Hi! I'm Clementine from NA, and I've been a Soraka and support main since the end of season 6. I got diamond while mostly playing Soraka in seasons 7, 8, and 9. This season I've been hovering around diamond 1/diamond 2 and I think I can hit Grandmaster soon! I'm also going for the spot of being the #1 Soraka on NA's op.gg. This is my first in-depth guide, and it's still a work in progress. I'll be constantly adding more useful info. I plan to make this guide as in-depth as possible.


Season 9:

Season 8:


Season 7:


I plan to add at least four more chapters: pros & cons of Soraka, specific tips and tricks, how to use active items (such as Mikael's Blessing) to their full potential, and a conclusion of some sort.

If you have any feedback or questions, please don't hesitate to leave comments, or you can come down to my stream and ask me there! c;

• Think of there being a mental checklist for which support item is better to start each game. For Spellthief's Edge to be the better option over Relic Shield, you need to be able to constantly harass in the lane to use your Spellthief's Edge stacks. In order to be able to harass, you need to be in a good enough matchup where you can play aggressively AND be in range to constantly poke.
• Relic Shield more often than Spellthief's Edge on most enchanters (besides Yuumi). If you haven't tried Relic Shield on ranged supports before, give it a shot. The HP regen it gives is mostly wasted because Soraka has the lowest HP regen in the game, but the consistent income is worth losing the mana regen from Spellthief's Edge if you would earn less gold otherwise.
• Generally, I only buy Spellthief's Edge against weak and short-ranged ADCs like Vayne, Twitch, and Sivir. I used to buy it against weak laning supports like Sona as well, but a lot of them are also buying Relic Shield and rarely trading in the lane (which means Spellthief's Edge will generate less gold).
• Whichever support item you have, try to make sure you're never sitting at 3 charges/stacks.

• You can opt for Ninja Tabi or Mercury's Treads instead of Ionian Boots of Lucidity based on the game. I really like Boots of Swiftness against champions with constant or heavy slows like Ashe, Trundle, or Singed with a Rylai's Crystal Scepter
  
• I always go Athene's Unholy Grail first. Now that Starcall is only 45 mana at rank 1, it's almost as spammable as pre-nerf so you can stack Athene's Unholy Grail without running out of mana.
  
• Redemption is generically good on Soraka. It's essentially another Wish but with a 2.5-second delay. If neither Ardent Censer nor Mikael's Blessing are ideal for your situation, that probably means Redemption is the best option. Redemption is especially good with or against champions like [jarvan iv]], Camille, and Galio. Whether they're on your team or not, champions like this set up and start the fight in a smaller, specific area. This helps you preemptively use Redemption. As soon as Jarvan IV uses his Cataclysm, use Redemption on top of that area.
  
  
• Consider buying an Ardent Censer if your ADC uses it well (ex: Jinx or Twitch) or another player besides your ADC would benefit from the attack speed (ex: Jax, Master Yi, Tryndamere). Caitlyn doesn't scale as well as other ADCs with attack speed, making the attack speed Ardent Censer gives less valuable on her.
  
• Mikael's Blessing is especially good against point-and-click or telegraphed hard crowd control such as Twisted Fate's Pick A Card, Sejuani's Glacial Prison Lissandra's Frozen Tomb, and Thresh's Death Sentence. Keep in mind you can't use Mikael's Blessing on abilities like Nautilus's Dredge Line, Malzahar's Nether Grasp, or Mordekaiser's Realm of Death. Mikael's Blessing removes all stuns, roots, taunts, fears, charms, silences, and slows. It does not remove suppressions, airbornes, knock-ups, attack speed slows, blinds, nearsights, or polymorphs. Mikael's Blessing also grants two seconds of slow immunity upon activation. Successfully cleansing an effect will also grant the target 40% bonus movement speed for two seconds. This means that using Mikael's Blessing well can give you and your teammate a ton of value out of the item. Unless there's crowd control that can't be cleansed using Mikael's Blessing, your carries might be able to save 1300 gold and not buy a Quicksilver Sash if you're quick enough at using Mikael's Blessing.
  
• Shurelya's Battlesong is the Forbidden Idol item I buy the least. Even if Ardent Censer and Mikael's Blessing aren't the most ideal options for your situation, I would still build those two before Shurelya's Battlesong. Only buy one of these if it's your last item and you have no other better options.

• Locket of the Iron Solari is situationally okay and rarely ideal. I would only buy it if I already had Redemption (for the extra Locket of the Iron Solari shield strength. Also because both items aim to achieve a similar goal of healing [or preventing damage] in a small area). More often than not, I end up getting a Locket of the Iron Solari against AoE burst like Karthus's Requiem or Kennen's Slicing Maelstrom.
  
• Zhonya's Hourglass is a legitimate option against divers/assassins. I regularly buy it second item (after Athene's Unholy Grail) against champs like Talon, Zed, or Fizz.
  
• Strongly consider building a Quicksilver Sash after against champions like Mordekaiser, Malzahar, or Skarner. Mikael's Blessing doesn't work against their key lockdown abilities.

• Keep an eye on the Salvation marker above your allies' champion. This indicator shows you when teammates are low enough (below 40% HP) for you to gain your passive movement speed. More importantly, it also indicates if they will receive the increased Wish healing.
• You should almost always start with a point in Starcall. Soraka has a stronger level one than most botlaners, so try to take advantage of that every game.
• Most of your Astral Infusion heals should be while you're Rejuvenated to save your own HP and to heal your ally for more. Try your best to avoid casting [astral infusion without landing Starcall first unless you have to.
• You should have Astral Infusion maxed by level nine. Always max Starcall second and Equinox last.
• You can spam Equinox (a 20-second cooldown) in lane to easily stack Manaflow Band (a 15-second cooldown).
• Using Wish to the best of its ability is one of the biggest differences between experienced Soraka players and newer ones. Constantly check on your teammates with your F keys when Wish is available. You need to make sure that your Wish will impact the outcome of the fight/skirmish you're using it for. Try not to use [wish on your Ezreal who's in a 1v4 if he's gonna die anyway.
• Improving your map awareness is key to succeeding with Soraka.

Soraka will take the Sorcery tree in most matchups. Aery is generally good on every enchanter, and Astral Infusion's short cooldown at max rank allows you to apply Aery more often than any other supports can.

Manaflow Band makes a noticeable difference around the six minute mark. The mana restoration helps keep you in lane for when you’re low on mana. Soraka having mana translates to her being able to restore her own HP with Starcall and keep her ADC at full health during lane with Astral Infusion. Nimbus Cloak and Nullifying Orb can be nice to have, but not worth giving up all of the mana.

is the best option for the second row. You'll only have 20 or 30% cooldown reduction by the time you hit level 10, so you'll always benefit from Transcendence. Soraka wants to get 40% CDR as soon as possible. Celerity gives an unnoticeable amount of movement speed, even with Boots of Swiftness. Absolute Focus isn't good because of how often Soraka is below 70% of her maximum HP.

Before the 10.4 nerfs, Soraka preferred Scorch into most lanes. Now that her power has shifted from early lane phase to later in the game, I opt to take Gathering Storm most games. The AP might not seem like much unless you hit the 30-minute mark in the game, but Soraka's AP scaling on Astral Infusion is 60%, which is generous considering Astral Infusion's cooldown will go as low as 1.2 seconds at 40% CDR and max rank. An empowered Wish on a low-health teammate has a whopping 82.5% AP ratio. Keep in mind that this is before adding the extra heal power from our Forbidden Idol items and Revitalize.

Take Second Wind against lanes with poke or damage over time spells. Good examples are Twitch, Brand, and Ezreal. Take Bone Plating against all-in lanes, such as Lucian and Braum.

Soraka benefits more from Revitalize than any other champ. It gives you 5% heal and shield power, which is half of all of the Forbidden Idol items except Mikael's Blessing. If your ally or you are below 40% HP (conveniently the same HP threshold for Salvation), they get an additional 10% heal and shield power. That's 15% heal and shield power just from Revitalize, and this will work in full effect every time you use Wish on a low HP teammate.

The Shards are easy. You should always take the first Adaptive Force for the 9 AP. You don't need Ability Haste because you easily obtain 40 or 50% from your build. If you're against a passive lane, you can go for the second Adaptive Force as well. If you're against a mage support, take a Shield for the ADC and a Tenacity and Slow Resist for the mage. If you're against an ADC + Senna or Pyke, consider taking two Shields. If the enemy botlane is running a mage/support duo, considering taking two Tenacity and Slow Resists.