Hello Summoners, and welcome to my AP Soraka build guide!!! I have no significant credentials to prove I am diamond or what not, but I am a normal LoL player like you trying to have some fun! Soraka is an amazingly fun character to play especially with her fight changing ult: Wish and being able to call down mysterious meteors with Starcall This is a very uncoventional guide exploiting items not often used together. This guide will go over how to play, build, and do well with AP Soraka... By the way, this is my first build guide on MobaFire so don't except pro coding skills from me. I am open to any type of critique, negative or positive however harsh so leave your comments in the discussion. In this guide, we'll go over runes, masteries, items, skill sequence, spells, gameplay, and other things. Without further ado, let's get started.

Pros Huge Heals Great pusher Sustain in lane Starcall has super low cool downs Unexpected APC in ranked

Cons Squishy Low Mobility Prone to Heal Reduct or Stuns Think you're trolling Versatile ways to build Soraka

Like many Ability Power Carries, on AP Soraka we'll be taking a masteries tree of 21/0/9. If Soraka were a melee AP carry such as Kassadin or Katarina, I would take 21/9/0, but Soraka utilizes the extra mana regen and such better.

• Greater Mark of Scaling Ability PowerOn Soraka, we're going to take Scaling AP per level Marks so you can boost your mid-late game. Soraka doesn't need that extra AP early game. These help you most levels 6 or higher.
  
• Greater Seal of ArmorFlat armor seals are not always needed and can be traded for more Offensive or Magic Resistance runes, but they can be extremely helpful against junglers, ganks from other lanes, etc. And, you never know, you might get matched up against an AD champion like Riven or Zed.
  
• Greater Glyph of Magic ResistFor glyphs, we're going to be taking some magic resist glyphs for an early game advantage against AP laners or junglers. Some mana regen glyphs if needed can also be taken.
  
• Greater Quintessence of Ability PowerWe will be taking some flat AP quints to boost your very important early game. This increases your heal, your q and e damage. Movement speed quints can also be helpful if needed. [/size]

7/10 times, this will be your regular build on AP Soraka. Don't be afraid to try new things to adjust to situations...If you're playing against Swain, build Morellonomicon and maybe a Liandry's Torment There is no set build for any champion. *Cough Cough* Doublelift with that tri-force vayne...

Unlike many APCs like Annie or Veigar, Soraka has an extremely strong level one on par with Fizz or even Syndra. The common factor with these champions is skilla that have consistant damage. Fizz has his Seastone Trident, Syndrawith her Dark Sphere, and Soraka with her Starcall.

While Annie or Ziggshas a strong q, at level one, they cannot usually get an opponent under half health. Soraka can easily walk up to an enemy, farm with Starcall at the same time as harassing the opponent without taking minion aggro. It is commonly stated, that early game magic penetration iis amazing on AP champions. Whenever Soraka casts her Starcall, it reduces enemy magic resist. This is another reason her level one is strong.

Once you get your Infuse, your combo is even stronger. Walk up to the enemy, cast Starcall once or twice, them use Infuse to prevent retaliation, and finally cast your Starcall a few more times then safely walk back into you minions. If they intend to follow you, simply kite around your minions while casting Starcall and they will surely back off. Against assasins such as LeBlancand Fizz, this is harder to do but this will be explained in the matchups section soon to be added.

When you want to go for a kill, there are a few prerequisites.

1. They are under half health/jungle gank/they dont have tower(or in jungle)
2. They are pushed/jungle gank/both/they dont have tower(or in jungle)
3. |optional| both Flash and Ignite are up

First off, while Soraka is a strong APC, she does not have amazing burst or hard cc to lock down an enemy while you spam Starcall. This is why they need to be under half health, or you need to have a jungle gank. Also, Soraka has a lot of sustained damage that stacks up, so if they arent even at half health, and you are in an area where you can constantly be able to combo them, a kill can potentially happen.

Secondly, if you do not have a jungle gank or you are still in lane, if you are under towee, you can potentially kill them.

Finally, Flash is not only used to run away, it can be used to secure kills. Starcall does in fact have a cast time so flashing towards an enemy can give you that extra range to hit them a few more times or ignite them.

All in all, in the early levels, you want to farm up, get your early items, and harass or even kill the enemy out of lane. Soraka isn't about winning lane or even getting super fed. She's about providing good utility and having impacts in skirmishes keeping your team ahead.


This is that part of the game where your Wish starts to play a big part in everything. Even in small skirmishes, it can effect a large outcome. After hitting 6, your mid laner may start to roam if they haven't already. Luckily, you can push fast with Starcall and you do not need to roam since you have Wish that can save your team mate. I like to describe mid game as the part where you have your first early items such as Tear of the Goddess, Hextech Revolver, and Mejai's Soulstealer. Now that you have these, your sustain, is huge and your damage slowly goes up as you get more and more assists.

Picking up your core items also starts to happen in this phase, getting dragon, towers, or buffs can help you. Teamfights may also occur in this phase.

There is always something to do. Whether it is simply farming in the jungle, or even pushing to win the game, mid-game is a part where Soraka has a huge effect. Being able to provide consistant damage is sometimes better than burst in teamfights and Soraka excels at that.

When teamfighting, you always want to stay near the back line but in range of your Starcall providing mass damage to their whole team. Although you may want to Infuse and Astral Blessing your carries, using your heal on your tank is a great strategy as well allowing them to just go on a rampage through the enemy back line. Try to Infuse the enemy mid laner or any one who is a caster that can heavily cc your team. Finally, Wish is your most benefit in the teamfight. Providing a heal to everyone in your team that heals a hecka lot due to your AP build from Mejai's Soulstealer, Abyssal Mask, and Rylai's Crystal Scepter hugely effects the outcome of the fight. Do not be afraid to simply click r when your team is low.

Matchups will be rated on a scale of 1 through 5 1requires not much skill to beat, 3is a test of skill, and 5 requires for you to have a lot of skill to beat.

1/5 If played right, you can win this lane. You should be able to zone Ahri and out push her. Do ward though since you have no escapes and can easily be ganked. Against Ahri stay behind your minions, but not in them, otherwise, she can hit you with her abilities. Be careful after level 6 because her mobility becomes much higher and she can get into position to land a charm. You can easily harass her so take advantage of that without putting yourself in danger.

4/5 Fizz is a very scary AP assassin to play against as Soraka he has huge burst and snowball that he can exploit with your squishiness. He also has heal reduction. The reason it is not 5/5 is that you can harass him so much before 6 while preventing quick escapes with your silence. In this matchup, rush some early magic resist and try to play safe. Unlike LeBlanc, Fizz does a lot of damage against you while countering your heals even when you are fed. You still have a huge impact on the game even when you are not super fed as does he. Max your Infuse first.

2/5 Gragas is very commonly played in ranked. His burst, sustain, siege, and waveclear is strong. Whenever he goes for a Drunken Rage, silence him because it significantly makes him tankier, gives him an AD steroid, and restores mana. Counter pushing is the most important part of laning against Gragas because of his siege. To do this, get double dorans and then build the regular. All in all, if you can cancel his Drunken Rage, and dont allow him to siege you, you can win this lane.

1/5 Katarina is a mid laner with a lot of strengths and weaknesses. Try to wait until she uses her ult, Death Lotus before you Infuse her as it silences and cancels her ult. Try to play aggressive in the early game before level 6 because her combo is not as strong as yours before that level. After level 6, her Death Lotus reduces heals which almost counters you. Luckily, you can simply silence her and wait till the grievious wounds go away before you heal yourself.

5/5 LeBlanc is one of the most infamous AP assasins there is. Her combo is perhaps the strongest atlevel 3. Your best choice is to try to sit tight, call your ss's, wait for ganks, and try not to die. After getting a Tear of the Goddess, rush for an Abyssal Mask. Also, definitely do not get a Mejai's Soulstealer and go for a deathcap. If you give her kills, she will snowball out of control. Without kills, she falls out late game. In early skimishes, try to silence her when she Distortions to you making her not be able to go back. Also try to have minions between you and her so she can't snare you.

3/5 Zed is another assassin that you can deal with fairly easily. When he goes over to his shadow, immediately silence him so he cannot combo you. That is pretty much why you should be able to win this lane. Your Infuse can render his combo useless. Also, when he uses Death Mark right before the mark goes off, use your heal. This will counter out the burst damage keeping you alive and in the game. Rush for a Seeker's Armguard after Tear of the Goddess, then build regularly.

I don't always have time to work on this guide so I'll be finishing it slowly over time. This update log just shows where I am, what I got accomplished, and keeps track of accomplishments. This change log is more for me than all of you so I can know what to do.

1/26/14: Update Log started. Added the "Upgrade!" section of items as well as changed the title.

1/27/14: Finished "Items" section.

2/5/14: Added "gameplay" section.

3/17/14: Added Level 1-5 and combos (done on iPad will edit on computer when home.) Also began matchups section.