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Sona Build Guide by

dude

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Build Guide By

Support

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Sona Build Guide By Updated on

Support

Guide Discussion More Sona Guides

Spells:

Flash

Exhaust

More Sona Counters

♫ Table of Contents ♫

	Quick Guide	Preface	Basic Information	Advanced Tactices	Wrapping Up
	‣ Items ‣ Synergies and Counters ‣ Summoner Spells ‣ Runes ‣ Masteries	‣ About the Author ‣ Introduction ‣ Who is Sona?	‣ Sona's Skillset ‣ Skilling Order ‣ Itemization	‣ Laning ‣ Teamfighting ‣ Tips 'n Tricks	‣ Synergies ‣ Counters ‣ Epilogue

Starting Items

Core Builds

Boots

Offensive Items

Defensive Items

Synergies & Counters

Sona is good against:

Sona is weak against:

Sona works well with:

Summoner Spells

	+

		or

is generally a core spell, there's no reason to switch it out for anything. can be a stronger pick throughout the game, as it gives you a massive damage debuff, but can be picked up against a high sustain team or against a high sustain support like (though in the latter situation it's largely unnecessary).

Runes

As can be very squishy early, I prefer to run a combination of health, ability power, armor, flat magic resist, and mana regen to make her somewhat more durable and sustainable. I tend to harass frequently, so magic penetration marks are what I prefer for damage runes.

Masteries

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This is a pretty basic utility support mastery page, with as the keystone as utilizes it quite well. You can move some of the points around, grabbing instead of or instead of , for example, but that's really personal preference as uses almost all of the options quite well.

About the Author

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I'm a support player from the North American Server. I play primarily Nami, Karma, and Lulu, but I sustained around a 70% winrate with Sona last season. Sona is one of my favorite supports in the game. She came out shortly after I started playing League of Legends and I recall being really excited to play her in her first free week.

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Introduction

definitely has an interesting history in this game. She spent a fair amount of time being one of the strongest supports in the game, despite having her base stats nerfed such that she was basically the same as a minion at level one. She has since fallen largely out of favor, though the more recent change to her ultimate did bring her back for a short period of time. is still a pretty decent pick overall and is a good pick for players new to the support role as she offers a lot of utility and requires a lot less skill to play than many other champions.

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Who is Sona?

Pros
+strong sustain
+good poke
+strong engage/disengage potential
+kites well
+good teamfight potential
+

Sona's Strengths

is a pretty decent support at the moment. She has good damage potential in lane, decent sustain, strong engage, and decent kiting power. She is also pretty easy to play, which makes her a good pick for newer support players. She is also a force to be reckoned with in teamfights if you know how to engage with properly.

Sona's Limitations

is extremely squishy in lane, this makes her somewhat vulnerable to poke or high burst supports. has also never been particularly mana efficient, though it's better than it used to be. This means she has to be careful just how often she spams it, or she will be very vulnerable. Her primary damage ability, , is not targeted (it simply auto-targets whoever is closest), which can be a blessing or a curse depending on how far back you are forced to be.

Cons
-Very squishy early
-Can have resource problems in lane, especially if must be used often
-Ability to utilize post six can make or break a lane with .

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Sona's Skillset

Innate	Power Chord: This makes Sona an excellent damage dealer in lane and also has a lot of utility due to the different functions of power chord based on the last ability used.
Q	Hymn of Valor: This skill is your primary damage ability. It is not targeted and prioritizes champions, so you just need to ensure you are in range of a target to hit them with it. It makes Power Chord deal an additional 40% damage when it is the last ability cast, which is quite good for damage early on.
W	Aria of Perseverance: This skill gives you a decent amount of sustain and is a convenient way to apply Windspeaker's Blessing 's Armor/MR buff to your entire team later in the game. It applies a damage debuff to Power Chord when it is the last ability cast (that stacks with Exhaust), which can be fairly useful for winning trades if necessary.
E	Song of Celerity: This makes kiting extremely easy. It also gives you the ability to slow enemies with Power Chord, which can be a nice follow up for ganks before you have Crescendo.
R	Crescendo: This skill is very effective for initiating fights. The skillshot is wide and travels rather quickly, so it can be combined with Flash for a pretty strong engage. It also includes a passive that decreases the cooldowns of all of your abilities, in addition to any CDR you have from other sources.

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Skilling Order

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18




Q	W	Q	E	Q	R	Q	W	Q	W	R	W	W	E	E	R	E	E

Currently, maxing first is the best option on as it gives her strong poke early game. I usually prefer to max second, though it can be maxed first if the match up is difficult. I then max last, as you really only need one point to get the slow on . should be taken whenever it's possible to take it.

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Itemization

	Starting Items Either of these are perfectly good starting items on Sona, it all comes down to playstyle. I generally prefer Spellthief's Edge as it fits my playstyle better, but Ancient Coin is okay if you prefer to play more passively or are in a difficult match up.
	Early game core These are fairly generic items for a mage support like Sona. Against a high magic damage support (i.e. Brand) you can get Chalice of Harmony before Sightstone. If you're struggling to maintain vision control, an earlier Sightstone and Sweeping Lens can be beneficial. It should be noted that, while Sightstone needn't always be bought on your first back, you should be buying Control Wards as soon as possible.
	Core Items As some type of Sightstone upgrade is core on supports in general, mentioning it seems almost redundant. However, the health Ruby Sightstone provides is quite beneficial on a squishier support like Sona, while Eye of the Watchers gives you a bit better slot efficiency and a decent chunk of AP. Redemption is a core buy on most supports and Sona really benefits from everything about the item. Oracle's alteration is another core support item, that should be bought fairly soon after hitting level 9, as it allows you to gain vision control easier, which is important for keeping an eye on objectives such as Baron Nashor and Dragon.
	Defensive Items These are the best defensive purchases for Sona currently. Mikael's Blessing is very strong against compositions with a lot of hard CC, it can save an ally from an untimely death if the active is timed properly. Locket of the Iron Solari should be purchased against teams with a lot of Magic damage, especially if it's AoE, but is strong against any high burst team compositions due to the shield active. Randuin's Omen still remains the most efficient armor item for a support, as it provides health for its armor. This means the item needs very little health within the build to be effective, while Frozen Heart requires more health within the build or the armor is largely wasted. Zz'Rot Portal is a pretty decent purchase if your team is getting pushed in or if you want to start an AFK push in one of the lanes to force the enemy team to send someone to deal with it. Banner of Command is sort of a budget Zz'Rot Portal and, while cheaper, is more situational as the promoted minion is only immune to magic damage.
	Offensive Items Sona largely doesn't need to purchase offensive items. However, there are a few items that can be beneficial to purchase on her. Ardent Censer gives her a good chunk of AP, CDR, and movement speed, all stats she can utilize fairly effectively. It also further increases her healing values, which is great later on in the game. Zeke's Harbinger is a strong purchase if your ADC goes with a basic crit build, as it will put them at 100% crit when it's fully charged. Athene's Unholy Grail can be a decent purchase if you're ahead and just want to take your healing to silly levels. The CDR and mana regen the item provides are also useful, though Sona doesn't particularly need large amounts of AP to deal damage.
	Situational Purchases These items are extremely situational, but can be useful in or against certain team compositions. Banshee's Veil is more of a selfish purchase, which I would get against champions such as Syndra or LeBlanc to mitigate as much damage as possible. Frozen Heart can be a good purchase against attack speed dependent champions or against those who utilize attack speed as part of their damage ( Yasuo, Lucian). However, the lack of health in the item itself means you need to itemize health to make the best use of its armor, which can be tricky on a mage support like Sona. Spirit Visage is an okay purchase if you are dealing with a lot of magic damage and simply need a lot of MR to deal with the problem.

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Laning

Largely 's function in lane is to provide sustain, poke, and engage. She also has strong disengage, which makes her extremely flexible. However, , for the most part, will largely go even with or win most lanes if played properly. Mostly you want to poke enemies with , use to engage when enemies are out of position, and to either poke with auto attacks or give your carry a buff in a trade. should mostly be used in conjunction with to disengage or to lower an enemy's damage in a trade, though it can be used to chase targets ( will usually allow you to forgo this). can be a powerful engage tool in lane post-six when combined with , as it can basically guarantee you land the latter when used properly. It can also be used to force enemy champions to back off or to foil a turret dive, as the width of the skill shot makes knocking up grouped targets extremely easy.

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Teamfighting

Largely your function is the same, however you will often become a key initiator because is a very strong initiation. You want to use on high priority targets like their marksman or their AP carry if possible, though you should also use it to peel for your own carries if needed. Largely you'll probably end up using on allies and relying on bounces to damage enemies unless they get up in your face, as you're not a front line support. should largely be used for peel, chasing shouldn't be a problem if you're using on allies who can utilize it well.

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Tips 'n Tricks

	Utilizing Power Chord
Remember that Surging Tides applies to ANY skill that touches an allied champion, this means that Aqua Prison and Tidal Wave will give movement speed to allies. This can be particularly beneficial if you're using Aqua Prison to peel an enemy directly off an ally, as it will give them movement speed while stunning the enemy if placed such that it effects both of them.
	Bounces
Remember that Ebb and Flow deals/heals 15% less damage for every bounce. Because of this, you should make sure to use it on the highest priority target first, whether that is for damage or for healing.

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Synergies

works well with most carries and team compositions, however champions such as and can utilize the extra on-hit damage from quite well and are able to follow up her poke with poke of their own. They also have strong follow up ultimates to chain with and use movement speed handily. In general, works well with champions who can follow up on her engage easily.

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Counters

is extremely squishy early, which can make dealing with strong poke champions like fairly difficult. She especially struggles against champions who can poke her from outside her own range or force her under tower often. can easily avoid most of 's poke due to her superior range, which can make her an annoying champion for . can nearly equal in poke, has a strong enough shield to block 's poke if she uses it properly.

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Epilogue

You've now reached the end of my guide. That's an accomplishment, here have a cookie! Comments and suggestions are welcome, feel free to leave them in the comment section.

-Nameless

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Special Thanks