A clear feedback [with questions] to the Rioter who balance Soraka.

First of all, you are awesome.

You got a challenge on your hands that have been around since season 3 [or even maybe 2], a bomb that after multiple attempts of balance from countless Rioters [im around since the version before morello rework] have never been/feel to be on the exactly right spot, sometimes by her theme feeling off, sometimes because of numeric balance.

The coolest part is that i can feel you are trying! You are going after to solve some of her problems right now in this very last patch [in this case about frustration playing against her].

I'm here talking to you** not** because i disagree with your plans of balance, but to talk about Soraka theme, Soraka uniqueness and to remember what this character have faced so far on countless balance/modernization attempts.

I want you to engage in a conversation with me and the community to, at very least, help us to understand how you feel and think about this champion for now and the future.

I have some major questions with this post that i would like to make in the end of it after looking on this time line:

Pre-rework Soraka ----------------> Reworked Soraka ------------------> Modernized Soraka ------------------> Nerfed Modernized Soraka

Pre-rework Soraka was a mess. It was trully bad. Her starcall design would be way more effective on a tank champion, and her base numbers made possible a thing called Top/Mid Soraka to exist. You could actually build tank on her and just spam starcalls to win teamfights or your lane. She was way off from her actual theme.

Reworked soraka tried to give the first steps starting to embrace her role as the main healing support character.

Soraka, different from all other supports of this ENTIRE GAME, have a theme focused directly on your team mates and not on your enemies. I remember morello talking about that in the past.

Try to think about a support, anyone. Janna? She is really focused on fliping and pushing people away on many moments. Karma? Dealing damage, giving movement speed and holding people. Thresh? CC for days on your enemies. Try to be creative and focus a lot on what each support of this game do or have to offer all the time, the result might be surprising.

Only Soraka have her main theme around using skills on your allies all the time for their own behalf. As the owner of a powerful tittle of the only actual true themed support, she is, indeed, our most special support.

Maybe that was the problem at that moment. She is so weird comparing to our balance "know how" that any small attempt with new skills on her could already be considered a bold move / basically impossible to balance, at least without further iteration. Morello with his design experience understood that and took his time thinking about the solution with the next team that would take her.

So we did it. Soraka received a health cost and was decided she would have to interact to gain health back to continue healing. She would now have to bare more risk so we could, in the future, give her what she deserve and that was amazing.

Although doing only that never fully addressed her theme problem, an attempt of adjustment was made and we felt progress.

Modernized Soraka came as an attempt to reduce her self peel potential and bring even more iteration

By changing the way her healing works on herself and adding a more reliable slow on her starcall, this was the moment Soraka started to face once more a natural step on her quest for a good, cool and healthy identity. This time facing her OP self-peel potential. The problem is that everything went strange in a way hard to understand.

Huge amounts of slow, momentary movement speed, reliable hard CC combo and powerful lane phase, Modern Soraka suddenly was walking in the direction to be a strange version of Nami.

As we learned how our new Soraka's lane phase worked, we approached more and more something like Nami's lane phase. Strong slow, possibility of hard CC in strong trades were somehow part of new Soraka kit that allowed, for some reason, builds around way less heals to our friends. The thing is, why?

Was those changes being made because of the direction Soraka had to go after a huge thought about her role in the game, like morello did, or just because it was more convenient to have her with a lane phase close to Nami as it was easier to use and compare? I never felt Soraka was anything like that.

She became hyper strong on lane phase, with a weaker mid-late game [due to lose self-peel potential what is ok], lost a good chunk of %AP potential [her self-heal used to benefit most out of that] and started her new life in this new Soraka cicle. Less ap, stronger lane phase, and less heals. Modern Soraka, here we go.

** Nerfed Modernized Soraka came naturally as her numbers were too high**

So we entered in the era where Soraka started to receive countless nerfs to her new stats.

We nerfed how her passive interacted with her new mastery, nerfed how much movement speed she could receive from landing starcalls, if she could run freely or not, starcall damage, mana cost and now we saw her healing receiving a new nerf on her cooldown.

I'm not talking directly about numeric balance here as i'm sure all those nerfs reflect an amazingly high win rate, but it break my heart seeing Soraka's lane phase turned in to a tweeked version of Nami's at the cost of part of something connected to her true identity. Soraka still don't live for her theme but i think we could listen more about that from you. ** 1- What are your thoughts about Soraka? Are you happy with her state? Her direction? 2- How you approach her theme?
3- If we could imagine a Soraka without an on hit reliable Slow but that had something to incentivate aggressiveness, would you accept suggestions? 4- What would be your thoughts on modifications like the ones below: ** Starcall: Don't slow anymore, costs way more mana, activate Rejuvenation, gives movement speed.

Rejuvenation: Last longer, may stack 1 more time if landing another starcall during the duration of Rejuvenation, if stacked this way turns into Divine Rejuvenation.

Divine Rejuvenation: Increases movement speed bonus from starcall, Soraka regenerates way more health than rejuvenation, Soraka healings are x% stronger and Equinox also absurdly slows targets on hit and on step. The duration of Divine Rejuvenation can be increased if landing more starcalls.

Equinox: Way less damage, lower cooldown.

Characteristics: Lack of reliable CC. Weaker killing potential Easy to run out of mana if misusing starcalls. Can be outplayed by avoiding her second or first starcall. Very clear window of power [Landing the first starcall and going after the second one] Easier to balance over Divine Rejuvenation State [nerfing / buffing this state] . Different feeling to her lanephase and fight potential. High [very high] reward to risky interactions. Very skilled players being very different than not skilled ones Possibility to nerf her base heal if divine rejuvenation is strong enough [leading to more interesting lanephases].

**5- Do you think that CC is a vital part on a support life? **

Well that's it, thank you for your time! :)