Sona is very effective at lasthitting and harassing. The reason why I level up first is because, if combined with Will hit extremely hard early game, as much as 1/3 of the target's HP. Most people think, "Its just Sona, I can probably get a few harasses off right?". Wrong. If the enemy steps within your range for a second, hit them with your nuke as mentioned earlier. Always try to save your Power Chord for hitting champions. And always use in conjunction with for harassing. + is also very useful to catch runners or to escape if you're tricky enough. + Aria of Preserverence is nearly useless, as you will never notice 20% reduced damage. ever.

I start out with a and 2 for the mana regen and increased mana conservation so you can focus on using your mana for harassing. For newer players I would recommend instead. On your first trip back, you should pick up a Philosopher's Stone. This item has great regen and the gold is nice too. While you're there, pick up if you have enough gold. On your second trip back, pick up *, and build then start building . I strongly Recommend starting off with . The survivability from both the HP and cooldown reduction is essential, as you will be targeted first in teamfights. Next up is **. This is a very strong item for Sona, as she is a bit lacking in the escape mechanism department. In addition, the tenacity will also enable you to cycle auras easier when in teamfights, plus, the mana regen is doubled after the build. Next, you're finally ready to combine that into an . This will net you some useful AP and more than triple the mana regen. After that you're gonna want to build . This is pretty self explanatory, as more AP = more heals and damage. Next up is . This is a good item for Sona because it gives her much needed survivability, and the slow will greatly help when running away or chasing. You may want to build this before if you are getting focused hard. And last but not least, is the . Usually by this point the game is long over, but just in case, this item will give you and your teammates more survivability, enabling you to keep them alive longer. The nine damage isn't too bad either.

*If you're worried about losing out on the mana bonus by delaying the purchase of this, fear not. The intense spamming of sona's abilities max out the mana bonus very fast. Although swapping the order of Philosopher's Stone with is not that big of a deal.

**You may wish to delay this upgrade, as the Gold/5 is lost in the upgrade.

The masteries are pretty standard for casters