I finally figured out why I don't like new Soraka

Zhugan·10/10/2014, 3:17:35 PM·4 votes·2,917 views

Soraka is supposed to be THE healer in LoL. The archetype of a healing champion. But, that's not what she is now.

Soraka doesn't heal, she just changes where the damage is.

If I want to play a real healer, I have to play Nami or Taric or Sona or Alistar. Because then, at least, I am actually healing and not just displacing damage. And, honestly, that makes me sad that the archetypical healer of this game isn't a healer at all.

To make matters even worse, it is very, VERY easy for Soraka to deal more damage than she heals with a traditional support build because she will build health (sightstone + locket) and will likely build very little ap (frost queen's). So, not only are you just changing where the damage is, you aren't even getting a good turnover because you're hurting yourself more than you're healing.

31 Comments

Tserris10/10/2014, 3:36:58 PM3 votes

Remove health cost altogether, give it a mana cost, targets healed now have a debuff that reduce healing done to them by Soraka by 10%, stacking up 5 times. Soraka can spam her little heart out, but now she has to focus her talents on more than one target to be effective.

True healer that has to focus on holistically balancing her team's health instead of being the piggyback machine she appears to be now. No one likes a healer that can spam spam spam heals all day, but health costs aren't the answer.

Morgana Senpai10/10/2014, 4:45:08 PM2 votes

Ya the health cost is pretty dumb, as well as no longer able to give mana to teammate is frustrating.

I actually do like her Silence Circle but her healing is...a pain

Made me want to rush Warmogs for health sustain...

Centuros10/10/2014, 10:39:43 PM2 votes

Try hitting enemies with your Q. Also, if she doesn't work with a traditional health-based build, try building her differently then.

NeroUS10/10/2014, 11:28:23 PM2 votes

I think the strange thing is that it displaces damage and is low range. This means you have to displace damage onto yourself, when you are probably pretty close to the enemy dealing the damage anyway. Perhaps, it is for poke.

EliteGunm4n10/11/2014, 4:37:31 AM1 votes

I don't entirely agree with the problems being mentioned. True she is technically displacing damage but is it really that different from someone like Aatrox who takes damage to deal damage. Soraka requires skill to land starfall to heal up and Aatrox must put himself at risk to autoattack and proc his sustain.

Also you don't need to burn all your life to heal your allies. It's not a matter of "heal that person and have no health for yourself". You will need to choose how much life to supply to your ally, keep them alive and still have enough health to be a factor in a fight.

Her heal procing a heal reduction debuff would hurt her severely in late game teamfights. If you have burnt your heals on your allies multiple times then your clutch ult save will be badly suffering from a 30% heal reduction.

Other champions heals have their own tradeoffs as well which seem to be ignored. Nami heal for example isn't very strong on its own and is very mana costly if it doesn't bounce.

It is true Soraka is not a solo lane powerhouse, she probably won't split push like Zed and she might not be a damage sponge like Nasus, but she is the only champion that can bring an ally from 0->100 over a matter of seconds.

Raptamei10/10/2014, 3:22:02 PM1 votes

Counterplay for enemies >>>> experience of playing the actual champion.

Olaf Talon Garen

JedenVojak10/13/2014, 5:46:09 AM1 votes

The problem with new Soraka is not the Health cost on her W, it's the unreliability of her Q and E, her low base move speed, and the fact that she only has 3 abilities when she's alone, rather than 4-5 like every other champion. I would be fine with her heal not healing her, but it should give her something else.

Aside from that, her heal should not heal minions, at all. Ever.

ceaselessphantom10/10/2014, 4:30:44 PM1 votes

You are wrong. Soraka is more of a healer now. Before when her heal had a large cooldown she was focused on damage.

The thing is now she needs gold. With high ap her heal is far higher than the health cost and her q heals large chunks of health. Basically without gold she is out classed by Sona. With gold she blows away any other healer.

What I would do to fix this is raise the base amount on her heal. Since she can not make use of it in solo lane which is the only way for her to get gold this will not open up the possibility of her becoming to strong.

But in all honesty I do not think she will ever be allowed to return to the support role. In order for her to heal for large amounts she will need to give up damage. Supports do not do that much damage as is so she will become nothing but a bot. and an all honesty I think she is healthy in this way as someone who farms in order to sustain her whole team.

All in all I think it would be better for Soraka now if they began balancing her around solo lane.

Gareth Tankin10/10/2014, 11:47:02 PM1 votes

Allot of you are playing Soraka wrong :/ She's a champ where you stack as much AP as you can get away with. Yeah if you utterly avoid AP and build token support items, the healing is just moving around the dmg and she tends to be a subpar support... but that's why I try to avoid that. You should get hp5 quints, start rej beads if you need early advantage in the lane, then build her core items as stuff like frostqueen's, archangels, zhonyas.

I've played near 100~ games as her, Nami/Sona/exc tend to be better champs if you don't get gold. Otherwise... Soraka can be allot better, .6 ap ratio on a 1.5s CD heal, .2->.4 ap ratio per target hit on her self heal... and the ratios are all true, you don't have to deal with magic resist.

Cu Sidhe10/11/2014, 4:13:18 AM1 votes

I always felt this kit should belong to a Necromancer type character. Sucking the life from your enemies and giving it to your allies? Definitely sounds like Necromancy to me! Hell, in the 2nd edition D&D Necromancer's Handbook there was a necromancy spell that did just that! Soraka seems to fit the more classic 'holy cleric/priest/whatever' archetype. I don't see them messing with life force much >_>.

I should note I mean master of life and death kind of necromancer, not the minionmancer kind.

Edit: Found the spell!

Life Drain (Necromancy) Sphere: Necromantic Range: Touch Components: V Duration: Special Casting Time: 6 Area of Effect: One creature Saving Throw: 1/2 By casting this spell and touching another individual, a priest may fortify another's life force at the expense of a victim. This spell enables the priest to drain 1-8 hit points plus 1 hp per level of the caster from a living creature. The priest may immediately bestow the hit points on him - or herself, or transfer them to another individual within 1-4 rounds of the casting. The stolen hit points can increase those of the recipient beyond the normal maximum, and these extra hit points only last for up to one turn per the caster's level. Any damage suffered by the subject is first subtracted from these additional hit points. Though predominantly employed by evil priests at the expense of innocents, the spell may be used by those of noble intent, but only if all participants act of their own accord. However, if the victim (the donor of the life force) is unwilling, a saving throw indi¬cates that the spell was partially resisted and only half the hit points were drained. Undead can neither benefit nor be harmed by life draining. It is possible, however, for an undead priest to drain hit points from a victim and bestow them on a living ally.