This is my first build here on Mobafire, and I am open to any criticism. So before I start:

If you vote down on this build, please comment why. I'm open to constructive criticism, and any help would be grandly appreciated!

EDIT: Thanks to everyone for their input! I really appreciate y'all's help! :)

Now for a pic of a nice skin you can get for Soraka, if you don't like goat-folk:Pros:

• Possibly the greatest healer in the game.
• Infusion gives you and an ally manna.It also comes with a mute button for enemies.
• It is not too much of a stretch to say one could virtually push one lane infinitely.
• Wish's range is absolutely enormous. You can heal people an entire lane away!

Cons:

• Squishy support is squishy.
• Soraka should never solo. She can hold back an enemy for a bit, but when nukes are nearby, she won't hold for long.
• Soraka has only a slightly offensive weapon if ganked, so be warned!

I would like to note that some people have issues with Soraka's survivability. While this is generally an issue, remember that she shouldn't ever be at the forefront and she should never solo.

Tips and pointers

• The Alt button is your friend! Use it when you're surrounded by minions to target yourself with spells and to avoid giving that melee minion your much needed manna boost!
• Keep in back! I'm quite shocked how many people who start playing her overextend themselves. This is the quickest way to find yourself in Ganktown.
• Be wary of bushes. Don't look if a stronger champion is nearby. You really, really, don't need surprise stun/gank. In the case of no nearby champion, stay on the other side of the lane from the bushes. This gives you a better chance to have an attack aimed for you hit a minion. After a few moments, if you don't see something championish fly out of the bushes with a craving for goat-person, feel free to test the waters.
• Bushes during combat are a great place to heal from. You will not be seen giving aid to an ally, and if they are targeting you first (which any champ with have a brain will, you squishy little ball of XP), this allows you to keep your lane partner well protected until the enemy notices your lane partner is somehow keeping manna and health up.
• Once a fight is over, if you've lost your lane partner, leave the dang bushes! I see lots of support just stand there, hoping they won't check. Don't put yourself in a situation where you can't get out!

Summoner Spells

Every summoner spell has its purpose and is a vital addition to any team in its own right. That said, not everything is good for everyone. For your convenience, I decided to color code the summoner spells in correlation to their usefulness for Soraka.


Clairvoyance
You just located stealthed Twitch and Teemo doing very horrible things with deadly psychedelics . Congrats. Now what? It's nice to point out to a lane partner, but really this isn't really a practical spell for you in regards to other spells.
Clarity
If only you had a spell that regenerated your manna when you needed it! Then this oh-so-vital summoner spell would be essentially obsolete for you! Wait...
Cleanse
This would save your tuchus so much, if its cooldown wasn't so low. If you're targeted with mountains of debuffs and poisons, chances are the enemy can do it again. And again. And again. Let the tanks take this if they want, you have other things to handle.
Exhaust
Why does a healer need this? Answer: they don't. You aren't fast, you don't do too much damage, and you don't really chase.
Flash
This is good for running away, or to rushing to aid your ally.
Fortify
This is great for running away, if you die, or if another lane is in danger of losing its turret. Yes, in late game, if that's the case it's usually lost, but it buys your allies much needed time (and you get the credit for any greedy and foolish champs who stay for too long!). As a support character, what better way to help your team than to frustrate the enemy while getting some free kills?
Ghost
This spell helps you fly across the map to the aid of any ally whenever your Teleport is on cooldown.
Heal
No. No no no no no no no. No! Heal is a horrible spell for Soraka. Everyone affected by it have any additional heals cast on them reduced by half. If you're in such dire straights you need yet another heal spell, chances are, you and/or your lane partner were hosed from the start.
Ignite
Because Soraka is an uber DPS tank who needs that extra umph? Simply put, not for you!
Rally
Great if you're laned with a fairly static champ. It also aids the little minions (If you don't believe me, watch how one-sided minion battles are when you pop this.
Revive
This spell is not for you. Your sudden return won't necessarily be the deciding point, especially with not full manna. No this won't matter after a few casts of infusion, but if you're being targeted to death, maybe you should save infusion for the enemy.
Smite
Epic sounding with a good pension for XP from minions (and if you lose an inhibitor, a good method to deal with super minions!). However, it isn't really enough to shoot you up in level much faster than you normally would. I'd recommend rally before I'd recommend this.
Teleport
Sudden heal where it's needed. No need to wait! You've seen and experienced that one point where you almost killed the enemy if you'd only had that extra X health! You can now prevent this long enough for them to hit one last fatal blow! Sure, not all scenarios will be that dramatic, but they all involve being able to support sooner.

Masteries and You:

I chose this setup for Soraka for obvious reasons: you should do one thing and do it well. Soraka is a healer. She isn't a DPS, she sure as hell should never jungle, and I'm somewhat certain Soraka tanking is a sign of the apocalypse. She should stay back and only come up front if you're going to mute an enemy - and even then shouldn't do so too often.

8 points in offense
This is to boost her AP. All but one of her spells work off high percentages of her AP. It would be wise to capitalize on her healing and what little damage she can do.
0 points in defense
She's squishy, yes, but she's also not supposed to be that damned close.
22 points in Utility
Obviously move the summoner spell enhancements if you aren't using those, but otherwise this is to increase her healing the most you can.

Roonz:

The runes I chose are ultimately designed more for long-term enhancements. Not, they don't have the instant gratification of the statics and early game are vastly inferior, the game usually gets to higher levels before the REAL fur flies (inhibitors/turrets lost, big monsters killed, etc.) so by this point you should have better stats in comparison to someone with static runes.

STUFF!:

Okay, simply put, I believe you should build according to what your enemy is. Each item has its benefits. Maybe you need to cast faster. Maybe you're being ganked to Hell and back. Maybe you're laned with Nunu, the Tank with Ridiculous Health. Any direction you choose, there really is no "wrong" order. The items are listed above from cheapest to most expensive, so if you're not sure how to build, that's the fastest build for you.

THE ONLY CONSTANT IS AMPLIFYING TOME. This is the starter for several items, and gives you a quickie umph early game.

So before we start descriptions:
WHY YOU NO HAVE ZHONYA'S RING?!
It has been decommissioned No need in adding something that doesn't exist. :)

With that:

Amplifying Tome:
+20 AP
Quick, cheap, and an ingredient in several recipes for other items.

Fiendish Codex:
+30 AP, 7 mana/5 sec., Passive: Cooldown reduction 10%
Less need to use Infusion on yourself! Also, that cooldown reduction is quite handy (when is it not?)

Boots of Mobility
+5 speed when out of combat, +2 speed when in combat
You can fly to an ally's aid a lot more quickly with this! Yes, there's an AP boosting boot, but really, all the AP in the world matters not if your ally dies before you get there.

Spirit Visage
200 Health, 30 Magic Resist, Passive: Reduces Cooldown by 12%
Gank resistance! Yaaaaaaay!

Rylai's Crystal Scepter
80 AP, 500 Health, Dealing damage with a spell slows the enemy by 25% (15% for multitarget) for 2 seconds
The incredible AP is what you want. 500 health gives you just enough time to run away if things get icky. The slow ability is great for getting enemies who are on the verge of death.


Zhonya's Hourglass
100 AP, 50 Armor, Active:stasis for 2 seconds, rendering you invulnerable and untargetable but unable to take any action. 90 sec cooldown.
This item is a somewhat nerfed Zhonya's ring, but it works just as well, especially for 100 AP.

Rabadon's Cap
155 AP, Passive: Increases Ability Power by 30%
155 AP?! That alone make it worthwhile, but also the fact that it boosts your AP by 30% as well just makes it all the more valuable to Soraka (as well as any AP-dependent caster)


Again, the items on the cheat sheet are listed in accordance to price in case you're not sure which to do first.

Soraka's Abilities:
Consecration
Increases surrounding allies' magic resistance by 16.

Not much to say here. It's pretty straight forward. And awesome against casters.

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Starcall
Strikes nearby enemy units for 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+25% of ability power) magic damage and reduces their Magic Resistance by 8 for 8 seconds This effect stacks up to 20 times. Cooldown: 3 sec|Cost: 42 / 54 / 66 / 78 / 90|Range 630

This ability pretty much is live getting free money and experience from minions. Utterly useless against champions unless they're already near death. Quick cooldown is a plus.

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Astral Blessing

Restores 80 / 135 / 190 / 245 / 300 (+100% of ability power) health and grants 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 bonus armor for 9 seconds.Cooldown: 9 sec|Cost: 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 / 160 |Range: 650

Your primary heal. It's pretty nifty.

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Infuse

If cast on an allied champion, restores 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 Manna. If cast on an enemy champion, silences them for 1 / 1.5 / 2 / 2.5 / 3 second(s) and deals 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 (+60% of ability power) magic damage. Cooldown: 15 sec| Range 725

This ability is your bread and butter. It keeps casters (and you) filled with manna OR does a free mute/damage combo. Get this first to boost your ally and shut down your enemies early game.

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Wish
Instantly restores 200 / 320 / 440 (+130% of ability power) health to all allied champions. Cooldown 120 / 90 / 60 sec|Cost 200 / 275 / 350 |Range 25000

Amazing heal spell! This one spell can turn around a gank in no time.

Strategy:

Early game, buy yourAmplifying Tome, invest your first point in Infusion and pick your lane partner wisely. Tanks are preferable especially if they don't use magic, so you can use infusion more offensively and on yourself as needed Any non-support character will do quite lovely, though. Keep the enemy muted and, if no enemy is near, infuse yourself with manna.

If you and your partner hit lvl 5 and no enemy champions are harassing your lane too hard, you may wish to invest 1 or 2 points in Starcall to get extra gold and XP as well as help push to get rid of those pesky turrets. ONLY DO THIS if you're not being harrassed too badly, however, as you need to keep focus on your real goal: support.

If the enemy hasn't caught on by late game to try and kill you to stop your ally from living forever, suggest to your allies to push in one lane. You should be able to keep them alive for some time while they obliterate everything in that lane.

If you're targeted a lot, stay well back but not so far as to not be able to help your ally. All in all, Soraka's tactics are pretty simple. Just don't forget to go back to base every now and then and upgrade your stuff, which is easy to do!


With all that said, please let me know if you have any suggestions or constructive criticism. Good luck with one of the best support characters in the game!