☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓11.4 Patch｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Guys, gals, and pals, our dearest Soraka has been buffed yet AGAIN in patch 11.4 (18 Feb. 2021)! Starcall's Rejuvenation now gives even more movement speed, and Astral Infusion heals for more as well! You can see the new numbers in the Ability Rundown chapter.

---

☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓About Me!｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Hi! My name's Jess, summoner name jessuva, and recently, I've been loving Soraka. I only started playing League over quarantine (maybe around May 2020?), but I've been having a good time so far. I started in the support role because my brothers thought that would be easier for me to learn, and now I'm here. I like having a friend in lane with me, so I prefer support over mid, even though I main Lux. I picked up a fair amount of supports, and Soraka is one of my favorites right now. I recently got Mastery 7 with her, making Soraka my second Mastery 7 champ ever!

I'd say (outside of my 0/7 games...(ヾ;￣▽￣)ヾ ) I generally do pretty well! So I've decided to share my wisdom with you all.




Outside of League, I love to create and share art, and I like watching some anime (though I never finish any), playing Minecraft, and napping with my dog.

---

☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓Why Should You Play Soraka?｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Well, I'll tell ya. Soraka has an extremely powerful kit, with a self-healing, slowing poke, a heal, a silence, and ANOTHER HEAL! She is super super good at healing, and provides so much utility for her team. Her ult is incredibly powerful, providing a global heal. I've found that Soraka goes well into most matchups, because even if you lose lane early, Soraka's healing is super useful mid and late game as you start to roam more and get into team fights.

PROS ☆ Powerful kit that is easy to learn ☆ One of (if not the) best healers in the game ☆ Can assist teammates globally ☆ Good sustain in lane with self-healing poke ☆ Good CC ☆ Passive lets you see who around you needs help

CONS ☾ SQUISHY ☾ Decently immobile ☾ Reliant on her team ☾ Skillshot abilities ☾ Not extremely powerful early ☾ Tends to get targeted in team fights

Salvation (Passive) RANGE: 2500

Soraka gains 70% movement speed when moving towards allied champions below 40% of their maximum health. It's important to note that the movement speed bonus only applies when Soraka is moving towards her allies. This applies even if her line of sight is obstructed by terrain.

---

Starcall (Q) RANGE: 800 EFFECT RADIUS: 235 CAST TIME: 0.25 COST: 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 mana COOLDOWN: 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 / 4

Soraka calls down a star upon the target area, granting sight over it before landing after 0.25 − 1 (based on target range) seconds, dealing 85 / 120 / 155 / 190 / 225 (+ 35% AP) magic damage to enemies hit and slowing them by 30% for 1.5 seconds. Hitting at least one enemy champion returns the stardust toward Soraka, granting her Rejuvenation for 2.5 seconds, healing her for 50 / 65 / 80 / 95 / 110 (+ 30% AP) every 0.5 seconds and granting her 20 / 22.5 / 25 / 27.5 / 30% bonus movement speed, decaying over the duration. While Soraka is Rejuvenated she can Rejuvenate other allies with Astral Infusion, granting them the same effects for the same duration. Soraka's Q is your main source of damage and self-heal. Even if the enemy has a spell shield, Starcall will still grant you Rejuvenation if it hits, but Yasuo's Wind Wall and Braum's Unbreakable will block this effect. It's important to note that Rejuvenation won't apply until the stardust comes back to Soraka.

---

Astral Infusion (W) RANGE: 550 CAST TIME: 0.25 COST: 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 mana + 10% Maximum Health COOLDOWN: 6 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2

Soraka heals the target ally champion (excluding herself) for 100 / 135 / 170 / 205 / 240 (+ 70% AP). If cast while Rejuvenated, the health cost will be reduced by 80 / 85 / 90 / 95 / 100%. Astral Infusion cannot be cast if Soraka is below 5% of her maximum health. Astral Infusion can be cast on decoys, such as LeBlanc's Mirror Image, Shaco's Hallucinate, and Wukong's Warrior Trickster. If Soraka is above 5% of her maximum health, but doesn't have enough health to cast Astral Infusion, she can still cast it. Astral Infusion will not reduce Soraka's health below 1hp.

---

Equinox (E) RANGE: 925 EFFECT RADIUS: 250 CAST TIME: 0.25 COST: 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 mana COOLDOWN: 20 / 19 / 18 / 17 / 16

Soraka creates a celestial zone at the target location, dealing 70 / 95 / 120 / 145 / 170 (+ 40% AP) magic damage to enemy champions that were inside it upon creation. The zone then persists for 1.5 seconds, silencing all enemy champions within it every 0.25 seconds. After the duration, the zone detonates, dealing the same magic damage to all enemy champions within and briefly rooting them for 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 / 2 seconds. Equinox's silence can be removed with cleanses, but if the enemy were to leave the affected area and come back, the silence will be reapplied. Soraka's Equinox is extremely powerful, and can be what turns a fight around or saves you from a deadly engagement. Don't overuse it in lane, since you want to have it up when necessary, especially against champions like Pyke or Xerath whose channel abilities are countered by Soraka's silence.

---

Wish (R) RANGE: GLOBAL!! CAST TIME: 0.25 COST: 100 mana COOLDOWN: 160 / 145 / 130

Soraka calls upon the stars, instantly healing all allied champions, and herself by 150 / 250 / 350 (+ 55% AP), which is increased by 50% on targets below 40% of their maximum health. It is important to know that Wish will not grant Soraka an assist if the ally was already at full health. Wish's effects occur before the cast time, and Wish can apply effects like Summon Aery.

"Stars hear me!" -Soraka

RESOLVE

I think Guardian works so well on Soraka right now. Guardian provides a shield for both you and an ally the moment either of you takes damage, if you two are close enough. The shield it provides is super useful since Soraka doesn't have a shielding ability to mitigate damage, and it goes up automatically rather than having to rely on reaction speed. I prefer the Resolve tree over the Sorcery tree on Soraka because of its added sustain and protection. Soraka is really squishy, so I find this tree works really well.

Font of Life is the best option out of the three here, and it works wonderfully on Soraka. Font of Life marks an enemy champion after their movement is impaired, healing the next ally to attack the marked champion. Starcall's slow and Equinox's root both proc Font of Life, giving heals to your team.

I like to use Second Wind here. Bone Plating is another popular choice, which most people prefer to use when running Resolve, but I personally prefer Second Wind. Both options are viable. Second Wind heals you after you take damage from an enemy champion. If you are attacked while under the effect of Second Wind, its cooldown is refreshed. Bone Plating provides defense by minimizing the damage from an enemy's next 3 attacks after their first attack. The defense can be very useful, but I prefer the extra healing. It's all up to personal preference here.

Revitalize brings it alllll together. Revitalize increases outgoing and ingoing heals and shields by 5%, which changes to 10% when the target is below 40% health. This means the healing from Starcall, Astral Infusion, and Wish will increase, as will the shielding effect from Guardian. It stacks multiplicatively with the n% heal and shield bonus you can find on a lot of items, like Ardent Censer. Revitalize is very strong, and makes Soraka an even better healer.

This part is mainly dependent on personal preference and your matchup. I take the extra armor in bot lane, unless I'm against a bot lane like Swain ADC and Lux support, or their team comp is super AP heavy. I like the ability haste instead of extra AP for the first slot, since the lower CD on my abilities can be very useful. But ultimately, this part is up to you.

SECONDARY Domination: I take Domination in favor of Sorcery, but Sorcery is equally as viable. RUNE 1 Zombie Ward: I like to use Zombie Ward because once Spellthief's Edge upgrades, I use Oracle Lens to sweep for vision basically anytime I can. Zombie Ward gives you vision when you take down an enemy ward, as well as 2 AP for each Zombie Ward you spawn. After spawning 10 wards, you get an extra 10 AP. Zombie Ward allows for more vision while giving you more AP, so it's a no-brainer for me. Ghost Poro is similar, giving you vision when your wards expire, and similarly giving you AP. If you're worried about having to play safe and being unable to sweep and take out vision because of the enemy team comp, take Ghost Poro instead. RUNE 2 Ultimate Hunter: This is another no-brainer for me. The ultimate CD reduction is great, allowing you to provide heals for your team more often.

Moonstone Renewer

VS

Imperial Mandate

Moonstone Renewer is generally the way to go for Soraka. It gives ability haste, AP, health, and mana regeneration. It has an amazing passive where each time you affect a champion with an ability -- this can be when you poke an enemy with Q/E, or heal your teammates with W/R -- you heal the most damaged ally nearby for an amount of health. Its cooldown is only 2 seconds, and the amount healed increases by 12.5% for each second you're in combat, up to a cap of 50%. Moonstone Renewer gives Soraka more utility for her team, and makes her a stronger healer. And remember, keeping your team alive = more damage = enemy team ff's.

I've used Imperial Mandate on Soraka before, as it's easy to proc with Starcall and Equinox. Imperial Mandate has a passive where slowing or immobilizing an enemy will mark them, similarly to Font of Life. Ally damage to the marked enemy will deal 90-150 more magic damage, and give a 20% movement speed bonus. This item is viable on Soraka, and works well to give your ADC more burst, but I don't think it can compare to Moonstone Renewer. Ally burst is nice, but keeping your team alive is far more important as a support/healer, and will allow your team to do even more damage.

BOOT UPGRADES

Ionian Boots of Lucidity The standard choice of boots for Soraka. They provide great CD reduction, which is important for being able to heal your teammates with Astral Infusion and Wish as often as possible. Ionian Boots of Lucidity are the cheapest of the four options at 900g.

Mercury's Treads When you need the extra defense against an AP heavy or CC heavy comp, take Mercury's Treads. These boots and Plated Steelcaps are the most expensive of the four options at 1100g.

Plated Steelcaps Take Plated Steelcaps when facing a heavy AD team, or when the enemy team has a fed AD assassin you need the extra defense against. These boots and Mercury's Treads are the most expensive of the four options at 1100g.

Mobility Boots Take Mobility Boots when the enemy team has a lot of skill shots or hooks you need to be dodging. These boots are in the middle for price, at 1000g.

Spirit Visage I love building Spirit Visage third because Soraka needs to live to heal people. Her W leeches her health unless you manage to land a Q first, but that isn't always possible, so more self-healing = ♡♡♡♡. The extra health Spirit Visage gives you when you land your Q or ult is really, really helpful, especially if you're in a fight. ☆ Spirit Visage gives a 150% base health regen. ☆ Its passive stacks multiplicatively with other sources of increased healing, such as Frozen Domain, World Ender, Tough It Out, and Revitalize.

Staff of Flowing Water Staff of Flowing Water is a great support item, providing your allies with movement speed and AP. It's a good buy for an AP team, or if you have a fed AP midlaner. ☆ Staff of Flowing Water's passive is triggered by Font of Life.

Ardent Censer Ardent Censer is generally the way to go for Soraka. It provides attack speed and magic damage on-hit. This is a great choice to buff your ADC, or if you have someone like a fed Irelia on your team. ☆ Ardent Censer's passive is triggered by Font of Life.

---

☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓How do I know whether to build Staff of Flowing Water or Ardent Censer?｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Well, if you really don't know: build both. It doesn't hurt at all to have both support items, and it will give you more AP, more heal and shield power, and more buffs for your team. Keep in mind each item's passive when deciding which to build first. AP team comps will benefit more from the movement speed and AP given by Staff of Flowing Water, while AD team comps will benefit more from the attack speed and on-hit magic damage from Ardent Censer. If you aren't sure which item your ADC will prefer, it doesn't hurt to ask them. :)

---

Oblivion Orb If you need some anti-heal because you're against a Sona, Warwick, Kayn, etc. or just want some more AP for stronger heals and a stronger Q, Oblivion Orb is a good pick. I usually only build into Morellonomicon after I get the rest of my build and I have the extra money, or if my team is having a tough time against the other team's healing. The same goes for Chemtech Putrifier, which is a slightly cheaper alternative to Morellonomicon with a modified passive.

Zhonya's Hourglass Zhonya's Hourglass is always a good defensive item if you're against a heavy assassin or AD team and want the armor/active -- but if you need Zhonya's, build it ASAP rather than later. It can be a really useful item in a team fight when you're being targeted, or during ults such as Kayn's Umbral Trespass, Zed's Death Mark, or Seraphine's Encore.

Banshee's Veil Banshee's Veil is the same circumstance as Zhonya's Hourglass, again depending on the team you're up against. If the enemy team has a Zoe mid, Morgana support, and an Amumu jungle, the spell shield provided by Banshee's Veil can be super helpful to protect you from getting CC'ed to death. ☆ Banshee's Veil will block the vision components of abilities like Nocturne's Paranoia and Twisted Fate's Destiny.

Mikael's Blessing Mikael's Blessing and Banshee's Veil protect you from similar things, but Mikael's Blessing is to protect teammates, while Banshee's Veil protects yourself. Build Mikael's against a CC-heavy enemy team comp. ☆ You can cast Mikael's Blessing on yourself, unless you have been silenced. ☆ Mikael's Blessing does not remove the following: airborne, blind, disarm, ground, nearsight, and suppression. ☆ Using Mikael's Blessing will not grant you an assist.

Rabadon's Deathcap Build Rabadon's Deathcap as a last item, when the extra AP can really buff your heals. Soraka doesn't need Rabadon's early, as she doesn't deal damage, but rather focuses on healing.

Warmog's Armor Warmog's Armor is viable if you need the extra health and healing, but I never really find myself building it since it's expensive and I wouldn't have enough health for its passive.

Vision is super, super important. It can be the reason you get away safely from an attempted gank, or turn a fight around. From personal experience, I played a game where it was the vision in one of the river bushes that allowed us all to win the fight. The entire team was hiding in one bush, that I had luckily warded. Our Veigar caged the bush, and we beat them up. Basically, remember to ward.

Warding can be overwhelming if you don't know where to start, so I'll provide you with some images to help get started.

---

☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓Bot Side｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Ward the tribush when the enemy lane is pushed up and you're on the defensive. Ward the river bush when you're pushed up on the enemy laners. These priority spots are great places to put a Control Ward.

Ward the bot lane bushes if your enemy support is loving the way the bush feels and doesn't seem to want to leave the bush. But don't ward if you know they're in the bush! That's dangerous, and they may jump out at you.

After your first back, consider warding the pixel bush, the dragon pit, ally red buff, or enemy blue buff. This depends on where the enemy jungler and support may be, but dropping a ward in any of these bushes is a good idea.

---

☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓Top Side｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

The warding spots for top side are very similar to those of bot side. Ward the river bush while on defense, and ward the tribush while pushing up. If you need to ward the river bush but are being pushed up on, there are two ways to ward safely: over the cliffside, and through the wall. If you don't know how to ward over the wall, there is a certain spot on the wall you can click to safely ward. I recommend searching it up to see a video explanation. The bot lane bushes are good choices to ward for the same reasons explained earlier.

The tribush near your tower should be warded for defense. It's a good place to put a Control Ward if you're being pushed up on by the enemy laners.

After your first back, consider warding the enemy red buff, the pixel bush, or the dragon pit.

---

As the game progresses into mid/late game, most bushes are a good place to place down wards. If you can safely ward the enemy jungle, that can provide some fantastic vision.

See the following images for good warding areas:

---

Lastly, remember to always buy a Control Ward when you back if you have the money and the space! Remember to switch to Oracle Lens once your Spellthief's Edge upgrades into Frostfang. And don't face check bushes!

☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓Tips and Tricks!｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

☆ If possible, try to always use Starcall before Astral Infusion, so you can minimize the health lost when healing your ally.

☆ Stay in the backline. Soraka is often targeted in team fights because of her ability to keep the team alive. Staying back will allow you to keep your teams health up while safely poking.

☆ Try not to use Astral Infusion or Wish if you know your target ally is under the effect of Grevous Wounds or Ignite, since both reduce healing effects by up to 50%.

☆ To avoid face-checking bushes, use Starcall into the bush. Starcall will grant you vision of the affected area.

☆ Keep an eye on the map! Right above the map, you can see your teammates' health bars. I use this to know when I should use Wish to keep my team alive. However, remember to actually look on the map. There's a chance your teammate is in a fight they just can't win, and using your ult will just be a waste. If you're feeling cheeky, you can use Wish to secure an assist by healing your allies during a fight.

☆ Your Equinox is super powerful! You can use it to stop channel abilities, like Miss Fortune's Bullet Time, Malzahar's Nether Grasp, Jhin's Curtain Call, Xerath's Rite of the Arcane, and more.

☆ Remember to use your summoner spells. This one may seem obvious, but it's so easy to get caught up in the gameplay that you forget your summoner spells are back up. Don't be afraid to use Ignite to secure a kill that may otherwise get away or to prevent an enemy's self-healing.

☆ The command /muteall is a wonderful, powerful tool. People will always have something to say, and it can oftentimes ruin the experience of playing League. Don't let them get to you. Just try to have fun, and mute the toxic players if necessary.

☆ Lastly, here's a fun video of me as Soraka!

Play Video

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my first guide!

I hope you learned something, or had fun reading it. I certainly had fun making it.

Go support your team! And most importantly, have fun!!