So, with the new changes to Soraka we have to look at her a bit different. It used to be a Soraka went crazy support, with items like aegis and shurelya's reverie. Or you went hardcore AP and had awesome heals. Now, the AP ratios have been destroyed, and astral blessing has a lovely 20 second cooldown. However, all is not lost. Starcall has had it's AP ratios buffed, cd dropped, and range increased a bit. Infuse has an amazing AP ratio, and a cd reduction. So, Soraka is very different from what she was.

Personally, I believe that runes are often a matter of preference and what works for you. I go for Greater Mark of Health for survival early game, you are VERY squishy. Next I choose Great Seal of Replenishment for mana regen. Why mana regen when you have Infuse? because then you are more freen to spam infuse on A. Enemy champions or even to farm minions or B. To keep your lane partner's mana up so that THEY can harass constantly too. I like Greater Glyph of Ability Power for early AP boost. Lastly yes, Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed The fact is, Soraka is fairly slow. With the speed Quints, it's not so bad and helps keep you from being harassed as much.

I choose a 9/0/21 mastery. The 9 points in offense give you the spell pen which is always good, and some CD reduction. The 21 in utility should be self explanatory, but just in case, it will make you faster, spend less time dead, level faster, and reduce cooldowns on your summoners. ALL are important things.

I pick up a Sapphire Crystal first thing, a nice mana boost that will keep you in lane a long time farming, and leads straight into your Catalyst. Depending on the game I might switch up the order, but my first two items are always Rod of Ages and Ionian Boots of Lucidity RoA gives you AP, HP, and Mana. A great item to make you hit harder, live longer, and at this point almost NEVER have to leave your lane. Next I head for Morello's Evil Tome simply because along with your boots and masteries you will now be at 40% cd reduction. Starcall will only have a 1.5 second cd. You can spam it to your heart's content. Trust me, it hurts, and it's an aoe. have fun. Infuse is down to something like 6 seconds, and has a .75 AP ratio, as well as the silence. Next standard caster items, Rylai's Crystal Scepter will offer you more AP, and more HP. By now you're less squishy, you have a nice rounded AP, and you slow EVERYONE your Starcall hits. That makes chasing you hard, and chasing the other team much easier. Follow that with a Rabadon's Deathcap and you're golden. At this point you can get a Zhonya's (I just never remember to use the active so I get a GA instead). If your team is protecting you well by all means, grab a Void Staff for the magic pen. The last item is really a toss up.

Skills. Used to be, you leveled heal, and infuse, and wtf Starcall? I prefer to start out with either Infuse or the heal. It depends on your lane partner. If it's someone very aggressive you should probably grab the heal. If it's someone you trust to harass and farm minions, grab infuse. After the first is chosen, grab the heal if you're being harassed too much. If not, grab Starcall, start farming those minions! I usually leave the heal for last, level up Wish as it comes, and keep Starcall and Infuse at equal levels. That way your silence is getting better, and the damage on both is great. You burst surprisingly well, and Starcall allows you to give fairly consistent damage. Astral Blessing does have one great thing going for it however, the armor bonus. Pop the heal on either a tank or a carry being focused in a teamfight? BOOM instant 25/50/75/100/125 armor depending on the level of Astral Blessing. Another thing I like to use to my advantage is that Wish is GLOBAL. You know what that means? ASSISTS! You see people in another lane about to kill the enemy champs? Pop Wish, easy assist, maybe 2 or 3. That's instant gold.

Summoner spells are another thing I feel is entirely preference. However, NEVER get Clarity You shouldn't need it, ever. I use Flash and Ghost for escape mechanisms, or even tower diving. Yes, just tonight I successfully dived a Maokai in one game, and a Karthus at his tower twice in another game. Ghost in when they're low, Infuse, Starcall, watch them die and flash out with a heal ready. However, you could possibly use Exhaust or even Ignite but remember, you are not simply a support anymore. You don't need to get Fortify and something crazy like Rally or Heal One thing I will add though, Cleanse can do wonders. If you get caught in a bad situation, you are always squishy, cleanse could possibly save you.

Well that's it. I hope you liked it, leave me some comments. Just remember, use your spells, farm minions, harass, grab as many assists as you possibly can. I've had a great deal of fun with this build. I've been seeing "wtf OP Soraka" or my favorite from that Maokai "I just got dived by a Soraka and lost, I think I'm going to go cry in shame now." It may not be the best build out there, and it may not work for you, but I know I've had alot of fun with it, I hope you do too.