Sona Build Guide by AGGRESSIVE Redditor

Introduction

Unlike other builds on this site, my build actually makes sense. The biggest flaw of Sona guides on this website is their insistence of Archangel's Staff. This item is unneeded. The mana costs of her basic spells are FLAT. Tear of the Goddess is a mid-late game item because it takes time to charge. You don't need the mana pool of Tear of the Goddess or Archangel's Staff by late game. Again, the mana costs of her basic spells are FLAT.

As AP Sona, you'll have decent burst damage with Power Chord and Hymn of Valor. You'll also have high utility with Crescendo and Song of Celerity. Plus you'll be able to sustain with Aria of Perseverance. Use your Hymn of Valor and Power Chord to do damage and use Ignite to finish people off.

You'll be amazing at 1v1/duels because your Hymn of Valor automatically picks a target and your Power Chord is single target. In team fights, your Crescendo stun is a real game changer and you can save a wounded team mate with Aria of Perseverance. With nearly 500 AP, your Aria of Perseverance will heal around 250 HP per cast to both yourself and whomever it targets.

Pros / Cons

Pros

• Single target burst damage
• Mass stun that does damage
• Heals for a lot with ability power

Cons

• Fragile
• Only one attack spell
• Needs a lot of items and farm

Items

When the game begins, start with Meki Pendant and two Health Potion. You can also start Boots of Speed and 3 Health Potion if you have to lane against someone who uses skill shots. You will need to take mid lane - You're the AP, and you'll need levels and farm. In mid lane, you will be up against another AP character. For this, you should build Chalice of Harmony. Sona NEEDS mana regen during early game, and Chalice of Harmony gives you better mana regen the more mana you use which makes it amazing for cooldown-reliant characters like Sona. What Chalice of Harmony also does is it gives you magic resistance and that helps you mid against other AP characters.

You should sell Chalice of Harmony later once you're higher level and you need to buy another item. Personally, I sell my Chalice of Harmony to buy a Null-Magic Mantle for Lich Bane so that I can still have magic resistance for dueling and team fighting, but you can sell it whenever.

The first item you want to build is Sheen. It gives you mana, ability power, and an auto-attack bonus. You will be auto-attacking a lot as AP Sona because of Power Chord which is what makes Sheen (and Lich Bane) core items on AP Sona. But you ust build Rabadon's Deathcap before you upgrade Sheen to Lich Bane. You need more AP to make Lich Bane do more damage than Sheen.

Next, make Rylai's Crystal Scepter. You should always save Power Chord for the double damage effect in order to do as much damage as possible. Rylai's Crystal Scepter enables you to do that because it gives you an additional slow when you cast Hymn of Valor. Plus, the health and AP are good.

Void Staff is next. Void Staff makes not only Hymn of Valor and Crescendo do more damage, it makes your Power Chord do more damage too. You must buy it. Even if there are characters on the enemy team who aren't building magic res, Void Staff is STILL A GOOD ITEM. Many melee characters get magic res each level. The 8.5 magic pen and 15% mastery aren't going to cut it later in the game.

The last item is Zhonya's Hourglass. Keep in mind that you will be at auto-attack range to do the majority of your damage. The health from Rylai's Crystal Scepter, the magic resistance from Lich Bane, and the armor and invulnerability from Zhonya's Hourglass make you more durable for team fights and duels and make being at auto-attack range less of a liability.

Always remember to buy Elixir of Brilliance for more AP and cooldown whenever you have the extra gold. Sight Ward too.

Skill Sequence

For skills, max Hymn of Valor first and level Crescendo when it's an option. Always, always max Hymn of Valor first as AP Sona. Hymn of Valor is your primary damage skill and it gives you an AP buff so it makes itself do more damage. Aria of Perseverance is your healing spell. Max it second so you can heal yourself and stay in lane longer than the other laner. Song of Celerity is your only escape aside from Flash. Song of Celerity will let you kite and debuff enemies speed. Max it last.

Masteries

Even with the new masteries, 9/0/21 is pretty much the way to go. As an AP caster, Sona is very utility-based and needs the mana regen and cooldown for Lich Bane procs and to keep up spell spamming.

Runes

The runes are also typical caster runes. The difference is Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction. Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction is required. Sona is very cooldown reliant and you don't build ANY cooldown items. With 9/0/21 masteries and Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction, you have 15% cooldown.

Do not, and I repeat, do not use Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction. They aren't as good as Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction until level 14 and they will make you go OVER the cooldown reduction cap when you have blue buff.

Blue Buff

Blue buff aka Crest of the Ancient Golem gives you a buff which increases your mana regen and gives you more cooldown reduction based on your level. Take blue buff AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Your jungler will usually need to take the first one or two blue buffs for his jungling speed, but start asking for it after that. You should be taking your blue buff for the rest of the game.

Summary

Sona is a very fun AP character to play!