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@Rito Let's talk Soraka

Poro Princess·Jun 23, 2015·2 votes·1,059 views

First of all, HI!

Okay, so, Soraka is by far one of my favourite champions so far. I really love the ultra-healer characteristic of her, and if you play her slightly AP with good positioning and style (like Janna) she can be very powerful.

My one concern is: When you heal an ally with Raka's W you lose some health. This mechanic is fine and very interesting. However, what if this ally is at full health? I have noticed that unlike many other abilities in the game, Raka's W isn't blocked from being cast when the target is at full health. What does this mean? It means currently Raka can over-heal someone with no added effect other than to reduce her own health.

I don't know if this mechanic is intentional or a bug, or maybe something the rework team overlooked?

BUUUT, hear me out. While Raka is pretty strong as she is now, I would love it if Riot considered nerfing her. Yes, that's right, I'm asking Riot to nerf one of my favourite champions. Why? Because I think this W over-heal bug/mechanic can be used for some interesting things.

For example: If Riot made it so Raka overhealing a champion still took down her own health, but this target now got a shield instead of a heal, it would allow Raka to play in very different ways than she is played currently.

Another option is to restore the fabled Raka's Mana restoration ability. (For those who did not know, Soraka's E used to restore mana to an ally prior to the rework). This is by far my favourite option and it would restore a small amount of mana to the target if they were at full health.

Now, of course Soraka would be very strong if any of these extra features were added to her W - which is why I am also asking for a nerf to come with it to balance her out overall. However, if Riot would prefer to not add these suggestions, could you at least remove the ability to cast the W when the target is at full health? I have sometimes brought myself very low in health from accidentally targetting the wrong ally :/

Anyway, I would love to hear your opinions!

9 Comments

Nameless VoiceJun 23, 20152 votes

Personally, I think the only thing Soraka needs is to have the silence on her E fixed so that it actually applies instantly when enemies enter it, instead of after a delay.

Poro PrincessJun 23, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Nameless Voice,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=npaoBUuu,comment-id=0002,timestamp=2015-06-23T12:37:26.759+0000)

Personally, I think the only thing Soraka needs is to have the silence on her E fixed so that it actually applies instantly when enemies enter it, instead of after a delay.

I haven't had an issue with her silence having a delay? What's wrong with it now? Silence itself is a very annoying mechanic in my opinion. it's basically a stun where you can move, but it generally lasts longer and makes you nearly as useless.

Right now, say Kat is running at you to kill you and your carry. The delay will make it so that silencing the ground before she E-s to you impossible to stop her. Broken you might say. Or, you can silence the floor where you are, she will E into you and be made absolutely useless while you get to safety. Point is, for whatever issue you're having with a delay, there's probably a way to play around it. Because of that, I don't think she needs any help on her silence.

Nameless VoiceJun 23, 20151 votes

It's buggy.

If Soraka puts her silence field on a teammate and Katarina jumps to that teammate, she can still use her W and start her ult before the game "notices" that she's silenced, often giving her enough time to delete her target and possibly even jump back out. That shouldn't happen. The silence is supposed to be instant. In this case, Soraka predicted where the assassin would go and pre-emptively used her massive-cooldown ability in the perfect place to outplay her - and the target still gets deleted because the buggy skill doesn't react fast enough to actually do its job.

Poro PrincessJun 23, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Nameless Voice,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=npaoBUuu,comment-id=000200000000,timestamp=2015-06-23T15:39:05.577+0000)

It's buggy.

If Soraka puts her silence field on a teammate and Katarina jumps to that teammate, she can still use her W and start her ult before the game "notices" that she's silenced, often giving her enough time to delete her target and possibly even jump back out. That shouldn't happen. The silence is supposed to be instant. In this case, Soraka predicted where the assassin would go and pre-emptively used her massive-cooldown ability in the perfect place to outplay her - and the target still gets deleted because the buggy skill doesn't react fast enough to actually do its job.

Okay well if that's the case then sure, fix the bug, but you really shouldn't have to ask Riot to fix a bug, they should kind of do that themselves. I personally never experienced said bug so I didn't know! C:

5000000000000000Jun 23, 20151 votes

Wait, are heals in general blocked when you target full health targets? I thought they weren't since a lot of heals are also other buffs like MS and such. Since Ardent Censer is a thing, full health champions should be able to be healed for as boost.

Also, what was Riot's reasoning for removing mana restore?

Poro PrincessJun 23, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Wait, are heals in general blocked when you target full health targets? I thought they weren't since a lot of heals are also other buffs like MS and such. Since Ardent Censer is a thing, full health champions should be able to be healed for as boost.

Also, what was Riot's reasoning for removing mana restore?

They had nothing against the mana restore. They just felt like healers were too strong back then and reworked all of Soraka's abilities (which included the removal of her E restoring mana). Which is another reason to bring it back! I think it was a defining feature of Soraka and I miss it very much :C

Depends on what kind of healing you're talking about. Soraka's W used to be blocked on full health targets before the rework (and her E was blocked on full mana targets as well). Given that she loses 10% of her max health per heal, not blocking it can drastically ruin your survivability in fights if you accidentally miss your intended target.

However, since Riot recently started this fascination with healers and shields, Sona rework for example, I think that at least giving a shield to full health targets when she heals them would fit right down Riot's alley. Though, I still prefer the mana-restoration ability back.

Poro PrincessJun 23, 20151 votes

I'd also like to note that Ardent Censer isn't a very good item at all. I don't think I've seen anyone building it. Ever.

Even if you did build it, the benefit from healing someone at full health would be coming from an item you would have to buy and not from the champion itself.

CrazedPorcupineJun 23, 20151 votes

What I'd like for Riot to do honestly, is go ahead and leave the overheal in, but instead, make it so that the mana cost of W, also restores that much mana to the target!

I do like the other ideas where overhealing changes to mana or a shield that lasts x seconds though. I don't think either one would be a "nerf" per say, but would defenitely add depth and complexity to an otherwise simple champ. (Soraka is still a fairly difficult support to play WELL though)

Poro PrincessJun 23, 20151 votes

{quoted}

What I'd like for Riot to do honestly, is go ahead and leave the overheal in, but instead, make it so that the mana cost of W, also restores that much mana to the target!

I do like the other ideas where overhealing changes to mana or a shield that lasts x seconds though. I don't think either one would be a "nerf" per say, but would defenitely add depth and complexity to an otherwise simple champ. (Soraka is still a fairly difficult support to play WELL though)

She is! Positioning is key for her if you're trying to avoid building any health items. I would really love it if the mana restore feature came back one way or another, either give Raka the mana power again or some other champ/item.

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