The state of Soraka

Heckin Support·Feb 28, 2018·11 votes·2,408 views

Is Soraka okay? I loved Soraka, I have her at rank 7 and own most of her skins, yet I feel like I literally can not play her anymore. Grevious wounds is so immensely crippling to her. Yah she might be good in the laning phase (unless your bot is butt buddies with the jungler) but during the teamfight phase when the ADC has Executioner's Calling and the mid laner gets Morello, I'm kind of useless in teamfights. The best I can do is just go around silencing important things and slowing people with Q while keeping my ADC active on ardent censor.

I'm just curious as to if people think she is viable, and if so then how the hell should I be playing her.

35 Comments

HópeFeb 28, 20189 votes

She is not useless in team fights. A well placed silence can actually win you a team fight. Also adcs dont build executioners calling in the whole early to mid game. Even late game its rare to see it. If they do build it remember its only on the target they hit, not on everyone. Either way your heal is still a bit decent at that point. I dont think Soraka is useless and i actually think shes really good.

TeémòFeb 28, 20183 votes

I was playing a teeto game last night and my morello on Teemo was making her life hell. They managed to last 60 minutes for her dark harvest eve and the rest to get stronger well I started falling off. I think it hit her really hard. Which she has a tough enough time in lane as is. I think until she can played mid because of the morello change she'll keep being garbage to an extent. As over base damaged mages will be played bot to take advantage of her.

Leaf on BushFeb 28, 20183 votes

If you think you can play around GW you are fooling yourself. Soraka is a gamble pick. You bet on enemies buying GW too late or not at all and then you just stomp them before they can blame their adc. This is the most deciding factor. You don't pick Soraka with the intention to play against GW and avoid it, it's just not viable because you can't, not healing is not an option, you have to heal anyway and it will get reduced by 40% and be ridiculously weak.

Picking Soraka is like a lighter version of flipping a coin. The results are blurred (because you still need to do other things besides healing) but at the core, the issue is the same. You can say the same about any other champion that relies on healing, but Soraka is affected the most because she has so many spells dedicated to healing.

You can flip a coin with 50% winrate it's just not very enjoyable gameplay because your influence as a player gets taken away.

Soraka is in a terrible state. Looking at her winrate will get you nowhere. She has issues that her winrate just can't reflect.

VICKLIUSMar 1, 20181 votes

is there a problem w/ GW(grevious wounds )then? as a fix should it only effect self heal?

Leaf on BushMar 1, 20181 votes

The fix to GW is this:

remove it or drastically reduce it (not just for healing but also selfhealing)
rebalance each and every healing source to be fair for both sides

Yes it requires a lot of work.

Yes Riot absolutely failed in patch 5.22 when they changed GW to affect only selfheal, because they did not even bother to rebalance Soraka and as a result Soraka just became op. It was obvious. They reverted the 5.22 change in patch 6.9. If you look at patch 5.22, again this is the patch where GW effectively got REMOVED for Soraka, you will find that there is only 1 change to Soraka: Base mana regeneration increased to 11.5 from 9. It's like a complete joke. Then you have no changes to Soraka in patch 5.23 In patch 5.24 they change a lot of things about Soraka but not touching the actual issue which was the heal amount. Starcall range up, Heal mana cost up, Ult no longer removes Grievous Wounds (oh the irony). I mean technically GW would at this point still reduce her self heal but everyone was just playing super backline healbot and it really was almost impossible to deal with it and many players said that it's "too uninteractive" which was absolutely true.

What you achieve, by removing grievous wounds, but only if you actually do the necessary rebalancing afterwards, is that heals are just fair to play with and against. Right now I would say that Soraka is just not fun or fair to play against because her in combat heals start outscaling damage to the point that if the ADC is just decent you ALWAYS win 2v2 and sometimes even 2v3. But as soon you buy GW you can ignore her. Goes from godlike to trash literally because of 800 gold and this is just wrong. It doesn't matter which side you are on, one side will get the short end of the stick, it's never really a good and fair game.

Lifesteal is kinda an exception because it can be seen as a pure item war, that starts with buying lifesteal and eventually the other side getting GW to deny the investment. I would still say that GW doesn't have to be that high even as counter to lifesteal. But we still need to look at it, because there are champions like Nasus or Aatrox who have lifesteal or effects similar to lifesteal in their kit and in that regard they are like Soraka and treated the same way by GW...unfairly. You can't treat Aatrox like an ADC that has bought 3 lifesteal items. You can react to your enemies buying GW by not stacking lifesteal but when Aatrox has locked in his champion he can no longer react.

VICKLIUSMar 1, 20181 votes

ik I tell ppl vs over heal tops to get exicutioners 1st an they don't listen an they lose, what if exicutioners gw had like a stacking effect like each aa vs target increases gw heal reduction by 10% up to 50%? an mortal reminder does full amount or even 25% stack.

this also why I don't like gw on thornmail, thormails gw needs only effect lifesteal, it a defensive item not offensive, an because of that it has put hp tanks in a bad spot.

and what did u think of my assessment of the state of soraka?

Leaf on BushMar 1, 20181 votes

I think her Q range and timing is pretty well balanced.

You also have to understand why her Q works the way it does. It's supposed to force her to take risks. If you want to heal efficiently you need to hit Q and then give heal + Rejuvenation to your ally while healing yourself as well. If you just increase the range of Q or make it faster or whatever then you have no risk at all and laning against Soraka would become a nightmare.

VICKLIUSMar 1, 20181 votes

not saying range on q, range on w , and no one else has that ability timing issue any more example cho'gath. her q doesn't even come close to the cost of her w, and it doesn't stack,

all q rejuvenation would need is +1% max hp=8%(over its 4 sec), or let stack current hp wouldn't work 1% could equal 9% on first half sec, missing hp too much regen when low hp, not as much regen as max hp option if high hp depending on amounts

o w8 u talking about my pass idea change, could she afford the increased cost? how would her being 2500 away for greater cost be different than her 500 away at current cost?

Leaf on BushMar 1, 20181 votes

Can you talk in complete sentences please? I really have trouble following your thoughts. You are making suggestions it seems but I don't know for what purpose or why you think these changes are needed.

VICKLIUSMar 1, 20181 votes

what don't you understand of riot changing all other champions that had inconsistent ability timing?

q's rejuvenation lasts 5 sec,4 on her, an q's cd is 5 sec so it is possible to land a second q while rejuvenation is still effecting her an get no reward for it(why I suggest stack), an it only heals her by 88 every 4 sec when her w cost is 180 and every 2 sec(why I suggest +1%max hp, no stack) ( these are ways to improve her current poor state of gameplay).

and her e is as slow as swain's w

although on the op side of the coin problem w/ her is how well she uses warmog's , because she never runs out of hp for w, which could be fixed by having her w go back to mana, q could then give mana instead of hp, thus getting rid of double heal from rejuvenation and she could heal herself.

if you don't like my pass change, an improvement to the current passive would be when moving toward ally champion +1.2% ms per 1% of their missing hp up to 70% ms

Leaf on BushMar 1, 20181 votes

If you build too much health you will run into the issue, that your W costs too much. This is why you should avoid building health.

You seem to have a tendency to go for Redemption a lot, but this comes at a price and lets not even talk about Warmogs.

If you want efficient heals, don't build health.

If you want to build health, you gotta deal with less efficient heals.

Building tanky is pretty much your last option when you can't survive otherwise, but then you can look for armor/mr first. Locket for example doesn't have that annoying effect.

VICKLIUSMar 1, 20181 votes

what do u mean don't talk about warmogs? it op on her, it literally make her w have no hp cost, ik, ive done it several times, I call it war raka, warmogs heals her 10% max hp every 2 seconds which are the same cost an cd as her w.

who here didn't know that?

I literally took a near dead jax healed him 10+ times an got him a penta while remaining at 100% hp.

u want efficient heals build warmogs

Leaf on BushMar 1, 20181 votes

Warmogs is garbage, games end before you even get enough health. So building towards it doesn't help you at all, it just makes your W cost more health and you heal less because you spend gold on stats that don't increase your heal output so you decrease your chances of winning early for the sake of winning later, but the longer you wait, the higher is the chance that somebody will get GW from the shop.

VICKLIUSMar 1, 20181 votes

well I know what I'm building so I know when to time it , to start building to get it heal when I build it, censor, locket, redemption, warmog

VICKLIUSMar 1, 20181 votes

Let me put it to u another way, do u think her q should be penalized because she is ranged? And the healing only does 1/4th of what it is for, is less then other self heals, and gets no reward from hitting multiple champions like several other self heals?

ZaneShadowFeb 28, 20182 votes

She's in an okay state

Win rates Champion.gg - 51.6% at the platinum+ level op.gg - 50.81%+

Succesful build item 3092 item 3504 item 3107 item 3222 item 3158 + Transcendence (the extra Ap does wonders for her healing when you multiply it by 45-55%) item 3047 for when the enemy AD get fed. (12 less ap but it is what it is) item 2055 X 500 because ya know. Support.

this build is kinda critical on her as Mikael's Crucible gives the HP regen that makes up for her chunking her health to heal people. you actually beat grievous wounds by 5-15% thanks to Revitalize. Grievous wounds is balanced around simply breaking even with a max heal support, but they give you Revitalize to slightly tip the balance in your favor. It's why taking item 3303 over item 3301 is such a big deal, since the AP is so important for maxing your healing value. Plus, you don't loose that much health regen over Coin thanks to Mikael's.

Item Win Rates item 3092 -55.67% item 3069 -50.73% WARNING: item 3222 actually takes skill to use. (apparently, according to a video I saw, never struggled back when I played Soraka quite a bit)

There you go. Data crunched and examined. Really just gathered from a couple of cites and spat it back at you

Soraka is SO HOTFeb 28, 20182 votes

These are the runes I use: https://i.imgur.com/xWjIht1.png[/img]

I used to do the item 3222 rush build, but have recently started going item 3174 for the blood charges, as I'm decent at landing my skill shots.

Generally my full build in order is as follows: item 3092 item 3174 item 3504 item 3107 item 3089 with item 3158 or item 3047

I tend to find that the amount of AP plus % heal boost can conquer grievous wounds when healing allies. The AP also empowers Rejuvenation, so landing Q's kind of removes the need for extra HP/5 regen.

Lately though I've been in a bit of a slump.

Any tips on the Starchild?

ZaneShadowFeb 28, 20184 votes

[{quoted}](name=Yuki Kaji,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=iI13FNZL,comment-id=00040000,timestamp=2018-02-28T13:03:43.286+0000)

These are the runes I use: https://i.imgur.com/xWjIht1.png[/img]

I used to do the rush build, but have recently started going for the blood charges, as I'm decent at landing my skill shots.

Generally my full build in order is as follows: with or

I tend to find that the amount of AP plus % heal boost can conquer grievous wounds when healing allies. The AP also empowers Rejuvenation, so landing Q's kind of removes the need for extra HP/5 regen.

Lately though I've been in a bit of a slump.

Any tips on the Starchild?

Hmm, well it’s like Real-estate: Location, Location, Location. Your positioning in a fight can not be overstated. The enemy wants you dead because you can effectively grant immortality to your team if played right. Make sure you watch for flanks and stay far enough back that a suicidal diver doesn’t get lucky hits in.

Damage wise, this build actually packs quite a bit, but your best off hitting a tank with it since your Q is slow, and anyone with a dash dodges super easily. Aiming for them will reliably proc it, enabling even more powerful heals.

Also, if possible, always hit Q before Ulting (or regular healing I guess) in a fight. W has a passive that massively increases your heals for the duration. Since the Q passive doesn’t actually specify single target, your ult applies it to your entire team.

The last tip is map awareness. If you see someone positioning aggressively on the minimap or your jungler invades, it’s your job to watch for any MIA laners, ping as required. If a fight breaks out and your not there, keep your finger over the ult key and get positioned safer than normal. If someone is low and the fight is still going, ult preemptively. Better waste your ult and over heal them than let it get to close and let them die. Besides, the extra health will likely give them the confidence not to run if it’s close, almost always the #1 reason for death below gold.
If your pressured in lane and can’t watch the fight, check their health bars every 1.5 seconds. I swear they put those over the mini map just for Soraka. That’s enough time to see your suroundings, adjust, then check again. Eventually you get good enough you can do this at any point in the game.

I’m not sure how revolutionary any of these tips are. But mastering each one and weaving them together is what makes an amazing Soraka player. I’m still working on it myself LoL.

Leaf on BushMar 1, 20181 votes

Pro tip: Sorakas base health regen is literally the lowest in the game, so items that increase her base health regen by a certain percentage like anything that builds out of item 1006 or the passive from item 3222 are not worth buying just for the health regen. Just getting one Ocean Drake would do more.

You can buy item 3222 item 3107 for the actives and other stats, but ignore the % base health regen increase, it's completely meaningless.

Rico NastyFeb 28, 20182 votes

She just needs a more interesting kit. Click-heal-click-heal-click-heal-occasional q-another q but you miss it-click-heal-click-heal-ult-situational e-click-heal is not a satisfying playstyle. Not only is it simple minded and unfun, but it's so frustrating for the enemy team as well. Raka's ADC is unkillable in the lane phase. She just needs an update to be more interesting and useful. All she does is click, point, and heal right now and it's just lame in so many aspects.

Ahri BakaMar 1, 20182 votes

Soraka is in a good place right now actually

rtbf221651412Mar 1, 20181 votes

[{quoted}](name=Hikari Sakata,realm=EUNE,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=iI13FNZL,comment-id=000b,timestamp=2018-03-01T12:24:39.313+0000)

Soraka is in a good place right now actually

Actually she is. Looked her up and she is tier 2.

FOR JUSTICEFeb 28, 20181 votes

GW has always been a problem for anyone who spammed healing, just now its become much more easily accesible.

Best advice imo would be to spam heal a target who dosent have the effect.

HäxelFeb 28, 20181 votes

i think its not that easy. Before most midlaners just bought Morellos Liandrys every game. Sure, Morellos just had gw under 35% health but that lasted for 8s adn thats the point there soraka mostly runs to lowlifetargets to ehal them, uses ult or uses redemption. Now Midlaners don't get realy often both items, they have to decide between item 3165 and item 3151 cause one gives gv for 3s and penetration which is good vs squishys and assassins and pokechampions tend more to buy that. And the other gives increased Damage and dot damage based on amxed ehalth good vs beefy champions and dotchampions and battlemages tend to buy that. Ofcourse both could be bought too or for rare circumstances a class can buy the item that is not so good suited to them, but in reality grievius wounds just got less on midlane which helped soraka and increased her wirnate with patch 8.4.

VICKLIUSFeb 28, 20181 votes

her q timing is inconsistent, further u target longer it takes, e x2 the time of any aoe reactivate effect, an doesn't stop spells already being cast so not much of a silence unlike kassadin's which does stop it, and it doesn't dmg minions. what do u build on her? I find she needs warmog to fuel her w, which is half range of other heals, I find her pass lacking, would like to see it allow her to cast her abilities at greater range for greater cost like 2x cost for 2x range, 3x cost if range from ally but out of yours, 4x cost for 2x range from ally(cant use on fountain), I find this would be unique and interesting while similarly keeping game play effect of her running to ally to heal/cast but also give her own independent pass thus making her stand out more as a actual stand alone champion, an not just sup, because most supports are reffered to as a sup not a champion, darius,brand,ashe are champions, zilean is sup.

PokladnicaZlaFeb 28, 20181 votes

I think she's actually in balanced state. She's not too annoying to face,but is still impactful if you play her.

MalrothDragoniaFeb 28, 20181 votes

Just a thing to point out, the new AP itemization means that grievous wounds is an opt-in thing now, as opposed to the automatic thing that every ap midlaner gets, so your chances of seeing it are reduced a bit. I think she should a bit more viable now than before.

Six Inch HealsFeb 28, 20181 votes

Why the sightstone from Frost Queen's (or whatever the tier 1 is called) and not the Pendant item? Serious question. Wouldn't it take a little longer to complete the quest, or does it rely on you hitting your Q pretty damn consistently?

rtbf221651412Mar 1, 20182 votes

[{quoted}](name=Leona Helmsley,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=iI13FNZL,comment-id=0009,timestamp=2018-02-28T19:47:41.889+0000)

Why the sightstone from Frost Queen's (or whatever the tier 1 is called) and not the Pendant item? Serious question. Wouldn't it take a little longer to complete the quest, or does it rely on you hitting your Q pretty damn consistently?

Can we stop saying sightstone as if it exists? It is called WARDS.
You want to hit your Q to begin with since you take 10% of your hp away from each heal you give.

Mountain WardenFeb 28, 20181 votes

This might be a dumb question but why build item 3504 and item 3107 ? Shouldn't you build one OR the other? My preference is for redemption on Raka because the active is amazing and the mana Regen is better. Ardent censer just doesn't feel good on her. She doesn't use AP very well and the movement speed seems superfluous. Anyhow just a thought.

Six Inch HealsFeb 28, 20181 votes

I build Ardent on her and other heal supports STRICTLY for the ADC/other AD characters that benefit from attack speed. On top of that, the buff in heal you get from it (unless it's changed recently, I don't hardcore pay attention) stacks on top of runes and other healing buff items like Redemption, so...

Mountain WardenFeb 28, 20181 votes

[{quoted}](name=Leona Helmsley,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=iI13FNZL,comment-id=000a0000,timestamp=2018-02-28T20:16:51.991+0000)

I build Ardent on her and other heal supports STRICTLY for the ADC/other AD characters that benefit from attack speed. On top of that, the buff in heal you get from it (unless it's changed recently, I don't hardcore pay attention) stacks on top of runes and other healing buff items like Redemption, so...

Well the "+10% to heal and shields" stat is unique so i'd reckon that one doesn't stack between ardent and redemption.

VICKLIUSMar 1, 20181 votes

it does

rtbf221651412Mar 1, 20181 votes

[{quoted}](name=Mountain Warden,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=iI13FNZL,comment-id=000a00000000,timestamp=2018-02-28T21:45:24.626+0000)

Well the "+10% to heal and shields" stat is unique so i'd reckon that one doesn't stack between ardent and redemption.

It does. Also, Soraka + more hp means less likely you will die from using your W and getting hit during that time. Yes, you still lose the % of hp, but you still have more backup hp. A autoattack that does 500 still only does 500. It is not on %.

Mountain WardenMar 1, 20181 votes

{quoted}

It does. Also, Soraka + more hp means less likely you will die from using your W and getting hit during that time. Yes, you still lose the % of hp, but you still have more backup hp. A autoattack that does 500 still only does 500. It is not on %.

Wow I just learned something today about stacking heal buffs. Mind = blown.