Can we make sona a little better please?

only zhule··3 votes·646 views

Can we see some small buffs on Sona? Mostly around her mana usage, especially in the early to mid game. Anyone who has played her knows that Sona burns through mana like it's going out of style. Her Q is well costed, it's not insanely high but it's not free, so you can run out of mana if you are just spamming the thing everytime it's up. Her other abilities though, are huge mana sinks for rather unimpressive returns, especially during the early game when Sona won't have the cash to buy a bunch of mana regen items. I do understand you don't want her to be unmovable from lane, but it seems rather insane that she often needs 3-4 mana items to stay active (not constantly running out of mana) during the mid to late game.

If the game goes long enough, I personally end up with item 2301 + item 3107 +item 3070 + maybe item 3504 . What makes that really disappointing is that without tear i still often find myself running low on/ out of mana if i have to chaingun spells for more then a few moments. So with 275% - 325% base mana regeneration i can still find myself unable to cast spells for prolonged periods of time. Again keep in mind that this is 2-3 items out of my build, 33-50% of my full item build is mana regen and i STILL have mild mana problems. If we include Tear in the list, which already means that Sona is behind on building the items she wants/needs, that means that a Sona player has to dedicate 50%-66% of her inventory to mana regen items. (As a quick aside, Sona would likely be in an even weirder spot if item 3107 wasn't a go to item for basically every support character)

I'm not even talking a huge decrease in mana cost, maybe something like 10 mana less to cast her W and E. Enough of a decrease that a "good" Sona player can squeeze 1-2 more spells out before running out of mana, but not enough of a decrease that Sona becomes an unmoveable/ inexhaustable wall of healing/ protection for her allies.

8 Comments

Kempachi Taichou1 votes

Sona is fine, low skill floor and even lower low ceiling.

Sir Fuzzi1 votes

Sona isn't shy for mana options or build options in general, which makes up for her stat-demanding kit.

Erockandroll1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Sir Fuzzi,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=eb4z9RAZ,comment-id=0001,timestamp=2017-05-11T19:29:52.887+0000)

Sona isn't shy for mana options or build options in general, which makes up for her stat-demanding kit.

I can't even see how OP is having trouble itemizing. You could get 3 fairy charms for less gold than a ruby crystal. (and much less than a tear) and it won't be a waste, because they are pretty much components into anything that Sona would build. (Honestly, if I have 125 gold to spare, I will buy a fairy charm on sona)

only zhule1 votes

{quoted}

I can't even see how OP is having trouble itemizing. You could get 3 fairy charms for less gold than a ruby crystal. (and much less than a tear) and it won't be a waste, because they are pretty much components into anything that Sona would build. (Honestly, if I have 125 gold to spare, I will buy a fairy charm on sona)

To answer your question. I want the ability to build more on her, item 2301 is kind of a clear item one needs as a support (or any sightstone), item 3107 has become an item that basically all supports build because an AOE heal/ damage, at huge range is always insanely good. item 3504 is kind of insane on Sona due to the ability to shield the whole team. some might argue that i should get item 3190 for even more defensive power (and they may be right). What i want is to be able to build damage after building 3 support items, all of which have mana regen, but i still have issues where chain gunning spells taps me out of mana pretty quick. Hell tear is only really good for that because of the refund effect.

Erockandroll1 votes

[{quoted}](name=only zhule,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=eb4z9RAZ,comment-id=000100000000,timestamp=2017-05-11T21:07:08.875+0000)

To answer your question. I want the ability to build more on her, item 2301 is kind of a clear item one needs as a support (or any sightstone), item 3107 has become an item that basically all supports build because an AOE heal/ damage, at huge range is always insanely good. item 3504 is kind of insane on Sona due to the ability to shield the whole team. some might argue that i should get item 3190 for even more defensive power (and they may be right). What i want is to be able to build damage after building 3 support items, all of which have mana regen, but i still have issues where chain gunning spells taps me out of mana pretty quick. Hell tear is only really good for that because of the refund effect.

Given the gold generation on supports, I would often find the game ending before even getting to an offensive item. More so if your building 3 solid support items first.

When I play Sona, I will get the Eye of the Watchers followed by Redemption. And while I do usually Buy Censor, I won't finish it right away, but rather build the Forbidden Idol, followed by a sheen. The reason I do this is to max out her CDR. This could also help with your mana problems in the mid game since Sheen will offers mana. Then I will complete Censor, followed by lichbane.

It's difficult to build offensively on Sona because her Q is her only offensive spell aside from her ult. Though Lichbane is probably the best situational item if you want damage. I usually build Swifties for my boots, and then, the game usually ends before I can even think about a 6th item.

only zhule1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Sir Fuzzi,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=eb4z9RAZ,comment-id=0001,timestamp=2017-05-11T19:29:52.887+0000)

Sona isn't shy for mana options or build options in general, which makes up for her stat-demanding kit.

The issue is more the early game. It's annoying late game to run OOM but it does happen. It's just a pain in the ass that if i heal my ally like 4 times, in early game, over the course of 2 mins i'm probably running on empty mana till i recall (or the enemy does).

The idea isn't to make her impossible to displace from lane, but that maybe she should be able to help her ADC more then twice without giving up most of her mana pool.

LyingOnLine1 votes

Yeah, let's not stop until Sona hits a 55% winrate in plat+!

chipndip11 votes

Riot's not buffing Sona.

I think the real issue is that Sona just has unsatisfying game play in most scenarios. Like...REALLY unsatisfying game play in most scenarios. She's also extremely item dependent as a support. Her kit has very old-timey philosophies tied to it in 2017, and even though Riot's done what they can to kinda skirt on by, players can tell that Sona's general game play isn't really their thing.

With this said, Sona's current situation is good enough that Sona mains can climb a good ways with her while she doesn't outright pube stomp the planet in low elo. Riot's not going to make a change in either nerfs or buffs for power reasons. I'd love to see a rework of her one day, but I doubt it'll happen, and if it turns out to be one of those "class wide" reworks...you know, Riot could probably just keep it if that happens. Their class reworks tend to be really hit-or-miss, and I don't want to risk them missing if I'm being honest.

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