Boards›Concepts & Creations

Sona Gameplay Update Concept

Stacona··1 votes·1,652 views

  • Overall goal here is granting Sona more decisions to make in the game which results in better skill expression, allowing the player to choose how they want to play Sona based on the individual, game, and situation.

  • Introduce a significantly better passive that is easier to understand for all players, offers a great mastery curve for those that want to main the champion, and has real impactful choices behind it that drastically change up how you use her abilities.

  • I do want Sona to still be easy to play, but easy to play does not mean no mastery curve, with more decision making in the kit for players to express themselves makes her a lot better for high levels of play without dominating low elo.

  • In this concept kit, I want to try to introduce something that is less frustrating to go against while still offering a powerful champion as champions should be. Great without being dominant or overpowered.

  • Finally, I want to try to focus Sona's power and make her less of a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none. With that said, she will still have crowd control, damage, and healing for my concept, but in a way where it could open her up to other positions and not be busted.

Attack Range: 600 units Movement: 340 units per second Attack Speed: 0.625 +2.5% per level Attack Damage: Average

Changing the Melody (Passive):

When Sona casts a basic ability, her next basic ability cast within 1.5 seconds will change its properties based on the lingering song. Only based on the last basic ability that was cast.

Hymn of Valor (Q):

Cooldown: 4 seconds; Cost: 45/50/55/60/65 mana; Range: 700 units

Sona plays a vigorous piece around her, dealing 30/50/70/90/110(+40%AP) magic damage, increasing to 75/125/175/225/275(+100%AP) magic damage to those within 350 range.

Changing the Melody: Deals 50 - 160 (+70%AP) magic damage. Harmonic Tone can now be cast against enemies and its cooldown and cost is halved. Crescendo deals 100% more damage, but no longer stuns.

Harmonic Tone (W):

Cooldown: 6 seconds; Cost: 46/52/58/64/70 mana; Range: 650 units

Sona plays a soft piece at the target allied champion, healing it for 10/40/70/100/130(+50%AP) health. Sona heals herself for 50% of the amount if she heals an allied champion.

Changing the Melody: Abilities can now affect allies and heal them for 10 - 75 (+40%AP) health. Crescendo stops at the first ally struck, healing it for 100% more. Harmonic Tone can no longer deal damage.

Crescendo (E):

Cooldown: 18/17/16/15/14 seconds; Cost: 60/70/80/90/100 mana; Range: 1250 units

Sona plays a passionate piece in the target direction, stunning the first enemy struck for 1.5/1.75/2/2.25/2.5 seconds.

Changing the Melody: Slows struck enemies down by 20% - 40% (+5% per 100AP) for 2.5 seconds. Harmonic Tone can be cast against enemies and its cooldown and cost is halved.

Sonata Waltz (R):

Cooldown: 130/105/80 seconds; Cost: 100 mana; Range: 600 units

Sona channels in place for 2/2.5/3 seconds to playing beautiful music that captivates all nearby enemies that hear it while it is playing, causing them to harmlessly dance around Sona based on where they first heard the music. Cannot attack, move, or cast abilities while channeling.

Additionally, Sona gains 250/400/550(+100%AP) shield for 3 seconds.

Casting Sonata Waltz again will end the song early, ceasing the music and dancing.

10 Comments

FlameHalbrdOkido1 votes

what about allowing players to create music while they play the game?

Also arent her E and R basically the same?

Stacona1 votes

E got turned into a single target skill shot. R is an area crowd control like fears and charms, but they start circling around Sona instead of away or towards, great for not only disabling a threat, but also to bring them either towards your team or away from your team based on her positioning and use case of what you want to do for the moment - engage / kill potential or peeling a target away.

FlameHalbrdOkido1 votes

{quoted}

E got turned into a single target skill shot. R is an area crowd control like fears and charms, but they start circling around Sona instead of away or towards, great for not only disabling a threat, but also to bring them either towards your team or away from your team based on her positioning and use case of what you want to do for the moment - engage / kill potential or peeling a target away.

but basically E is a weaker version of old R and ur new are is a stronger more nuanced version of the old R correct?

while i do like the ult u have come up with, in some situations aren't u kinda forcing Sona to risk suicide in order to peel for her allies?

while I like what u have done with the kit, putting more skill requirements in, adding more variety and choice, while i do think this is a better potential kit for Sona than whats current; i still feel like it fails her theme, wouldn't you agree that there should be some way for people to play music in a sort of way while they play as Sona? I'd say think of this as an opportunity to give her a Irelia style rework

also forgot to link this: https://discord.gg/AXGAset this is a place where u can get more/better feedback

Stacona1 votes

Yes and no, it allows Sona to have an on-demand stun which is very useful as a support, I also made her Q function better with a stun rather than be two random abilities. So functions better with the base kit itself and as a support.

Two things with the ultimate:

  1. Everyone who is in or walks in is under harmless CC effect, so cannot hurt anyone during that period.
  2. I did offer a self-shield since she is a squishy mage-healer and it is a close range ultimate, there is great combo kill potential with landing your stun to walk up and ult them to get them to circle around you (and have a really long CC time - which the balance is a low damage kit, with the option for more damage to sacrifice the stun outright).
  3. You can cancel it to end the CC early and become mobile again just in case you need to peace out quickly.

The ult is not suicide using it in a normal support scenario. It can be suicide if you Flash+R right into the middle of the team, it could pay out, but at the same time if the enemy reactively flashes away then you just killed yourself and as the healer you are a pretty important member of the team (this could be fine as a high-risk and high-reward type of play).

The idea of the passive is like playing a song, different notes and different music is different abilities based on what two notes you played back-to-back to each other. Anything more than two and it gets too hard and too complicated for players, Sona should still be easy to play, but definitely wanted to add a HUGE difference not only between 1 game and 100 games as Sona, but a huge difference between every sona player and how each one plays the game. ~ One Sona can be focused entirely on healing or one could focus on nuking their target, offering an entirely new way to play the champion. Plus Q is now AoE for waveclear so she can even be played mid (but the short range might make that not viable unless you are against a melee champion - short for the real damage).

I have done other musical champion concepts before, but Sona should be kept easy and simple for new players and focus on the skill expression for veteran players and those that want to learn everything about sona (she has zero skill expression right now).

FlameHalbrdOkido1 votes

{quoted}

ok thats seems pretty gud, but 3 sec is too long for what is basically an augmented Charm, basically Riot knows that for anyone: not being able to "play the game" or being CC'd for too long isn't fun. CC that lasts less than 2 sec seems to last forever in the heat of action. Additionally that length of CC is too much even if the rest of her kit dealt no damage, because the other 4 members of her team pack all the heat thats needed to end a fight during a 3 second "charm"

because it basically is a charm, i suggest u do some research on the max duration of stuns/charms that currently exist and see if u still think 3 sec is ok.

on a separate note would u mind if i posted a sona concept for feedback, since it seems u have done a lot of music concepts b4?

Stacona1 votes

It is an ultimate that does not deal damage on its own.

I don't think the problem is the duration, but the current state of the game, everyone needs more health and more durability to tune the game better.

It still is fine and barely better than Veigar's E as an ultimate.

FlameHalbrdOkido1 votes

{quoted}

It is an ultimate that does not deal damage on its own.

I don't think the problem is the duration, but the current state of the game, everyone needs more health and more durability to tune the game better.

It still is fine and barely better than Veigar's E as an ultimate.

regardless of how much dmg champs currently deal 3 sec is a sizable CC duration of which u can't do anything and the enemy team can. And then the issue isn't really about the dmg its about how it feels to be affected by this ult, cause you're not gonna be able to do anything for a whole 3 sec and that can feel like a lot of time and can be very frustrating, so even you balanced her kit out really well to compensate, you can't compensate for the opponents frustration of getting "kicked out of the game for 3 sec." I believe Riot has talked at length about this sort of thing b4.

it is in fact much better than Veigar's E because it has no cast time, and you also control where they move for 3 whole seconds, so it seems more like a team wide charm or Tahm W than Veigar's E.

Icy Hot Shoto1 votes

Am I the only one who's noticed you're trying to turn Sona into Odyssey Sona?

Stacona1 votes

I don't know what that means.

Icy Hot Shoto1 votes

{quoted}

I don't know what that means.

During the Odyssey event, almost everything you have as a passive was a perk you could obtain for Sona.

More from Concepts & Creations

A completely serious, totally legit question for Riot.
Concepts & Creations183 comments
2,280
votes
[Champion Concept] DhaMa, The Force of Balance
Concepts & Creations931 comments
1,424
votes
Elderwood Kindred
Concepts & Creations176 comments
1,062
votes
Bring Urgot's Nipple Back!
Concepts & Creations94 comments
985
votes
Petition To Have An Old Lady Champion
Concepts & Creations481 comments
947
votes
When Tahm Kench eats Lulu, he should say that it tasted purple!
Concepts & Creations109 comments
826
votes

More by Stacona

I am really happy that new Nunu + Willump is not a dark edgelord
Gameplay70 comments
64
votes
I feel ike... Cull needs a buff...
Gameplay65 comments
55
votes
The Burst Age for League of Legends Straight Up is NOT fun to play in!
Gameplay68 comments
50
votes
The One Buff Bard He Needs!
Gameplay24 comments
50
votes
This is a Creative Works Forum
Concepts & Creations72 comments
48
votes
Nexus Towers in 8.11
Gameplay31 comments
46
votes