This build has been archived and is for historical display only

This build has been archived by the author. They are no longer supporting nor updating this build and it may have become outdated. As such, voting and commenting have been disabled and it no longer appears in regular search results.

We recommend you take a look at this author's other builds.

Not Updated For Current Season

This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page

Sona Build Guide by

My Guide to being a Supportive Sona [s6]

2,327 Views

0 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Not Gonna Be Your Hero

Sona Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion More Sona Guides

Spells:

Exhaust

Flash

Items

Starting Items

First/Second Backs

The Items

Ability Order

Sona Passive Ability

Introduction

Hello, everyone! On the NA server, my summoner's name is I Wrecks It. I'm level 30 and season 5 ranked Silver III. I main the support role, my top 3 supports being . is my top champion with 143k champion points.

Anyway, I'd like to give a disclaimer. This is my first guide, and although I hope that it helps anyone out there wanting to learn about Sona I know it can't help everyone and not everyone is going to like it. I am confident in my build, in myself, and especially in my Sona. This will reflect in my guide, but I in no way think that I am the best, that this build is the best, or that it is perfect. There is always room for improvement.

Items

Spoiler: Click to view

WHY TALISMAN OF ASCENSION INSTEAD OF FROST QUEEN'S CLAIM?

It is my opinion that Sona is a defensive support. It is also my opinion that is designed for more offensive supports. For instance, it works wonderfully with . Despite the chunk of HP Sona is known to HALVE the squishy for, she is still a defensive champion. The reason why is that, without her ult, her only damaging ability is her Q . And if you max Q before W, it leaves her and her carry very vulnerable to all-ins or burst. Which is why she's not a great solo laner; you're either sacrificing strong heals or strong Q's but either way you usually end up oom and/or playing... yep, you guessed it: defensive!

The reason I feel the need to explain why I choose Talisman of Ascension instead of is because FQC is suuuuch a popular item for Sona simply because she is a "mage" champion and people assume it has better scaling for mages. Sona is a mage, but she's not a burst mage. She's a heal-spamming, life-saving mage. But I don't think people give Talisman the credit it deserves anyway.

Anyway, on to my reasoning!

Considering that Sona's base damage is very trivial to start with, the bonus auto attack DMG from Spellthief's passive to compensate for that is - quite frankly - a poor attempt at trying to give Sona something she just doesn't have. The 8 gold for your autos against enemy champions isn't great for Sona, because the only time you're really trying to auto attack is in tandem with your passive (which is every 3 spells cast, and you can't afford to spam abilities so early in the game). Plus, the mastery choice already gives 3 gold for auto attacking enemies (and has half the cooldown). Sona also has her passive + Q for extra auto attack damage (which is a great poke combo btw).

If you already have AP runes (like I recommend), then it's not very necessary to buy solely for the +5 base AP (trust me, 5 AP is not gonna make a game-changing difference for your Rank 1 W ).
Another reason I choose over is because 's gold passive is not near as impressive as the 's. Paired with the mastery, you're getting 6 gold for every minion your ally kills. The 2 gold per second is better if your ADC isn't a good farmer, but let's hope that's not the case because if so... well, you're gonna have a bad lane anyway.

Sona is a very squishy support. Her heals won't always save you from the enemy's all ins, especially if they've poked you down beforehand or if they have any form of hard cc (most popular supports do) or even a well-timed from . Ancient Coin's passive restores 5 health every time your allies kill a nearby minion, and so you don't have to spam your W nearly as much as you would otherwise - saving you mana and giving you the free-est sustain you'll ever get.

Now let's compare the fully-upgraded items!

GOTCHA!
I wasn't really planning on comparing their stats. And honestly, what active is better depends on your personal preference. They both have their pros. I prefer Talisman's active because I always max her E LAST, and Talisman of Ascension's active makes up for that.

You might be thinking, "But, Wrecks, the active slows enemies and makes up for a Rank 1 E too!"
Sure, friend, that's a good point. I agree, both actives serve very well in chasing down or running away from enemies. However, what if it's not about the immediate engage/disengage? isn't gonna get me and my adc to the fight for dragon faster and if my E is only Rank 1 it's useless too. But Talisman of ascension will get us there in a jiffy, especially paired with my E.

I'm assuming that, by now, you understand (if not agree with) my reasoning. I'm not bashing or recommending you always use Talisman of Ascension in place of Frost Queen's Claim; I think it's a good and strong item. Just.. not for Sona.

~~~

has and always will be a support's CORE item. I can't tell you how aggravating it is, as a support main, to play ADC with a support who doesn't simply rush . Especially now that vision wards are not purchasable otherwise. I'm not saying "it's the support's job to ward" but I'm saying it's the support's duty to buy a and use it. Pink wards are and always have been a poor way to make up for no early on in the game. They are obvious, and often destroyed by the enemy team within minutes of putting it down (that's only if they didn't see you place it). They also, in my experience, start the silliest fights. TIP: DON'T FIGHT OVER PINKS _{unless you have the upper hand}. Honestly - if you haven't died yet, it's your first back, you have at least 800 gold, and you don't buy this thing - I'm disappointed.

talisman of ascension After your Sightstone, this is your top priority (for its active). At the least, you want to upgrade into or buy a if you back and can't afford the item yet.

These are just my personal preference. Boots of swiftness (plus ) with the Captain enchantment makes you and your team-mates just that much faster. With you won't need . Sona has really good base movement speed, and even when giving her team-mates the boost of she moves faster than them. I recommend buying the Captain enchantment no matter what boots you purchase for her.

I know, it's weird. Why buy a tank item, if the rest of the suggested items aren't tanky? In my opinion, Sona doesn't need to buy because she already gives shields, and they are on a much lower cooldown. Her shields paired with and a Rank 1-3 passive are pretty strong. Honestly, Locket is a waste of gold on Sona. Not only does she already have shields, but she has what she's most famous for: heals. is going to give her a good bit of MR and HP, and paired with Boots of Swiftness it makes her very... tenacious to the CC that enemies will try to put her under. Not only that, but it gives her the edge she needs to go up and poke the enemy's face without having to worry about getting bursted. 's passive, paired with her whole kit, makes her a kiting monster. Don't chase a Sona with . I have managed to escape fights where my team had the disadvantage because of this item's strength on her. The longer you're alive, the longer you're providing your team with utility. In other words, the goal is to not die. And trust me, if you're making any kind of difference with your heals, the enemy is gonna come after you.
After my core of Sightstone, boots, and Talisman, I always build at least and eventually finish off this item by the end of mid game. 's effectiveness is NOT nullified just because the enemy team doesn't have any AP. The passive goes for any damage you take from a champion. paired with the mastery choice, (and let's not forget your own ) makes you basically unkillable. After this, you honestly shouldn't need to be any tankier. If you're still getting destroyed and bursted down... hell, let's face it, you're not!

I usually start to finish building when is close to completion. Somewhere along the way of building , I'm definitely going to sneak in a nasty little . is very strong on Sona, especially since her kit only provides her with one damaging spell and you're going to be pretty much spamming all of your spells.

With all 5 of these items, you're only left with one more slot. And your options are not limited, either. It's a tough decision. What you build last depends on how well your team is doing. If you still need the extra HP after , you can go for upgrading your > - however I usually wait until finishing my build to do that since I already have enough HP from .
If your team is mostly auto-attack based, I would recommend going for (btw and even each other out so if the enemy team has one built you should definitely go for ). It's really good on Sona, considering its passive and her AOE heals.
If your team is not auto-attack based, and no one built a (or if they did and you still win team fights they may as well not have one), I would recommend going for and linking its active to either your ADC or your mid laner. You should just slap it on your ADC and stick to them, but if you ever find yourself and your mid roaming - say - to push top, you could afford to link it to them.
I prefer > , but if your ADC is getting killed quickly in fights then maybe will help them out more.

These suggestions are not going to work in every situation, or every game. Relying solely on one build path, for any champion, is extremely foolish. At least 1 of your items should be situational.
If the enemy team has a lot of hard CC, or if they are able to lockdown your carries easily, I would recommend building .
If the enemy team is full AD, and you're not comfortable building then I would recommend instead.

Masteries

As Sona, you always want to take and for the extra effectiveness of your heals and shields on both you and your allies.
I put 5 into instead of because, while they're both good, I don't need even more health regen on Sona especially since I'm also taking , starting with and will eventually buy .
is a must for supports; you need as much gold income as you can get since you won't be getting farm or kills.
I choose over because in the lane phase, I tend to poke from the bushes. It allows me to move through the bushes faster, to get in range of my poke faster. And if it's warded, or the enemy bot lane tries to throw blind skillshots, I usually have enough movement speed to get away safely. also helps to get through the river to places like baron and dragon or the other lanes, but I mostly get it for the way I play Sona during the lane phase.

Summary

That's All, Folks!

There you have it! The build that saved my Sona game play. Before this build I was a terrible Sona support and could not get a decent game with her. This build has worked for me since the day I crafted it, and I trust it in almost every game I play with her. I designed the build around what Sona specifically needs and wants, what helps her to provide decent utility to her team while aiding her own kit, and helping her to survive the fights. I am open to your thoughts, constructive criticism, and I want you to vote/comment honestly! :)

For future reference, I will probably revise this, give a much more in-depth Sona support guide, fix some errors or annoying issues. So any tips or input from you commentators is very much appreciated!

Remember! You can't win every game, and getting outplayed is always possible. I just hope that my guide helped you, and if it didn't I am sorry. My play style isn't going to work for everyone. Maybe you enjoy building , , and on Sona support. Maybe Solwolf is an inspiration to you and you enjoy breaking the meta by taking top lane with and crushing ' dreams.

Whatever you decide to play, however you decide to play, whichever champion you choose to play,

Best of luck, and have fun out there on the rift!