Important Upfront Notes
Please try the build first before you negatively comment & vote.

At Full stack, actual AP is at 600~. Your Magic resistance is at 46, not 30, due to your passive ability.
Your max HP is roughly 2500, from the growth on Rod of Ages.

Also this is a slightly old guide before season 2, updated to the best I can. So please forgive any old choices I missed.

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Welcome! I want to start off by saying this will be my first guide.

Here is what the guide will focus on.

• Support Role
• Do's & Don'ts
• Explanations

Outside of that, I will not focus on Lane compositions, farming, game stages, etc.
I don't want to waste too much time creating a build. Short and simple works.

Most guides do not focus on Ability Power, which I think is a large mistake on Soraka.
It is not utilizing Soraka's healing ability that scales with AP.
My guide focuses on AP for two reasons.
First is healing. Second is damage, from both abilities and Deathfire Grasp.

Arguably building ability power is much more supportive with Astral Blessing, than with any other item build choice. You will heal for more, and that will make all the difference.

This guide is meant to be slightly flexible with item choice. Leaving the last item choice to you, for situational purposes. I rarely get over 11k gold unless the game drags on. You shouldn't be stealing minion kills from allies, they will need the gold. This will mostly be explained in the items section. Adapt to your situational needs, build armor or magic resistance if you have to.

That said, lets get started!

Pros
+Lots of damage output from Starcall and Infuse. Especially late game with stacked ability power.

+Decent to great healing ability. Stacking ability power will let you heal much more, keeping you and your teammates alive.

+Decent HP late game. Still have to be careful on building your own armor or magic resistance.

+High damage output with Deathfire Grasp. If you have over 600 AP, it will deal 51% damage of your enemies current HP. Always open up an attack with Deathfire Grasp first if your enemy has full hp. It does more damage that way.

Cons
-Focused during fights. Enemies will try to kill you early, not allowing you to heal. Do not get singled out, you will most likely die. If your teammates are doing their job, they can get whoever is focusing you off your back, possibly killing them. Use Astral Blessing on yourself, which might negate most damage caused to you.

-Squishy during Early-game. You can probably counter this by getting any of your health item choices early.

-Over Extending. You will most likely die from being squishy, focused, or ganked. Unless of course you know what you are doing.

-Risky item build. This build mostly assumes you will be able to survive most fights, and get the stacks when you need them. If you don't feel confident enough, play it safe and take an alternative item choice instead of Mejai's Soulstealer.

One of the differences between this Soraka build and others, is use of two gold generating items. They do this because of playing a support role while buying wards. You need the additional gold income to compensate for not stealing minions or kills.

My build uses kage's lucky pick and Greed . This should be enough to compensate. Kage will build into Deathfire Grasp, which will be a key item choice. You can then focus your gold into more AP items.

There may be better rune choices for Soraka, but I haven't tested them enough to say they're worthwhile. For the sake of the build I will stick with what I have here.

I want to point out that I normally take HP runes, for the purpose of putting maximum HP around 2500.

Defensive Runes
Greater Seal of VitalityGreater Glyph of VitalityGreater Quintessence of Defense

This choice of runes gives you better armor, basically for any harassment you receive. You get a decent benefit from the HP runes, which will scale nicely later on. You will still have to be careful of Magic Damage, as the item build choice does not focus on having MR. Leaving the last item choice is yours to decide, for situational purposes.

: OK so this is flat armor for your early/mid game defense. You won't be building armor to start, and there shouldn't be a reason to. If you're playing your support / defensive role properly, you won't be going ahead of your allies or minions. Plus the Armor per Level Quint's will help stack this. If you really want to, you could probably swap these for Magic Penetration .

Greater Seal of Vitality: Vitality Seals are a really good benefit. They have very high HP gain at level 18. This will help your survival in combination with your armor. However I don't think it's enough to compensate for NOT getting Rod of Ages or Rylai's Crystal Scepter. You will still need some sort of item-health boost if you want to avoid being too squishy. Getting Greater Seal of Defense or Greater Seal of Armor will help if you think you will face heavy AD enemies. I would choose armor per levels seals as they will even out at level 11 at Mid-game, matching any flat armor seals.

Greater Glyph of Vitality: You can add these Glyphs for slightly more HP gain. Still a good benefit.
An alternate choice could be getting MR Glyphs, Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist or Greater Glyph of Magic Resist. I would take the MR per level over flat MR any day. You gain much more per level and it's worth more in the long run. By mid-game, it should stack on par with flat MR. Plus your passive Consecration will give you 16 MR. This may or may not be enough to counter someone with .

Greater Quintessence of Defense: I would get these for the Armor per Level benefit. It will help you stay on edge long enough to build most, if not all of your items. You could probably be fine with just two of these, and substitute another Quintessence of your choice.

: I often get Greater Quint of Swiftness in combination with 2 points in Swiftness , giving you a speed bonus of 2.5%. If you choose Ghost as one of your abilities it will greatly aid your escape.

I don't really focus on offensive runes with Soraka, because that's just not my play-style. Getting AP in the build will compensate for this.

This build's mastery choices focus on Utility.
For this build in particular, I chose 9-0-21.

I want to start off by saying how absolutely, critically important it is to build Cooldown Reduction. This can be a lifesaver toward allies. I have done some phenomenal last second saves, which only would have been possible from the CDR.

• You are going to want the CDR from Sorcery and Intelligence , it will add toward a final 40% CDR.
• Using Clairvoyance effectively will help you spot ganks, areas for Dragon and Baron, as well as escapes. Trust instinct and timings for ganks. Pay attention to enemy movement.
• With the final mastery of Mastermind , it will help Clairvoyance & Flash's cooldown.
• This build will also help build more Mana by a small percent, increase overall HP and Mana regen, and a small movement-speed boost. If you choose Greed , it will help play a role in getting gold slightly faster, combined with Kage's Lucky Pick you will have 2 gold generating abilities.

With this build, your item CDR will be at 30%. With all your masteries it will go up 10%, totaling at 40%. Now some of you will argue that Mejai's Soulstealer already gives you 15% CDR. That's only true if you actually have 20 stacks, and don't die. Getting it early doesn't really help. I'd recommend it only after level 6 when you get Wish. After you finish Deathfire Grasp your CDR should be at 40%.

There have been games where I do not die at all, although uncommon. Most games you are more than likely to die 1-4 times, depending how well you play your support role. Deaths will be caused by not retreating, or being utterly focused by the enemies. This will hurt your AP stacks on Mejai's Soulstealer.

Keeping your CDR at 40% can give you that split second moment of being able to save an ally, or yourself. This can be a really good lifesaver when you get Kited by enemies, or if they decide to turret-dive you.

I will say you can probably do different builds with Soraka easily, but I'm not going to spend the time focusing on them for this guide.

I'll try to keep this section short, but informative. I have updated the skill sequence since the latest patch. Infuse no longer gives you mana, so you will have to rely on Fiendish Codex / Deathfire Grasp for mana regeneration. Rod of Ages will also help your base mana.

• Most of the time if I'm with a teammate, I get Astral Blessing first. You need to be able to heal your teammates at the start of the game.
• Getting Infuse first is a poor choice. Never do it! What good is mana if your ally is dead. Using it to attack isn't good either because it will only silence your enemies.
• If you're alone in a lane, getting Starcall first is OK, provided you don't venture far away. Only use it to harass if enemies get close, or clear a minion wave at the turret.
• If you get Astral Blessing first, be warned there is a 20 second cooldown to start. Let your allies know this! This is so they don't get cocky because they have a support healer. You cannot heal all the time, and you need to let them know it. Also to stop them from complaining when they die. From being Stupid.
• Use Infuse on your allies. It will give them mana to continue lane dominance.

You should never be empty on mana, always save enough to dish out one Astral Blessing, and Wish if you can help it.

I spread out getting Starcall. When you finally start getting more AP, it will dish out lots more damage. With your cooldowns, its delay time should only be 1.5 seconds. This will help you farm a lane with more AP you have, and skill level.

During late game, you will be able to eat your enemies with the low cooldown. If you have the health, Armor & Magic Resistance enough, you will be able to heal yourself while still dishing out damage. At roughly 600 AP, you should be able to damage an enemy for 1000 HP, using Starcall and Infuse just once. Doing it more will damage them further, and in team fights that damage will add up. In combination of using Deathfire Grasp first, you can easily do 2000 damage or more. Having 600 AP, Deathfire will deal 30%+(3.5% * 6) percent damage (That's 51% on the first hit).

Be aware of the map!
You need to be aware of the map on occasion, not all the time. Checking too often will leave you open to attack, and standing still makes you a great target. If your ally is pushing, and your far enough behind, briefly check your allies health around the map. If their in a fight or low on HP, cast Wish to give them a little boost. Casting Wish will actually give you an assist kill, giving you additional stacks on Mejai's Soulstealer.

Briefly checking the map, and Gank spots for allies with Clairvoyance will help. When a MIA is called, try to take 3 seconds or so to spot for you allies at Top/Bottom lane, or on your area if your extended too far.

During team fights, don't cast Wish needlessly. Doing so will just waste it, and it will hurt your team for when you really need it. Be constantly aware of your allies HP and Mana. Also be aware for how much you actually heal with Astral Blessing and Wish. Heal most allies with Astral Blessing. You don't want to waste either of them, make it useful for the amount you heal for. When the fighting starts, you can use Wish when 2 or more of your allies are getting damaged.

On fights with enemies, I usually open with Infuse and then Starcall. Since enemies will briefly be silenced, they usually run backward. After popping off that small poke, I retreat behind allies or to a turret. Soraka is not a burst-mage champion.

This is probably the longest section of the guide, read well if you want too.

My item choices are probably similar to other builds and guides. To be honest, I haven't looked at other guides for item choices. I did a little number crunching with Leaguecraft's builder. Having stacked AP and Deathfire Grasp will allow you to survive, and deal damage.

You will most likely turtle through the game, you just have to tread through it. Without the major AP boost from Rabadon's Deathcap, you have to rely on any stacks you get from Mejai's Soulstealer. You can probably get Rabadon's Deathcap early and still be fine with getting Mejai's Soulstealer late game.

My item build order is probably not the best, if at all. If you feel you can improvise I would be open to suggestions. Also improving on the fly for various situations helps.

Starting Items
: So this is probably an odd choice. This may help you keep your mana at safe levels, enough to use Astral Blessing. I would only get this and some Health Potion's if you are with an ally. You could easily swap this for Ruby Crystal first, having that extra HP will allow you to focus your heals on your ally. This will later build into Fiendish Codex and Deathfire Grasp.

I want to note that you will be squishy, and enemies will probably take advantage of this. If you aren't confident enough about it, play it safe with Ruby Crystal, or Doran's Ring

: So Ruby crystal will give you additional starting HP. This will put your start HP above 600, if I'm not mistaken. Later this will let you build Catalyst the Protector and Rod of Ages early. Mainly if your getting harassed and need the additional HP gain.

: I don't normally get this first, although it is a decent choice. The additional HP you receive should keep you alive long enough to heal. The mana regen will keep your mana up, allowing you to use Astral Blessing. The small AP boost should give you some small damage output with Starcall or Infuse.

I would normally take Doran's Ring if I'm solo in a lane. It will help your survivability. The downside is that you will have to spend additional gold on other items in your build. Farming can compensate for this if done correctly. Be aware Soraka's auto-attack is really slow. Use Starcall to help finish off a minion wave.
 

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Early Game Items
Kage's Lucky Pick
Cost: 1815 Gold, Level: ~6
~25 AP
~15+%CDR
Getting your CDR at 15% should be enough to hold you off until mid-game.

Mid-Game Items
Catalyst the Protector
Cost: 2570 Gold, Level: ~12
~25+%CDR
+290 HP, +325 Mana
Getting Catalyst the Protector will help your HP and Mana, and help with regen after you level up.

Alternatively, You can get Catalyst the Protector and Blasting Wand, and finish your Rod of Ages early. I would do this if you really need the HP, from any harassment you're receiving.

Middle-Late Game Items

Cost: 3545 Gold, Level: ~16
~30+%CDR
+630 HP, +725 mana at full growth
If the team fights start early, I would suggest getting Rod of Ages and then Deathfire Grasp before Mejai's Soulstealer. Once you got RoA, you won't be too squishy and can survive most fights. Getting any kills will contribute toward purchasing MSS.
If you wait until late game to get Mejai's Soulstealer, you can purchase Rabadon's Deathcap or possibly Abyssal Mask instead.

Late Game Items

Cost: 3600 Gold

This can be gotten last, although there can be times you can get it early. If you and your team are not getting harrassed or die too often, I suggest getting Rabadon's Deathcap before Mejai's Soulstealer.
 

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Situational Last Item Choices

Abyssal Mask is a superb item choice. It doubles as an offensive and defensive item.
You get the magic resistance bonus which is a great addition to your passive ability.
It's good in both offense and defense from boosting your ability power. You can heal for more and damage for more.
The added affect of lower enemy magic resistance is a godsend. In combination with Starcall, it will lower enemy magic resistance even farther. You will absolutely punish enemies that do not buy MR.
Your Starcall ability stacks when lowering enemy MR, and it might be possible to get their MR in the negative.
Getting Abyssal Mask as your last item choice is good if the enemy team has heavier Magic Damage. This will put your total MR at 103. If you stacked Mejai's Soulstealer well, your final AP should barely be over 700. Total cost will be 14180 Gold.


This is a good choice if the enemy team is heavy on AD. You can put yourself in stasis for 2 seconds, although I never really pick this item. Your final Armor will be roughly 154. The total cost will be 14630 Gold.


This is also situational, and alters your build. If you get Randuin's Omen, I would suggest getting Rylai's Crystal Scepter instead of Rod of Ages. The reason is your spell damage with Rylai's Crystal Scepter will slow any enemies, which can help with chasing down anyone for that kill. If you get Omen, I would get Heart of Gold at the same time you get Kage's Lucky Pick. You will then have 3 gold generating abilities, 2 from items and one from your mastery choice of Greed . The total cost will be 14605 Gold.

If you want to be even more Greed y, you can swap one Quintessence for a gold generating one. You will then have 4 gold generating abilities.


Sheen is not a favorite choice. It will give your auto-attack a little buff toward damage. In the meantime I would continue trying to get enough gold to buy Lich Bane. The total cost will be at 12790 Gold.


This will be an awesome choice for Soraka. Having your auto-attack damage increased by 100% AP will let you absolutely nuke someone. If you have ~700AP, hitting them with Infuse first will deal (250+537~) damage. Your next auto-attack will deal ~800 damage, totaling for ~1500 damage. The final cost will be exactly 15000 Gold.


Archangel's Staff can be a great choice if used correctly. It will be kind of tricky to build however. In order to get the bonus 1000 mana, you need to use any ability 250 times.
At a full Mana stack, combined with a full Mejai's Soulstealer stack, your AP will be over 800, or close to it.
Check it out for yourself, I will put this guide on LeagueCraft for anyone reading to see.
More Information Here!

At this point, I would recommend using Deathfire Grasp first on any champion at high HP, next using Infuse on them for even more nuke damage, and finally Q spamm them with Starcall. If you combine Archangel's Staff along with Rylai's Crystal Scepter, they will be constantly slowed from your magic damage, leaving no escape.

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Alternative Item Choices

Will of the Ancients is a great choice for sucking up HP. The spell vamp will allow you to just spamm Starcall and gain your HP back, allowing you to save Astral Blessing for an allies. I would recommend getting this in place of Mejai's Soulstealer.


Rylai's Crystal Scepter is another great choice. It will constantly slow your enemies, allowing you to spamm them continuously. This can be a nice alternative to Rod of Ages. You get roughly the same HP and AP boost. If you also decide to get Randuin's Omen in combination, you should be able to escape any fights as needed.


Aegis of the Legion is a phenomenal item choice. In combination with your passive, you are giving nearby allies an additional 29 Magic Resistance, for FREE!. This item will definitely help your team survive most battles. I strongly recommend this item. I would get this mid-late game when the team-fights start to pick up.

I may try to add more item builds for this guide later, depending how well it gets reviewed.

I'll keep this section simple.

Your job is to help support and heal your allies.
You must keep them alive with Astral Blessing, and supplied with mana using Infuse.
If you don't need to do that, engage with your allies using Infuse first, silencing a key enemy.

Your allies job is to focus down an enemy, or help keep you alive during retreat.

If your allies are doing their job, you will stay alive, and Vice-Versa.

Early-game and Mid-game it is partly your role to help gain map control. Using vision wards and Clairvoyance where you can, if you can. You don't always have to spend gold on wards.

If you are forced to engage an enemy, open up with Deathfire Grasp if you can, and silence them with Infuse. Ping for your allies if your alone, and retreat. Most of the time you probably won't be able to finish off an enemy alone. If your near a turret, let the enemy be stupid and dive you. Heal yourself and silence them, spamm your Starcall and watch them fall.

Overall I would just say to know your role, be helpful toward your team, and have fun!

Try new item builds that focus on some defense, while balancing other aspects.
This build isn't meant for every enemy team. You have to adapt to situational needs, as in any game.

I hope this is helpful.
Thanks, and Enjoy.