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Spells:
Exhaust
Flash
Ability Order
Power Chord (PASSIVE)
Sona Passive Ability
Introduction

The Meta Game & You
If there are 2 solo lanes and a jungler, then the 2 people in the double lane must share the farm and EXP. The current meta game fixes this problem by having a jungler, a tanky or sustainable character top lane, an AP in mid lane, and an AD carry on bot lane who takes all the farm while being babysat by a support. We play the game like this because it has been proven effective and it fulfills the needs of the various characters.
What is a support?
Characters who are capable of being useful to their teams with their skill set and few items take up the role of the support. They let the carry get all the minions and offer their team vision by spending most of their gold on Sight Wards. They are usually a little under leveled since they leave lane to set Sight Wards while their carry farms. In team fights, they contribute with aura items like

An Overview of Sona
In this guide, I will discuss one support:

Disclaimer
This guide is for people who are familiar with the current meta game and wish to play Sona as a bottom lane support.










![]() ![]() Right now, hard engages are what win bottom lane, and ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Early game, ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Overall, it's a great early game offensive summoner option, but by late game the massive debuff from ![]() ![]() ...of course, that doesn't matter if there is no late game. |

![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() That said, ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

The suggested runes are dedicated to making Sona's early game. Every page has more armor to make up for her squishiness. Even for poking, Sona really needs yellow armor runes since her 550 autoattack range makes her vulnerable to enemy crowd control and pokes.



Other Runes
Greater Seal of Gold: A more passive Sona might rather have both
Greater Seal of Gold and
Greater Quintessence of Gold.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Mana Regeneration: Flat versus scaling mana is a matter of preference. (I prefer to use flat since I don't always start
Faerie Charm.)
Greater Glyph of Magic Penetration: Also an aggressive option instead of mana regen.
Greater Glyph of Armor: Additional armor instead of mana regen or magic res.

Not Recommended
Greater Glyph of Ability Power,
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power: Sona's supportive power doesn't scale on AP until after her cooldown reduction is maxed. Her heal is only a 25% AP ratio. It's not a big ratio like
Janna's 90% AP shield, she doesn't have a lower ratio shield and a bonus health spell like
Lulu, and she doesn't have 2 heals that scale on AP like
Soraka. (Read more: The Ability Power chapter.)
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: Scaling is not recommended. Flat is stronger in lane since some bottom laners level their magic damage skills first and some supports have magic damage threat early game. If you don't need flat magic res for lane, there is always something you could put in this slot for better laning that would allow you to better harass (
Greater Glyph of Magic Penetration), sustain ( greater glyph of replenishment), or trade damage (
Greater Glyph of Armor).

Like with the runes, these mastery pages are to make Sona less squishy early game while providing her with additional mana and gold.





Hybrid Masteries versus 21+ Point Masteries
Defense/utility masteries are incredibly strong. By investing 11 points in Defense and 12 in Utility, Sona can get all the necessary low-mid tier masteries from both trees. The low and mid tier defense tree masteries help Sona trade damage with the enemy laners and lessen how squishy she is early game. These defense masteries also help versus kill lanes. The low and mid tier utility tree masteries give Sona increased the gold generation she needs to buy items and wards, additional mana, and more mana regen. But because she cherry picked the useful masteries from the two trees, Sona is unable to skill the upper tier utility masteries like











Sona and






Early game, this can be useful as both an aura to buff Sona's lane partner and as an attack to harass people with. Sona can leave it at level 1, only casting it to proc the


Though versus weaker laners, it's beneficial to max






A minor heal which heals both Sona and her nearest most wounded ally while providing a short defensive buff that's twice the strength of





It's not the best heal or defensive buff, but it's a powerful skill to have maxed during lane phase, especially versus more aggressive laners. The downside to maxing









Useful buff for running back to lane, chasing, escaping, kiting, and just giving more mobility to your team. There's a reason why







(Note: The range of


Nice ult for team fights. It synergizes well with other AoE ultimates. Since Sona isn't the tankiest person in the world, it's best utilized as a secondary initiation after the main initiator does their thing. Early and mid game, Sona can afford to casually use this on one guy (like when your jungler comes to gank bot lane), but late game Sona should really save it for team fights, or use it for tactical retreats when her team doesn't want to be pursued.


- Max
Hymn of Valor or
Aria of Perseverance first for laning.
Hymn of Valor will give a better AD/AP buff, and allow Sona to poke better in lane. Maxing this first usually indicates that Sona's lane is winning, or that the enemy laners are fairly passive and easily poked down.
Aria of Perseverance will heal more and give a better armor/mres buff. Maxing this first usually indicates that Sona's lane is losing, or that it's futile to poke the enemy laners.
- Recommendation: Take level 2 of
Hymn of Valor for the effectiveness if Sona is maxing
Aria of Perseverance first. The damage increase from level 1 to 2 is 100% (50 -> 100), as is the AD/AP aura (4 -> 8). Similarly,
Song of Celerity's movespeed buff also gets a 100% increase at level 2 (4 -> 8).
- Max the other one (
Hymn of Valor or
Aria of Perseverance) second or third.
- Max
Song of Celerity second or third depending on what the team is doing. Movespeed is a very all-purpose stat for running around, warding, and clearing up wards with an
Oracle's Elixir. But during team fights, Sona is more likely to use
Hymn of Valor and
Aria of Perseverance a lot more than
Song of Celerity due to their auras.
- Max
Crescendo when it's available. The important part about leveling it is that the cooldown gets reduced.

The most common starting items for supports in general is







Listing every starting item combination that you can make with 515 gold would get long and silly. Instead, be adaptable. Does the enemy team has jungle














philosopher's stone |
|
Core Items |
|
sight ward |
philosopher's stone

Cash Money
Sona doesn't have to build both of these. Philosopher's Stone is great for regen in lane and later turns into a










Boots of Speed


sight ward
![]() WardsSupports actually have 5 item slots because the 6th one is always for Sight Wards. They're needed all game to provide vision. ![]() ![]() |
![]() Oracle's Elixir![]() ![]() |

![]() Mercury's Treads![]() |
![]() Ninja TabiWith ![]() |
![]() Sorcerer's ShoesAn offensive version of ![]() ![]() |
![]() Ionian Boots of LucidityBy getting ![]() |
![]() Boots of Mobility |
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After making Philosopher's Stone or




Aegis of the Legion


Zeke's Herald
Zeke's Herald
Zeke's Herald helps autoattackers on Sona's team and gives Sona health plus cooldown reduction. The aura itself is worth 984 gold per person it affects, granting attack speed equal to that of a





When Sona is paired with an AD carry who doesn't build a






Shurelya's Reverie








Locket of the Iron Solari




Will of the Ancients



Soul Shroud



The combination of mana and cooldown make it a strong aura item in poke or push teams. By providing her team with those stats, Sona can help sustain the pushing or poking. It's debatable whether Sona is the most appropriate support for those types of teams though.





(In a non-poke/push comp, I would say it's best fitted on a tank support or a mana-based support jungler. The value is in the combination of cooldown and health since



Chalice of Harmony






(Some think that Philosopher's Stone and

![]() Kindlegem![]() ![]() |
![]() Null-Magic Mantle![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

These items, while not necessarily bad, are more questionable on supports.

Athene's Unholy Grail



Randuin's Omen
Just because you have a







Self-Survivability Items
These are basically items to think about if games start dragging on for a long time.



The spell shield of








AP Items




The high mana pool of






Building a 3600 gold AP item like




Sona's supportive power doesn't scale on AP. The feature of her supportive skills is how spammable they are. Don't expect Sona's heal to heal massive amounts. Instead, expect mini heals which provide some sustain. Supports who do scale with AP would be






Her heal is her most supportive spell that scales on AP, and it has a very weak 25% AP ratio. Her spells are valuable for their low cooldowns and consistent mana costs which allows them to be used repeatedly during fights. They're meant to be small contributions over time instead of being a big burst of damage or a big spike heal. Additionally, AP items don't really "support" your team, and they cost a ton of gold. They don't have many survivability stats that make you less squishy either. All in all, they are actually somewhat inefficient compared to vanilla support items.
Let's say for example that I have a budget of 4000ish gold...
By opting to buy a


By opting to buy the cheaper





Aside from their effectiveness being questionable, you also have to ask yourself: Does spending 3600 gold on




Early game, your primary jobs will be supporting your carry and warding to prevent successful jungler and mid ganks. It's a fairly fragile time in your carry's life.
Early Game Warding



For general warding tips, check out the warding section.
Junglers
Junglers have 2 primary paths: Wolves then blue, or wraiths then red. To check for invasions, your team should quickly run down mid lane. In less organized play, invaders typically go in from the side bushes on the left/right of mid lane. So, being smack in mid lane allows your team to easily spot an invasion.
Ones that start blue buff are reliant on the mana regen. Examples of these junglers are




If you're unaware of where the jungler started, you can usually guess by making intelligent deductions based on where the enemy laners come into lane from. In example, if you're on blue team, your jungler is

Lane Aggression and Engaging
Against a passive lane, Sona is decent at harassing the enemy laners with



A typical harass skill combo is:
- Have 2 stacks of
Power Chord ready
- Autoattack an enemy champion
- Use
Hymn of Valor to fully charge
Power Chord and damage the champion
- Your autoattack timer will reset when
Power Chord is fully charged
- Autoattack the champion again to trigger
Power Chord's double damage effect


But many lane combinations can be more aggressive than Sona.







When your carry is being hit and starts to run away, there is no reason for you to just run away with your carry while they take free harass from the enemy laners and jungler. Use your spells. Use the damage reduction



For more about enemy laners, check out the "Early Game: Enemy Laners" section.
For more about laning, check out my video guide.
Shopping
Sona should work on getting





AD carries are known for having long autoattack range, but less base stats to make up for the range difference. Because of this, they scale well on items. Many have some form of utility or steroid (a buff or a modifier) that can make them go GODMODE when they have enough items. Early game, they will rely on their skills for trading damage with enemy champions, farming, and fast wave clearing. But after they gain items, their skills turn into utility tools which assist their strong autoattacks.
There are 12 primary ranged AD carries. This briefly goes over what they can do and what makes them particularly threatening once farmed. Certain skills allow for certain support synergies, but a lot of it can be chalked up to "poke"/"kill"/"farm". In lane, Sona will be able to provide her carry some sustain with


Hail to the Kings
They're seen as "safe" picks because they can be dominant all game long, and potentially snowball during early game. All 3 have gap closers, all 3 have respectable skill damage early game with their Qs, 2 of them can build

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Good burst and poke damage with his ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Even after the nerf to ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Scalin' on Steroids
These three don't have a strong early game like the above three, but they have all have a certain skill that turns them into a complete monster if they're allowed to farm up and the game is allowed to go on that long.
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Kog is a little baby. He's very reliant on his team to take care of him. His early game is pretty weak - only 500 autoattack range, no blink, and no way to easily clear waves. He needs lots of farm and a wall of tanks to protect him while he fires away with ![]() |
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The Other Guys
The carries on this list don't quite fall into either of the other lists. Of this list, the ones who see the most play are



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Other Supports
Some look at supports as a matter of rock-paper-scissors.
- Kill beats sustain because their whole gimmick is catching one person and killing them. This is achieved either through damage or multiple forms of crowd control.
- Poke beats kill because the champions who do enough burst early game to kill someone are often without any form of sustain themselves, making them susceptible to long range pokes over time.
- Sustain beats poke because they can heal away the poke damage.
Janna
A lane with




Soraka








Lulu















Taric










Nunu
















Kill Supports
![]() ![]() These supports turn lanes into kill lanes. In order to poke them down, Sona has to go within autoattack range. But by doing so, she'll again be in range of their crowd control skills. Versus kill lanes, Sona needs to play very safely. These supports will often try to control the bottom bushes, and use them to their advantage. To ensure this, they'll buy ![]() ![]() |
Annoying Lane Combos
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
This is an example of a lane that can be especially dangerous for Sona because she lacks any kind of escape ability, and highlights the usefulness of taking ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |

Mid game is hard to define, but it's typically about buff control, dragon control, and pushing towers. Teams want to pursue these objectives, and also be able to contest them if the enemy team shows up.
Babysitting
Sona should continue babysitting her carry even after your tower or the enemy tower in bot lane is down. By staying with them, she'll get some experience and (hopefully) be able to help them should someone try to gank them. But Sona should ward the forest and river so she can scout for people coming and know when to back off.
Mid Game Warding
All of the same early game wards are still good wards, but when you begin pushing further into the enemy lane, you'll want wards at more locations for safety.
- Enemy jungle & river: When you take the first tower and start pushing into the second one, you'll want to ward the entrances to the enemy jungle and the river so you can see people coming to gank you. The reverse holds true if they're pushing into your next tower.
- Front of dragon: Using a pink here let's you see if the enemy has put a ward on top/inside of the dragon pit. Important if you're on purple team because blue team can drop a ward in the back without crossing the river.
- Buffs: When you start pushing into inner turrets, it's important to ward the buff spots and areas near them so you can spot enemies coming to cut you off.
- Ramps & Choke Points: With towers gone, you won't have as reliable vision on the enemy team. Having high traffic areas warded will give you a picture of where people are headed.
Shopping
Aim for boots 2, more wards, and start building an aura item of choice. As discussed in the item section,






If Sona happens to be ahead of the enemy support and wants to further snowball her cash inflow over theirs, she could try investing in a Kage's Lucky Pick for more ambient gold generation. Alternatively,


Late game is about the Buddy System, baron control, and catching someone out of position to get a team fight advantage.
The Buddy System
When I say buddy system, I mean general "strength in numbers" - Getting caught alone is bad for your team. Even if you're only worth 15g, your team is missing your ult if you die before a possible team fight. If you go to ward an area, or go to clear an area, others need to come with you or you need to be using Clairvoyance to scout the area for you. And at this stage, warding is very important: With towers down, you'll lack vision. It's very typical late game to ward up, catch someone out of position, kill them, then go push a tower or get baron because the other team is now down a member.
Late Game Warding
- Same spots from early and mid game that can provide vision.
- If your base is being pushed, you need to ward up the forest so you can see the enemy team coming to siege you. In example, your buff areas, and general entrances to your jungle.
- Ward near and around the baron pit so you don't walk in blind to an unexpected team fight.
Poking + Siegeing
Because of the range on

Shopping
After boots 2 and 1-2 aura items, Sona should work on the other aura items. If Sona's team doesn't have one yet, she should get an




Sona can be vital in team fights because of her ult. She can be a play maker, initiating a fight with her





Ulting
Sona can initiate team fights with a perfect



Because of Sona's squishiness,




Another use of her ult is simply to protect your carry when someone from the enemy team gets on them. Another situation where it could be used "defensively" is if her team gets initiated on. Then she can counter-initiate with it.
Post Ult
Due to her auras and low cooldowns, Sona doesn't just use her ult then become completely useless. She can help do a little damage with your







When you play support, note what time dragon and baron die so that you know when they'll be respawning. There are various programs you can use for timing - Overlays, computer apps, even smart phone apps. This will allow you to set up for dragon/baron beforehand. Instead of, "Oh hey, dragon is up, let's go kill it", it's "Oh hey, dragon will be up in a couple of minutes, we should start heading down there". This way you can be there right when it spawns and if the enemy team is out of position then they can't possibly contest.

Warding Tips
- Learn to set wards in ways that maximize the amount of vision your team gets.
- When you lose a tower, ward near your dead tower to make up for the vision you just lost.
- When you push further down a lane, ward the nearby jungle to keep yourself safe.
- When you and your team are wandering around the enemy jungle, ward nearby choke points / bushes incase enemies enter them while they're talking a stroll around their own jungle. This can give you a gank or save you.
- Targeting a ward will give you a white health bar which represents how much longer a ward will stay up.
- Try to ward in an not-so-obvious manner so the enemy doesn't have a clue about you warding. This is important when you're babysitting on bot lane. I always make it a point to check enemy items when they come back and see if they have wards. If those wards magically disappear after they go out to the river, you should let your jungler know.
For more about early game warding and an example of how to use the enemy wraith camp ward, check out the early game section.
Warding Guides
- Screenshot guide by AwwGasm - This guide shows you how much vision you gain through certain ward placements.
- Visual guide for placement by weenerlikewoah - This guide gives some good general placement advice, but some stuff I disagree with. In example, there's nothing wrong with warding inside dragon or baron.
Ward Placement Videos



In closing, QWE faceroll, stay fabulous, and be there for your carry because they're too busy looking at creep health to notice that jungler with double buffs charging at them.

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