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Does Sona's E need a better active?

ThornsOfTheRose·9/1/2015, 4:35:19 PM·9 votes·1,523 views

Hi guys! Some of you might remember me from the mini-rework idea I posted a while back (BTW thanks for all the replies and feedback! Appreciate it!). Link in case you're interested #shamelessselfpromotion: http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/UEFUTEqN-sona-mini-rework-idea-constant-buffs-active-auras

For this thread, I'm going to ask one simple question. Does Sona's E need a better active?

It's been known for a while that Sona's E is a rather lackluster skill (+1% per rank, lol), but people seem to be paying attention to the Aura portion only, even though her E active is also lackluster IMO. Currently, it goes something like: ACTIVE: Sona gains a burst of movement speed that decays to the aura bonus AURA: Tagged allies champs get bonus MS for 1.5 sec

A pattern that I've noticed with Sona's Q and W, is that both their actives affects two people. Q targets two enemies W heals Sona and one other ally

Would it be much better if Sona's E active affects two people instead? So it will go something like: E: Sona and the slowest (fastest? Might help with engaging) nearby allied champ gets a burst of MS that decays to the aura bonus (maybe make it cleanse slows too? Just a suggestion).

I know that a simple change like this won't completely fix her E's problem, but at least it will make it a much better skill IMO. So, thoughts? Any feedback or constructive criticism appreciated! :D

27 Comments

Reformed Dunni9/1/2015, 10:38:47 PM2 votes

I really do find Sona's E to be very lackluster, in fact the last game I played was with Sona and I upgraded it last. I have an Idea, what If her E slowed enemies if they are in her aura for 10/11/12/13/14 %? This would be a nice buff that I feel won't be that powerful but it will help and punish those who are close to her. Let me know what you think.

Carnage9/1/2015, 5:49:48 PM2 votes

I don't think it needs a change

AdanChristo9/1/2015, 10:30:15 PM1 votes

increase aura range from 350 to 600, and increase duration to 5 seconds

Zmuecat9/1/2015, 10:32:39 PM1 votes

Her E is fine in anything but ranking. The cooldown differences between Q, W, and E make it harder to use her passive. The amount of times I've been hit with her E passive by anyone who plays her since the rework can be counted on one finger, and I'm pretty sure that guy was a Sona main.

Mongoose9/2/2015, 1:53:15 AM1 votes

i'd rather have her e stay the same and her heal fucking gutted along with her q poke

Rundus19/2/2015, 2:18:54 AM1 votes

What if her E had a similar activation mechanic to Taric's heal? (If i'm remembering right) That way, if she uses it without a target, she gets a burst of movement speed greater than her usual and 5/10/15/20/25% tenacity and the aura is put up, but if she e's an ally, she gets her normal one and the ally gets a bigger MS buff that could possibly even stack with her aura and half the tenacity, making one person very fast whilst still giving the aura to her team? Before you say yes or no, think on this: Sona is the 3rd squishiest champ at lv 1 (after Anivia and Heimer) and the 11th at 18 ( after Cass, Gnar, Sion, Heimer, Karthus, LB, Nami, Mord, Zyra and Zilean) with her base stats. Now, other than Cass, Zilean, Karthus and Mord, all of those champions have hard CC without having to use ult to escape a sticky situation (Zil does too but it's trickier). In addition, most have extra defensive measures to prevent death that don't cost them 1/2 of their mana (i know it's an exaggeration, but geez does sona w cost a lot if it ever needs spammed 2-3 times in succession) such as Anivia egg and wall, Heimer turrets and e, Cass q boost and w AOE slow, Zil speed up for way more than a non-full AP Sona could dream of, Gnar's mega gnar health boost, Sion's stacking health, etc. Sona only has 1 non-ult cc ability and it's a slow that costs her a mini-exhaust or high burst damage to use. Now, she has a shield too on w, but at max lv with 1000 AP it's 315 health and lasts 1.5 seconds. Now that shield is great in trades, but not so great in getting away from an enemy with a gap closer or any cc of their own.
summoner 31 summoner 30 (Had to interrupt the long post and lighten the mood, so have a few poros) Zed, Lb, any tank, most adcs and supports, they can all take her down pretty easily unless she's got a team backing her or can burst them first. As the game goes on, her burst falls off unless you're full AP, and you still have very little mobility, so with this new e you'd be better able to keep yourself alive when faced with an opponent trying to ambush or stick to you. You're still super squishy, but this change would help both support and solo lane Sona immensely. Supports get a bit healthier a lot of the time, allowing the tenacity to help out and get you away, while the full AP solo lane would gain a lot more snowball potential as well as kitting capabilities. The tenacity and better MS boost would make leveling e second (or even first with a snowbally adc) a lot more viable as well as give her the power to be better than other supports at buffing her allies whilst retaining her good poke, whereas other buff-based supports pack more spammable cc (lulu q, janna q, karma q, etc.) I think these changes could really do a lot. Thoughts? (And sorry for long post.)

CoolKnightST9/2/2015, 11:00:36 AM1 votes

What if her E also removes slows on activation (doesn't work for slows that happen after that offcourse)

Prugar Senpai9/3/2015, 11:16:06 AM1 votes

I think Sona's E is a "one point wonder" type of skill. What it does and what can we expect from it: -helps your entire team move fast - great for mass engaging and disengaging. When combined with item 3069 it makes for some real fast movement. -helps you charge your passive -helps you catch out of position targets with your passive - the slowing power chord is OP.

And last but not least - It is not really needed on lane. This is a good thing and a bad thing in one. You will only have 2 abilities to use. One for harassment and one for healing. You will not spend extra mana on an unnecessary ability. You will not spend extra rank points in it, making your other two abilities more powerful.

I think the E is just about right. Not really needed early game, proceeding into a powerful teamwork ability powered by AP, just in time when Sona gets some AP.

Leave it as it is.

BeatRushVII9/3/2015, 11:18:21 AM1 votes

Sona has issues deeper than just her E. Shes currently balanced around only really being strong when in range of 4 other people. In a game where that is seldom going to happen for the first half of the game.

I miss he being useful in lane or small skirmishes.

ForPortal9/3/2015, 11:30:09 AM1 votes

As a music-based character, there are two mechanics that fit Sona well: timing and passives. Passives represent her magic as a melody, a constant effect caused by constantly playing music. Instant or timing-based effects represent her magic as individual notes. Current Sona's delayed trigger buff mechanic fails at both.

If I was in charge of fixing Sona, I would make the following changes: Hymn of Valor becomes note-based: if the on-hit effect is triggered within 0.25 seconds of the ability being cast, it does extra damage. Aria of Perseverence becomes note-based: the shield is twice as strong for the first 0.25 seconds after the ability being cast. Song of Celerity becomes melody-based: it provides a MS buff until another ability is cast, or perhaps one that decays over 12 seconds (meaning she can keep it up indefinitely by reapplying the buff).

Marthian9/1/2015, 5:39:47 PM1 votes

Rather be able to speed boost the entire team than myself and one other champion (That if goes on slowest, I have no control over)

NavyDivea9/4/2015, 1:50:03 PM1 votes

I Main support and play sona quite a bit in solo Q and the problem I find is that out side of laning her auras have little effect as being grouped up in a team fight is almost always 100% bad. While I like the re-work in general putting a back line support in the middle of a fight is usually asking for a free kill.

So the idea I had was increase her aura range by about 250 and increase her W shield time by 1 second. As for her E, maybe have it ignore, not cleanse, slows while its active. It would be a little different and situationally better or worse than a clease which would help balane the aoe affect.

1000angrybees9/1/2015, 5:40:23 PM1 votes

I don't think the active itself needs a change, it's the ranking. Possibly also needs something added on. There's literally no incentive to rank it up other than once at level 4 and then when all your others skills are maxed.