Can we please give Sona a better lane phase

only zhule··3 votes·1,651 views

Yes i know her late game is still pretty insane, but her lane phase is just such a joke. You have a low health, low damage, low sustain, no mobility, no engage/disengage, champion in a game where the mobility and damage creep has been on a perpetual increase.

I have a simple suggestion, you know Sona's ultimate passive rank 2? (25% base cooldown reduction on all her basic abilities) Make those numbers her base cooldown and remove the passive. BOOM she is able to interact more in lane, and you get rid of that late game nightmare that is 67% CDR Sona. Reduce the mana cost of Q by 10 mana at all ranks, reduce the mana cost of W by 20 at all ranks (will also except -20 at rank one with each rank going up by 10 instead of the current 5). BOOM Sona can now do that play style of spell spamming, since her kit is designed to cast many spell per minute rather then 2-4 big ones.

My issue is simple, a champion should not be objectively weak till around level 9 (in a game where you are far ahead) to 11 (in a game where you are going rather even with the enemy). Sona has to many built in weaknesses and could really use an update into the current meta instead of wasting away back in the season 4-5 meta game.

14 Comments

Bondage Bunnyboy1 votes

But I like playing the only hypercarry support.

only zhule1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Heartless Seraph,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=P198cTGL,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2018-11-26T19:13:56.649+0000)

But I like playing the only hypercarry support.

I also enjoy the hypercarry aspect. But let me ask you this, how often do you play a game where you manage to get to level 16+ with a support(for more then a minute)? I know for me it's maybe 1 in every 70 games.

I just so hate how you don't really do anything during the lane phase, and honestly a good chunk of "mid game". Not enough damage to pressure the lane, not enough sustain to keep your ally safe, your "buffs" are single use so you can't play defensively and just passively make your ally stronger so they win trades. But the thing that keeps really pissing me off is how Sona can't seem to finish off super weakened enemies..... The number of fights i've lost because the enemy still had 5% of their HP after my Q "burst" is just rage inducing.

Bondage Bunnyboy1 votes

[{quoted}](name=only zhule,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=P198cTGL,comment-id=00000000,timestamp=2018-11-26T19:49:25.790+0000)

I also enjoy the hypercarry aspect. But let me ask you this, how often do you play a game where you manage to get to level 16+ with a support(for more then a minute)? I know for me it's maybe 1 in every 70 games.

I just so hate how you don't really do anything during the lane phase, and honestly a good chunk of "mid game". Not enough damage to pressure the lane, not enough sustain to keep your ally safe, your "buffs" are single use so you can't play defensively and just passively make your ally stronger so they win trades. But the thing that keeps really pissing me off is how Sona can't seem to finish off super weakened enemies..... The number of fights i've lost because the enemy still had 5% of their HP after my Q "burst" is just rage inducing.

She seems better than other supports starting at level 11 imo :3c 16 is just overkill and if you don't win at that point it's either a positioning error or super bad team.

My main issues in laning phase are when there's permanently a third enemy to deal with, which isn't really a unique problem to Sona.

Doge20201 votes

I personally don’t have much issue with Sona’s laning phase, I agree it could be better but I like that it is good enough for the player and the opponents to play around. Her poke isn’t overbearing but it also isn’t that much underpowered. I think that her heal CD is understandable for how good it gets late game.

Yes her early game is shit but I think that it is understandable for how good her late game can get. She is also squishy because she also has a lot of long range poke with her q, and auto attacks (and her Q passive auto), and she has a lot of safety with w, e and their passive auto attack effects (the damage reduction effect from W passive version and the slow from the E version). Not to mention she also has flash for more safety/aggressiveness and can choose ignite for more kill pressure or exhaust for a more support style champ by exhausting a assassin or somebody to lower their damage output or to slow them to allow you and your team mates to run away or catch up.

only zhule1 votes

{quoted}

I personally don’t have much issue with Sona’s laning phase, I agree it could be better but I like that it is good enough for the player and the opponents to play around. Her poke isn’t overbearing but it also isn’t that much underpowered. I think that her heal CD is understandable for how good it gets late game.

Yes her early game is shit but I think that it is understandable for how good her late game can get. She is also squishy because she also has a lot of long range poke with her q, and auto attacks (and her Q passive auto), and she has a lot of safety with w, e and their passive auto attack effects (the damage reduction effect from W passive version and the slow from the E version). Not to mention she also has flash for more safety/aggressiveness and can choose ignite for more kill pressure or exhaust for a more support style champ by exhausting a assassin or somebody to lower their damage output or to slow them to allow you and your team mates to run away or catch up.

so i disagree with you. But i feel i need to ask, at what point do you feel her poke is good enough to put some pressure in lane? At what point do you feel her W is giving enough sustain to actually help her ally(s) stay alive in a fight? No one disagrees that her late game is VERY strong, but judging a champion based on how they interact with the game at level 13 is doing a massive disservice if levels 1-12 are like walking on broken glass.

Like Sona is "fine" at level 9 or 10... but that also is around the point where you are rocking 35-45% CDR, have the bonus 10% off base cooldown CDR from your ult passive, have probably managed to grab enough items that doing 2-3 rotations of your skills isn't going to run you OOM for the next 2 mins, but most important of all that's also usually around the point where you can start getting your AP stuff / healing items. And that is the basic core issue, you need SO MUCH to get Sona up and running.

I'd also like to point out that her passive is pretty bad. On paper it sounds crazy, but you will rarely get a chance to use the abilities to their full extent unless your opponents are really really dumb and just ignoring you all together.

Doge20201 votes

One of the good things about playin Sona in low elo is that not many people respect my damage output with a simple Q+ enchanted AA. I can get away with building a lichbane first because most people will let me poke them and get my spellthief’s money, and with exhaust I can easily set up kills for my ADC or even for myself. The enemy laners let me stay back and I can have a way safer laning phase than they should let me lol.

only zhule1 votes

{quoted}

One of the good things about playin Sona in low elo is that not many people respect my damage output with a simple Q+ enchanted AA. I can get away with building a lichbane first because most people will let me poke them and get my spellthief’s money, and with exhaust I can easily set up kills for my ADC or even for myself. The enemy laners let me stay back and I can have a way safer laning phase than they should let me lol.

I'm not even that high elo, but i just never seem to run into that anymore. Your right if people don't respect her (let her walk right up and smack them), Sona can output some pretty decent numbers.

I really don't like accounting for what Sona "can do" with summoner 3 or summoner 4 because they are on such long cooldowns. It's the same reason i tend to ignore arguments that "Sona totally has a stun" because the thing is on a minute plus cooldown (Sona's ultimate should not be spam-able). An ability that you can only use once every several minutes is not a reliable way to secure kills or escape danger.

I do have a question though. At around what level do you usually finish your item 3100 ? Like it tend to go item 3098 into item 1001 into item 3070 into item 3158 then finally into item 3174 . And that shit takes me till at least level 9 to get.

zoliking1 votes

Sona can zone/poke with her Q right through minions, awesome trading potential with Q + enhanced aa and has great sustain with her healing ability, what the hell are you even talking about?

only zhule1 votes

{quoted}

Sona can zone/poke with her Q right through minions, awesome trading potential with Q + enhanced aa and has great sustain with her healing ability, what the hell are you even talking about?

Sona losses EVERY trade. No seriously, actually trade hits with any opponent and Sona comes out worse for it. What are you talking about her healing is great sustain? The thing does basically nothing during lane phase and is on cooldown so long you might as well not have it if a fight starts.

Sure the AA+Q+AA reset is great... sadly it's only possible about once every 30 second if you don't want to burn through your mana at breakneck pace.

Sona is a great mid to late game champions, that said her early game is just HORRIBLE. For a champion designed around casting a lot of low-mid impact spells, your kit sure takes it's sweet time getting you to the point where you can cast those spells.

chipndip11 votes

NO AND STOP ASKING

only zhule1 votes

{quoted}

NO AND STOP ASKING

..... weren't you literally arguing for this shit in my other post.....

chipndip11 votes

I want Sona overhauled, not buffed.

She's a solo queue problem. If anything, prep for a potential nerf if things go any better for her than they are now.

only zhule1 votes

{quoted}

I want Sona overhauled, not buffed.

She's a solo queue problem. If anything, prep for a potential nerf if things go any better for her than they are now.

i feel like you can buff her early game without making her late game any better. Maybe give her back the old ultimate passive of 20,30,40 instead of the current 10,25,40. Boom she starts her power spike several minutes earlier, but still caps out at the same point.

I do agree though i think a full overhaul would be quite interesting. See how Sona's "identity" translates into what the game has become since she was last reworked.

chipndip11 votes

You say this like she needs a buff.

I'm telling you that if Riot touches Sona, they're nerfing her.

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