Soraka Build Guide by iskillzi

Introduction

This guide will hopefully be my most in depth guide I've ever made on MobaFire, It'll teach you how to lane against certain champions, how to build/what to build, talk about which masteries/runes are good for Soraka, and more.

Terms I may use

MR = Magic Resist

Arm = Armor

AP = Ability Power

AD = Attack Damage

Magic Pen = Magic Penetration

CDR = Cooldown Reduction

HP = Health Points

Questions you may ask

Q:Why so much Magic Pen in the build?
A: Starcall does reduce enemies MR for a short while, however, you can't rely on this for team fights because I doubt you'll get more than 6 stacks during a team fight therefore the Magic Pen helps your damage quite a bit


Q:Why max Starcall before Infuse?
A: Infuse may be a good high damage burst for Soraka however, I think that Starcall gives better damage output because its cooldown is A LOT less.

About Soraka

is the second best passive for laning mid in my opinion, its only rival is Void Stone which is a lot better mid-late game, however seeing as Soraka's passive Consecration is better early game this allows her to lane a little easier and pick up more kills / do more damage.


is Soraka's main damage output, doing 60/85/110/135/160 +0.4 damage / AP point and reduces MR by 8/9/10/11/12 per stack (stacks a max of 10 times) this spell is very powerful, because with it you can shred tanks MR by 120 at max level/stacks and it can hit all nearby enemies in a team fight (within range of 530) which is a little less range than her basic attacks at 550, but a lot more powerful.


allows you to heal, and buff a friendly unit within a range of 750 for armor this includes yourself making it so you can dominate mid/top. this heals for 70/140/210/280/350 +0.45/AP point and gives 25/50/75/100/125 bonus Arm for 5 seconds which helps quite a bit against people like Talon and Garen


This is the best burst damage for Soraka because of its base damage 50/100/150/200/250 + 0.75/AP point silence duration 1.5/1.75/2/2.25/2.5 seconds, and restores 40/80/120/160/200 mana to allies (not including yourself however) so AP Soraka actually may end up needing blue buff if your jungler is willing to give it to you.


Heals all allies for 200/320/440 + 0.7/AP point which is amazing for team fights especially after you get Rabadon's Deathcap which around then you'll have ~300 AP which is 210 extra health healed on top of the normal amount.

Masteries

Masteries
4/4	4/4	1/1	3/2	4/1	4/3	1/4	3/3	1/1	3/3	2/3

• Mental Force is great for a little extra early game damage, 4 AP doesn't seem like much but it actually helps quite a bit.
  
  
• Sorcery gives us 4% CDR which helps a lot with her long cooldowns on Astral Blessing and Wish.
  
  
• Arcane Knowledge gives 10% Magic Pen which helps a lot for early game bursts.
  
  
• Havoc increases damage dealt by 1.5% which helps more for late game when you get your damage items, but helps a little early game.
  
  
• Blast gives us +1 AP / level increasing our damage dealt by quite a bit late game.
  
  
• Archmage increases our AP by 5% which helps a lot with deathcap to maximize our damage.
  
  
• Executioner increases damage dealt by 6% on targets 40% health or less, which is by far the best mastery for Soraka because her Starcall will hit almost every enemy in team fights therefore making it easy for you/your team to take down enemies.
  
  
  
• Resistance increases MR by 6, which helps quite a bit in mid lane for the survivability.
  
  
  
• Summoner's Insight reduces Flash cooldown by 15 seconds, could be traded for 1 point on Improved Recall however.
  
  
• Expanded Mind gives us more mana to spam Starcall.
  
  
• Meditation helps us to stay in lane with the extra Mana Regen.

Runes

Runes
Greater Mark of Ability Power 9	Greater Seal of Armor 9	Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist 9	Greater Quintessence of Ability Power 3

All of these runes I found to be the best suited for Soraka and do not recommend changing any, however I will mention some that could be traded out below.

• Greater Mark of Ability Power gives you AP which increases your damage quite a bit early game, allowing you to outlane the enemy early game.
  
  
• Greater Seal of Armor gives you Arm which is necessary for solo top, and mid versus people like Talon.
  
  
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist gives you MR/level which normally I would have flat MR but seeing as Consecration already gives you MR, I find MR/level runes work better.
  
  
• Greater Quintessence of Ability Power gives you a bit more flat AP to outlane enemies early game.

Like I said before, the runes I do not recommend trading however the only one I would trade is the Quintessences to Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed because Soraka moves so slow.

Summoner Spells

• Exhaust is a great summoner spell, and it could be used to replace Ignite. This spell works nicely against all except Kassadin and Ahri because of their ultimates.
  
  
• Ghost can also be used to replace Ignite if you want to be able to run/chase enemies easier, and works very nicely with Flash for escaping.
  
  
• Heal can be used to replace Ignite if you would rather have the extra HP restored rather than the damage.
  
  
• Revive not a very viable spell for any champions, the Revive is nice late game but its cooldown is 500 seconds so it's not really worth it.
  
  
• Smite used normally only for junglers, not recommended to take if you lane.
  
  
• Surge is only viable on hybrid champions (in my opinion) like Jax or Akali or Skarner. But even on these champions it's still not nearly as good as other spells.
  
  
• Teleport can be used instead of Ignite if you think you will have to go back a lot.
  
  
• Cleanse can be used if enemies have tons of Crowd Control, not recommended however, Quicksilver Sash is a cheap buy and same effect.
  
  
• Clarity is a waste of a summoner spell because Soraka doesn't use very much mana unless spamming Astral Blessing and Starcall, but I'm sure the jungler will give you blue around second or so time that it's up.
  
  
• Ignite is a great spell for people like Fiddlesticks to reduce their healing, and it deals a good amount of true damage.
  
  
• Promote is not recommended because it's not really that good, the big minion can help push lane but you really don't want to push because that will leave you open to ganks.
  
  
• Clairvoyance not recommended because this is a AP guide not support guide, leave this spell to the supports.
  
  
• Flash is the best spell (in my opinion) because it allows you to escape from death very often, recommend not to trade this out for any spells unless you REALLY REALLY want to.

Items

Core Build

Item Sequence
Sorcerer's Shoes 1100	Rabadon's Deathcap 3300	Rylai's Crystal Scepter 2900

• Sorcerers Shoes give you a small amount of Magic Pen, which I often trade for Boots of Swiftness because Soraka moves very slow.
  
  
• Rabadon's Deathcap is your main item, as it gives you tons of AP, allowing you to deal very high damage with Starcall and Infuse.
  
  
• Rylai's Crystal Scepter is another great item for Soraka because it gives HP, AP, and a slow effect great for spamming Starcall.
  
  
• Void Staff is very good for Soraka so she can max her damage done, but isn't needed unless versus high HP/MR Teams, if not versus high HP/MR Teams then you can switch it around for a Rod of Ages early game before you get Rylai's Crystal Scepter.
  
  
• Deathfire Grasp is essential versus high HP Teams, if opponents don't have too many high HP people (3+) you should get Rod of Ages, Mejai's Soulstealer or Zhonya's Hourglass.
  
  
• Will of the Ancients is a great item for Soraka and shouldn't be traded out unless absolutely necessary, trade this out before Rabadon's Deathcap and Rylai's Crystal Scepter).

Other Items/Builds

Other Build

> > > > > > > > > > >

Other Items

Some items you may want to get are: Boots of Swiftness, Abyssal Scepter, Zhonya's Hourglass, Rod of Ages, and or Guardian Angel depending on the enemy team, and if you need to go more tanky than the normal build.

Gameplay

Playing versus specific champions:

Talon is actually a pretty easy champion for Soraka the main goal here is to just silence him > walk close enough (if possible within 1.5-2.5 sec silence duration) and use Starcall versus him I would recommend leveling up Infuse first so that you deal some damage, and silence is longer.. I would say level it to about 3 to 5 (whichever you feel comfortable at) and then max Starcall


Ahri is very easy to lane against, all you have to do is silence then spam Starcall but don't over extend or do this too much because she hurts, make sure to dodge her Orb of Deception and Charm if you get hit by Charm you're dead meat after level 6, unless you have Wish ready.


Anivia very very easy to lane against, spam Starcall as much as possible, silence whenever you go in and dodge her Flash Frost because her full combo will hurt you a lot, or even kill you.


Annie is fairly easy to lane against, you cant be too aggressive in this lane however, because if she gets her full combo including stun on you, you can end up dead very fast.


Brand is easy to lane against, dodge his Sear and you're safe for the whole lane, if he uses Pyroclasm use Astral Blessing or Wish and you should be fine.


Cassiopeia is another easy lane, simply Infuse then spam Starcall don't over extend or attack her too long and also play very careful after she's level 6, if you silence follow her head on for duration of silence then turn your back and keep using Starcall just incase she uses Petrifying Gaze, if she did and it's safe continue spamming Starcall.


Fizz is one of the easiest in my opinion, simply Infuse him then go in and spam Starcall if he uses his abilities on you that's fine because he doesn't do much damage just keep spamming Starcall if he does, and also he's melee so you can stop his farm very easily.


Gragas is very easy to lane against, you don't even need to use Infuse to beat him, just be careful when you go in for Starcall spamming because he does have a slow, even though it's not far range, and also his ultimate Explosive Cask will hit you into his turret if you get too close to it so be aware of that when fighting him.


Karthus easiest by far to lane against, just dodge his Lay Waste bombs and you're good to go. silence when needed and spam Starcall and he'll be messed up very fast, also save your Wish for when he uses Requiem.


Kassadin is about medium to lane against, in this lane I recommend you level up Infuse first so that you do damage to him, and Starcall second, don't play aggressive versus him because his silence/slow combo will hurt a lot, just go in and silence him first (yours is farther range) get 1 hit with Starcall and then run away.


Katarina is very very easy to lane against, simply save your silence for when she uses Death Lotus (after level 6) and spam Starcall and she will be outlaned easy.


Kennen can be a challenge at times, easy most of the time however. if you have faster movement speed than him with boots, then go in with silence then spam Starcall otherwise max Infuse first because your Starcall will be useless until you get Rylai's Crystal Scepter against him.


LeBlanc kinda hard, max Infuse first so that you don't get bursted down in like 2 seconds. play carefully and only hit 1x with Starcall when she's silenced, then back out.


Morgana medium, save Infuse for after her shield either expires or is killed by Starcall make sure to be nimble and dodge her binds, be careful of her Soul Shackles, and also I recommend shoes at level 1 versus her.


Orianna easy, silence her then spam Starcall, you can afford to trade hits with her because most of the time you will do more damage. no special precautions/changes to guide here.


Veigar medium, don't let him farm early game and silence him whenever he uses his Event Horizon so that he can't burst you down, use Starcall as much as possible because his range is fairly short.


Viktor medium, dodge his Death Ray and you should be fine, silence when you go near but be cautious because he is normally built tanky and has a lot of AP from his Evolving Technology upgrades.



Will add more later on, Comment if you want a specific champion posted here.

Change log

4/20/2012: made this guide

4/22/2012: added "Summoner Spells" section, and pictures

1/17/2013: Finally updated Masteries - Ideas for better items after the preseason patch please put in comments, thanks!

Summary

More information to come later on, please comment and vote!