A suggestion for Sona

Vesarixx·Aug 9, 2016·2 votes·710 views

With her winrate still being relatively high it's apparent that more nerfs are likely to appear in future patches. I have a suggestion that might save some time.

When someone is healed by Sona, they are marked for a short duration, during this time any additional healing from aria of perseverance is reduced in effectiveness. potentially stacking for a further reduction until the mark expires.

Sona would still be able to heal other members of the team, use her W for shielding, charge powerchord and get some additional healing on the same ally, but this would be a way to keep her single target healing in check.

12 Comments

DionesusAug 9, 20162 votes

zlumpyAug 9, 20161 votes

Thats too big of a nerf to heals though. Someone in league needs a decent heal without having to slash their own wrists to do it geez.

If it were up to me I'd cut her mage like power and turn it into a buff to allies instead. Same dmg but now it is added onto another player requiring someone else to do the dmg creating a limit on it.

Btw I love sona but with her Q being what it is it will never stop being bitched about since most people cant seem to be bothered to out range her q cast and punish her for poor positioning.

VesarixxAug 9, 20161 votes

I wouldn't want to have her Q damage reliant on other players, way too many problems from that, also the reduction doesn't need to be huge, could be like 5%, but if it stops her losing 10-20 base heal or something it's worth it as a trade off.

zlumpyAug 9, 20161 votes

But thats a problem that want to play a dedicated healer type style. Out right nerfing her healing will make a playstyle more difficult and therefore less useful. Her heal is only really a problem come late game where the sona team can get in and disengage allowing themselves to top off. In a serious fight it isnt that hard for many dedicated dmg dealers to out dmg her healing. Especially if the team buys the anti healing item like they are supposed to against a dedicated healer champ.

I understand also that changing her q to be a buff to allies verse direct damage would also be a drastic change to a playstyle. So now we have the problem of Riot not wanting supports to be too heavy on poke and damage, and riot not wanting supports to be able to heal pretty much at all (I'm exagerating but only a little. Riot is ona crusade to ruin healing in game)

So it comes down to picking one or the other and changing it in a meaningful way as to remove the "unfun" aspect of playing against her. More people complain about the Q auto target and power chord follow up being too strong so changing that to be different seems like the way to make the largest number of people happy.

Yes it will piss players off but so would W change. At this point there is no right answer to changing Sona to make her fun for everyone foe and player alike.

Sorry for the long post. (Also personal feels are that tbe 4.13 patch ruined Sona. She was the most fun to play back then and not too many people really seemed to struggle against her but oh well. Riot never goes back on a rework even if it would be for the best.)

VesarixxAug 9, 20161 votes

I'm kind of going on the assumption that her heal is likely to be targeted for nerfs in the coming patches, I get what you're trying to say with the Q changes, but having your success rely too heavily on other players feels pretty bad for the player so Riot has tried to avoid it in the past, it relies on having the other player knowing your champions kit so it creates some big inconsistency from game to game. Also it's a major hit for anyone who plays AP Sona. The upcoming changes in the next patch might be enough to balance her who knows, none of this may be necessary. Honestly if they were to finally bite the bullet and make Sona's Q a skillshot I'd be open to that, especially if it could damage minions if it passed through them, maybe give her some actual wave clear, like if it dealt bonus damage to minions but less damage to champions after passing through minions I think they could balance around that pretty easily.

I do agree with the previous rework being kind of crappy for Sona players, I'm no fan of Riot Fearless that's for sure.

zlumpyAug 9, 20161 votes

I'm just tired of everything being a skill shoy anymore. It probably needs to be I just so irritated how targeted skills keep getting removed. New dazzle on Taric is great but was there really any problem with a single target stun?

VesarixxAug 10, 20161 votes

I get what you mean but an ability being a skill shot rather than targeted actually opens up a lot of potential power they could put into the ability, plus being able to actually clear waves is pretty much the last thing Sona would need to be a viable mid laner.

TrolljimuAug 9, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Thats too big of a nerf to heals though. Someone in league needs a decent heal without having to slash their own wrists to do it geez.

If it were up to me I'd cut her mage lick power and turn it into a buff to allies instead. Same dmg but now it is added onto another player requiring someone else to do the dmg creating a limit on it.

Btw I love sona but with her Q being what it is it will never stop being bitched about since most people cant seem to be bothered to out range her q cast and punish her for poor positioning.

go play soraka/janna you dont belong playing sona

Milodic MellodiAug 10, 20161 votes

She's already getting nerfs to her E's speed and Ult's Passive CDR. Wait and see how this plays out before suggesting champ-altering changes that are undoubtedly unfair and pointless.

Milodic MellodiAug 10, 20161 votes

Know why I said "unfair and pointless"? Because of this:

"When someone is healed by Sona, they are marked for a short duration, during this time any additional healing from aria of perseverance is reduced in effectiveness. potentially stacking for a further reduction until the mark expires."

Which pretty much means you want to gut her as a Support, because making her healing less effective to a single target means her only real benefit to her ADC in Early Game will be her Q -- which she has to get in AA range for, making her prime good ol' ass-meat for Draven and Tristana to indulge on once they realize your ADC can't be healed properly. In fact, she heals multiple targets in her AoE aura so your're saying that if she wants to keep her team sustained in a teamfight she has to give up on any future heals for a good duration or else she's wasting mana. Seriously, don't let game modes affect your judgment in real PVP. One For All isn't meant to be taken seriously, so stop treating it like it should be.

Harvey RabbitAug 12, 20161 votes

No they will buff her again to make sure she is always OP, even though the laughably small nerf still leaves her in an obviously OP position compared to most other champs. She is a big moneymaker and someone at Riot seems to have a special love for her. DJ Sona is obviously the skin from all in the game that got the most resources invested in it, and probably one of the shop's biggest moneymakers.

Just remember two patches ago when she was already way OP, they buffed her so hard it broke the game and they had to revert the buff mid patch. That tells you everything you need to know about the balance Riot is trying to find with Sona.