far better tools for use in teamfights.
I hope this has provided a good insight and supplied food for thought.
NB This is all from my own experiences playing Skarner and PBE is always subject to change!
It appears that a few nerfs(!) are being pushed on PBE too:
Crystalline Exoskeleton [W] - movement speed reduced to 16/20/24/28/32% from 20/24/28/32/36%
Fracture [E] - mana cost increased to 50/55/60/65/70 from 40/45/50/55/60
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