Alright so this guide is about AD Sona. Its thought that Sona can only support, but if you learn how to master her power chordthen you can actually get first blood and go on wrecking the other team from there.

(Note)Things you cannot do with this build:
Be lazy and expect wins
Solo Baron
Go 1 vs 5
play ranked (don't ruin someones day by effing up team comps)
Solo Bottom vs 2
Jungle (effectively)

If you want to use this guide to troll - just get out. This is a higher level playing guide for players who want to master a completely different playing style with Sona. It requires you to focus on spell order and timing, rather than simply face-rolling the keyboard in team fights. Do not down vote this guide just because you don't want to attempt to play her this way.

Pros

Can kill other AD carries by lvl 6
Power chord does tons of damage and can crit
Still can heal - nice pool of mana
Other team doesn't expect it (will run at you with low health - free kills! :D)
Can solo dragon at level 13

Cons

Ganks will kill you quick before lvl 6
Sona will be targeted more often if the other team is smart
Squishy (but AD carries usually are)
You might be accused of stealing kills (even though you did a ton of damage)
Your team might think you're trolling and not try at all

Alright, so you should have armor penetration runes, and attack speed. The purpose of these are so you can auto-attack when your skills are on cool-down, and to make use of your attack damage. Armor Penetration makes your power chord more threatening.

Other viable runes would include:
Attack Damage
Magic resist
Armor
(but honestly, I would say make sure you have at least 13 percent attack speed from runes)

Power Chord: After casting 3 spells, Sona's next attack deals 8 + (10 x level) extra magic damage. This enhanced attack has an additional effect depending on which spell was cast last.

Additionally, Sona's auras persist for 1 seconds after deactivating. Sona's basic abilities also set off a .5 second cooldown to the other two basic abilties.
(btw, power chord can crit, and applies any on-hit effects as well.)

Hymn of Valor: Sona plays the Hymn of Valor, granting nearby allied champions 4 / 8 / 12 / 16 / 20 bonus Damage and Ability Power. Additionally, casting this ability sends out bolts of sound, dealing 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 (+70% of ability power) magic damage to the nearest two enemy champions or monsters.

If this spell was last cast when Sona's Power Chord is ready, her next attack will do double the damage of her Power Chord.

Aria of Perseverance: Sona plays the Aria of Perseverance, granting nearby allied champions 3 / 6 / 9 / 12 / 15 bonus Armor and Magic Resist. Casting this ability sends out healing melodies, healing Sona and a nearby wounded ally for 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 (+25% of ability power). Additionally, both Sona and the healed champion will have the bonuses of this aura doubled for 3 seconds.

If this spell was last cast when Sona's Power Chord is ready, her next attack will de-buff the target to deal 20% less damage for 4 seconds.


Song of Celerity: Sona plays the Song of Celerity, granting nearby allied champions 4 / 8 / 12 / 16 / 20 bonus Movement Speed. Additionally, casting this ability energizes nearby allies 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 / 14% additional movement speed for 1.5 seconds.

If this spell was last cast when Sona's Power Chord is ready, her next attack will slow the target by 40% for 2 seconds.


Crescendo: Sona plays her ultimate chord, forcing enemy champions to dance (stun) for 1.5 seconds and take 150 / 250 / 350 (+80% of ability power) magic damage.

This will be how you need to play Sona. We will refer to her skills by the letters and colors since the names are annoying to type out.

When first starting lane, harass with your Q (blue), and then when you have W (green), heal when either you or your partner hit 50%. (I have clarity to help alleviate early game mana problems, but if you chose differently, you must be mana conscience.)

What you want to do is walk around with 2 stacks on your Power chord meter (AND VERY IMPORTANT) have your Aura on Q (blue). When someone engages you 1 vs 1 do the following.

1) Use your Q on them
2) Throw out your power chord ( deals massive damage)
3) Keep auto attacking
4) They will either commit or try to leave. So use your ultimate to stun them.
5) Your ultimate gave you one stack on power chord, so use your W (green) now to heal yourself
6) Now you have two stacks, so use your Q ( blue) again
7) Now throw out your power chord again.

This should be standard formula for how to start a fight.
Also, for longer fights where you need to heal, Always make sure to use W (green), then Q (Blue) Immediately after so you can stay with max attack damage.

Use your E (purple) to help team mates (or yourself) either catch someone escaping, or to get away. (and even to push lanes and make minions go faster)

Power Chords:
There are 3 different power chords, each with its own purpose.
Blue Power chord: use it when fighting and trying to kill the enemy.
Green Power chord: use it in team fights on the enemy that does the most damage
Purple Power chord: use it on the enemies running away with speed buffs( so you can get an ace!)

Madreds Bloodrazor: So you are probably thinking "why does sona need a madreds?" .... well why are you playing her AD? you must commit to being AD to make this work. You have high attack speed, so now you can shred the tanks health by doing 4 percent of their max health per hit.


Manamune: Honestly... you NEED mana. You spam skills to harrass and and heal, etc. Manamune not only deepens your mana pool, now you have more attack damage. And Sona fills her manamune pretty fast. YES!

Phantom Dancer: The movement speed is awesome, the attack speed is great... but that crit chance is amazing!


Youmuus Ghostblade: Hey look, more crit chance and armor penetration. Beautiful!


Bloodthirster: You get attack damage and life steal! Now you can stay in your attack mode (blue) and heal. So overall, you're doing constant max damage, not losing health as fast, and can get many stacks to make you threatening. If you are getting lots of 1 vs 1 attacks, consider skipping the Youmuus Ghostblade and grabbing a second one.

Other Viable items:
Malady: If you find yourself needing slightly better heals, try a malady for a little boost, and it will also lower the enemies magic resist for quick kills.


Black Cleaver: If some loser Malphite is stacking armor... :) Kill him and laugh.


Lich Bane: This item can be used nicely at times. I prefer not to use it, but it can make Power Chord do even more damage. You get a decent amount of AP, then after using your Q, follow up with power chord to apply all of your on hit effects, plus your AP. Sounds good? Since you have more AP, your heals will get better as well. Test it out and see how you like it.

Ok, dont use Lich Bane, use this instead:
Trinity Force: If you are having one of those games where you are getting fed and haven't died except to like 1 vs 5 ganks, try a trinity force. It gives you everything. EVERYTHING. That's freaking awesome. The slow is also nice! Use this to go from killing Spree to Legendary.
-(credit for Trinity Force to B0BO)

Promote: People shun promote and hate it. I love it. Here's why:
1) use it to push a lane while a team fight is in another lane
2) use it to push towers much faster
3) get the bonus gold from it killing minions
4) its freaking OP at lower levels. I have actually killed people with my minion before.(and yes I got the kill)


Clarity: You will have early game mana problems. I recommend you use this.


Other viable summoner spells:
Ignite: I mean come on. There's always at least 6 people with ignite in every game. Use it on people like mundo, or squishes like teemo.


Flash: If you just don't want promote and hate it... then okay. Grab flash. That way if your Ult is on cooldown, you can still get away early on.



Heal: ehhh... I didn't want to include this one... but if you enjoy heal baiting or your team needs a heal (since you aren't AP), this will do.

Leave a comment on this guide if you have good experiences with playing AD Sona.

B0BO suggests using these items:
Madres, Manamune, Trinity Force, berserker Greaves, Frozen Heart, Wits End

I would say this build is viable. The frozen heart gives you armor and the wits end gives you magic resist = you aren't so squishy anymore. The attack speed from wit's end is awesome, the mana from the frozen heart helps your manamune.

Every champion and every build has some... err.. problems. Here are some I have found:
Kayle. I hate her.
If she gets a hold of you, you are dead. Not only will she do bonus damage to you, but if you manage to get her low... She will Ult herself. Thus You will die. O_O

Suggestion: RUN AWAY. or hide behind teammates. or wait for her to ult someone else.


Blitzcrank: If he pulls you at lvl 1... GG. He's the most annoying support. EVER. so yeah.

Suggestion: either have Pro jukes, or HIDE BEHIND MINIONS so he can't pull you.


Teemo: Every AD carries worst nightmare... BLINDED. If he blinds you... you will do no damage.

Suggestion: Ult him when he blinds you, that way since you can't attack, neither can he. If your ult is on cooldown, try to run away for a second while hitting W (green) and E (purple), then turn around when the blind is over.


Sion: So he stuns you and you have to fight him, then you are about to kill him but... TA DAH. magic lifesteal and you die. O_O

suggestion: wait for him to pop his ult (you will see the skull aura around him), then ult him. It will make him waste alot of his ult time. Try to have your madreds bloodrazor when fighting him. (btw, perfect ignite moment as well)

So it seems that laning with top lane characters has the best outcomes. These Bulky AD duelists I have found to do exceptionally well on the majority of occasions.
Darius:
So, Darius is an awesome laning partner. Being tanky and having a pull, you can harrass while he farms. Then when you farm, he can stand in the bush and POW! His pulls will make doing damage easier while he is taking a majority of the damage.


Irelia:
Better nerf Irelia. Irelia can heal through attacking and has built in tenacity. THIS IS AWESOME. Suggestions. Let Irelia have all the farm, then when you engage the enemy, get the kills. Irelia is bulky, and with your ultimate, she can soak up all the damage while you shred them and walk away with 75 percent health.


Jarvan iv:
Jarvan is pretty awesome, he can knock the enemies around, builds extremely tanky, and his ultimate traps them. Try to time it where he gets both bottom laners inside his cataclysm. Then after like 3 seconds, ult them (or if they try to flash away ult them). They will either be dead or horribly injured. Best time right here to promote a minion, push lane, take turret, and gank mid.

I will try and update it with each new patch on Sona or if I discover new problems/better items.

PLEASE, leave a comment below on whether or not you were able to use the build! Also, if you have had awesome experiences with certain builds that are close to this, comment below ad I will add it and give you credit.


Thank you! - Metal Knuckles