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
x
x
![](/images/avatars/lulu.png)
Did this guide help you? If so please give them a vote or leave a comment.
You can even win prizes by doing so!
Vote
Comment
I liked this Guide
![](/images/mf-thumb-icon.png)
I didn't like this Guide
![](/images/mf-thumb-icon.png)
![](/images/mf-thumb-icon.png)
![](/images/mf-thumb-icon.png)
![](/images/guides/vote-popup-heart.png)
Your votes and comments encourage our guide authors to continue
creating helpful guides for the League of Legends community.
Choose Champion Build:
Spells:
Exhaust
Flash
Ability Order
Salvation (PASSIVE)
Soraka Passive Ability
Introduction
![](/images/spacer.png)
Hello all, this is Crestinglight here with my tournament support guide to Soraka the Starchild! I'd like to start this guide off strong, so before we move along, let's show you that it actually works!
Here is a somewhat recent screenshot. Two entire days of solo queue!
![](/images/spacer.png)
And just to make myself look like even more of a pretentious bastard, I will also flaunt that there are three more victories of similar score if you were able to scroll down!
Hey I'm a support, I take credit where I can...
UPDATE!!! I have removed the AP build that was once in this guide. I felt that putting that build in here was simply confusing and it took up space for something that didn't really need to be there. So this is now a full Support guide! I have two different kinds of support builds for you: defense (most common) and offense (less common) support builds! Enjoy!
OKAY, now that we've got that out of the way, you saw that it works, and it works in ranked games! In this guide, I will be sure to tell you everything I think you need to know, because playing Soraka isn't about what items you build or what runes you use. It's about how you play her that allows you, and your teammates to do well!
As a little side note, please keep in mind that I worked very hard on this build and it is constantly changing the more that I learn. If you liked it, please give it a thumbs up and leave a little comment as to why you like it. If you don't like it, please tell me why!!!
Here are some common abbreviations that I will be using throughout this guide!
AA - Auto Attack
AD - Attack Damage
AP - Ability Power
ArPen - Armor Penetration
CC - Crowd Control
CDR - Cooldown Reduction
CV - Clairvoyance (Summoner Spell)
DPS - Damage Per Second (champions)
FB - First Blood
G/10 - Gold per 10 seconds
GG - Good Game
GLHF - Good Luck Have Fun!
KS - Kill Steal (NEVER DO IT)
MPen - Magic Penetration
MP5 - Mana Per 5 sec
MR - Magic Resist
Quints - Quintessences (runes)
Ult - Ultimate move, "r" on the keyboard
XP - Experience
AA - Auto Attack
AD - Attack Damage
AP - Ability Power
ArPen - Armor Penetration
CC - Crowd Control
CDR - Cooldown Reduction
CV - Clairvoyance (Summoner Spell)
DPS - Damage Per Second (champions)
FB - First Blood
G/10 - Gold per 10 seconds
GG - Good Game
GLHF - Good Luck Have Fun!
KS - Kill Steal (NEVER DO IT)
MPen - Magic Penetration
MP5 - Mana Per 5 sec
MR - Magic Resist
Quints - Quintessences (runes)
Ult - Ultimate move, "r" on the keyboard
XP - Experience
As of now, I will be tracking the changes made to this guide! You can see how things have changed over the time that this little guide has existed!
05/23/2012 - Removed the AP build. It was unnecessary and took up space. Added an offensive support guide for more aggressive players and changed every section to be more up-to-date. Also added some pictures for some visual appeal!
05/23/2012 - Removed the AP build. It was unnecessary and took up space. Added an offensive support guide for more aggressive players and changed every section to be more up-to-date. Also added some pictures for some visual appeal!
There are many support champions in this game, so let's take a look at why you might (or might not) play Soraka over the other champions that you could chose!
Pros
Biggest heals in the game
Refills mana!
Amazing longevity in lane
Huge, life saving silence
Global heal allows for across map support
Ultimate makes it easy to farm assists
Shreds MR for great AP support
She's a goat, which is awesome
Cons
Slow move speed
Lacks escapes
Big cooldowns
Gets focused due to insane healing and lack of escape
Very money hungry (as are all supports!)
Enemy champions pull on her ponytail. It's very devastating.
Pros
Biggest heals in the game
Refills mana!
Amazing longevity in lane
Huge, life saving silence
Global heal allows for across map support
Ultimate makes it easy to farm assists
Shreds MR for great AP support
She's a goat, which is awesome
Cons
Slow move speed
Lacks escapes
Big cooldowns
Gets focused due to insane healing and lack of escape
Very money hungry (as are all supports!)
Enemy champions pull on her ponytail. It's very devastating.
![](/images/spacer.png)
For our support Soraka, we are going with
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
As for our marks I chose armor marks. As a support Soraka, you will definitely be tanking damage in your lane and throughout the game, as the healer often gets focused for early kills and in order to eliminate all buffs in teamfights. I go with the armor marks because it is likely that we will be going up against an AD dps in our lane, so this will directly help you early on. However, you can also choose MPen marks in order to give your carry some damage support if he/she is weak in the early game (
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
For our seals, we really want
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Glyphs are an obvious answer and in my opinion should not be swapped out for any other glyphs. Soraka really, REALLY needs CDR, and
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Now for the big ones, and these are really going to be runes that you will have to tailor to your own play style: Quintessences. For my play style I like to take
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
We could also take
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Ok wait, by the end of this build, you have over 50% CDR, but the cap is 40%! Why not take MR or AP Glyphs?!!!
Yes, if you follow this build exactly, and you reach end game, you will have over 40% CDR, and that is something you don't generally want. However, you need to keep in mind that Soraka is needed most in the early game, while babysitting the AD carry. We need to get CDR on her as early as possible so that she can really be an asset to her carry.
Beyond that, you should always, ALWAYS, be building to counterbalance the enemy team, meaning that you wont necessarily end with this exact build! Sometimes you will need to build items that don't give you any CDR such as
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Masteries that we take for defensive support Soraka are going to be 0/9/21.
First, we take the 9 in defense because we are going to be taking a bit of damage throughout the game, especially early. We really need the extra armor and max HP to be a stable lane partner that can last in lane for a while without going back.
If your carry is taking heal (they usually do now), then you should put one point into
Resistance
. If, however they are old school and like to take
Exhaust, then you need to grab
Heal for them and put that point into
Summoner's Resolve
.
Lastly is the utility tree. We really want to take away some main points from this tree, and those are the movement speed from
Swiftness
, the gold per 10 sec from
Greed
, and the CDR from
Intelligence
. The other masteries in this tree are really personal preference. I know I cannot live without the XP from
Awareness
myself, but some would prefer to take MP5 masteries. It really depends on your own play style.
You can also take 8/1/21 if you play more offensively, grabbing yourself some more AP in the early game with
Mental Force
and a little more CDR early.
First, we take the 9 in defense because we are going to be taking a bit of damage throughout the game, especially early. We really need the extra armor and max HP to be a stable lane partner that can last in lane for a while without going back.
If your carry is taking heal (they usually do now), then you should put one point into
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Lastly is the utility tree. We really want to take away some main points from this tree, and those are the movement speed from
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
You can also take 8/1/21 if you play more offensively, grabbing yourself some more AP in the early game with
![](/images/spacer.png)
For this section, I would like to start by saying there are really three summoner skills that should probably be chosen just about every time you play Soraka, the most important of which is
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Now, on to the new summoner
![](/images/spacer.png)
Lastly is
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Other Viable Options
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Absolute No No's
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Core Build
All of these items are 100% necessary for our support Soraka and should be used in every game that we play. Soraka is an auramancer at heart, and we really need to play into that by getting her as many aura items as possible. First, we want to begin with
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
We get
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Lastly is
![](/images/spacer.png)
Movement
As for boots, I actually take
![](/images/spacer.png)
Next I would say
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Third choice is going to be your
![](/images/spacer.png)
Other Powerful Choices
Zeke's Herald
Sometimes games don't go exactly our way. No matter how much you want to, you can't always help the
Annie that's getting shut down by the
Kassadin in mid, or the solo top who is losing his tower 6 mins in. In these cases we really have to learn to be flexible. Unfortunately sometimes this means you have to say screw you to the team and help the one or two people who are actually doing well.
Zeke's Herald is a fantastic item that you can use to accomplish this. Even though we have no use whatsoever for the lifesteal and attack speed it gives us, this item gives us a pretty decent amount of health to give us that extra survivability, and can make our AD carry unstoppable (and of course we don't want to forget about that awesome CDR!). So, if our carry is doing really well, and the rest of our team is sub par, grab this item and stick on your carry's hip like a parasitic Siamese twin. The extra lifesteal will help them to stay at full health, and should they get bogged down with CC you can reserve your heals specifically for them, until that stun or lock down wears off. Keep them alive and they will clear the way for your team to win.
Will of the Ancients is somewhat the same item as the latter item, but for AP carries. If your AP is effortlessly wrecking the opposing team, but your AD carry is about as intelligent as a three year old with his head in a toilet, then give that guy the middle finger and move on to
Will of the Ancients, preserving your heals and buffs for the facerolling caster.
Abyssal Mask is also an incredibly powerful item that you should be getting quite often as well. The AP scales incredibly well on Soraka, and combined with her
Starcall, she becomes a MRes shred machine. This helps your AP carry immensely, especially combined with their
Void Staff (if they've got one).
And of course we cannot forget
Randuin's Omen. Though I usually sell my
Heart of Gold later game for something more applicable, building it into a full blown Randuin's may sometimes be just the thing to get to save your teammates. Take a look at the enemy team. Do they have a
Master Yi or
Tryndamere that is dominating all the teamfights? Grab this item and render him useless until your team can tear them down. The extra CDR and Armor never hurts either.
Now for the new item! Recently added to our repertoire is every support's dream:
Locket of the Iron Solari. This item can be quite the blessing when it comes to teamfighting, and I think you'll really find that if you have a team that is overall doing pretty well (not relying on one or two people to carry your team to victory), this item can be a true game changer. The only reason this item is not in the specified guide at the top is because I find that too often a team is imbalanced and is depending on one carry to get through the match. If, however, this isn't the case, then I would replace Frozen Heart or even Zeke's with this item in a heartbeat.
Lastly, we have
Rabadon's Deathcap. AP scales amazingly with Soraka, and this gives the most bang for your buck as far as AP goes. This will increase all of your heals by quite a lot, and will give you some damage and poke ability along with it. However, if the enemy has a king AP carry, you can also swap this for a
Lich Bane. This item will give AP, mana, MRes, and move speed! It's a beautiful little package for Soraka who has a million uses for all of those statistics (and the passive is wonderful too, when you pair it with
Starcall)!
As I've said several times before this, sometimes games just don't go our way, and there can be some turbulence when it comes to teamfights and winning. On occasion, you will have that team that is just incapable of setting up a good fight, who are never in position, and those people are getting you killed. Against an enemy with a lot of CC you may find that you are really in need of a
Quicksilver Sash. This is a great item for Soraka because it's cheap, gives great magic resist, and it is an effective cleanse every 90 sec. This can be very useful because often times a smart team will lock down the support champion first, ensuring that heals cannot be dispersed, then pick them off in the end when their teammates have been downed. If the enemy team is that organized, grab this item, because you will waste their CC and you'll still be there when your teammates need you.
You could also have a team that is very organized but needs a little help chasing those few stragglers after teamfights. If you are finding that your
Shurelya's Battlesong isn't quite doing the trick, you might decide to pick up
Rylai's Crystal Scepter, as one "q" from you can slow their entire team.
Lastly, if you find that you are lacking magic resist and just keep getting locked down with spells, grab yourself a
Banshee's Veil. It's a great item that gives us a ton of everything we need, from health and mana to MR, and the best part is that every 45 seconds it takes a spell for you. Imagine you're running to escape, and an enemy Morgana shoots a well placed
Dark Binding in your direction. Well, you're dead. Wait! No, you're not, cause a giant blue bubble encircled your body and ate that snare for you, and you got away. If you're getting focused, buy a banshee's veil. Period.
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Sometimes games don't go exactly our way. No matter how much you want to, you can't always help the
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Zeke's Herald is a fantastic item that you can use to accomplish this. Even though we have no use whatsoever for the lifesteal and attack speed it gives us, this item gives us a pretty decent amount of health to give us that extra survivability, and can make our AD carry unstoppable (and of course we don't want to forget about that awesome CDR!). So, if our carry is doing really well, and the rest of our team is sub par, grab this item and stick on your carry's hip like a parasitic Siamese twin. The extra lifesteal will help them to stay at full health, and should they get bogged down with CC you can reserve your heals specifically for them, until that stun or lock down wears off. Keep them alive and they will clear the way for your team to win.
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
And of course we cannot forget
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Now for the new item! Recently added to our repertoire is every support's dream:
![](/images/spacer.png)
Lastly, we have
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Situational Items
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
As I've said several times before this, sometimes games just don't go our way, and there can be some turbulence when it comes to teamfights and winning. On occasion, you will have that team that is just incapable of setting up a good fight, who are never in position, and those people are getting you killed. Against an enemy with a lot of CC you may find that you are really in need of a
![](/images/spacer.png)
You could also have a team that is very organized but needs a little help chasing those few stragglers after teamfights. If you are finding that your
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Lastly, if you find that you are lacking magic resist and just keep getting locked down with spells, grab yourself a
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Now for the fun part: How in the hell do I control this thing?!?!?!?!
Well my grubby little minions, fret no more as you read on about how to goat it up with the amazing Soraka support!
In our early game, we immediately want to locate our enemy. If you have CV, you should CV their base at about 10 sec in to see items and who will lane where, in case it is unclear who will go where. Our second CV should be used on the beginning of the opposing jungler's route. For example, if they have a jungle
Amumu, at about 1:10 we want to CV their blue buff. In a few secs, the minions will come down lane. Wait for them to begin battling and locate the enemy champions in bot lane. The last thing we want to do is face check the bushes to find two of them ready for us, giving them an early FB. You can also have your AD carry shoot a skill shot such as Sivir's
Boomerang Blade and listen for the sound of it hitting enemy champions. Just be ready and prepared for an ambush.
Now that we are in lane, we can establish brush dominance. Further down will be an image of where we should stand, along with ward placement. At this point we should hide in the brush, disabling Soraka's AA of minions, and for now we just chill out. Do not lay a ward at level 1, lay it at level 2 or 3 depending on the enemy team. I will go over warding further down.
From here we simply want to wait in the brush, allow our carry to farm, and heal/provide mana whenever necessary. That's right folks, we don't last hit minions! Leave it all to our carry, don't take any last hits when they could get them. Only ever last hit if your carry is backing and there is no one else to take them. At this point it's better you have the last hits than the turret.
Here is an image of good positioning, along with a solid ward placement. Your early game should look like this:
![](/images/spacer.png)
At this point, and perhaps a bit earlier, it is time for your jungler to be ganking, and your carry should be getting aggressive. It is now that we really need to step up our game, and along with our new-found ultimate we need to keep a constant eye on all of our teammates. Keep in mind, it is okay to top off your teammates' health bars even if they aren't in an emergency situation. This can give them all some more longevity so that they don't have to back, keeping everyone up with the XP of the enemy.
Also, be sure to keep in back, and only explore in order to ward, always using CV first (if you have it) of course. You are not the tank, nor are you even the dps. Don't get out of position, and stick close to teammates at all times.
This is the point at which all of the lanes are converging and teamfights are beginning. More than ever it is important for you not to get out of position. If you die at this point, it's gg for your team. Without a healer they will be lacking the cc that comes from your silence and the massive heals that come from your
Astral Blessing,
Wish and
Heal, and of course your massive auras. This is really your time to shine since you should have most of your CDR by this point, and you can make some seriously epic saves for teammates who may be turret diving the enemy, getting locked with CC or just getting focused. Stress to them not to run, because you can keep them alive for a very long period of time. If they are the damage dealer, they want to stick around and put on as much hurt as they can.
Warding is absolutely vital to winning this game and it will save your team so many times you wouldn't believe it. While your jungler may be warding as he roams the board, it is really only your responsibility to ensure that your map is warded at all times. As the support, you should be running around your map quite a bit helping whoever needs it whenever they need it, so it should be pretty easy to drop a few wards as you run. You should be buying 5 wards EVERY TIME YOU GO BACK, NO EXCUSES!!! If you can't afford 5 wards, you buys as many as you can. Every time you go back, you should be grabbing the full 5 wards, then move on to your item build. Believe me, wards are more important than finishing off that Aegis or Abyssal Scepter.
However, always remember that your enemy sees you as a very, very easy target. Make sure before you enter any bush or area that you can't see into, you want to use your CV if you have it, or have a teammate escort you to ensure a safe passage.
Below is a map to give you a good idea of where you should be warding:
![](/images/spacer.png)
Blue Dots - These are areas in which you should always be dropping sight wards. You want to make sure you put these into the bushes so that you get the most out of your wards, and you can anticipate the ganks that your enemy is preparing!
Pink Dots - These spots are where you should always be dropping
Vision Wards. This is where the enemy support is going to be placing all of their wards all the time, so its always worth it to get the extra pink ward, especially when you can make $25 just by shooting down their wards!
Gray Dots - Great ideas, but very situational. If your enemy team is sort of always out there and don't gank much then I wouldn't bother warding these areas, but sometimes you get into some games in which it seems like your enemy is traveling as one big pack, just waiting to pick off any stray that innocently wanders into the jungle. These gray spots are common bushes for whole teams to hide in, because they provide little mobility for the victim to get out, especially with any blocks such as
Crystallize or
Pillar of Filth. If you can see it coming, you can avoid it and maybe even take out a turret while the fools wait for an innocent doe that will never come!
*An Extra Note About Warding: You shouldn't usually be placing a ward at Level 1. A rare few junglers can gank at level 1 or 2 (
Shyvana,
Shaco,
Dr. Mundo), and unless your enemy has these junglers, you shouldn't place one that early. At this point we need to assess the jungler in order to figure out exactly when we should place the ward. If they have a jungle
Shaco, you want to place a ward the moment you hit level 2. If, however, the enemy has a jungle
Warwick, you can lazily place it whenever you've hit level three or four. To reach maximum effectiveness, you really need to study enemy champions and learn just how long they stay in their jungles, and just how effective ganking opportunities are for them.
Lastly, on wards: When you get into lane, immediately take a look at the opponent's items. If you can see that they have wards in their arsenal (especially if it's a support such as
Sona or
Taric), then you really want to grab yourself a
Vision Ward the next time you go back. Trust me, they will be infuriated. Plop that sucker down in river bush and destroy that ward that they paid $75 for. You'll get the extra return of $25 to your inventory and they will have to fly blind for the next three minutes, ensuring a nice, fat gank (maybe even a double kill) for your jungler. Then, once you reach about level 10, if they've been warding a lot, grab an
Oracle's Elixir. You will become a huge nuisance to the other team if you run around knocking out their vision.
In team fights, your positioning is very important. If you are too close to the mass of the group, I can promise you that you will get picked off within the first 3 seconds. Enemy teams love to take out healers because they undo all of the damage that their team has worked so hard to do, and they also tend to super buff every member of their team, along with debuffing the enemy team (such as lowering MR or Armor). If we hang too far forward, the enemy dps will run straight through our tanks and smack us in the face with their big f*cking swords. Don't let this happen, hang out in the back.
Although, we also want to make sure we aren't too far back because we have to remember that goat is super slow. If your teammates start moving around a lot and you're too far behind, you won't be able to reach them with
Astral Blessing, and they'll die. And they'll be pissed. Baaaaaah-d.
Major guidelines to positioning in teamfights: you always want to analyze your position and make sure of a few things. You want to be just far enough back that any skill shots thrown by enemy players will not reach you. This will prevent them from running through the meat shields to reach you, which will allow your tank to really do his job. This means that we shouldn't be in the cluster of names that always winds up in a teamfight. We need to remain in relatively easy access to our teammates, yet stay in the back. Watch your teammates' health bars and make sure to heal those who need it.
Take a look at the picture below. Who do you think is going to win this fight? Why? Where do you think the best spot for the team's support would have been?
![](/images/spacer.png)
I seems very obvious that the green team is winning this battle. Ignoring the fact that this battle is 3v4 (which wouldn't happen if red team had wards!), the positioning of the green team is stronger, and it allows them to control the battle. Now, if the green team had had a support in this fight, where would be a good position for the support to stand in?
The yellow star marks a great spot in which our support could stay. She would be out of reach of Kennen's
Slicing Maelstrom, and any other enemy champions would have to get through her entire team before she could be harmed, giving her plenty of time to get away. But the biggest aspect that makes this location strong is that our support would really be able to reach any member of her group that needs her from here. As we can see, Pantheon has separated from the group here, but he is at full health and dealing quite a large chunk of damage, so at this point we can see he is very much in control. At the current time in this battle that we should really be focusing on buffing and healing our friends who are within Kennen's ult, so that they can survive the next few seconds and beat him to a useless bloody pulp on the floor.
This is a big question that I find a lot of new supports really have a lot of trouble determining in the heat of the moment, and your instincts will sharpen as you practice and learn. It will happen sometimes that you will pop your ultimate and summoner heal, but a few of your teammates are still really taking damage. This can sometimes make it difficult to decide who you will and will not save, especially when all you have left in your arsenal is
Astral Blessing, but the main way to really excel in this category is to learn the roles of your other teammates. I suppose the first role that I can really cross out for you is the tank. The tank is the initiator and he is expected to have tons of health, MR and Armor, and he is also expected to take a lot of heat, and even to die for his teammates. If it comes down to it, and everyone is still taking large chunks of damage, the tank should be at the bottom of your priority list.
Now the general guideline here is that you should really be healing your squishy dps allies. But the question is, do we heal our AP or AD carry? This can be a tough question that you may want to establish an answer to before a teamfight even breaks out. So let's start with the obvious: If your AP carry is doing terribly, does no damage and is essentially useless, don't waste your heals on them when you could help sustain someone who is really going to carry the team. The same is true for your AD carry. If they are useless, don't spend the time, mana or cooldowns to save them when you could save someone useful.
If, however, both your caster and AD are doing well and are contributing to the team, which one do we choose? In this case, I would say (if you can only choose one of them), we generally want to save our AD carry, and this is for one simple reason: there is a period of time after every teamfight in which the losing team is dead, spawning or returning to base for health, and this is really a point in time that your AD can take advantage of. It is far easier for an AD carry to down an enemy turret quickly than it will be for your AP mage.
Beyond this bit of advice, you really need to just practice and learn for yourself. You'll start to get it once you play more and more games :)
Well my grubby little minions, fret no more as you read on about how to goat it up with the amazing Soraka support!
Early Game Laning
In our early game, we immediately want to locate our enemy. If you have CV, you should CV their base at about 10 sec in to see items and who will lane where, in case it is unclear who will go where. Our second CV should be used on the beginning of the opposing jungler's route. For example, if they have a jungle
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Now that we are in lane, we can establish brush dominance. Further down will be an image of where we should stand, along with ward placement. At this point we should hide in the brush, disabling Soraka's AA of minions, and for now we just chill out. Do not lay a ward at level 1, lay it at level 2 or 3 depending on the enemy team. I will go over warding further down.
From here we simply want to wait in the brush, allow our carry to farm, and heal/provide mana whenever necessary. That's right folks, we don't last hit minions! Leave it all to our carry, don't take any last hits when they could get them. Only ever last hit if your carry is backing and there is no one else to take them. At this point it's better you have the last hits than the turret.
Here is an image of good positioning, along with a solid ward placement. Your early game should look like this:
![](/images/spacer.png)
Mid Game
At this point, and perhaps a bit earlier, it is time for your jungler to be ganking, and your carry should be getting aggressive. It is now that we really need to step up our game, and along with our new-found ultimate we need to keep a constant eye on all of our teammates. Keep in mind, it is okay to top off your teammates' health bars even if they aren't in an emergency situation. This can give them all some more longevity so that they don't have to back, keeping everyone up with the XP of the enemy.
Also, be sure to keep in back, and only explore in order to ward, always using CV first (if you have it) of course. You are not the tank, nor are you even the dps. Don't get out of position, and stick close to teammates at all times.
Late Game
This is the point at which all of the lanes are converging and teamfights are beginning. More than ever it is important for you not to get out of position. If you die at this point, it's gg for your team. Without a healer they will be lacking the cc that comes from your silence and the massive heals that come from your
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Warding
Warding is absolutely vital to winning this game and it will save your team so many times you wouldn't believe it. While your jungler may be warding as he roams the board, it is really only your responsibility to ensure that your map is warded at all times. As the support, you should be running around your map quite a bit helping whoever needs it whenever they need it, so it should be pretty easy to drop a few wards as you run. You should be buying 5 wards EVERY TIME YOU GO BACK, NO EXCUSES!!! If you can't afford 5 wards, you buys as many as you can. Every time you go back, you should be grabbing the full 5 wards, then move on to your item build. Believe me, wards are more important than finishing off that Aegis or Abyssal Scepter.
However, always remember that your enemy sees you as a very, very easy target. Make sure before you enter any bush or area that you can't see into, you want to use your CV if you have it, or have a teammate escort you to ensure a safe passage.
Below is a map to give you a good idea of where you should be warding:
![](/images/spacer.png)
Blue Dots - These are areas in which you should always be dropping sight wards. You want to make sure you put these into the bushes so that you get the most out of your wards, and you can anticipate the ganks that your enemy is preparing!
Pink Dots - These spots are where you should always be dropping
![](/images/spacer.png)
Gray Dots - Great ideas, but very situational. If your enemy team is sort of always out there and don't gank much then I wouldn't bother warding these areas, but sometimes you get into some games in which it seems like your enemy is traveling as one big pack, just waiting to pick off any stray that innocently wanders into the jungle. These gray spots are common bushes for whole teams to hide in, because they provide little mobility for the victim to get out, especially with any blocks such as
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
*An Extra Note About Warding: You shouldn't usually be placing a ward at Level 1. A rare few junglers can gank at level 1 or 2 (
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Lastly, on wards: When you get into lane, immediately take a look at the opponent's items. If you can see that they have wards in their arsenal (especially if it's a support such as
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
![](/images/spacer.png)
Team Fights
In team fights, your positioning is very important. If you are too close to the mass of the group, I can promise you that you will get picked off within the first 3 seconds. Enemy teams love to take out healers because they undo all of the damage that their team has worked so hard to do, and they also tend to super buff every member of their team, along with debuffing the enemy team (such as lowering MR or Armor). If we hang too far forward, the enemy dps will run straight through our tanks and smack us in the face with their big f*cking swords. Don't let this happen, hang out in the back.
Although, we also want to make sure we aren't too far back because we have to remember that goat is super slow. If your teammates start moving around a lot and you're too far behind, you won't be able to reach them with
![](/images/spacer.png)
Major guidelines to positioning in teamfights: you always want to analyze your position and make sure of a few things. You want to be just far enough back that any skill shots thrown by enemy players will not reach you. This will prevent them from running through the meat shields to reach you, which will allow your tank to really do his job. This means that we shouldn't be in the cluster of names that always winds up in a teamfight. We need to remain in relatively easy access to our teammates, yet stay in the back. Watch your teammates' health bars and make sure to heal those who need it.
Take a look at the picture below. Who do you think is going to win this fight? Why? Where do you think the best spot for the team's support would have been?
![](/images/spacer.png)
I seems very obvious that the green team is winning this battle. Ignoring the fact that this battle is 3v4 (which wouldn't happen if red team had wards!), the positioning of the green team is stronger, and it allows them to control the battle. Now, if the green team had had a support in this fight, where would be a good position for the support to stand in?
The yellow star marks a great spot in which our support could stay. She would be out of reach of Kennen's
![](/images/spacer.png)
Deciding who to Save
This is a big question that I find a lot of new supports really have a lot of trouble determining in the heat of the moment, and your instincts will sharpen as you practice and learn. It will happen sometimes that you will pop your ultimate and summoner heal, but a few of your teammates are still really taking damage. This can sometimes make it difficult to decide who you will and will not save, especially when all you have left in your arsenal is
![](/images/spacer.png)
Now the general guideline here is that you should really be healing your squishy dps allies. But the question is, do we heal our AP or AD carry? This can be a tough question that you may want to establish an answer to before a teamfight even breaks out. So let's start with the obvious: If your AP carry is doing terribly, does no damage and is essentially useless, don't waste your heals on them when you could help sustain someone who is really going to carry the team. The same is true for your AD carry. If they are useless, don't spend the time, mana or cooldowns to save them when you could save someone useful.
If, however, both your caster and AD are doing well and are contributing to the team, which one do we choose? In this case, I would say (if you can only choose one of them), we generally want to save our AD carry, and this is for one simple reason: there is a period of time after every teamfight in which the losing team is dead, spawning or returning to base for health, and this is really a point in time that your AD can take advantage of. It is far easier for an AD carry to down an enemy turret quickly than it will be for your AP mage.
Beyond this bit of advice, you really need to just practice and learn for yourself. You'll start to get it once you play more and more games :)
The basic summary of this guide is that this is how I play the goat queen Soraka. This guide was never intended to boss you around or tell you how to play, but rather I wanted to share some of the information that I have learned over my time playing supports so that hopefully some players in the League of Legends can learn how to play, and therefore enjoy supporting their teammates (especially knowing that the only reason those noobs are winning is cause you're there saving their ***es!!!). Furthermore, don't ever be afraid to communicate with your team. If your carry is being too aggressive and getting himself killed, tell him to back off! And vice versa as well. You are the eyes and the ears for your carry who is too busy focusing on last hits and potential kills so make sure you are typing in chat and pinging to alert them to what they need to know. Pay attention to all of your teammates across the entire map, and make sure to always ward for your team. They will thank you for it!
Thanks for reading this guide, and feel free to shoot me comments or questions in the section below (and don't forget to give me a +1!)
Thanks for reading this guide, and feel free to shoot me comments or questions in the section below (and don't forget to give me a +1!)
You must be logged in to comment. Please login or register.