Soraka Tips

OH HEY I PLAY SORAKA!

I've seen Soraka built a lot of different ways, but I'll only talk about the builds and playstyles that I actually use. For reference, I am an unranked support main who plays blind normals, team builder, and ARAM. If pressed to name a single "main" champion, I would say Soraka, but I spend too much of my time pursuing new champs to really say that I main her, though pre-rework Soraka was one of my original favorites. I'll only discuss Soraka support here, since I have little experience playing her in any other role.

As builds go, I tend to build Soraka as a squishy mage support in lane, then build low-health tank items late. This allows me to offer poke and sustain in lane, when I can easily avoid being killed by the two or three enemies in lane, then survive mid and late game teamfights in which you will frequently be focused ("If they don't kill me, they don't kill anyone."). I have seen and played both health-stacking and low-health Soraka builds, and overwhelmingly prefer the latter. Keeping your maximum health low allows high efficiency in your ally-self healing loop, as healing allies carries a percent max health cost and your health return on Starcall hit heals a flat amount (source here). If I feel really safe or my team is steamrolling the other guys, I will sometimes neglect the defensive items for more magey AP/CDR items. I aim for 30-40% CDR in every game. My full build usually looks something like this: / , with appropriate enchantment, , /, , /, and . You'll note that this has a CDR overload, and that's because it's an average build, not one suited to the game. A more offensive build would something like , , , , , , , with Deathcap and Mejai's mixed in as appropriate. Other defensive sixth items I like are and , though I rarely have opportunity to finish them. I rarely build Mikael's Crucible, but that's because I suck at using its active. You should build it as a mana/MR item if you think you can use it to good effect.

I always start with a gold item, yellow trinket, and a mix of potions (usually three biscuits and a mana pot). Though I usually take Ancient Coin for sustain, Spellthief's Edge is a solid choice if you think you can poke safely. I rush Sightstone and red trinket, then my second level gold item (increased gold, mana, health regen if Coin start) though I will change the order if I cannot afford the stone on my first back. Next are boots (Ninja Tabi, Merc Treads, Mobi boots) and a mana item. My mana item is usually a Forbidden Idol, which brings CDR and builds into Talisman or Ardent Censer, as needed. Laning will probably be ending shortly after these purchases, so finish Oracle's Lens and choose your next purchase wisely. If I am confident in my ability to keep myself away from harm, I will build Ardent Censer or Twin Shadows, depending on how well Ardent Censer's passive synergizes with my team.

In blind pick, I always go 0-7-23 in my masteries, with all gold masteries. You can see my masteries in this match. Don't look too carefully at my runes, as it is my only page and I have not optimized it in any sense.

Skill order is pretty flexible. I wait to level a skill until my jungler has started their first camp. If I am leashing, I will often start W and heal them up for safer clears. If not, I start Q for harass and peel in lane. Some people discuss starting W for level one trades, but I tend to stay away from that at my level of play. I always have all three skills by level three, taking E last in almost every circumstance. If we are dominating lane or are taking very little damage, I max Q first for harass. Otherwise, I max W first for increased self-heals and safer trading, maxing E last.

Your laning style will either be offensive poke or defensive poke/sustain. In either case, your goal is not to get kills unless you and your ADC truly outclass your opponents, as Soraka does not have a strong engage or all-in damage. Harass with basic attacks and Starcalls, mana permitting, making sure to keep yourself safe. Soraka is very squishy and will die quickly if focused, especially since you will rarely be at full health. You don't have a lot of peel, so be cautious against engage teams and ward out carefully to avoid being caught by surprise by junglers and roaming laners. Use your Starcall for checking bushes and slowing approaching or fleeing enemies, or for helping your ADC in a fast push. Though Equinox is Soraka's most damaging ability (and an E/Q combo can chunk nicely), I reserve it for defensive purposes or for all-ins, due to its long cooldown. Equinox is handy against hard-engage supports and junglers, as it can interrupt combos by outright silencing and rooting them or their allies, or by forcing them to walk around the field and ruining the engage. Unless an enemy is already under crowd control or using a combo that forces them to stay still, I rarely place Equinox under their feet, instead placing it in their path, forcing them to walk around or be rooted, or under the feet of allies they are engaging on. When peeling, use your Q slow to help land the E root, and kite with Q if Equinox is on cooldown. Use your heal to keep your ADC at or near full health after trades or to help them survive all-ins long enough to kill the other ADC. Make sure you always have enough mana for a full skill rotation, prioritizing E and R.

Wish is a fun way to get extra Mejai's stacks with cross-map assists, but, more importantly, it is a big red panic button to press when one or more allies (or yourself) is low on health and is in trouble. Keep in mind that it heals more if allies are below 40% health (the same threshold as your passive), so you'll typically want to save it until someone is low. It also removes grievous wounds, so it may be wise to pop it before healing an ignited ally with your W. Though you will surely be inclined to use your ult whenever an ally is losing a trade, it may not always be prudent. Due to its long cooldown, discretion is advised when ulting, as spending an ult on an ally who dies anyway means leaving yourself and allies vulnerable for over a minute with no gain. Practice tracking ally health around the map and being aware of whether or not your ult will actually save a losing teammate or not.

In the mid and late game, you will start to focus more on healing, survival, and kiting than on poking. Your enemies become more dangerous and you will be focused in teamfights if you make yourself vulnerable. Unless you have a beefy front line with plenty of peel, you'll want to stay near the back line, peeling and healing for your damage dealers, throwing bananas at whoever you can reach all the while. You will, of course, want to step up every few seconds to heal your front line (for those sweet Ardent Censer procs) and heal yourself with a multi-target Starcall. Use your Equinox to disrupt enemy engages, to supplement allied CC, or to silence assassins and mages to keep them from causing trouble before your team can focus them. If you do get focused, turn into a kite and drain-tank your way to safety. With carefully placed Q's and E's, supplemented by // and enough move speed, you can kite like the champ, Jax Draven Ashe herself and keep a bruiser out of a fight long enough for your teammates to tidy up for your glorious return.

As in the laning phase, it is essential to maintain vision control into the late game, as just about anyone can solo Soraka if they catch her by surprise. Ward fanatically and tactfully encourage your allies to do the same. Check brushes with Starcall when entering unwarded territory and don't go out alone unless you know where all of your enemies are. Heckle your allies to upgrade their trinkets and maintain a pink ward. Ward dragon and Baron so you can get those sweet Starcall steals (regrettably, Equinox only damages champions, but it can prevent an enemy smite and help secure your glorious Soraka Baron steal). Ward like an overcompensating blind monk and sweep every time your Oracle's Lens is off cooldown. Duel the enemy support to the death over a pink ward and declare "WORTH" in the all chat when your absence ruins a teamfight. Vision is king. A real Soraka main will have so much vision that they are made viscount. Ward so much that your League account becomes a national security threat. If the NSA isn't watching you, you aren't warding enough.

Lastly, work hard to keep yourself alive. Soraka is an easy kill if her player isn't on the top of their game, and you're no use dead. Zero deaths is, of course, ideal, but it is very hard to achieve. I consider myself successful if I have fewer than three deaths in a full-length game. If I have more, I need to take some time to think about what I was doing wrong and work to improve my play (which happens all the time because I suck).

That's all that I have off the top of my head. Feel free to ask me any questions about Soraka or supporting in general. I'm always happy to help people enjoy Goat Simulator League more!

If the enemy is too close to the carry use her E. The hardest thing to learn is the timing on her Q. It heals you for quite a bit of health, When possible go for multiple targets on her AoE's. Try to conserve mana in the early game.

I'll give you a quick level up order:

r>q>w>e

Level up w first, max q, then w, then e and put a point in r whenever possible. Put a point in e by level 3 or 4. One point in w does a lot, so maxing q first is better because it will do damage, slow (if you land it right in the middle) and heal you back, so you can continue to use your w without needing to use health pots.