Fixing Soraka

If you couldn't tell by the name, I am a Soraka enthusiast. Given that she is best girl in League, it wasn't really that difficult to become one. The string of nerfs, followed by more nerfs, that Soraka has endured over the years have flustered me greatly, but the last hit to her Q's damage has made Soraka nigh unplayable. I get it, you don't like her "uninvolved," playstyle and until you can think of a way to remedy that without pissing off her legion of fans you're going to keep her weak.

And we all know how long a good remake takes, so Morello (as you're apparently spearheading the Soraka initiative) PLEASE listen to what I am about to say. Soraka is not toxic, she just needs a bit of TLC...and buffs, lots of those.

Playstyle issues:

Currently, Soraka is played as a CDR tank because her AP ratios are trash, she does no damage, and the only thing she's really good for anymore is mana battery (which is what we are trying to avoid here)

With my proposed changes, Soraka players will actually want to build AP, play aggressively, and gasp not just sit back and be healbots..

So what's holding her back?

Starcall: You don't have to aim it, there is no skill involved in getting this move to hit, you just stand in range and mash your Q button until you break a finger joint.

Proposed changes

Variation 1: Hand of Gul'dan style

Soraka brings down a mighty burst of Celestial energy in a target location, which explodes, sending Star dust in an 8 point blast outward from the area of impact.

Take the current Starcall graphic, make it 10x bigger, and have it go boom when it hits the ground. Visually satisfying, allows for more decision making, and gives Soraka more room in her power budget as she now has an ability that can miss.

Variation 2: The Geometric AoE

This would just involve having Soraka's starcall start at her position and extend outward in lines using the points on a geometric shape of your choosing decide where and how far away the starbolts travelled

More changes to Starcall

The stacking debuff that Soraka currently gives her enemies is nice and all, but let's take it a step farther. Allow that debuff to act as a secondary resource system (much like Syndra's extra balls do for her ult). So now Soraka can use these debuff stacks on an enemy to inflict extra damage, get some CC, heal for more, or even perform an execute style blow (for Solo Soraka laners)

Give Infuse a bonus effect based upon the number of debuff stacks an enemy has. 1-3: A slow that degrades over time 4-6: A stun 7-9: A stun with a small AoE slow 10+ Inflicts heavy damage to a target; no longer applies stun or slow effects.

Infuse would consume all debuff stacks currently on the target to not allow for stacking CC or huge burst damage (because that would be hella OP)

In this vein, Astral blessing (and maybe Wish) will heal for more based upon the amount of damage Soraka has recently inflicted (or amount of MR shredded) with Starcall. It rewards aggressive Soraka players with big heals, and can allow for a better solo lane experience as well.

Obviously her damage dealing capabilities will have to be buffed (as they should be) and her base heal on Astral Blessing maybe shouldn't suck so hard that Nidalee and everyone else can out heal her.

Astral Blessing is another thing holding Soraka back. That point-and-click heal is so season 1. While it's certainly the way all the other Supports heal their teammates, let's make Soraka's non-ult heal a wee bit different from everyone else's to highlight her as the ultimate in healer magic.

Variation 1: Bless this ground, for I shall trot upon it, and you shall be saved

Soraka places an AoE on the ground that lasts for X number of seconds, healing Y every second for Z seconds. Allows for enemies with position altering abilities to stop healing from taking place and can allow for a team-wide heal if everyone groups up. It's basically a mini Janna ult without the knockback.

Variation 2: I totally stole this from the Shamans

Earthshield in WoW is probably one of my favorite abilities ever designed. It only procs a heal if the target is struck, which only makes it an effective combat heal. This ability also fits Soraka thematically as the "I must stop the killing," girl.

Variation 3: The Pump

Think Fiddlestick's Drain. Now think of that as a heal instead of an offensive ability. Having a channeled heal allows, once again for more decision making. It clearly shows the enemy who is doing what, allows them to retaliate, and opens up new options for Soraka graphics.

Variation 4: Look at mah balls

Soraka throws an orb of healing on the ground for one of her teammates to pick up. Can be destroyed if an enemy steps on it first. I have no idea if League's engine is even capable of supporting this ability style, but it's be cool if it did. Allows for lots of gameplay counters and decision making.

Variation 5: The reverse Shield

This is actually an ability I thought of for an entirely separate character (dual wields shields...because reasons) but maybe Soraka could use it instead.

It works like a normal shield in that you cast it upon a singular champion and they are surrounded by it, but instead of allies, you cast it on your enemies. They can do no damage to anything but the shied until the amount it is shielding for has been exceeded or the timer on it wears off.

So rather than shielding a single ally from all damage sources for a short while, you are shielding your entire team from one damage source for a short time. Rather than just make it a silence/blind with a pretty visual, I think the idea of having to attack a bubble of magic stopping you from hurting other players is a neat little concept.

Variation 6: mini mundo ult

A super increased hp/5 spell, versus a big heal, might be just what Soraka needs. Sure, burst healing is nice, but it's why she got nerfed so hard, the burst healing was too good. So giving her the ability to accelerate hp/5 (accompanied with a small damage reduction) will give her a way to keep teammates safe from sources of consistent damage intead of maybe stopping one final killing blow.

Variation 7: make it something else

In this version, Soraka's heal is removed ( Starcall now heals all nearby allies for a portion of the damage dealt) and replaced with a better CC ability than a silence. Probably not the best move, but having her healing directly related to damage output would all but force Soraka to play aggressively.

Mana user no more?

The main issue I see crop up about Soraka in terms of game design is that since League is not an MMORPG, having the mana for health system is simply not what you want out of a character because there is no decision making. You simply cast the heal, and wait for more mana. There is no more beyond that. Given the current mp/5 items, once you grab yourself a Chalice/Grail, mana isn't really an issue anymore and you can wantonly heal to your heart's content.

What if though, what if Soraka used health as a resource for healing? Her other abilities may or may not remain mana based, but exchanging her health for the health of her allies, once again, reinforces her lore as someone willing to do anything to stop others from getting hurt. It also makes heal spam a VERY bad decision on Soraka's part, unless she has some spectacular hp/5 going on.

Lastly, we'll be giving Soraka a base MR buff of 16 to compensate for losing her old passive that was totally baller for mid laning because it allowed the non-mobile squishy to survive initial assassination attempts.