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Why is Sona's Q not a skillshot?

Seviang·2/26/2015, 4:49:49 PM·4 votes·2,461 views

I play a fair amount of both Zilean and Sona. Zilean's recent changes to his Q have changed his playstyle in lane quite a bit, but I really like the direction the change has taken him. There's a lot more versatility to the skill now and he's a higher skillcap champion now which I like.

Previous to his rework, Zilean and Sona had a fairly similar role in lane in regards to harrass. You spam Q to zone off the enemy ADC and get them behind or even out of lane. Because of the difficulty of avoiding their harrass damage, if they get a favorable lane matchup there is little that can be done to prevent them from winning the lane.

This has caused me to wonder why Sona's Q is allowed to exist in its current state. It's an auto targeted, guaranteed damage skill as long as you are in range. Its damage, particularly in combination with her powerchord, outtrades most ad carries in the early stages of the game. Her current playstyle forces opponents away from low early damage, hypercarry style carries (think vayne, twitch, or kog'maw) as well as forces the choice of a hard engage support. Most mage supports, especially those lacking sustain, will struggle against a Sona lane with little counterplay options available to them.

To summarize, I think that Sona's Q and her powerchord make her too difficult to balance. Depending on the numbers given to her, she will either be useless or an overpowered bully.

What do you guys think, is Sona's Q a healthy ability for the game? Regardless of what you think of her current strength, is an auto-targeted ability that empowers ranged auto attacks something that promotes a healthy playstyle for her and her opponents.

28 Comments

DJ Di02/26/2015, 5:06:48 PM6 votes

I agree that they should have changed her Q with the rework, but she's not OP because of it. It does a whopping 40 damage at rank 1.

I disagree with your hypercarry statement, though, it's dumb. Champions like Vayne, Twitch, and Kog'Maw are supposed to be weak to early poke champions, aka Sona. She also doesn't force hard engage; Nami can outsustain her, Soraka can outsustain her, even Janna doesn't have as bad a matchup as she used to against her (her E can easily block Sona's Q+Stacatto). The only champion I can think of that she dominates is Lulu.

Reikken2/26/2015, 5:20:41 PM4 votes

Alright dawg. Tell me how to intuitively skillshot in two indepentent directions at once.

mvargus2/26/2015, 8:24:50 PM4 votes

You are upset about Sona's Q?

Now I've seen everything. I think.

As others have said Sona is a very squishy target. When I ADC and the other team has a Sona support I have so many ways I can get her out of the lane.

ADC as Jinx - W to damage/slow her and then minigun her until she leaves lane ADC as Sivir - Q to poke at range, W to get guaranteed damage should she try to approach to hit her Q ADC as Ashe - turn on Q to slow and kite her ADC as Kalista - kite her ADC as Corki - his burst will drop Sona quickly ADC as Lucien - use his dash and then burst ADC as Vayne - tumble then burst ---- Etc for the other ADCs all you have to do is get one good trade in and Sona will be recalling or dead.

Supports Thresh, Blitz and Leona can use their hooks to start a melee with Sona, she rarely survives those without burning her flash. Zyra can use her E to hold Sona down for her ADC Morgana and Lux both have their binding spells Janna has her E to shield the damage or can Q for the knockup to disrupt Sona's approach Nami can use her bubble. Braum has a nice shield or can use his slowing attack ---- etc.

Sona's Q is not the worst for chewing through mana, but it does use it up quickly and it auto-targets the closest targets usually. Hang back and you can get minions to eat the damage for you. Then hit her while her Q is on cooldown.

This post reminds me of so many that I see. Someone who struggles against a champ or watches others struggle thinks that the ability/champ is OP and that changes need to be made. That's not always true. Player skill and knowledge have a huge effect on the outcome of matches. Knowing what a champ can do means you are better prepared to fight them. In this case you clearly don't entirely understand Sona's kit and stats and think that her poke which does not have to be targeted is somehow OP.

And the example someone gave of Sona hiding in a bush and chasing the other team out of lane was laughable. Any good support should have been dropping a ward in there and if it really was a Leona, that Sona should have been hooked, stunned and killed immediately after that ward was dropped. The fact that the support neglected an important part of their duties made it so that Sona could overplay.

I know how this works because I had a game long ago as a support where the other ADC/support combo would hide in the bushes every time my ADC and I left the lane. However, I kept stealth wards up in the bushes. We'd come back and know they were there. We'd let them attack (and miss) with their abilities and then move in for a kill while their abilities were on cooldown. I even told the enemy ADC after the game that they had been gifting us kill after kill by not recognizing that we had the bushes warded and their surprise failed. If the other team's support had been warding properly your Sona hiding in the bushes would have been dying again and again.

Sorry, but Sona is not OP in any way. She's got a different playstyle, but that's all.

Raptamei2/26/2015, 5:00:54 PM4 votes

Stop whining OMFG.

Nova Skye2/26/2015, 5:27:24 PM3 votes

Her Q, while heavy damage, is unpredictable BECAUSE it auto targets (hi there, Sona main here). I actually have an easier time with her Mid than Support because her Q will too-easily switch targets to minions if the enemy champs are just on the farthest range of it - and if you go in to Q, good bot duos will auto focus you before you can retreat, so early level trades are a nightmare and I get sent back way too frequently. Mid, different story - getting close enough to Q-Staccato the enemy laner is easy enough and the extra farm feeds that Lichbane purchase. It's hard if you get camped, but then that means that other lanes AREN'T getting ganked, so they can breathe easier.

I think her Q is healthy if not a little too unpredictable. I'd like to see a skillshot but I also think that it would be too unlike Sona for that to be the case.

FDS Desperado2/26/2015, 5:08:28 PM3 votes

Because then Sona mains couldn't play by rolling their foreheads across the keyboard anymore.

EuphoricMind2/26/2015, 5:20:29 PM2 votes

I don't think I could agree with you any more.

I remember when I played Tristana one time against a Caitlyn Leona with Sona supporting me. She forced both of them out of lane pre 6 two times with me barely interacting with them. She would sit in the second bush while the opponents were zoned so far out that they couldn't even soak up exp (Low Golds in this game).

Sona's laning pattern is oppressive and lacks significant counterplay, which is something I thought Riot was so anal about. Sona simply has to walk up to you and power chord + auto (which people may argue is not hard or not feasible, but it entirely is when you have a competent adc who will also follow up with an auto. An 850 range non-skillshot poke on a support that's meant to serve as a utility champion is absolutely ridiculous and very frustrating to play against. There is no counterplay at all, because even if a hard engage support were to lock her or the adc down, she'd still get her shield up, heal both her and the support, and she'd kite back with her adc to the back line again of the lane while she sustains them both is constant heals. Every 3rd spell she will walk up and power chord you. 2 or 3 Q + auto's with power chord procced is enough to make anyone have to back. It's enough to let a Vayne FREEFARM against a Lucian as if champion power curves/counterpicks in bot lane didn't even exist. Her Q is absolutely broken, but that's only because her kit is so versatile in the sense that she has a shield AND a heal, in ONE ability. Riot, please wake up and fix this monstrosity. She takes the fun out of the game.

Lumus Avatar2/26/2015, 5:00:22 PM2 votes

Her powerchord evolves situationally, if you're a good Sona player. Q-chord is good for bursting a squishy, sure.

But E-chord is excellent for preventing the escape of a slippery assassin like Katarina.

And W-chord is great for protecting yourself and teammates from AD attackers like Varus by lowering their damage.

Can't always Q-chord...

SmokingPuffin2/26/2015, 6:21:46 PM2 votes

Sona Q is about as healthy as targeted harass gets. The power is conditioned on being within 350 range of the ADC and both Sona and her ADC landing a basic attack shortly after the Q. That means there is significant counterplay to the ability -- the opponent can use positioning and attacks to convince Sona that standing in that particular spot probably isn't such a good idea, and thus reduce the punch of the ability.

Of course, there is a school of thought that says all targeted abilities are unhealthy. Call that the Smite school of design. It's not an invalid opinion.

Abyssphere2/26/2015, 7:22:52 PM1 votes

I don't really agree that Hymn of Valor is too strong/obnoxious, nor that it makes Sona a game of numbers. For one thing, lane bullies aren't necessarily unhealthy. Caityln can zone people to hell and back too, but she's not considered a problem.

The main thing as regards it being auto-target is that Sona's rework was designed to put her skill expression in her aura usage rather than her activated abilities. Hymn of Valor is very mediocre as an activated effect, only the aura and Staccato give it any power. Aura range is 350, you'll make the most of it only through positioning well with your ADC. Similarly, you will take advantage of both its empowered auto and Staccato only by getting in close range. You open yourself up to harass when you go in for your auto-attacks and Sona cannot deal with an enemy that fights back. Her sustain is incredibly expensive and poorer than that of most supports.

It's the same with Aria of Perseverance. On paper, non-interactive heal. In practice, tiny duration shield that has to be used at the exact right moment and in team fights has very very difficult positioning.

As others have said, mage supports can deal with Sona. Your pick against her just needs to be either hard engage due to her lack of crowd control, or someone with great sustain (aka most other mage supports). You can lose lane horribly to a Sona but you can also win against her with almost anyone.

And at the end of the day counterpicks exist. Sona is not unique in having potentially good matchups, and she certainly has bad ones.

Solidair32/26/2015, 5:02:24 PM1 votes

Her Q deals pretty minimal damage unless you follow up with an auto. I don't particularly have a problem with her current Q because she's pretty easy to punish.