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Situational Symphony: Sona the Versatile Support






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Choose Champion Build:
Spells:
Clarity
Flash
Ability Order
Power Chord (PASSIVE)
Sona Passive Ability
Introduction
In my opinion Sona is one of the most versatile characters on League of Legends. This build includes few ways to play her, for four different situations with different runes, items, masteries and summoner spells suited for the speficic game.
It's important to build suited for your current game and that's my goal on this build. It's my second Sona build and I made it to be pretty comphrehensive. I'll be editing it constantly so that someday it will be fully comphrehensive.
Updated items sequence on
-Build 2: changed item order.
-Build 3: removed


Updated Item Choice section
-added new Tenacity stat items,


Updated Runes section
-colored rune names to be more readable
Pros:
+versatile buffs for many situations
+low cooldowns on skills
+good damage for a support when Q skill is used properly
+good mobility with E skill
+easy to get assists using auras
+mana friendly if not spamming non-stop
+good CC for a support (ulti)
Cons:
-very squishy in the beginning
-needs to farm some AP to heal efficiently, but she's poor farmer too
-poor solo laner
-can't hold lane alone
-extremely vulnerable to CC
-don't expect to get a positive score
Build 1





This is the balanced item build that will be suited for most of the games. It provides a decent amount of AP for epic heals (and damage) as well as some survivability so you will not die first, because as a support you will often be focused first.
Build 2






This is full AP Sona for games where you own right from the beginning and never need to worry about dying. Many people don't like full AP Sona, because she can own better than your carries with her spammable heal


Full AP is also often underrestimated and I don't understand why if it's good for current situation. We had this game where we had no tank, but I got double kill in the first 8 minutes so I went full AP. I healed 500+ HP every four seconds allowing my team simply to kill them even though our tank was

Build 3





Magic Resist build for those games where most of your opponents, or at least the ones dominating, are casters.


Build 4





Survival mode on!
I totally hate it when the opposite team has


Recommended Summoner Spells:




For Normal games I prefer


For your escape/ chase summoner spell I prefer


Other usable spells:




Questionable summoner spells:




These spells can be usable, but most often you will not need these.


Useless spells:



Don't use these unless you're trolling. You already have a heal, you won't jungle and nobody uses Rally (I don't even have a clue what is does, never used it).
9-0-21 is pretty much basic for casters, you get better summoner spells from Utility tree.
0-9-21 is for more defensive build, you'll get more armor, magic resist and health regen.
3-6-21 is also usable with AP per level from Offensive, armor and mr from Defensive and same masteries from Utility as with other builds.
Marks:

Seals:
Greater Seal of Replenishment/

Sona has stable 65 mana cost at all her skills (except for ultimate) so either one of these Seal runes will be good for her. Pick the ones you that suite your taste.
Glyphs:




Quintessences:




Skill explanations:
Q:

AP Ratio: 0.7
Good:
+will chase enemies even if they flash if you casted it
+awesome damage early game
+hits 2 enemies
Bad:
-targeting problems (hitting minions instead of champions)
W:


AP Ratio: 0.35
Good:
+lowest cooldown on heal in the game
+very mana friendly
+heals an ally and yourself
Bad:
-heals the ally with percentually lowest HP
-lowest heal power in the game
-you can't choose who you want to heal
-ridiculously low AP ratio
E:

Good:
+capability to slow together with

+late game nice speed bonus
+good survivability when twisted with

+good for chasing
Bad:
-not too useful early game
-passive combo can be easily wasted if not careful
R:



AP ratio: 0.8
When to use

When you're running away from many enemies or saving a teammate.
When you're going to a teamfight use it to stun opposite team.
When you're chasing someone who would otherwise run away.
When your enemies are greedy and try to gank under turret, stun them under turret so it will hit them.
Don't use

For taking creeps just because you're quite bad farmer.
Kill stealing.
Passive:





When used effectivily you will do either massive damage with your passive, or you can save an ally (or yourself) by reducing enemy's damage as well as use the slow effect for either chase or for escaping.
What to expect when using this item build?
Keyword:Synergy
This build gives you both survivability and good damage. You will be able to heal efficiently as well as hit like hell without dying instantly. You will get protection from magic if you build





Item Sequence:
Starter items:




I pick




Core Items:







Mid game items:



Boots give you precious cooldown reduction you will not be having if you picked AP per lvl glyphs and these survival items I chose because of the synergy they will have with


Late Game items:


These are your AP boosting items that you should get after you know you will not die.



This is one game I nearly had full balanced build. I had enough coins to complete

What to expect when using this item build?
Keywords: Epic heal, epic damage, epic ownage
Recently I've played a lot of games as full AP Sona and I like it more and more. This build is inspired by Chrispykreem's Sona build with some differences. There are some things you should consider when going full AP: your team has to be winning by the time you make the crucial choise to become full AP, because you'll be super squishy throughout the game and you need to know you will not be focused.
You can expect to heal massive amounts however and hit even more.
I use two different ways to build Epic AP Sona.
Item Sequence 1:
Starter Items:




Core Items:



Mid Game Items:



Instead of buying survival items, buy




Late Game Items:


After getting Rabadon's Deathcap, finish your Archangel's Staff. Most often you will not get any further unless you're seriously slaughtering the opposite team. You will have insane amount of AP (about 700-800) if you have stacks in your Mejai, and that's when




Ultra Late Game:


If you ever reach this far (I've never reached this far), you will have awesome heals, awesome damage and not so awesome cooldown reduction. That's why there's

One game I had 750 ap, I healed about 550-600 every 4 seconds with full 40% CDR. We had no tank (actually Karthus was tank, lol) and a team full of squishies. I got double kill when their Sion was too greedily chasing after Miss Fortune I was laning with. Then I ended up owning the rest of the game.

Many people don't like AP Sona and nag about you killing (even if you don't steal), but they're just envious because you can own like hell ;P
Item Sequence 2:
Starter Items:




Core Items:


I've recently used this build a lot more than the other than that actually gives you a choice to choose if you go full AP or not. If you pick this way you're probably pretty ******* sure about going full AP (even though it's not too late to pick survival items later). Why I pick these items, it's because you get high AP earlier than with the other core items. You can start owning hence getting more coins and build


Together with this start I usually skill my


Mid Game Items:




Depending on if you need to chase, complete either




I changed item order by this point for the way you can either complete Rabadon's Deathcap or Archangels by buying

Late Game Items:



Since you'll be getting


Here's a recent game I ran with this item build, I almost got a triple kill, but the third kill was a bit too late. BTW, before this point we were the losing side, but it pretty much changed the game when we aced with me killing 3 of them :D

What to expect when using this item build?
Keyword: magic resistance
This item build is for those teams where


Item Sequence:
Starter items:




Core Items:


Mid Game Items:


Here's the deal: if you are getting owned early, don't buy

I prefer buying Kindlegem for more HP and some CDR, before upgrading Catalyst into


Late Game Items:




You can choose which to complete first,



If you get enough coins, complete


However, it's not much use to buy

Ultra Late Game

If game ever goes this far, you might get somehow the coins for a



This build will give you epic magic resist, but leaves you vulnerable to physical attacks. The good thing is that it's quite affordable.
What to expect when using this item build?
Keyword:armor
You will be having massive armor and some magic resist, but you will lack ability power, therefore your heals nor your damage will be all that high.
Item Sequence:
Starter Items:




Start with either






Core Items:


Mid game Items:




I chose



By mid game you should have completed Frozen Heart whereas you can still go for balanced build from this point without any other survival items. If you have coins and you want, you can buy

Why do we buy



Late Game Items:




Pick Giant's Belt for HP when you get some coins, because you won't have much HP even if you have armor, you're still squishy. Then you choose either to complete



I personally underrestime



Instead of Rylai's, you can get


Why these items?
My builds aren't so called "aura-support" builds, because all of Sona's skills have auras that will take care of that. Instead I have focused on the synergy of mana giving survival items in combination with

Why Mejai's Soulstealer?
Due to a comment concerning the usability of

1. It's extremely easy to get stacks, because all your auras give assists.
2. Even if you lose stacks, you will get them back very easily.
3. It's a cheap item that has potentional to massively increase your AP. Even if you get 5 stacks, which is easy, you will get 60 AP at the cost of 1235 coins. Early game you will be having 3-6 stacks and even if you keep dying early game, which usually happens, you will still keep stacks some stacks. It seems it's not much, but later on you'll be getting 8+ stacks which is a nice boost of AP with so low cost.
4. If you are doing bad, you don't have to get Mejai, BUT there have been many times when I bought Mejai, I had a score of 0-3 or even 1-6 early game due to my lane partner suiciding (or the other team was simply just better), but later on we miraculously turned the game acing the opposite team. This is when you get awesome stacks, therefore giving your team a better chance to turn the game completely around.
5. All other AP items are too expensive early game and you will need AP.

Here's an example of the games where I had negative score. Looks bad doesn't it?
The truth is, we were completely losing the game, they pushed top with Cho Gath losing vs 2. Me and Teemo lost our lane, because they ganked us under turret with four people. I had a score of 1-6, no stacks in Mejai. But then we suddenly owned them under our Inner Mid Turret, killed four of them. I got 4 stacks there, then we did it again acing them this time. That's 9 stacks, but I died then...
Eventually I had 11 stacks when they surrendered. My point here is that even if you die, you will get your stacks back, so temporarily losing some AP doesn't matter if you can get it back easily.
You don't have to get Mejai's early game, but if you buy survival first you lack healing power and damage, but it's really up to you when to buy it.
Other Good Item Choices:









Why not Aegis of the Legion?
Aegis is only good early game, late game Sona's

It's complete bullsh*t to say support doesn't need gear.
Good Laning Partners:
-

-

-

-

-

-

Most AD carries are a good combo with Sona, but especially Ezreal and Miss Fortune are quite nice, or just most of the Miss Fortune players I've laned with are awesome. :D
Durable melee's that can go in first when farming are also good laning partners. Especially Sona+Garen seems to work well, it's like a knight protecting the princess that hits with chords from behind. Also Sona's and Jarvan's ulties together can own.
Bad Laning Partners:
-

-

-

-

All roamers are bad laning partners, because you can't hold a lane alone.
Also most squishy casters a bad combo with Sona as well as other supports.
Tanks who are melee and have no damage are also a terrible combo with Sona - I still got nightmares about laning with Alistar.
Don't lane with characters that have stealth, it's pretty much like laning alone 1v2, because they can only see you and will target you if you try to farm. I tried laning with Evelynn and most recently Twitch: we lost turret in 8 minutes and died 6 times all together.
Your worst enemies:
-

-

-

-

-

-

-

In my opinion Tryndamere is 1# enemy for Sona. His ulti is just... RRRRRAAAAAAH!
Caitlyn and Urgot have the longest ranges in game and hit really much to poor squishy Sona, especially early game. If you see you have Caitlyn on the opposite lane, prepare for turret hugging early game.
Stealthers like Shaco and Evelynn can also be a pain in the ***. Shaco can backstab you to death and Sona is really vulnerable to stuns like Evelynn's.
Mages who have silence and high damage like Leblanc can kill you in an instant before you can build up proper dedenses.
Nocturne's ulti and damage as well as FEAR can get you owned, but other than that Frozen Heart will counter him well enough.
Also some skilled Master Yi's can be troublesome.
Relatively Harmless Enemies:
-

-

Mainly other supports are pretty harmless except for Nidalee, which can be a pain in the *** with those spears. Don't underestimate other Sona's however.
Mid Lane:
If nobody else goes, you can go mid, but only vs other casters. Remember that Kassadin might seem harmless early game, but after lvl6 he can own your *** with blink. If you go mid, your starting item should be


Side Lane:
I prefer laning with partner, but be careful who you lane with. I mentioned in the section above who are terrible laning partners, but it's not always about heroes. If your lane partner is suicidal there's not much you can do. The reason why I take 2 health potions early game is because I prefer sparing mana for spamming

Recently my bf has been nagging me about not picking heal as first skill, but it's just complete waste because you shouldn't be harassing too much until both your Q and W are at least lvl2.
Some notes about farming:
Sona is quite poor farmer, but her

Even if you tried taking all creeps, it's impossible with Sona's early game attack speed, so your lane partner should get loads of last hits if he has any skill at all.
Mid game, after lvl8, you can go jungle wraiths and wolves if you pushed your turret by this point (or the enemies pushed yours), but don't steal them if your jungler needs them. Someone might question me at this point "WHHYYYYY you go steal creeps", but I actually do it with other supports too, like Soraka. I can't get enough of wondering what my teammates think when I go take some creeps in the jungle :D
Late game you really don't need to take last hits much unless you need some coins fast, because you should be getting plenty of assists in teamfights therefore giving you nice amount of coins.
Early Game
You should harass the opposite team and try take some creeps, leaving most to your carry anyway. Don't let your teammate suicide and blame you for not healing, because your heal early game SUCKS.
If you picked

Don't go back until you have enough coins:
955coins for


1390coins for



2190coins for



or 1950coins for


At this point you should be around level 6-8. I usually stay up to 2000+ gold to get Mejai's instantly, but sometimes you die earlier and have to go back before you have enough coins to buy everything you wanted.
Mid Game
Keep on farming on your lane unless it got pushed or you pushed the turret, then you can go assist your team on ganks/pushing more turrets. After lvl8 it's safe to take wraiths and wolves in the jungle for some coins, because you'll be wanting those last 700-1000 coins for tier 2 shoes as fast as possible.
I advice to buy

Mid game you make the crucial choice what item build you want to follow, because most Sona builds have the exact same beginning. At this point you can choose to get survivability or AP, depending on how is it going.
Late Game
If the game lasts long enough you should complete your

Late Game you should always stick up with your team, don't solo (except for jungling if you really need coins). Stay with your allies and assist them the best you can, never go alone because you will be focused.
At this point you have so much mana you can spam your skills without a worry from running out mana. Always do this while pushing too, because your

Regardless of winning or losing, you don't usually have a positive score. That says nothing about how good you were: supports get focused often, because you are a crucial member to the team in team fights. If you managed to stay on positive score, that's just a bonus.



-when chasing


-use


-use


-don't move alone, you will be focused
-NEVER face check
-be careful with teams that have either Twitch, Shaco or Evelynn, because you will the one they are hunting for, so someone should always have an oracle
I hope my guide to be quite comphrehensive, but I know it lacks aura-support, but I have a good reason for that:
Sona already has her own skill auras, she really doesn't need to be build aura support. Heal her is ****py without proper AP and there's simply no good reason why your team shouldn't have 5 people fighting instead on 4 fighting and one dying, because your support has no gear.
However, I might add aura support to this build later, but as I mentioned earlier, it's up to you how you want to play, this is a GUIDE after all, not a rule on how to play her. I will add more games I played with these builds in this section later, but here are couple:



Here's the stats on probably most epic game with Sona I've ever had. Got a triple kill and dominated hard as our AP carry didn't have too good of a start.

Please leave a comment if you have something to ask - I'm open for critisism. Vote if you liked (or disliked) and please say why you thought so.
Thank you for reading!
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