Deranged harp lady goes on indiscriminate rampage [11.5]
By Luiscencias | Updated on March 3, 2021






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Runes: Moonstone Renewer Mythic












++8 ability haste
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+6 Armor
Spells:


Flash

Ignite
Items
Ability Order GOSPEL


Power Chord
Sona Passive Ability
Threats & Synergies






Nautilus
Oh you didn't ban him and they picked him? Darn you probably should have banned him. Well honestly nowadays I hardly see people taking him as support, so he has been replaced by caitlyn as my permaban but I still have to be very afraid of him if he does get picked. Same deal as with other pull champs, play safe and boring in lane because you win the long game










Miss Fortune
You ult, she ults, 2 bodies drop, oh look! 600 gold




Champion Build Guide
My name is Luiscencias/SirWeepsAlot and I have played a LOT of Sona. Seriously.
Between accounts I probably have around a million mastery points, and despite not playing ranked very much I got myself from bronze 3 to gold 1 in 60-ish games last season. I usually score an S- or above, and I find myself able to win many many more games with her than with any other champion. All of that is just to say that I have a ton of experience with her.



IS EXTREMELY GOOD, DON'T WASTE IT
I see so many Sona players treating her passive as a random boost every third ability without any regard to its MASSIVE utility and autoattack reset. There is so much power in this passive, as it allows Sona to essentially



Blue Chord
-
This is the chord I probably use the most often, because I am a very aggressive player.
When using this chord you will ALWAYS want to try to get the AA reset. That means if you plan on using this, walk up to the target while you have 2 stacks and AA right before pressing Q to get the passive proc. I mostly use this chord in lane when the enemy ADC moves in to last hit a minion, or when trying to finish somebody off, or simply to chunk somebody during the later stages.
Slow Chord
-
This babey right here is why Sona is one of the best chasers in the game. The slow may only last 2 seconds, but if you run up to your enemies with this chord already up you can easily chain a second slow, at which point even a flash won't let an enemy escape. Not to mention this would land you 2 Lich Bane procs. Learn to use this chord instead of your ult on individual targets. Use it to force an engage when an enemy strays too close to you. Use it on an enemy who is chasing you so you can get away. You can even use it to make it easier for allies to land skillshots on a particular target in a fight.
Small Chord
-
This is the chord I use the least often, but it may be the most important to use when needed. This chord considerably reduces the amount of damage the target deals for 3 whole seconds. Using this chord correctly could save you and your ADC's life. Assassins slapped with this chord will find themselves just short of the damage needed to instakill you, and enemy ADC's will find themselves outmatched. LEARN TO USE THIS CHORD.
STACK UP THIS BAD BOY
Every time you hit someone with you Q, you make the amount of money a melee minion gives. So make sure to stay on top of your quest by using max range Q's on the enemy ADC when they go in to last hit, because the earlier you get wards, the earlier you can switch trinkets, and also this is your only real source of income and you have bills to pay
MANAGE YOUR MANA WELL AND YOU WON'T NEED



COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR TEAM!!



UNDERSTAND YOUR DAMAGE POTENTIAL
Here is a quick formula. With





CRESENDO IS A GAMECHANGER, VALUE IT AS SUCH
Don't use your ult on a single target that could be kept in place with a



YOU WILL ALWAYS BE SQUISHY, LEARN TO DODGE SKILLSHOTS
This isn't a skill that I can impart onto you via text,so I'm sorry. But do remember your





A LOST LANE IS NOT A LOST GAME

VISION,
VISION,
VISION
Knowledge is power, and knowing where your enemies are gives you a massive strategic advantage. As the support, you need to ward key areas for enemy movements and rotations at ALL times, using control wards and the red trinket to keep enemy wards out of your jungle, the river, and objective pits. ALWAYS LEAVE SPAWN WITH A CONTROL WARD AFTER BACKING. There is almost no situation in which you can't afford 75 gold for one, so don't let me catch you skimping on this.
ALWAYS SWITCH TO THE RED TRINKET AS SOON AS YOU GET THE

If you get nothing else out of this guide, at least take a look at the points above. I promise they have some thought behind them
ITEMS
Friendly reminder that we all have different playstyles and preferences! Feel free to use my build as a stepping point but understand that the best items for you to build depend entirely on how you want to play! If you don't like being aggressive don't build pure damage items, and if you want to kill people and nothing else then Renewer doesn't help you achieve that so you don't have to build it
You should not always build the same things, or in the same order!
I think one of the main goals of the preseason 11 changes was to encourage players to adapt their build for each game. You don't have to always go Moonstone Renewer if you feel that you can safely deal damage. You don't even need to always build a mythic item first! I have gone straight into Lich Bane on occasion just to maximize my damage before actually building a Mythic. Try to get a feel for what items will be most impactful in your game based on team compositions and how the early game pans out. To keep my options as open as possible, I have been getting a Dark Seal + Amplifying tome on first back.
Why am I always buying
Dark Seal?
Like a needlessly large rod on clearance!
I don't know whose idea it was to up the AP per stack on this item from 3 to 5, but as of 10.24 this little guy can give you more AP than the aforementioned

Why is
my default mythic?
Cheapest mythic plus massive healing
As of patch 10.24, I still don't love the fact that this item gives 200 health (nonbo with Cut Down and not enough to save you from much), or that it costs a whole 600 more than Athene's did. However, this item can turn all 3 of your abilities into pretty strong heals. That's right, with this item, every time you activate an aura, the lowest health ally that it touches will get a pretty meaty heal, which I think is too good of an effect to pass up. I love dealing damage, but at the end of the day I am playing support for a reason, and because Sona's W scales so poorly with AP I think buildin renewer is a necessity in any game where you aren't massively ahead. You can always keep your options open by first back buying a Dark Seal and Amplifying Tome and deciding whether you want this or

Why do I think building
is a complete waste?
Let me show you a little excerpt from the league wiki:

As you can see, movespeed past 490 is pretty much gutted.




What boots should you get then?
This one depends on how each game is going, and whether you want to prioritize damage, spamming, or surviving. I usually go




Why do I prefer
over
?
Simply put: I have a big ego and want to feel important.
I don't have any friends who are god ADC's and I don't particularly like placing blind faith in every solo queue ADC I am paired with. While it's considerably more expensive,


Why do I love
so much that I almost always build it?
I'm bad and It's my get-out-of-jail-free card!
With my highly


RUNES
got gutted, but I still take it
Gone are the days where



Why do I take
?
It really helps my bad level 1-3 damage
Sona's Q does 40 damage at rank 1. Comet (plus



In addition to the above, I greatly value the 10%


Why not
for damage?
This rune prioritizes shielding allies over damaging enemies. all 3 of your basic ability auras can send aery to the first ally you touch with them. Yes, that includes your Q. This means that most of the time you think you're using aery to add poke you're really throwing a tiny shield on your ADC who does not need it at the moment. You should consider this rune strictly as a shield booster that you take in matchups where you can't be poking much, and just need to keep your ADC alive. With this as your keystone you can still take


What about
for damage?
The following is an OPINION
I personally consider dark harvest to be a bit of a win-more rune. The times when it does more damage than comet are when you were stomping your enemies so hard you really didn't need the extra damage. On games where you go even or fall behind, however, you won't even want to look at the damage it added. If you like kicking people while they're down, then go for it. But I don't believe this rune, or any small runes in the Domination tree except for

Do I dislike
too?
I accidentally take this rune every time I forget to switch off my

A tiny section on flat runes
I almost always take double +9 Adaptive damage with a varying defensive rune depending on the enemy team comp. the starting 18 AP adds 4 healing and 5 shielding to rank 1 W, which is technically a 10% boost from its starting strength. You could also take the +1-10%CDR flat rune, which will eventually turn into 2-20 AP through transcendence.
I also occasionally opt for taking double armor or double MR flats if the enemy is mostly or all one type of damage. Adapt your flats to what you expect from champ select
All in all, I prioritize runes that will make boost my early game poke and make any mana issues disappear by midgame
ITEM REWORK ALERT!!!
A complete overhaul to the item system went live on November 11th, 2020. I will try my best to figure out a new build path that works close to this one but with Athene's being removed and Mythic support items giving very little AP, prescence of mind being nerfed and lich bane not giving mana or CDR anymore we will have to see. As of December 1st, I have sort of landed at a build that I like, and have updated other sections accordingly. I'm still going to see how the rest of preseason changes pan out and make any changes I see necessary

During my testing on PBE I mostly rotated between
New Ludens and
Renewer as my mythic item. Given that Spellthief's edge gives 20 gold on proc now, it is much easier to buy a relatively expensive first item, so Luden's has felt like a fast track way of getting good damage and replacing the extra mana that prescence of mind used to give. Without Athene's though my healing has been mediocre at best, which has led me to put a second point in w at level 4 and a third at level 8. I am still always going for
second since despite losing its mana and CDR it now has better AP scaling and a slightly lower price. The damage sona can pop out now with a Ludens + lich bane is more than before, although getting to a finished bane takes several minutes longer. To slightly offset the extra cost of the first item, however, and to try to get a decent amount of ability haste, I now am building Ionian Boots of Lucidity instead of Sorcerer's Shoes. With the shoes, Luden's and Transcendence + 8 AH flat rune I can have 43 Haste at level 8. This is the equivalent of 30% CDR before, which is what Transcendence, Grail and Lich Bane would get you at level 10. Additionally, Luden's now gives the penetration that the shoes used to give, but frontloaded into the item, which will give you a noticeable damage boost.
As for runes, I still think the primary path of Arcane Comet, Transcendence, and Scorch are the best for mitigating your awful early game. With the nerf to Presence of Mind and increased cost of building, I am not as sure about taking precision as a secondary path, especially if you go for Moonstone Renewer as your mythic. Your mana pool will simply be too small for a 15% refund to matter much. I would still take it with a Luden's path, since your pool will be almost twice as big, and you will build no health so Cut Down will be better. If you trust that you can manage your mana though, you could take Inspiration secondary with Magical Footwear and Biscuit Delivery for an extra mana pool boost and some savings on your boots. I will have to keep testing to give you a definitive recommendation though.
Well, I kept testing and now I am right back to presence of mind + cut down :P
Update to this update! They finally made Moonstone Renewer a viable (ish) pick, and I can now say it is definitely worth building if you like sona for her healing and utility and not as a borderline assasin. If you want to meet in the middle, Renewer into Lich Bane with a dark seal should give mighty good healing while still letting you melt people
Enjoy this clip of me instakilling a Kai'sa on PBE with new Luden's, fully stacked dark seal and lich bane (do be aware lich bane has since been nerfed twice)/color]
Patch 10.9: Not much changed with sona so we are all good :)
Patch 10.10-12: They still haven't touched sona, so all the information on here should be up to date and relevant!
Patch 10.13-16: No changes to sona still!
Patch 10.17: Our dear lady has been hit with some nerfs :(. Her Q scales with 40% ap, down from 50. Her W scales with 20%ap, down from 25 (lol it was already awful scaling), and her E scales with 2% per 100 ap instead of 3 (50% reduction!!) Early game power will be just about the same but you will feel it in longer games. :(
10.18: Our girl got a very awesome new 1820rp skin!! Rejoice
10.19-22: no updates! At least they didnt nerf her again
10.23: Preseason 11 hits, gotta do science to figure out buildpaths
Patch 10.24: Renewer got buffed and bugfixed, yay! Also, science has been done and a tentative buildpath has been crafted.
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