Hello to all who are reading this, and welcome to my very first guide on MOBAFire. In this guide I will be showing you how to become a better Sona Support. And not a lot of players play Sona to begin with. This guide will go through Sona's abilities, items, runes, Early-game, Mid-game, and Late-game, as well as some vital information you need to know. So without further ado.

PROS

Excellent poke with her Q!
Great scaling in the late game!
Game-changing Ultimate!

CONS

Very squishy…
Weak in the laning phase…
Missing Ult throws the game…

Let us start with Sona's Abilities.

Sona's Abilities

Sona's Passive is Power Chord. It's first function is that every 3rd ability used by Sona causes her next auto attack to become empowered to deal added magic damage. Not only that, but depending on what ability is used, there will be an added effect to it. Moving on to it's second function, every time Sona uses an ability, she generates an Aura that has different properties depending on the ability used. Lastly, it's third function, infamously called Accelerando, grants Sona added Ability Haste for every enemy hit by her Q, and every ally healed with her W. After reaching 120 stacks (which is max), Sona instead converts Accelerando to reduce the current cooldown of her Ult.

Sona's Q is Hymn of Valor. When used, Sona plays an inspiring song that sends two sound bolts to the two nearest enemies, but will always prioritize enemy champions. Sona also generates an Aura that empowers her and nearby allies' next auto-attack to deal additional magic damage. When using the enhanced Hymn of Valor-Staccato, Sona deals bonus magic damage with her next auto-attack.

Sona's W is Aria of Perseverance. When used, Sona plays a soothing song that sends a sound wave that heals an ally, but will always prioritize the most wounded ally. Sona also generates an Aura that shields nearby allies for brief amount of time. When using the enhanced Aria of Perseverance-Diminuendo, Sona slightly decreases the size of an enemy and moderately reduces their damage output for a few seconds with her next auto-attack.

Sona's E is Song of Celerity. When used, Sona plays a haste-driven song that increases her Movement Speed for a few seconds, but can last longer if she doesn't take damage. Sona also generates an Aura that gives the Move Speed bonus mentioned earlier. When using the enhanced Song of Celerity-Tempo, Sona slows an enemy for a few seconds with her next auto-attack.

Sona's R/Ultimate is Crescendo. When used, Sona plays an ear-piercing chorus that stuns affected enemies for a few seconds. Enemy champions hit by this are also forced to dance (albeit being sped up) until the stun wears off.

Sona's abilities would be preferred in this order: Q, W, E, W, W, R, W, Q, W, Q, R, Q, Q, E, E, R, E, E.

Now that you know about Sona's abilities, it's time to talk about her items.

Sona's Items

Spellthief's Edge

Spellthief's Edge is Sona's support item you should start with, giving her additional mana regen for her early levels in-lane, It offers a Ward Quest upon buying, and to complete this quest, you got to poke the enemy champions and push turret with auto attacks and damaging abilities. Completing this "quest" upgrades Spellthief's Edge, becoming Frostfang. The first half of quest is completed after obtaining 500 gold from Spellthief's Edge. Frostfang can further be upgraded after completing the second half of the quest (by obtaining yet another 500 gold), unlocking it's full potential and becoming the Shard of True Ice.

Moonstone Renewer

For Sona's Mythic item, the main choice is Moonstone Renewer. This item increases Sona's Healing and Shielding Power when effecting allies or enemies and stacks up to four times with attacks or by casting abilities, and Sona will be casting A LOT of her abilities. I would rush Mythic ASAP by getting as much gold from the Support quest as possible.

Shurelya's Battlesong

For an alternative Mythic item, Sona can go for Shurelya's Battlesong instead of Moonstone Renewer. Shurelya's Battlesong is an active item, so when Sona is playing with this build, she'll have to be more active than passive in teamfights. When Sona heals, shields, or buffs an ally, she and that ally/allies gains a burst of movement speed that lasts a couple of seconds. When she activates it, said burst of movement speed activates and is stronger. There is an item build that features Shurelya's Battlesong in the build list, so be sure to look at that if you want to change your playstyle.

Archangel's Staff

Sona is mana-hungry, meaning she relies on her mana to cast her abilities. Initially, Sona's mana is very low, but with Archangel's Staff, it helps her and makes her better as the game goes on. Archangel's Staff has a Mana Charge that increases as Sona casts her abilities, and when the charge reaches it's maximum potential (which is 360), it will become Seraph's Embrace. Seraph's Embrace has a unique passive which gives Sona a shield based on the amount of mana she has, making this item a solid choice to Sona's item build.

Redemption

Redemption is an active item that works well with Sona, allowing her to create a beam of light to heal her allies and damage her enemies. I love to build this item after I finish my Mythic item just because of how cheap and helpful it is before I start my Archangel's Staff.

Mikael's Blessing

Mikael's Blessing is a really useful item Sona can take into CC-oriented compositions. With the proper timing, you can even cleanse yourself and do a Captain Jack-esque move. This item works wonders on shutting down enemy picks onto your carries if used correctly.

Staff of Flowing Water

Staff of Flowing Water is considered one of Sona's good situational items. It gives Ability Power and Ability Haste to whomever you shield or heal, making it a solid choice for a last item. Sona will be able to spam her abilities even more thanks to the added Heal and Shield Power it gives.

Ardent Censer

Ardent Censer is more of a situational item for Sona. I would only take this item if my team has 2 or more on-hit allies (like Vayne or Master Yi), because of how it only benefits from the extra magic damage from on-hit attacks. It's not really as good as its counterpart Staff of Flowing Water, because the SoFW gives Ability Haste and more damage from ablities, whereas Ardent gives extra magic damage on auto attacks and increases attack speed.

Lich Bane

Lich Bane is another additional item for a last item on Sona, just for the extra Spellblade damage

With items out of the way, we can now talk about Sona's runes.

Sona's Runes

KEYSTONE: Summon Aery

To start, we will talk about Sona's Keystone rune, Summon Aery. As one of 3 Keystones in the Sorcery tree, Summon Aery utilizes empowered abilities and resource manipulation. When Sona affects an enemy or ally with an ability or auto attack, Aery is sent to either damage an enemy or shield an ally. The shield can be extremely useful for last moment saves with a small shield and just protecting an ally in general. This is the main rune Sona will need for playing her part in the game.

ARTIFACT: Manaflow Band

Like I said before, Sona is mana-hungry. To combat that, the Manaflow Band rune should be taken from the Sorcery tree to help Sona thrive on her Mana. With the rune, damaging enemies with abilities will give Sona 25 additional mana, up to a maximum of 250 Mana for full stacks the band, with consecutive procs of the rune restoring Mana after reaching max.

EXCELLENCE: Transcendence

Transcendence is an optimal Rune from the Sorcery tree that kicks in when Sona hits Levels 5, 8, and 11. The rune gives her some Ability Haste at levels 5 and 8, and when getting takedowns, reduces her basic abilities' current cooldowns moderately at level 11. It's a great rune to have for those late-game teamfights, as Sona scales pretty well during that phase of the game. The extra Ability Haste from Transcendence can make Sona's cooldowns shorter the later the game goes on, which can allow her to spam her Auras with rapid-quick succession in teamfights, plus the level 11 cooldown refund for getting takedowns.

POWER: Gathering Storm OR Scorch

For the last rune in the Sorcery tree, either Scorch or Gathering Storm will work for Sona. Scorch is more-oriented towards early-game poke, dealing extra damage when poking with Q. Gathering Storm is more oriented towards late-game scaling; every 10 minutes, Sona gains Adaptive Force that stacks the longer the game goes. I prefer to go Gathering Storm as it helps Sona during that late-game powerspike, in addition to those core items she needs to make her a late-game beast and protect her team. Scorch is more for that early-game poke and isn't really as effective as Gathering Storm, but it can work if Sona is playing aggressive early. Gathering Storm is primarily on the Rune build, but can be substituted by Scorch if players want to go for the latter instead.

Secondary tree options???

Resolve

RESISTANCE: Bone Plating OR Conditioning

To start the Resolve tree options, there are two options for the first rune in the build: Conditioning and Bone Plating. Conditioning is for that early-mid game resistance, while Bone Plating is for blocking combo damage, and both can work on Sona. I usually go Conditioning for late game resistances, but Bone Plating works against combo-damage threats as well. With either of these runes, Sona will feel a little extra tanky with those extra defenses; either brief damage reduction from Bone Plating, or permanent Armor or Magic Resistance from Conditioning.

VITALITY: Revitalize

Revitalize is an extremely helpful Rune from the Resolve tree, especially for healers like Sona. It gives her that extra Heal and Shield Power for her W, to make up for the Early game weak spot, as her W costs quite a bit of mana for a heal.

Precision

HEROISM: Presence of Mind

For our Precision tree options, Presence of Mind helps with Sona's early game by giving her extra mana regen when she pokes her enemies with her Q, and when she scores takedowns.

COMBAT: Cut Down

For the other Precision tree rune, Cut Down allows Sona to chop any foe who have more health than her down a tad, so that her allies can finish them off.

Inspiration

TOMORROW: Biscuit Delivery

For the Inspiration tree options, we shall start with Biscuit Delivery. This Rune allows Sona to store Biscuits of Everlasting Will to amplify her Mana and help her in the early game. The less mana she has, the more mana she recovers; having this Rune will surely help Sona in the early game.

BEYOND: Cosmic Insight

Another vital rune from Inspiration tree, Cosmic Insight shortens the cooldown of Sona's summoner spells. And that's all there is to Cosmic Insight.

And that, ladies and gentleman, is Sona's build!

Sona is weak in the Laning Phase. Your playstyle may differ from mine, so do what you do normally if you wanted to. My playstyle here is to stay on the defensive and try to poke when necessary. I want to play it safe and secure, and try not to get caught out by any enemy danger. I would stay behind minions against hook champions, and try to stay out of range of any catch potential by the enemy Support. I try to react to the enemy poke with my W. I don't want to use my W constantly because of its high mana costs; I want to use only Q to poke the enemy. The first time I base, I buy a Tear of the Goddess to help with my early mana issues. When I have reached Level 6, I will have ultimate available. I want to use that as a response to a play, and not to create a play. Later into the game, I can use it as an engage tool, but not in this state can I do so without throwing the game early on. The post-6 early game depends on the enemy's momentum? If the enemy is behind, I am free to roam around the map to get other lanes ahead, so long as my ADC can endure the pain of a 1vs2. If the enemy is ahead, then I must stay within my ADC's range to keep them safe from further falling behind. If I already destroy botlane's turret first, then I can rotate to the midlane to get their turret next. Once I have Moonstone Renewer (or Shurelya's Battlesong if using the alternative Mythic) purchased, I will be able to effectively protect my teammates and keep them alive for longer.

Sona will be better in the mid-game now that she will have her mythic and some levels to spare. When I go to ward, I always try to ping my team for assistance to ensure that I am safe and secure while doing so. In teamfights, it matters that I try to position well in the backlines, and that I try to protect my allies as much as possible, healing and shielding with W, and hasting with E. Doing damage with Q won't be enough to take down enemies, because of how low the AP ratios are. It all matter that my allies are out and alive. If I run out of mana, I will need to base and get it refilled. It matters that I stay alive to keep my teammates alive. If I opt in for a Shurelya's Battlesong as an alternative, I can use it to chase/escape the enemy team with my allies. When I set up vision, I try to use the Oracle Lens and a Control Ward to clear out enemy vision whenever possible, then basing as fast as possible. I try to avoid going alone as if I get caught out alone, I will get picked off really easily. Rushing Redemption will give an active (or another one with the alternative build) for even more healing potential. Getting Level 11, I should have already maxed the passive Accelerando stacks to get the bonus Ability Haste stacks.

Sona becomes a goddess in the late-game, with scaling numbers unlike no other Support in the game. The playstyle is likewise very similar to that of the mid-game, except it is more oriented towards setting up for those epic monsters. After getting Seraph's Embrace, I should have enough mana to endlessly cast my abilities and efficiently protect my allies without the need to base urgently to refill. I still need to make sure I don't die to the enemy team and leave my team in a 4vs5 against the enemy. This means I shouldn't be going alone without my allies, and stay in the backline in teamfights. But nonetheless, I should be able to effectively keep my team in the game so long as I stay alive for long enough. My last item can be anything that suits the team comps to my advantage, but normally it will be Lich Bane for the extra damage. Again, your playstyle might be different from mine, so do whatever suits you the best with your own build, or try to mimic my playstyle if you want. Everyone is different.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my guide on how to become a better Sona Support!