Changes to Sona:

v1.0.0.129 (15th Nov, 2011)

Aria of Perseverance
Mana cost adjusted to 60/65/70/75/80 from 65 at all ranks
Passive aura reduced to 7/9/11/13/15 armor and magic resist from 8/11/14/17/20

v1.0.0.125 (14th Sep, 2011)

Aria of Perseverance heal amount adjusted to 40/60/80/100/120 from 25/50/75/100/125

v1.0.0.124 (24th Aug, 2011)

Aria of Perseverance
Base heal reduced to 25/50/75/100/125 from 35/70/105/140/175
Ability power ratio reduced to .25 from .35
Now grants double her passive aura bonus to her heal target and herself for 3 seconds

Reduced the lockout time while casting Sona's songs to make them more responsive

Fixed a bug where Hymn of Valor and Aria of Perseverance caused her to deal 20% reduced damage

v1.0.0.120 (22nd Jun, 2011)

Fixed a bug where shields and Ignite could sometimes cause her spell sounds to get cut off early

v1.0.0.118 (10th May, 2011)

Sona will no longer automatically acquire attack targets when Power Chord is charged

v1.0.0.116 (25th Apr, 2011)

Power Chord
Diminuendo duration increased to 4 from 3
Tempo slow amount increased to 40% from 25%

Hymn of Valor's attack damage and ability power aura increased to 8/11/14/17/20 from 6/8/10/12/14

v1.0.0.115 (11th Apr, 2011)

Hymn of Valor mana cost reduced to 65 from 75

Aria of Perseverance mana cost reduced to 65 from 75

Song of Celerity mana cost reduced to 65 from 75

Fixed a bug where Power Chord: Diminuendo was reducing true damage

v1.0.0.113 (15th Mar, 2011)

Power Chord now deals 14 damage + 9 x lvl (from 24 + 12x bonus magic damage) in bonus magic and a bonus effect depending on Sona's last song played.

Hymn of Valor
Base damage reduced to 50/100/150/200/250 from 60/110/160/210/260
Ability power ratio increased to .7 from .5
Mana cost changed to 75 from 65/70/75/80/85

Power Chord - Stacatto: Deals double power chord damage

Aria of Perseverance
Base heal increased to 35/70/105/140/175 from 30/55/80/105/130
Ability power ratio reduced to .35 from .5
Mana cost normalized to 75 from 65/70/75/80/85

Power Chord - Diminuendo: Debuffs the target to deal 20% less damage for 3 seconds

Song of Celerity
Mana cost changed to 75 from 65/70/75/80/85

Power Chord - Tempo: Slows the target by 25% for 2 seconds

Crescendo
Cooldown decreased to 140/120/100 from 170/150/130
Ability power ratio increased to .8 from .7

v1.0.0.106 (01st Dec, 2010)

Hymn of Valor base damage reduced to 60/110/160/210/260 from 70/120/170/220/270

Hymn of Valor ability power ratio reduced to 0.5 from 0.6

Aria of Perseverance healing reduced to 30/55/80/105/130 from 40/65/90/115/140

Song of Celerity active movespeed reduced to 6/8/10/12/14% from 8/10/12/14/16%

v1.0.0.105 (15th Nov, 2010)

All aura durations reduced to 2 seconds from 3

All aura buff durations reduced to 0.25 seconds from 1

Hymn of Valor
Attack damage and ability power aura reduced to 6/8/10/12/14 from 8/11/14/17/20
Mana cost increased to 65/70/75/80/85 from 55/60/65/70/75

Song of Celerity
Active movement speed boost reduced to 8/10/12/14/16 from 8/11/14/17/20
Mana cost increased to 65/70/75/80/85 from 55/60/65/70/75

Aria of Perseverance mana cost increased to 65/70/75/80/85 from 55/60/65/70/75

Crescendo range reduced to 1000 from 1100

v1.0.0.104 (02nd Nov, 2010)

Fixed a bug with Song of Celerity where it was granting more movement speed than intended

Crescendo cooldown increased to 170/150/130 from 160/140/120

Changes to this guide:

(7th Nov, 2011)

- Created this guide

(8th Nov, 2011)

- Added the 'Gameplay' section
- Added 'Change log'
- Fixed some typos

(15th Nov, 2011)

- Fixed masteries to match the new mastery trees
- updated the change log
- updated summoner spell section
- added Alistar to 'Threats'

(13th Dec, 2011)

- Added the 'Strategy' part.

First of all this is my first guide on mobafire, so it will take several days to update it to its final version (due to the lack of routine in writing guides).
English is not my native language, but I think this guide can still be read and understood without any real problems.

Sona can be played in many different ways. In this guide I want to show you how I build and play her as an supporting AD champion. She is very fun to play (mostly because so many players just underestimate her) and is a great support for every team.
This guide works very good in premade teams (or at least good random teams), because Sona still has to be protected a bit to work to her pull potential.
Later in this guide you can find some advices for champions, that work perfectly together with Sona in a team.
In random games it can be tough to play her, because many champions will beat her in 1v1. She is a complete team player and thats how she should be played.

Pros

+ good damage output
+ excellent in teamfights
+ great team support
+ great ultimate
+ nice mobility
+ very fun to play

Cons

- very squishy
- often beaten in 1v1
- an 'easy-to-dive' target
- often one of the first targets (due everyone knows that she is fast to kill)
- very team reliant

One of the best summoner spells for this Sona. You will face many AD champions, that would be shut down and killed easily with the help of this spell. It has great offensive and defensive usage and should be picked up in most of your matches.

In premade groups a very powerful summoner spell, if used coordinated and not for waste. the extra health boost from Preservation is very nice on Sona.

Possible, but i prefer winning a team fight because of some additional Exhausts then just to get into one a bit faster.

Yet another oh-****-button. This spell is all about personal preference and play style. After the range nerf the 'life saver' usage got crippled a bit. Im not sure if taking this spell is still rewarding.

Nice spell if facing Dr. Mundo, Swain or Sion, but i suggest to let a teammate pick up this spell, so Sona can stay with Exhaust as a defensive tool.

Possible choice if you have trouble with cc heavy teams, but I prefer Quicksilver Sash if needed.

Good choice, if your team doesnt have it besides you bottom lane. It makes diving a spot a lot safer.

This summoner spell doesn't fit perfectly into my 'in-poke-out' gameplay. It still has its uses, but i prefer other summoner spells over it.

Good for pushing minion waves, but I still prefer other summoner spells.

You already see most of the map. Just pay attention to you map and you can easily guess where hidden enemy champions will set up a gank in the fog of war. No need for this spell.

The reduces healing aura completely destoys any useful situation for this spell.

Due to the increased mana regeneration and the early Tear of the Goddess this spell becomes useless.

The only situation in witch this spell is not useless is when smiting down a promoted minion that otherwise would neutralize you tower. Just dont pick it.

For the moment I am testing around a bit.
23-4-3 (if using revive) seems pretty nice to me.
ill write more about if once i finishes testing.

Build 1:

3x Greater Quintessence of Desolation
9x Greater Mark of Desolation
9x Greater Seal of Armor
9x Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist

I get to 31 armor penetration (including Sunder ). This way you deal nearly true damage to most of the champions till mid game (or till they start to buy armor, whats very uncommon before late midgame/late game) while having a bit armor to help you survive the first fights.

The Glyphs are personal preference.
Other viable Glyphs:
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist
Greater Glyph of Attack Speed

Build 2:

This build uses similar Glyphs and Marks, but the armor penetration is completely swapped into attack speed.

3x Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed
9x Greater Mark of Attack Speed
9x Greater Seal of Armor
9x Greater Glyph of Attack Speed

Again the Glyphs are personal preference.
This build got its nearly full potential after completing Black Cleaver.

This passive seperates the good Sona players from the bad ones. Try to use the Song's part for chasing when you haven't built Phage/ Trinity Force yet.
For Poking use the Hymn's part, for team fights use the Aria's part. This may sound easy, but inside the chaos of a battle this usually takes tome time to master.


This is what I max out first. It gives you good damage early on and supports the damage of your teammates very well.


You want to max this spell after Hymn of Valor. the heal is pretty useful in mid game, but even more useful is the benefit from the aura, as it increases you survivability quite good.


Put one point in here at the start, then leave it at 1 till the other spells are maxed out.
In my opinion the benefit from this aura is not at huge as from Aria of Perseverance, so i max this spell last.


Like every other ultimate ability you want to get a pont in here at level 6, 11 and 16.
Using this ability wisely and correctly can easily make the difference between a won teamfight and a lost teamfight. Try to hit as many enemies as possible without getting into danger. Works very well combined with other AoE-ultimates like Cylclone.



> > >

The first build is way more defensive the the second one.
Its a bit safer and easier to play while build 2 is very team dependend. I suggest to use build 2 only in premade teams to make sure someone protects you from getting blown up too fast.

Ill talk more about good and bad champion combinations to play with in a later section.

Both builds:

Starting Items:

+

Core items:

+ +

Now that you have reached the mid game after like 8-10 minutes into the game, the builds seperate.

Build 1:

Build towards your Trinity Force, followed by the Frozen Heart/ Odyn's Veil/ Wit's End witchever you think you need next. AD heavy team? Go Frozen Heart. AP heavy team? go Odyn's Veil. No real thread out there because your teammates know how to protect you and you are able to survive like anything because you play smart and dont overextend? Go for Wit's End.

Build 2:

Way more offensive build, because you have to get you missing armor penetration before starting to buy defensive stuff (or you will do really low damage till late game).
After finishing your Sheen and Manamune immediately go for Black Cleaver. This will boost your damage quite nicely, but you are still a glass cannon. Finish Trinity Force now. Then you have to chose depending on the opposite (and own) team witch item to buy next.
Feeling too squishy? Go for Frozen Heart and/or Odyn's Veil.
No real thread out there because your mates sacrifice themselves to make you survive? Say "Thank you" by buying Zeke's Harbinger.



Also viable items for both builds:
Aegis of the Legion
Thornmail
Kitae's Bloodrazor
Infinity Edge
Sanguine Blade
Phantom Dancer

So how exactly does this champion work?

Lets say we already got the core build ( + + .

You will want to spam you spells to constantly built up the mana pool.

Poking:

Stay at the maximum range of you Hymn of Valor to an enemy player. If you hit him with that spell, make sure to throw one additional auto attack afterwards to benefit from your Sheen. Even more damaging when Power Chord was ready.
This can be repeated everytime you Hymn of Valor gets off cooldown and does a great damage from a safe distance.

Chasing:

Make sure to only chase enemies, that dont bait you into a trap. Be careful if chasing a champion alone, since some of them ( Riven for example) may turn around at half health and may stomp you if you are getting too confident.
Song of Celerity is a nice movement speed buff, but even more important is the possibility to slow down your victim with Power Chord as long as you dont have Phage or Trinity Force.

1v1:

If you find yourself in a 1v1 situation, there should be only three possibilities:
1: You were chasing someone with way less health than you have, he turns around and starts fighting.
2: You are defending a tower (hopefully at full health) and some very confident tanky champion dives into the tower range, hoping to get a quick kill before he dies from the tower damage.
3: you and your opponent are the only survivors of a team battle. the winner gets the spot.

In all of this cases you should try to hit Aria of Perseverance for your last stack of Power Chord to lower the damage output of you enemy. Try to kite him with a "dance" trough all your songs to get benefit of all three effects. If he is chasing you, only turn around and attack him when Power Chord and Aria of Perseverance are ready, because you will most likely be hit a few times. Kite them into the range of one of your towers and use Crescendo if neccessary.

Team fights:

Once enganging a team fight, dance between Hymn of Valor and Aria of Perseverance back and forth. This way your team gets the most benefit from your auras, while keeping youself a bit safe.
Stay at maximum autohit range to lower the risk of getting stomped suddenly.
Look for the perfect time to use Crescendo to stun as many enemies as possible.

Here is the key to success.
Team work makes your Sona work, makes this guide work, and makes you win.
Sona needs to be protected to reach her full potential. She is a huge benefit in every team fight and should be played however the situation forces her to be played.
Your spells grant huge benefit to your team, just as you ultimate can turn the tide of any team fight. Better stay in the third row and wait for the perfect moment to go in and beat the sh*t out of everyone in you way. Just dont get too confident or you'll find youself dead in a matter of seconds just for paying not enough attention to where the enemies are and who they are focussing (it was probably you).

When i created this guide there was like only one meta strategy. Four players rushing windmill, one usually strong defending champion takes the botlane.
Since there appear other viable strategies (like 2 top, 2 bot, 1 roaming) i have to update this guide to point out that Sona doesn't shine in every strategy.


Sona needs her team to protect her. You dont want to use your ultimate for some 1v1 situations instead of in a team fight.
Make sure to always stay with your mates. No matter what strategy your team decides to play, you always should seek team fights to grant your team the best possible benefit.

The common 4-1 strategy is usually where Sona is most useful.
If your team plays like 1 defender top, one defender bot plus 3 ganking roamers make sure to run with the roamers.



This section will get several updates including pictures and better explained tactical situations and how to act and react to them... as soon as i have time to do that.

There are many champs that are able to protect our lovely Sona, but some of them do it just GREAT! Others just gain huge benefit from your auras while having your ultimate as an oh-****-lifesaver when things get bad.

is probably you best friend at the crystal scar. His RUNEPRISON just adds up wonderful to you slow ([Trinity Force]) preventing any single enemy to stomp you.

is also a wonderful buddy, if he manages to hit his Rocket Grab+ Power Fist to pull some annoying melee away from you.

- You will love to play the "Fling and kite" game with him.

/ / - They will be happy to buy more offensive builds. They will be even more annoying, even more deadly and still not that easy to stomp due to our lovely Sona having her ult up to save the day. Your enemies wont know who to focus first, so pay attention to that.

- Have you ever tried to disable most of your enemies like 4 seconds? Your two ultimates work well together when placed correctly.





Sona benefits from many other champions as well as gaining benefit to them. I will add more champions to this section later.

You can be protected, you can try to play safely, but still there are some very annoying champions who just jump right into you face trying to cut you down.
Here are the greatest threats for Sona:

- She will most likely taget you every single time. Try to avoid being smashed into a wall to prevent some damage, cast your ultimate to save you if nessessary and send a short prayer to heaven.

will most likely try to jump on you with Bladesurge, just similar to , or . Thats where you will need the support of your teammates, who will have to snare, stun, grab or whatever the enemy away from you.

He is your counterpart in teamfights. Try to use your Ultimate not before he uses his, otherwise he will just R->Q and turn the sun-fight into his team's favor.

Sona is a glass cannon shooting pain at others and fun at you. She is squishy as hell, but if played safely and protected by teammates she is a real pain in the... neck.
Just always make sure to use your brain a bit more compared to some Sion gameplay :p

- hiding this guide from my english teachers
- adding more champions to the 'Thread' section
- adding more screenshots
- posting some math about the efficiancy of Manamune
- updating the 'Strategy' section

this screenshot was taken after a premade 5v5 cutom game. there wont be any screenshots from games versus unorganized random groups.

Special thanks to my team, EYES ON U.Dominion, who made all this wierd testing possible. I dont think i would ever have tried this by playing random games only.

Thanks to everyone who too the time reading this guide, for all the (upcomming) comments, and every useful try to improve this guide with you suggestions.

I really hope you enjoy this kind of Sona just as much as i do.

For any helpful comment, suggestion, failure report or anything you have to say (except useless flames) feel free to leave a comment.