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As a Sona player, I'm not a fan of her auras.

Caseo·8/6/2015, 4:06:18 AM·1 votes·1,673 views

TL;DR - What do you think of Sona's auras? Are they integral to her identity as a champion? Are they taking power and agency away from her kit? Would you be okay with a rework that removed her auras to add more active power to her kit?

I'm a Sona player. I'm not the best in the world, or the region, or likely even in my ranked League. What I do have is a lot of games played on Sona, and a lot of experience with what she can and cannot do.

Sona as an individual champion is drastically weaker than almost any other champion in the game. This is mainly due to the fact that a large portion of her power budget is in her auras, which can potentially affect every member of her team and represent a huge source of "invisible" power that has to be accounted for in balancing her numbers. Sona has been based around her auras since release, which is why I'm hesitant to demand a change - I get that many people may view her as THE aura champion. However, in my experience, her auras have never been a satisfying part of her kit. Her damage, her healing, and all of her base stats are very low to allow for the fact that she can buff all of her teammates in a teamfight. Despite these auras being a key part of her power, I don't feel good when I tag my teammates with them. Buffing one champion's next auto-attack, shielding one champion for 1.5 seconds, speeding one champion up for 1.5 seconds - every little thing feels so miniscule, like Sona's abilities have been broken up into a dozen tiny fractions of a meaningful spell. Obviously, however, Sona's auras are not useless. Sona hasn't dropped below a 50% winrate in most queues and ranked divisions for a very long time, and she's definitely one of the most beginner-friendly champions in the game. It could be that I'm selfish in suggesting she be changed.

That's why I'm asking you, the community, what you think of Sona's auras. Do you think they're satisfying to use? Do you think they're important to her identity? Would you be okay with seeing Sona's kit changed to remove them and make her more of an independent champion, still capable of benefiting her allies, but with more direct and active effects with distinct limits and strengths? Do you think she's fine how she is?

Please let me know what you think.

30 Comments

OverpoweredSoap8/6/2015, 4:08:55 AM6 votes

Sona's auras are what make Sona, Sona. That and her passive.

However, that being said, they feel....Odd?

They don't feel weak, but at the same time they really don't feel strong either. (Her E is a huge example of this, it does it's job well, but kind of not really.)

I feel like if Riot were to remove her auras, then people would be upset, but at the same time they're honestly one of the reasons it's pretty hard to balance Sona.

Professor Ward8/6/2015, 4:27:46 AM3 votes

I believe sona to be one of the overworked champs in the game with a kit that has ALL KINDS of things going on, all of which are decent in the meta and not underpowered. Making her in my eyes, top tier support.

Best way i can state this is that sonas auras are not used effectively 99.9% of the time. (especially at lower elos) and when they are its usually by happenstance or due to close proximity team fights; where then most of the time (solo queue) your teamates dont even know theyre being buffed.

However **If sonas auras are used to their fullest in lane they are op as all hell. ** But most people cannot communicate with their adc THAT PERFECTLY, i even watch lcs players use sonas PRIMARY effect while **seemingly ignoring the auras. **

I do feel like her kit is extremely nice right now seeing as if your not focused (again happens 90% of the time due to focusing mid/adc) then the amount of things you can do in one 10 second team fight cant be rivaled by most supports.

While most supports are on 10-20 sec cooldown after hitting only one/two enemy champs sona is getting off AT LEAST Two to Three passive auto attack procs that hit like a truck Two q's that hit two champs each time and to be back on topic "add magic damage to allies" with the aura Two w's that will sustain teams to victory over and over again(life and shielding) Two e's that give speed (one of the more underrated stats in league) and a slow if youve been auto attacking as you should (see passive) And an ult almost any support champ would trade for. Ease of use is simple enough for a bronze 5 to land a 3-4 man stun. Again game changing.

WHICH IS ALL GOOD AS LONG AS YOU DONT GET HIT TWICE ;D

~Kennylay

ABlueQuaker8/6/2015, 4:21:44 AM1 votes

For starters, you've misused the term 'hidden power'. Hidden power is something that a Champion could be equally strong without. It's usually something in the Utility department E.g. Grievous Wounds on MF or a MS boost on a champion who already has a lot of chase potential.

Sona's Auras are actually really strong. Compare them to items that grant similar auras and you realize how much its worth.

Koala Frenzy8/6/2015, 4:50:24 AM1 votes

As a sona main who climbed to plat with her, I think her auras actually feel fine, especially when grouped. Her speed boost is exceptionally good. She makes sieging easy, can engage, disengage, and even provides respectable burst to carries. Her W has great synergy with ardent censer and really only her Q aura has a weak feel outside of sona's own use of it. I kind of miss persistent auras and maybe they could last longer so you can tag more people who aren't clustered.

The only thing sona needs right now is more late game survivability. And an aura that blocks thresh hooks.

Linna Excel8/6/2015, 5:13:25 AM1 votes

As someone who's played her before and since her rework...

I miss the spammability of her skills, mainly her old Q and W where more spammable back in the day. Nowadays you have to be spot on with your use of W a bit more and your Q's aura is dependent on your allies using it well... I don't like trusting my allies with power because I'm really not in an elo where I can rely on anyone. At higher elos I'd probably like it more.

Still, I kind of miss the old spammable skills Sona.

FantasySniper8/6/2015, 5:18:19 AM1 votes

I feel like Sona's Auras are just so iconic and integral to her kit, that to replace it with anything simpler would be an injustice.

They feel satisfying to me. I block an ability with the shield, help close or expand the distance for teammates, they deal shit-tons of damage within an instant.

Although they are the greatest strength in her kit, they are also her greatest weakness. If your positioning is not strong, it is very difficult to utilize the actives while simultaneously taking advantage of her auras.

There's very few changes you can make to her without her becoming overwhelming right now.