SMITE
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- Smite ultimately lets Soraka secure cannon gold with Targons, which procs Ardent Censor from a huge range, and allows Q to be used on minion waves for fast push, gold doubling, roaming, and more objectives in general.
- Soraka is fast, and as a tank support (Targons), Flash isn't really necessary, especially over the course of 5 minutes.
- Tank 3 hits from leash
- Fight and pull the first cannon wave so that Smite cooldown finishes. The first cannon wave is hardest because you don't have a powerful Q. If you don't have smite cooldown, get close to the cannon because your auto and Q are both faster and easier to time. Start your autoattack with a good guess, but rather than using Player Movement "Stop" and re-triggering your attack, you want to use Q if the timing is off (slightly more damage too). ADC should double-tap at the same time, in case you miss like a noob.

SAVE SMITE FOR CANNONS, THIS IS THE #1 RULE TO SNOWBALL. You need this gold so that your item build and warding doesn't get set back. During lane, using to secure a minion lost to the turret is not worth it, and using Smite to fast push is also not worth it. An alternative use-case is to kill the river minion, especially to steal it from enemy jungler. At this stage, you only want to use Smite for cannons or early drag. Normally, Smite and even auto+Q can secure a kill from a larger margin, without ADC involvement. Player kills are less valuable than a secure lane and consistent farm at your own turret.IF YOU'RE EVER DEBATING "should I use Smite because I can?" THE ANSWER IS ALWAYS "NO".

You can get double-cannon gold by making an appearance mid, using auto+Q to lower and Smite at ~40%, then running down bot for auto+Q or Smite if you have another saved up. Sometimes mid will complain, but the ally cannon will also damage the mid turret. This same fast push is extremely useful for obj throughout the game, and is broken since you're doubling gold and multi-tasking / giving breathing room for roam and warding.

GENERAL TIPS
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ULT AND HEALING CAN GIVE YOU ASSISTS. It also visually helps to motivate your teammates if they're on edge about turning. Same applies for the blue trinket item, which can also be used where enemy's cursor may land, but mostly can disjoint enemy focus during a team fight.

Soraka's E obviously wins teamfights, as it splits the enemy team and anyone who disrespects it will get wrecked by your teammates when the other one or two enemies fall back.

If you see a caster approaching, place E first, then Q, so that enemy cannot land damage and ends up walking closer while realizing they're silenced.

Save E for channeling enemies (Katarina, Xerath, Warwick). You can also turn on Rammus with an E before he expects to taunt or shield.

Smite or try to Q all cannons. You want a teammate who can be very aggressive, even during backwards kite. Q regen takes time, and ultimately you need enough hp to buffer the enemy burst. Use biscuits wisely, as they're OP at low hp. Stay full HP with early pots to ensure you can pressure without dying.

Keep enemy off their last hits, even if it means pushing into their turret and warding river near drag. Abuse Raka's attack walk, sometimes it's better to run during Q speed and Q again, rather than attacking and wasting bonus speed, but usually you want to land Glacial Augment, which also boosts your speed towards them (approach velocity rune).

Use E to cancel teleport or get assist from REALLY far away.

Because you have smite and the lane under control, you usually want to early drag, especially if you have coordinated JG and mid laners. If anyone comes, make sure to land Q. Remember that smite heals off jungle minions. It's also good if you end up mid to ensure you get cannon gold, even though mid-laner doesn't understand that you have Targons. You end up doubling gold all game, which turns a standoff / stalemate in your favor.

By this time, you should be kicking ***, people don't want to fight you because you heal right back, and your perma-slow is a real threat. Warmogs regen is op for the entire team, and Liandrys + Qs take down hard to kill tanks, also letting teammates heal off attacks. Your E can win fights, obviously.