Dear Anyone Who Plays Soraka

Evalerian·May 27, 2015·50 votes·6,835 views

FOR THE LOVE OF BANANAS, please don't stack HP on her.

AP Soraka is so stronger in so many ways. Tank Soraka isn't worth it, You have more hp but at the same time, your heals cost way more and heal less.

Ap Soraka Benefits: *Much Higher Heals on your W and Ultimate. *More Damage ( You will be surprised how much damage I do in lane) *40% Cool Down reduction is easier to obtain. *Your Q heals you A LOT. I've survived so many assassin's attack from simply dropping a Q on them and healing back from 10% to 40%.

Good AP Items to build would be the following, most are situational, so choose according to what's going on, and based on your team/enemy comp.

*Banner of Command (Gives AP, and the Aura for your team, also pressure the map with your super minion/gives you gold)

*Ardent Censer (Take this when your team is Auto Attack Reliant)

*DeathCap/Ludens/ Mejais (When your team is snowballing/wealthy and you are allowed to be greedy)

*Hourglass (When the enemy team has assassins or you need protection to not be focused)

*Twin Shadows (This item is op, no one ever buys it, and i promise you, it will catch people and win games late game. Nice MS also)

*Morrelo/Athenes (You can buy morel vs. healing comps)

Random Support Items, you can buy these anytime you wish, if you want them/need them. It's okay to buy them.

Skill Order: W, E, Q

Masteries 9-0-21 This gives you 10% cdr to start with. Also, the new 20% codlin reduction on item actives is really op with your Banner of command and Ancient Coin Speed Boost

Edit: New Build for patch 5.10: (Replace Ardent with Twin Shadows if you have no Auto Attackers on your team)

Thank You for reading.

72 Comments

OhthePiplupMay 27, 201520 votes

The only tank items soraka should get is item 3083 and item 3065 . Because soraka doesnt need tank but she needs regen.

Zair UmbrasMay 28, 20153 votes

Less of mogs since you don't want to kill yourself faster. o.o

ChaoticPineconeMay 28, 20153 votes

You kinda need a Spirit Visage for max heals on the Q. the passive on the Warmogs is too good - 3% max health regen when out of combat. It doesnt help during a teamfight, but you can top off any of your carries after the fight if you survive to keep pushing.

and i found that you need to build soraka tanky. You only to heal-spam your carries in one fight before the enemy blows everything to kill you. Ive had assassins blow all their spells trying to kill me as tank Soraka because of one fight where you keep everyone alive.

Zair UmbrasMay 28, 20155 votes

You can build Soraka tanky and even I go SV on Soraka, but Mogs has a tendency of hurting you in a team fight. It's not uncommon for the enemies to instantly focus you because your heals are outrageous with how low of a CD they're on and how easily you sustain by hitting 2-3 people non-stop in a team fight, BUT... Warmogs makes you lose more health.

A big problem with people and playing 'Drain Tanks' or 'Sustain Tanks' is that they build health. Health is wonderful, it really is, but not on a Sustain-based champion. A WW with a FH and SV will be much better off than one with a Warmogs and a SV just because the armor from the FH synergizes with the sustain since it lowers the amount of damage taken, so you get to keep your low health bar and sustain with huge numbers because the sustain is actually tiny, but you're taking so little damage that you're able to use that weak sustain to your advantage. When it comes to Soraka, Mogs is nice when you're not focused, but a good majority of the time, you're a high priority target and need the resists and armor rather than health, that way you laugh at anyone with a LW/Void, like tanks, while still being able to sustain incredibly well off of the carries due to the fact you're build with high armor and resists rather than health and letting your sustain act as health.

This is also why people can't play Aatrox in the jungle. You can't drain tank with a Cinderhulk. It really, really doesn't work, especially when your passive heals you based on your well, not by your % health and his W heals for a certain amount, not for a %. Plus none of the jungle items really works well with his kit 'cause let's face it... Warrior is iffy at best for him, Cinderhulk doesn't work well with his kit, Devourer requires farming, something he doesn't excel at, and AP Aatrox isn't legit enough.

AFK PushMay 28, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Boku no Pokemon,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=3rRR0BIx,comment-id=0005,timestamp=2015-05-27T23:08:13.799+0000)

The only tank items soraka should get is and . Because soraka doesnt need tank but she needs regen.

at the same time I feel like a item 3027 is better since it gives hp/ap/mana and regen.

FuzzyDevilCatMay 28, 20151 votes

Soraka doesnt need tanky items, due to the fact she uses a percentage of her health, if he build ap, she will get alot of healing done, to herself, and her allies (plus minions) spirit visage, isnt good for soraka, cuz she doesnt need the health, the only thing with heath would be item 3027 do to it give ap/health/and mana

UPfreelyMay 28, 20154 votes

both are horrible items on raka it takes about 7 seconds for warmogs to break even after every heal and 20 seconds if you're taking damage.(assuming 2k health) it takes 17-50 seconds to pay for the entire heal. spirit visages' passive offers about 12 AP worth of stats to your self heal at rank 1, 33 at rank 5, with no AP.

stick to resistances for tankiness and AP for self healing. only go health against unavoidable true damage, or when necessary(e.g. sightstone/aegis) coin and/or biscuits make you a sustain monster in lane, you don't need to build items for it.

useful tidbits:

it takes 63/88/113/138/163 AP to double your self heal at each respective rank. it takes 200/250/300/350/400 AP to double your heal at each respective rank. you can get over 35 HP5 from runes, scaling yellows being the most efficient and becoming equal to flat yellows at lvl 5.

EnchantéMay 28, 20151 votes

how about rylais? it helps her slow better, gives some AP and health?

Rinky DinkyMay 28, 20151 votes

Her base regen is so trash that getting those two items is not worth it at all.

Your better getting AP and landing Q's

Fashion MageMay 27, 20158 votes

I agree completely. Also glad someone else realizes how good Twin Shadows is. :>

flibitydooMay 28, 20155 votes

item 3083 is the best item on raka though

the % max health regen gives you plenty of health to heal teammates. And even though the 3x healing is reduced when you take damage, soraka's infusion doesn't disrupt this (infusion also does not disrupt mobility boots)

Colgate GatorMay 28, 20155 votes

{quoted}

is the best item on raka though

the % max health regen gives you plenty of health to heal teammates. And even though the 3x healing is reduced when you take damage, soraka's infusion doesn't disrupt this (infusion also does not disrupt mobility boots)

Interesting, I didn't know this.

Lost In TimeMay 28, 20155 votes

I don't understand the logic behind Tank Raka.

She isn't meant to be in range to be attacked, nor does she have the CC/Damage to be close range. If you poorly position and subsequently get caught, then that's your fault; building Tank may be a crutch for bad players in lower elo.

Her W is for allies, her R is Global. Her two other abilities are for zoning or self-preservation. Nothing in her kit screams "I NEED TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT" - actually, that would be extremely counter-intuitive of her design.

Reaper SorakaMay 28, 20151 votes

Tank raka used to work somewhat well when we could heal ourselves which in addition gave like 50 armor. Our E also instantly silenced targets, interrupting any combos they may have tried to use on us. Raka tank was my ticket to gold last season, but her abilities don't compliment the tanky play style anymore since her rework.

PartholonianMay 28, 20151 votes

{quoted}

She isn't meant to be in range to be attacked

Oh, good. As long as nobody trying to kill her has some kind of ability that changes their position relative to her, she'll be fine with no defenses!

Sometimes the fight comes to you. A lot of times, actually. Even more times once the enemy team realizes how much harder it is to kill your teammates while you're alive, and how much easier while you're dead.

Lost In TimeMay 29, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Oh, good. As long as nobody trying to kill her has some kind of ability that changes their position relative to her, she'll be fine with no defenses!

Sometimes the fight comes to you. A lot of times, actually. Even more times once the enemy team realizes how much harder it is to kill your teammates while you're alive, and how much easier while you're dead.

Have you actually played Soraka lately though?

Nobody focusses her, and if you dive past the front line just to reach her, you're subject to get beat up by the rest of her team while she heals herself. Hence why I said POSITION PROPERLY

If you cannot, then you deserve to die.

Tank Raka still loses HP just as fast while healing while putting out piss-poor heals. There are trade-offs to builds, but Tank Raka doesn't gain much in relation to what she loses compared to other builds.

PartholonianMay 29, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Have you actually played Soraka lately though?

Nobody focusses her

This is completely not my experience on her. Different builds for different situations then?

And for a substantial part of the game she can't count on having a genuine frontliner around, anyway. It's just you and an equally squishy champ that may or may not help you in some sense, but it almost certainly won't be with peel (because they are unlikely to have any and if they did they wouldn't waste it to save an inferior being like you -- not every adc has this kind of attitude but a substantial majority do).

FantasySniperMay 28, 20153 votes

Only item 3065 and item 3105 are worth getting when it comes to health.

item 3083 is horribly inefficient. The health is 100% wasted, so you're only left with the regen, completely ruining the cost and slot.

kile147May 28, 20151 votes

I wouldn't say item 3083 is horribly inefficient, I generally don't build it but if you're getting focused hard then building tanky is the way to go. item 3065 item 3110 item 3023 would give you 3000 HP, 190 Armor, 85 mr at lvl 18 and have her be very tanky, while still being able to heal really efficiently. I'd say that while item 3083 on it's own may not be ideal on her, with its synergy with it could work really well on her allowing her to be an off-tank healer, instead of her normal role as The preimiere Healer

FantasySniperMay 29, 20152 votes

When you're healing, every point of armor, MR, and health are wasted because you're spending the consistent 10% of your max health with every cast.

Being a tank as Soraka only helps if you're not healing others. Really counter-productive to her role.

Building AP means you heal yourself and your teammates more, so you need to cast less often, making AP more of an exponentially efficient stat on her.

kile147May 29, 20151 votes

Of course it is, offensive stats are always more exponentially efficient, but I'd get to heal 5 times in a fight for 200 hp, instead of healing my teammate for 500 hp once, then dying because I crumple in a strong breeze. You should always build AP if you can, but realistically you're not always going to be safe, so building some defensive stats gives you staying power.

FantasySniperMay 30, 20151 votes

Buying any MR, Armor, or Health is wasting your gold because it only increases the value of the cost while doing nothing for the gain.

Buying AP gives more to spend and more to gain from spending it.

There's no if, ands, or buts about it, the only defense items worth building on Soraka are Spirit Visage and Aegis of the Legion items (even then, BoC is highly preferred).

WumachineMay 28, 20153 votes

i think the only tank item soraka is ever allowed is spirit visage and/or locket

theragingnerdMay 27, 20152 votes

bitch pls its all about that ad soraka

Lt CuddlesMay 27, 20152 votes

item 3065 Is still okay, r-right?

kile147May 28, 20152 votes

That's fine because the healing amp counteracts the negative effects of the extra health. He's just saying make decisions like item 3060 over item 3190 because on Soraka 60 AP is worth way more than 200 extra health.

Lt CuddlesMay 28, 20151 votes

Oh good, I was hoping so. :3 AP raka time~

kile147May 28, 20153 votes

It's also awesome when others on your team get SV too, because then its more heals for everybody!

Lt CuddlesMay 28, 20152 votes

Yay!

ThorpinsMay 28, 20152 votes

How about Uberdanger's Full Ad Soraka?

Hard4HamstersMay 28, 20152 votes

item 3069 item 3065 item 3157 item 3089 item 3060 ----------------------- item 3110 item 2049 This build is pretty bananas. Deathcap is greedy, feel free to swap in a sightstone if you are trying to be a more traditional support. If you are going that route, Frozen heart is another good choice to support your team better with the Aura.

Krys StarMay 28, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=MyNamesAmsToki ,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=3rRR0BIx,comment-id=000d,timestamp=2015-05-28T03:10:35.321+0000)

----------------------- This build is pretty bananas. Deathcap is greedy, feel free to swap in a sightstone if you are trying to be a more traditional support. If you are going that route, Frozen heart is another good choice to support your team better with the Aura.

You're honestly not being greedy by building Deathcap. Soraka has the most selfless kit in the game. By building deathcap, you're acquiring more AP which in turn heals your allies for more and yourself for much more so that you may continue to heal your allies (hopefully) endlessly.

DJ Hatsune MikuMay 28, 20152 votes

Yup. People don't realize she's a snowball/late game power house that builds lots of ap. Makes me sad cause she's really sold but horribly under played.

KaipopMay 28, 20152 votes

Her self heals are crazy with ap

ShineySidesMay 28, 20151 votes

It is all about healing efficiency and effectiveness.

If you stack HP on her you a reducing the ability to self heal from Q. Eventually to the point where you have to land multiple Q's to compensate for the healing you are putting out. This in turn drastically reduces the amount of healing you can put out before you go "out of mana" by running out of life.

Basically by stacking AP, I can full heal myself and do thousands of healing to allies with the amount of hp I gain from landing a SINGLE Q. Furthermore by stacking AP your heals become more powerful, to a point that you can critically outheal the damage the enemy team is putting out.

Basically at ~ 600 ap, I self heal 305 hp PER target I hit with a Q. Then heal someone 600 hp like 5 times in a row.

PartholonianMay 28, 20151 votes

Then you get hit by one Xerath/Nidalee Q and explode instantly.

It's not ALL about healing efficiency and effectiveness unless the enemy team has absolutely no way to touch you ever. Which would be great if it happens, but don't count on it.

lDontLiftIcarryMay 28, 20151 votes

I dont see any issue with geting mikeals/rylas/acension/iron solari as your items on soraka.

kile147May 28, 20152 votes

It's not that they are bad, it's that building health is kinda punished on her, so building item 3060 instead of item 3190 is usually the better choice because that 60 AP is worth more than the 200 extra health

XinotineMay 28, 20151 votes

I always build her full AP ^^ Heals to full- Soraka is just so much fun. Also I build movement speed to avoid dying.

If only Sightstone didnt give HP....

MVDuneCatsMay 28, 20151 votes

{quoted}

If only Sightstone didnt give HP....

This is what I don't get. Would you get Sightstone if the +HP was removed and not replaced with anything else? I can understand not building +HP when it means giving up an item slot for something other than HP. But choosing a Sightstone that has only wards over a Sightstone that also gives HP doesn't make sense.

If Astral Infusion takes you down to 90% HP, it technically "cost" more HP to cast it with +150 HP from sightstone. But you also have more HP left. 90% of 1000 HP is 900 HP. 90% of 1000 HP + 150 from sightstone is more than 1035 HP.

XinotineMay 28, 20151 votes

Her W passive. If you are missing 100 health and its 10% (1 W) of your HP it takes less landed starcalls to heal up than if my 10% was 200 health.

Of course I still get Sightstone but I never get Ruby Sightstone.

Sugar MommaMay 28, 20151 votes

ALWAYS start item 3303 on Soraka !!

She can proc it so easily with her Q and autos and it gives you more gold for a full AP build.

PartholonianMay 28, 20151 votes

Her Q is slow and her autos put her in "please kill me" range.

Now that item 3301 is actually on par with the other items' gold gains AND gives you the self sustain you need when enemies don't just stand in your Q all day, it's a clearly superior choice.

XProcMay 28, 20151 votes

I build AP in SR and in ARAM I build Warmog's/Spirit Visage/Max AP and carry with no problems lol

MaratsuneMay 28, 20151 votes

I usually build AP Soraka, but I really don't see the problem with building a lot of HP on her. I mean, yes, technically your heal costs more, but it's the same percentage. And the more health you have, the more damage you'll be able to take from enemies. Obviously full tank seems like a bit of a mistake, but health definitely can't hurt?

FirasourceMay 28, 20151 votes

I'm going to look into trying this build you've suggested. I use some of the items in there, but would like to switch it up. Thank you for the advice!

NielarkenMay 29, 20151 votes

item 3060 item 3110 item 3069 item 3117 item 3504 item 2045 Just saying

Heal and ForgetMay 29, 20151 votes

Instead of debating which to build, I truly think you should have a healthy balance of cooldown reduction, health regeneration, movement speed, and AP.

Health regeneration is immensely helpful in the early game during laning phase. Nine HP5 seals and 2 HP5 Quints, along with the 2 minor points in the defense tree will give you enough regen in the laning phase to be able to liberally heal minions to deny the enemy ADC CS as well as top off your own ADC when needed.

Of course, cooldown reduction is the one common factor in any Soraka build now, so much so that I recommend running 10% CDR in runes. With 10% from masteries, this equals 20% at level 1, which is extremely potent at making sure ANY level 1 engage on your ADC will not kill him/her if you start with W.

I used to run full AP runes on Soraka but realized that a combination of CDR and health regen is better for the early game. You can then build your choice of AP item once laning ends. This would usually be Twin Shadows, Banner of Command, or Ardent Censer. After this, the next item depends on the game:

Rabadon's or Luden's.
Warmog's Armor if both teams have 2-3 tanks so fights are longer and if I feel like I can't safely self-heal from Q lands.
Guardian Angel if enemy team has an assassin that can instantly kill me.

In short, health regeneration is very good for the early game. But as the game goes on, it is better to build AP.

EvalerianMay 31, 20151 votes

Updated*