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Soraka: Are the Nerfs Actually Nerfs?

Itadaki Seieki··1 votes·603 views

Alright, so I was reading the PBE notes and I saw something.

Soraka Star Call (Q) range reduced to 800 from 950 Astral Infusion (W) Mana cost increased to 40/45/50/55/60 from 20/25/30/35/40 Wish (R) no longer removes Grievous Wounds.

Soraka nerfs.

I haven't seen Soraka get nerfed like this in a long time, so I played her as I do every champion that I take interest in before nerfs.

I come to find that her nerfs won't change anything dynamic. Sure her poke will be weaker, but her W needs more. Raising the mana cost isn't big, because it's not a lot compared to say, a Nami W, or a Sona W. It's the CD. With a 3 second CD that heals for 240+ health at max rank ( Not including Windspeaker's mind you ) she can spam it rather easily because it costs mana AND health.

I feel like adding a CD to Windspeakers and her W would help with this, because majority of the gameplay I've had from Soraka has been " W - W - W - W - W - Q - W -W Q - Q - W - W - E - W "

Spamming a low-cost heal spell that adds armor and MR every 3 seconds is just flat out not fun to lane against. Every game I've had a Soraka slip past the bans is usually horrid unless the Soraka dies two or three times early on.

I agree on the other two number ratios going down, though. Her poke is insane at the moment, and her ulti removing Grievous Wounds is rather unfair.

It's just the W. :|

9 Comments

dannykun4 votes

I mean Soraka was never much of a threat if you knew how to effectively deal with her in lane. Karma and any champion with sustained damage could either drain Soraka of both health and mana from forcing her to heal, or keep her too low to help her teammate effectively. I found karma to be particularly good because most people underestimate a mantra'd q's damage, and poking a soraka and forcing her to get in range usually results in an execution for karma. Other champions that do well against raka is Sona, and (oddly enough) soraka. she's a great champ yes, but she's also incredibly vulnerable to champs that can constantly harrass her and force her to get into range to try to get a heal off.

Nogrim3 votes

been using her as my main support since long before last batch of nerfs, frankly seeing these i think ill be putting her away for good, support is already boring as shit to play, nerfing the only thing she is capable of doing isnt going to help

dannykun1 votes

I dunno I think I hear the people who make the clips with dubstep over them only use the ones where Singed is warding because they're the most exciting. Running Simulator 2016~

Deep Terror Nami2 votes

That early game mana cost is really harsh, especially with the removal of mana pots. The CD is low so that cost can easily drain her resources and force her to recall more often.

Itadaki Seieki1 votes

I suppose. You make a valid point.

A little Peepo2 votes

The mana costs are actually a big nerf when u think about it. Before the mana cost was 20 at rank 1 but now it's 40, 2 heals before was 40 mana but now it's 80 plus 10% of ur health. The numbers may seem small but her mana costs were doubled and that quite a nerf considering mana pots were removed from game.

Late game soraka will spam during team fights so 4 heals cost 240 compared to 160 so that's a 80 mana difference, that mana could have been used for 2 heals before nerf.

yukumari1 votes

Plus it isn't really inexpensive persay, since it does cost alot of HP to use. By nerfing Starcalls range, it's indirectly nerfing her ability to spam her heal (By making her Q more difficult to hit). Soraka will have to get close to enemies (And minions) to hit her Q and get HP back. Doing so opens her up to poke, or damage trading both in lane and during team fights. I think it was a pretty solid nerf.

Professor Ward1 votes

She will no longer be able to safely throw q's, which is the most important facet of this nerf and will most likely kill her off.

Valderis Vandala1 votes

I see no problem with these "nerfs", the amount of healing you get from star calls during the laning phase almost isn't worth the mana it costs, it only gets nice once you get a few levels and can hit 3+ targets in team fights.

Not that I've ever had mana problems with Soraka, even if I don't built any mana items, its her hit point cost that truly limits her ability to continuously heal.

The range on her Q is also not much of a nerf, she needs to be close to allies to heal them anyway so you are still always in range for a Q, you don't spam this thing for its damage/poke anyway.

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