About Me Soraka Hallo. Ok, that should do it for my introduction. In all seriousness though, welcome to my guide for Soraka, THE STARCHILD! I have been playing Soraka for quite some time already, and Soraka remains to be one of my favorite and constantly played champions. Soraka is a support champion that is mainly valued for her heals, but she has more than that to offer. She has impressive DPS, poke, debuffs, a mana restoring ability and a silence as well. Despite this though, Soraka isn't a top-tier support, as her low mobility, lack of CC and generally situational kit makes her an unpopular pick. Despite this though, Soraka is a fun and rewarding champion to play and can be an effective pick if played properly.

About This Guide First of all this guide will cover the basics of playing Soraka; what summoner spells, runes and masteries to take, her abilities, her ability sequence, what items to take and her gameplay. I will go in depth into these and try to explain them as best as I can. As with all guides, experience would be a far better tool, as this guide isn't a one-size-fits all. The items section deserves special mention, as it splits into two builds: The Defensive Path and The Offensive Path. The Defensive Path is focuses on heals and utility and mainly builds traditional support and support-tank items in her. Due to this, her damage output won't very high and her early game will be weak. The Offensive Path focuses on increasing her damage output early game while sacrificing defense, especially on Starcall. Mid to late game however, you should transition from AP items to the more traditional support items. .

When should you play Soraka? As I have stated earlier, Soraka is generally a situational pick, as her kit only synergizes well in certain scenarios, and there are certain situations where Soraka would not be the ideal champion to use. So that leaves the question; when should you play Soraka? Well, there are many factors you have to consider (your skill, enemies, team composition etc.), but there are generally two golden blue rules to follow. #1. Soraka is not a firstpick Seriously, just don't. Soraka is easily countered and is far from a top support pick, so you shouldn't go instalocking her. #2. Synergy > Countering Soraka isn't much of a particularly hard counter to many champions. Yes, there are some match ups which would be favorable, but Soraka would do better with a good team composition, although this isn't to say counterpicking shouldn't be considered.

Summoner Spells + Flash is mandatory. Soraka has no gap closer, natural escape or tool for repositioning on her own. As for the second summoner spell, Exhaust is the best choice. It provides you some peel and CC, and has offensive and defensive uses. If you're not a fan of Exhaust, take Heal or Ignite. Heal is useful for the movement speed buff, but your marksman will probably already be taking it. Ignite is for offensive use.

Runes x3 Armor Quints are the best picks right now on supports, Soraka included, as it lets you soak up more damage from marksmen and minions. For offensive quints, MPen Quints would be the way to go, as it goes well with Starcall. x9 Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration I recommend Armor Marks if you're building Soraka defensively, as they mesh better with defensive items over offensive marks. You can opt for any of the offensive marks on the left, but I recommend HPen Marks since you should be harassing with both AAs and abilities. x9 Health Seals are pretty much your only option for seals. It will reduce damage taken, and lessen your overall squishiness. If you want, you can mix in some Armor Seals as well. x9 With Soraka's passive changed, MR Glyphs are as optimal as ever. Magic damage dealing supports such as Annie are all the rage as of right now, and magic resist is usually needed to negate their high damage output.

Click to Enlarge! 0/21/9 9/21/0 0/13/17

Masteries My recommended mastery setups are either 9/21/0 or 0/21/9. You are mainly going for defensive stats, as Soraka is considerably squishy early game with rather mediocre stats when you realize that most enemy laners build for high damage output, which is basically why I feel the Defense Tree is the way to go with Soraka. Block and Unyielding are primarily for allowing you to trade better, while Veteran Scars gives you some flat HP for increased survivability. The remaining filler masteries in the earlier tiers would be either Recovery or Enchanted Armor , but Recovery is preferred since you don't build much defensive items until later on. Juggernaut will increase your health as well, since most of your items provide you health (ex. Sightstone or Haunting Guise), while Hardiness and Reinforced Armor will reduce the attack damage you take, mostly from marksmen. Since many of your items add health, I still take Perseverance even after its nerf. It's also necessary to pick up Second Wind. Alternatively, you pick up Resistance if you're against high magic damage, but you would skip Second Wind in this scenario, but you can have a full four points in Tenacious . Second Wind has special synergy with Soraka's heals, especially when combined with Salvation. Tenacious and Legendary Guardian are the final masteries, and they increase your defensive stats and tenacity respectively, both quite solid for one point. You can choose to invest your remaining nine points in either the Offense or Utility Tree. In the Offense Tree, the main masteries worth mentioning are Sorcery for the CDR and Expose Weakness which goes extremely well with Starcall. In the Utility Tree, Meditation helps with mana issues, and Summoner's Insight is invaluable for the reduced CD on Flash. If you don't want to go 21 points into Defense, you can try a mix of defense and utility with 0/13/17. It will allow you to pick up the gold regen masteries in the Utility Tree, while keeping some of the useful masteries in the Defensive Tree. On a final note, you can opt for 0/9/21, but this is not recommended, as it will make you unbearably fragile early on. 9/0/21 would be even worse.

Defensive On Spawn Early-Mid Game talisman of ascension Mid Game Late Game Other Options zeke's herald

You can start out the game with either an Ancient Coin or a Spellthief's Edge with consumables and a Stealth Ward. A Doran's Shield start could work if you need the defenses, but it's not quite as good after its nerf. Know that if you're itemizing for damage or defense, you don't have to strictly follow either order, and a lot of the items will mostly matter on personal preference and situations that may arise. Early game, upgrade your gold gen item, and pick up your Boots and a Sightstone. Once you have a Sightstone, a Stealth Ward is no longer necessary due to the warding limits, so swap it out for a Sweeping Lens. Ionian Boots of Lucidity and Sorcerer's Shoes are the standard boots for supports and magic damage respectively. If you want to itemize for damage, try building as much MPen as you can early game, as the enemies won't exactly be rushing MR and Soraka has low AP scalings. Hence, Haunting Guise. Chalice of Harmony is a pretty good item on Soraka for the MR and Mana Regen, and you can opt to upgrade it into either a Mikael's Blessing or Athene's Unholy Grail, although the former is preferred for the supportive qualities it boasts, mainly the mini- Cleanse. For Offense, upgrade your Haunting Guise into Liandry's Torment for the enhanced damage and tankiness. Upgrade your Sightstone whenever you want, but keep in mind it's not exactly a priority. Rylai's Crystal Scepter is a pretty good item on Soraka since combined with Starcall, you have essentially an AoE perma slow. It also has synergy with Liandry's Torment. You can finish it off with a defensive item of your choice. Randuin's Omen is a popular choice, as it is useful for peeling for your carries. Spirit Visage is a bit more niche, but it has special synergy with Soraka, as it offers CDR and enhances self heals. Enchantments can be whatever you want, but since Soraka has no gap closer, I prefer Enchantment: Distortion CDR on Flash. If you have a full build and gold to spare, then buy elixirs. There are a lot of alternative options you can opt for, so I'll just go over some. You can take against high CC teams or for the armor. can be an alternative to your defensive item, as it's shield could be used to soak damage. Your AP Carry might want you to pick up , which is also okay on Soraka because of Starcall's low range. zeke's herald is mainly for a team with all AD damage, and you'll want for CDR and the heal debuff which you can easily apply with Starcall. can help in scouting unwarded areas, and you may want as an alternate item for your CDR or Chalice of Harmony upgrade. and are other less common defensive items, but both have their quirks, although would be better if you want some damage, and if you want defense.

Offensive On Spawn Early-Mid Game Mid Game Late Game Other Options zeke's herald

M

Soraka's Skillset Understanding Her Abilities and Her Kit Soraka's kit is generally easy to learn, but unlike most supports, Soraka lacks CC and mainly relies on timing. Her kit comprises of AoE-oriented abilities that excel in fights and skirmishes.

Salvation Soraka's Passive

What does the ability do?

Soraka's healing and mana restoring abilities ( Astral Blessing, Infuse and Wish) are 1% more powerful for every 2% of its target's health and/or mana missing. This also factors in the increase in amount healed due to AP and maximum mana.

How should I be using it?

Soraka's heals have been nerfed, but in exchange, her passive was changed, making her heals more powerful on targets with lower health. This means that at low health, Soraka or her allies may not need to recall, but it's true potential shines in baiting enemies into turrets or into unfavorable trades on their part. In addition, it means that it's better to save your abilities where they're more impactful, such as when an ally is being focused.

Starcall Soraka's Q

What does the ability do?

Starcall is a point-blank AoE abiility that calls down a shower of stars that strike nearby enemy units with 40 / 65 / 90 / 115 / 140 (+ 40% AP) magic damage. In addition to this, all struck enemy units have their MR reduced by 6 (+1% AP) for five seconds per stack. This can stack for up to ten times. If Starcall hits at least one enemy champions, Astral Blessing's CD is reduced by 10 / 11.25 / 12.5 / 13.75/ 15%, after factoring in CDR.

How should I be using it?

Starcall has been buffed recently, making it more useful than ever. It's an incredible ability to spam during fights, especially due to its debuff, and in addition to that, spamming Q lessens the CD of your W! It's true potential lies in spamming them consecutively, due to its high DPS. However, its small range which will leave you wide open if you approach the enemy, though it can be used for zoning if done correctly.

Astral Blessing Soraka's W

What does the ability do?

Astral Blessing is a targeted ability that restores 70 / 120 / 170 / 220 / 270 (+ 35% AP) HP and grants 50 / 65 / 80 / 95 / 110 (+15% AP) armor to a single friendly unit. Astral Blessing is affected by Salvation, and grants Soraka an assist if an enemy champion dies to an allied champion whom Soraka had cast Astral Blessing on within the last ten seconds before the enemy's death. Astral Blessing's CD is reduced if Soraka hits an enemy champion with Starcall.

How should I be using it?

Astral Blessing provides a lot of sustain early game for Soraka and becomes an invaluable asset during fights later on. Generally, you want to be healing a target after receiving damage, not before, as the armor is more of the bonus feature, even after its buff. not the heal. There are a few case exceptions to that. In any case, be sure to use this wisely, as it's CD and mana cost is high early game, but it becomes less of a problem in time.

Infuse Soraka's E

What does the ability do?

Infuse is a targeted ability that restores 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 (+5% maximum mana) on a target if cast on an allied champion. When cast on an enemy, Soraka will deal 40 / 70 / 100 / 130 / 160 (+ 40% AP) (+5% maximum mana) magic damage and silence the enemy for 1.5 / 1.75 / 2 / 2.25 / 2.5 seconds. Infuse is affected by Salvation.

How should I be using it?

Infuse is a very multi-functional and useful ability, much like Lulu's Whimsy. It's especially useful with poke supports who use a lot of mana, such as Jinx or Caitlyn. Offensively, it is mainly used for its powerful silence which has defensive options to it as well, such as protecting you or your allies from burst.

Wish Soraka's R

What does the ability do?

Soraka's Ult is a global heal that heals all allied champions (including Soraka) for 150 / 250 / 350 (+0.55 per ability power) health. After the recent patch update, Wish can heal targets even in an untargetable state, such as in Elise's Rappel. Wish is affected by Salvation, and casting it within ten seconds of an enemy's death to an allied champion grants Soraka an assist.

How should I be using it?

Soraka's Ult is one of the best abilities in the game for saving your allies, such as when they're being chased or bursted. Not only that, but it's extremely useful in fights. Early on, Wish can be used in farming assists from other lanes to keep your gold up and escaping ganks or in baiting enemies. Late game however, it's important to save Wish for teamfights and objectives, like taking Baron .

#1 #2/#3 #2/#3 #4

#1: Take Wish whenever it's up, at levels 6, 11 and 16. Self-explanatory. It's your ult. For the first three levels, the skills you pick up depends on the situation. By level 4, you should have your Q, W and E. You can opt for Q>W>E>W>Q>R pre-6 and max Q afterwards if you feel the need for extra armor from Astral Blessing, so long as by level 13, you have both maxed. #2/#3.: Max either Starcall or Astral Blessing next. Maxing Starcall first is generally superior for the increased damage and CD reduction on Astral Blessing, but if you prefer maxing Astral Blessing, it can still work. #4: Max Infuse last, as you only need one point in it to be effective. Since neither the CD nor mana cost lowers, it isn't worth it to max it over the others. The increased .25 seconds on the silence doesn't make a substantial enough difference either.

Early Game


Overview

Soraka's laning phase is quite interesting. If you go offensive, you deal a lot of damage and can become a very powerful threat combined with a marksman like Jinx. Going defensively means a lot of sustain, but a noticably less presence down at bot. Either way, it's important to play carefully, as Soraka still has no CC or a natural escape and if the enemy's smart, you will be dead.

Freezing Early on, you and your marksman should aim to freeze your lane. This means keeping the minion wave from pushing through last-hitting, thus, it is mostly the marksman's job to do this. This is mostly so as to not over-extend and get ganked. As the support, you're not allowed to take any farm and let the marksman take the CS, while protecting and "babysitting" the marksman. You must create an area for the marksman to farm through a combination of freezing the lane and zoning the enemies. Be wary of using Starcall, as it can push the wave or take CS by accident.

Pushing Pretty much the opposite of freezing. Instead of letting your marksman last hit the minions, you should help clear the waves as fast as possible, while still giving your marksman the CS. Soraka has decent push ability, and a good technique with this if your marksman has an AoE ability (ex. Buckshot) is to cast Starcall until the enemy creeps health are low, then let them follow up with their ability. You should only be pushing when the enemies are dead or just recalled, so that they will miss out on CS. Be sure to have good ward coverage to prevent being ganked.

Warding

Early game, you and your marksman should focus on warding your own lane. With both of you starting off with a Stealth Ward, you should have a good supply of vision to last. Controlling the brushes in the lane is important, but it's more important to have vision to spot ganks, since you can just stand in the brushes for vision. Soraka isn't the best at defending Vision Wards, so it's better to use your trinkets to spot ganks. Instead, your vision ward should be placed on the brush on your side, so you and your marksman can protect it and attack enemies who approach it. Once you recall, purchasing Sightstone makes warding easier, and you can swap out yout Warding Totem for a Sweeping Lens to clear enemy wards then. Other important areas to ward are the tribushes and gank paths. Warding dragon becomes an objective at the start of mid game.

Harassing Harassing is an important skill to master in a support, and is quite hard for Soraka due to only having two offensive abilities. Soraka's range is unimpresive, so I find it best to harass the enemy when they approach you, not for you to approach the enemy to harass them, such as when a marksman moves in to creep. A basic combo for Soraka is Infuse > Starcall > AA > Starcall. Your marksman should be accompanying your harass with AAs and abilities, to take advantage of the silence. As the oppurtunity to do this combo isn't always up, AAs make for excellent harass that also increase your gold due to Bandit .

Caution Junglers aside, Soraka's CDs are very long without CDR, and many enemies will try to capitalize on that. Be wary of supports who have very aggresive early games, like Thresh and Leona. Your only defense against them is your silence, and they'll try to bait it out before they try to burst you down. Poke supports will try to outpoke your sustain and can be just as dangerous during the laning phase. If they're aiming to kill, be cautious. If you're not in a good position, then just sustain your marksman's mana and health through your Astral Blessing and Infuse. Use Astral Blessing sparingly though, as it can drain your mana if used improperly.

Enemy Ganks Ideally, you should have had vision and made your way to safety before the jungler can gank you. If you do get ganked however, don't just Flash right away. You have a marksman to protect, and you also have a few abilities to use. You should cast Infuse on the main CC threat, usually the jungler. Thresh is also great at helping ganks, and preventing him from casting Death Sentence would also be effective. If the marksman is in range, cast Exhaust. Otherwise, use it on the jungler. If you have talisman of ascension, use the active on you and your marksman. And if still necessary, use Flash. Don't forget to cast your heals. Try not to burn your flash as much as possible, as it will only attract the jungler more.

Allied Ganks I've already said it. The best junglers to synergize with Soraka are ones with good CC and ganking ability on their own. As Soraka, your main tool is your silence. Follow up their initial CC, such as Bandage Toss or Twisted Advance, with your Infuse and spam Starcall afterwards. Use Exhaust if necessary. Don't stack your silence with hard CC so as to prolong the enemy's inability to escape. Control vision in the brush by the river, either by Vision Ward or Sweeping Lens to help set up a gank. A common mistake with receiving ganks is making it too obvious, such as a Taric moving suddenly to stun you. Since Soraka follows up, it shouldn't be too obvious when a gank is coming.

Mid Game


Overview

Mid game is marked by objective control, not by time. At this point, there's less laning and more roaming and objectives, such as turrets, buffs and dragon. There will be pushing of turrets, stealing buffs and fighting over dragon. As far as mid games go, Soraka isn't so weak as in early game. With good items, Soraka excels in supporting her allies, as Soraka also does well with other roles that aren't marksmen.

The Jungle If you haven't already, turn on timestamps in your settings. Using Timestamps is especially important to coordinate with your team mates in taking objectives, especially dragon and buffs. Keep track of when something will respawn and alert your allies BEFORE they respawn. Instead of saying, "Dragon's up!", say beforehand "Dragon will be up in a minute". This way, your team can setup beforehand by clearing enemy wards and setting down your own. This will carry on into late game and become even more important, when both teams will be fighting for baron . With this, awareness will be key. You have to be aware of when a buff will respawn in order to take it when it's up. Your goal in these jungle objectives is mainly to scout out approaching enemies. By then, you can use your Sweeping Lens to clear the enemy wards, and use Sightstone to ward paths towards you.

Roaming As soon as you pick up your Mobility Boots, Soraka becomes quite mobile and fast, letting her roam quite easily. Supports essentially stick together with their marksman unlike other lanes which go ganking as soon as they have the enemy turrets down. It's highly suggested not to leave your lane until you take down the enemy turret. During the mid game, help secure objectives from your team and ward. Plant Stealth Wards and take out the enemy's wards with your Sweeping Lens and bananas. Help push other lanes, and help your team in skirmishes. Soraka isn't the best at ganking, though she does have a potent silence, but once you build items on her, Soraka is extremely good at saving allies under attack, using her heals and items such as Mikael's Blessing and talisman of ascension. .

Saving Allies How you save an ally is usually based on the situation presented. Remember the CDs of your items so as to know whether or not using it will be worth it. Below are a few situations, but feel free to be flexible with them. Vs. Assassins and Bruisers (ex. Zed) 1. Silence with Infuse 2. Activate Randuin's Omen 3. Activate talisman of ascension Escape from Losing Team Fights 1. Cast Wish 2. Activate Talisman of Ascension Escaping from Marksman (ex. Caitlyn) 1. Heal with Astral Blessing 2. Cast Exhaust 3. Activate Talisman of Ascension Escaping from Burst Mage (ex. Annie) 1. Silence with Infuse 2. Activate Talisman of Ascension 3. Heal with Astral Blessing Vs. CC and Locked Down (ex. Zyra) 1. Cast Mikael's Blessing 2. Activate Talisman of Ascension 3. Silence with Infuse

Late Game


Overview

By late game, everyone's builds are just about finishing, and everyone will become a lot more powerful overall. There's less roaming, as everyone will now clump together and only travel in groups. Baron will now be highly contested and with all of the turrets destroyed, vision will mostly rely on wards. The outcome of a game will usually depend on who wins 5v5 teamfights and as Soraka, you have to help ensure victory.

Team Fights
Team fights become most important at late game, where teamfights can literally decide the outcome of a game. Fights will range to skirmishes to full-on 5v5 battles, and this section will detail Soraka's role in team fights.

Unlike most supports, Soraka doesn't have a big game-changing CC ult like Tidal Wave or Crescendo. She also doesn't heavily rely on positioning, unlike Lulu or Thresh. Soraka's main role in a team fight can be summarized into one concept; stay alive. Soraka's kit is literally tailored to keeping people alive, and your build as a support provides you with items that do that as well.

Your position in a team fight is behind your main tanks and walls, but in front of your carries. Due to Starcall's short range, you're going to be close to the thick of a fight, but you should also be able to protect your carries. If anyone bypasses the front lines, such as champions like Riven, silence them with Infuse, to let the carries take care of them. If your AP carry is AoE based, such as Katarina, enter the team fight as soon as possible, so you can apply as much stacks of Starcall as possible. Also, be on the lookout for champions with channeling ults or burst combos, such as Miss Fortune or Nunu & Willump, and silence them.

As for your Astral Blessing, don't be afraid to use it on whoever's being focused, even if it isn't necessarily a carry. Use it wisely though, as even with you spamming Starcall, Astral Blessing still has a CD. Don't waste it on someone with grievous wounds.

Lastly, your items. Mikael's Blessing should be used on whoever is being locked down by CC. Activate Randuin's Omen if enemy assassins and bruisers are trying to jump on your carries. Locket of the Iron Solari should be used to soak up some damage. You can use talisman of ascension in either the beginning or end of a team fight, such as in fleeing, chasing and initiating.






Matchups are pretty iffy in all honesty, as they tend to vary from situation to situation. There are many factors you have to consider; the enemy jungler, playstyle, team composition etc. Just because Miss Fortune has a kit that's good against Soraka's, it doesn't mean Miss Fortune is bound to make your life hell and you shouldn't pick Soraka versus her. This section will detail the kind of champions she tends to do poorly against and those who go well against her, so it's more of basic information because really; do you want to know what to do against a certain champion? Know that champion.

Counters

Soraka's counters are champions who just deal more damage than she'll be able to heal and those who have higher kill potential on their part. Gap closers who can get the jump on you such as Irelia or Aatrox that can jump on Soraka and burst her down; champions who have grievious wounds such as Miss Fortune and Tristana; sustained burst damage dealers such as Karma; heavy CC and aggressive gankers such as Syndra, Orianna and Lee Sin. Enemy laners that have high kill potential such as Leona and Lucian. You have to play more carefully around those kinds of champions, especially early on when you're very squishy or when your abilities or on CD because most of them will try to capitalize on that.

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Synergies

Soraka's synergies are those who simply need that extra something to maximize their full potential. There are marksmen who have strong poke and long range that need some mana such as Jinx and Caitlyn; AP carries who want Starcall's debuff due to dealing burst or AoE damage such as Annie and Katarina; junglers who have CC on their own (remember that Soraka doesn't have much CC compared to other supports, so if your team needs CC, Soraka may not be the best choice) and can capitalize on a silence. AoE teams would enjoy Starcall very much and champions who have to stay in the thick of a fight, like Nasus, would welcome Astral Blessing's armor. A good team composition would do Soraka much good in turn, so try to find combinations.

I have finally reached the end of my guide. First of all, thanks to YayaFTW for the beautiful dividers and The_Nameless_Bard for the tips and such on the Offensive build. Do not hesitate to leave your feedback, and I will get to them and try to improve or respond on it to the best of my abilities. In any case,