Hello everyone! I'm Yazzel, and I'm going to be bringing you a Sona guide. She's very easily my favorite champion in game. I find her very unique as a champion since she has a strong early-game, if played correctly, while having a beast mid and late game.

Most people underestimate the amount of damage Sona can do, and will usually yell at you for building the way I'm going to be showing you, but once you begin getting your kills, they'll be crying for forgiveness!

I'll try to cover everything possible, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

spaaaaaaace

Pros + Can cast spells while moving. + Spells are easily spammable. + Can support her allies with her passive auras. + Her ultimate can help her in and out of many situations. + If her spells are used right, she can nuke a lot. + Has gravity-defying hair.

space

space

Cons - Very squishy. - Slow. - CCs will screw her up. - Gets focused a lot. - Needs some good amount of Magic Penetration to deal a lot of damage. - Needs good map awareness.

space

OFFENSE TREE Tier 1 - Took 4 points on Sorcery for obvious reasons. I like CDR when it comes to playing Sona. Tier 2 - Took 4 points on Blast because 1 AP x level is nice. Took 1 point in Destruction , because I needed a point to get to Tier 5. Tier 3 - Took 1 point in arcane havoc because Magic Penetration is something good to have. Took 3 points in Havoc because it increases Sona's total damage output. And it also makes me feel special. Tier 4 - Took 3 points in Mental Force because it gives me flat AP to begin the game with. Didn't take a point on Spellsword because it's poop. Tier 5 - Took 4 points in Archmage because with the help of the new Rabadon's Deathcap, it gives me the old one, which gave +30% AP, not +25% as it does now. Tier 6 - Took 1 point in Executioner because alike Havoc , it increses my total damage output, at least to enemies below 50% hp. So... Yay!~

space

UTILITY TREE Tier 1 - Took 1 point in Summoner's Insight because it reduces Flash's cooldown and makes me feel pretty. Took 3 points in Meditation because it gives mana regen. Tier 2 - Took 3 points in Mastermind because it reduces Flash's cooldown even more. Took only 1 point in Expanded Mind because I didn't feel like there wasn't much of a difference between the other ranks. Tier 3 - Took 1 point in Runic Affinity because I like longer-lasting blue buffs.

The runes I've chosen for Sona are set to make up for what I didn't give her in the items. Since she's such a squishy champion, I decided to give her 9 Greater Seal of Armor, and 9 Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist, in order to make up for her lack of passive defense, while helping with her early-game squishyness. I also took some 9 Greater Mark of Magic Penetration, since we're going to be building her as an AP champion after all, and every AP champ loves the bonus Magic Penetration. Lastly, I gave her some 3 Greater Quintessence of Scaling Ability Power, in order to help her snowball with ease, and also help her with AP, while still building her mana item.

Personally, I prefer to choose Heal and Flash. These spells will help you survive MANY situations, especially since Sona's so squishy. I use Heal accompanied with her W, giving me a very large heal, and securing the fight or escape. DO NOT OVERHEAL. You'll be wasting the ability. I also use Flash to escape from sticky situations, or chasing someone down.

---

• Exhaust: Will help you escape enemies, or chase them down, while reducing their damage output. I don't choose this Summoner Spell since I can use Sona's W with Power Chord and Rylai's Crystal Scepter to do practically the same thing.
• Teleport: This Summoner Spell will really help you deal with lanes, and staying in your lane for longer. I'm not a big fan of its big CD though.
• Ignite: Great Summoner Spell for early-game usage; it'll practically secure a kill if you don't want to turret dive. Despite its early-game usage, it loses its value the longer the game goes.
• Barrier: Just recently added to Summoner's Rift, this will provide a nice shield to protect you for a couple of seconds. I prefer heal over this, but it's up to you.

Start off with Hymn of Valor and max it first, since this is your main damaging ability.

Get a point in Aria of Perseverance at level 2, and max it second, since this is your sustain and heal.

Get a point in Song of Celerity at level 4, and max it last since this is your chasing ability and escape.

Get a point in Crescendo at every available level since this is your ultimate.

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. This is Sona's godly passive, and in order to make it use the effect you want it to as quickly as possible, you'll have to use your Q, W and E (not necessarily in that order), while keeping the stance you want your Power Chord to be last. In-depth explanation of each possible way Power Chord can be in the "Passive" chapter.
Hymn of Valor
Sona grants nearby allied champions bonus Damage and Ability Power. Additionally, casting this ability sends out two bolts of sound, dealing magic damage to the nearest two enemy champions or monsters (proritizing champions). This is her damaging ability, used to poke a lot while in lane (if you're not used to the range it has, I suggest doing some AI matches, and getting used to it, so that you can hit enemy champions, not minions.) and later on, hard nuking in team fights. It's your friend.
Aria of Perseverance
Sona grants nearby allied champions bonus Armor and Magic Resist. Casting this ability heals Sona and a nearby wounded ally. Additionally, both Sona and the healed champion will have the bonuses of this aura doubled for 3 seconds. Use it to keep your life up, and a teammate's if required. It'll help a lot in 1v1s, since it'll give you an armor and magic resist bonus.
Song of Celerity
Sona grants nearby allied champions bonus Movement Speed.
Additionally, casting this ability energizes nearby allies with additional movement speed for 1.5 seconds. Use this to close or create a gap between you and an enemy. You may also use it to help an ally get to the enemy with a quick boost. When in the middle of a teamfight, you can use this spell to charge up your passive, since it has a low cooldown anyway.
Crescendo
Sona forces enemy champions in front of her to dance (stun) for 1.5 seconds and take magic damage. This is her game-changing ultimate. If used right, it can ensure a gank or turn the tides in a teamfight. Try to use it when 3 or more enemy champions are close together to stun all of them, deal some nice damage, and let your teammates deal a lot of damage without suffering any in return for as long as the stun stands.

Boots + 3x Health Potions are what most champions take to begin the game. Sona's no exception, in my opinion. Doran's Ring is another option though.

Sona has mana problems if she doesn't get the necessary mana or mana regen.

Get these boots quickly, they'll provide some nice CDR, which Sona uses to charge up her Power Chord faster.

---

This is your baby, it'll slow enemies when you use your offensive spells, give you a good base of AP, and a great amount of HP to make up for your squishyness.

Get this somewhere around when your Tear of the Goddess mana bonus is close to capping (~550 bonus mana) as it'll turn into Seraph's Embrace when Archangel's Staff caps its mana bonus.

This item will provide some nice AP, Magic Penetration and HP.

---

AP honey! It'll give you a LOT of AP, and will boost the good amount you already have.

Its passive will increase your total damage output by a lot when fighting against tanky enemies. Although it won't deal as much damage with a multiple target spell (Her Q and R), with the help of Rylai's Crystal Scepter, it will deal twice as much.

This item will proc a LOT with Sona's abilities, therefore, increasing your total damage output. If paired with Power Chord, it'll DESTROY.

---

They provide some nice Magic Penetration, but this is already covered by Liandry's Torment and runes.

Get this when you're feeling a bit too squishy. It'll provide with mana, hp and AP.

If you're going to get this item, I suggest getting it along early to mid-game. It'll snowball you, and carry your team, so long as they cooperate. When it reaches 20 stacks, you'll gain some nice CDR.

Sona has a very underestimated passive, Power Chord. I'll be giving you a more detailed run through what this passive can do, and when to use it. Note: Do NOT use this for farming, unless you must, this passive is better saved for enemy champions. Also, this Passive DOES hurt turrets, but debuffs do not apply.

Power Chord paired with Q: This is Sona's strongest way to use her passive. It'll deal twice as much as others, and will proc [Rylai's Crystal Scepter with a full slow. Use this combination to harass enemy champions in lane, and to nuke enemies down, in combination with other spells or items.

Power Chord paired with W: This is Sona's most defensive way to use her passive. It'll deal regular amounts of damage, and will proc Rylai's Crystal Scepter with a full slow. Use this when 1v1ing enemies in order to get the advantage, or when trying to save a teammate's life. This will kind of work like a spammable Exhaust.

Power Chord paired with E: Before getting Rylai's Crystal Scepter, this will be useful when trying to escape from enemy champions, or trying to chase them down. After you get said item, this passive pair will lose its value completely, since the other two will also slow enemies, while giving another debuff or dealing more damage.

I've written this guide not so long ago, but I hope it was useful! Please submit screenshots of your wins with this build, so I can set up a nice wall of fame! Also, if you liked my guide, please rate it up! But if you didn't, feel free to rate it down as well. Please, despite how you rate it, leave a comment!
-Yazzel

Special thanks to jhoijhoi's "Making a Guide" guide.

(Month/Day/Year: Change Done)

• 11/16/12: Guide's core was created.
• 11/17/12: Base decoration added.
• 12/6/12: Guide Re-organized, updated to season 3, more decoration was added, added mastery chapter.