Hi guys, I'm a Soraka support main who has climbed from B1 to G2 purely on this great champion. My success was always attributed to being an aggressive support, utilizing Soraka's high base damage on her Q and low cool down on her W to keep my ADC healthy. Sadly RITO nerfed her W cooldown to make it so she would be more healing focused and not do any damage in bot lane.Due to these changes I thought of a way to keep playing Soraka aggressively, playing her in the top lane! I have found great success with this champion in the top lane, beating strong early champs like Riven and Renekton, this guide will show you how you can too!

(It is recommended if you haven't played Soraka to play her as support before trying this build, to understand the range and effects on her abilities)

Arcane Comet or Summon Aery?
This is actually a tough decision and will ultimately be answered with how good each one performs. I tested Summon Aery and that rune is so good , the cooldown is very low and the damage is very decent, it also goes on R to sheild your low ally. Perfect for aggressive and support raka. In lane the cooldown is around 5 seconds so its always up for Q+aa.

Ultimate hat:
Sorakas ult being off cooldown is key to winning close teamfights and lane somewhat. Best to have this one.

Transcendence:
Not sure about what to get, cdr is safest choice for now. The other two in this tree are not too bad, I feel celerity would be good in some matchups for kiting.

Scorch:
This helps be a more oppressive laner as you poke with Q.Obvious choice.

Secondary - Domination (I chose this for cheap shot)

Cheap Shot:
Pretty simple, Q+aa,Q+aa,Q+aa... this trade will always have the added damage from cheap shot with Q slow.

Ingenious Hunter:
I think with a build including Hextech GLP and Redemption this would be a great addition as it gives a lot of cdr.

Soraka top is the harass queen. The closest champion I can think of for early game play is Teemo, you harass your opponent with auto-attacks as often as possible while still farming every minion possible. The advantage Soraka has is her Q is a high damage, low cost ,area of effect, healing skill shot and her auto-attack range is longer.

Auto attacks are KEY!

Hitting Q is core to the sustain and damage of this build. With the new Summon Aery,scorch and cheap shot runes this ability has much synergy, trades will be very good in lane with Q poke and auto attacks following. After much harassment your opponent will likely think "I'm not taking this from a Soraka" and try to close a gap on you to fight, this is where they go wrong. When your opponent comes for you their movement becomes predictable so all you have to do is remain calm and kite them with Q and auto-attacks, they will be slowed by Q and you will be sped up and healed by its passive effect (rejuvenation). If done correctly you will out trade your opponent easily. It is important to note this may not always work and they may close the gap, especially against high mobility champs, this is not the end!


Soraka has another ability which gives her the perfect tool to deal with this; her E. This ability is a AOE silence that deals surprising damage given the points you get in it early, what most top only mains don't realize is the second proc after 1.5 seconds will apply the damage again and root them if they stay in the field.It is crucial to utilize this ability for ganks to stop mobility and flash, or when dived on to root the opponent under tower.

Important note: E can be cast to stop your enemy laner using teleport, if you see them teleporting just cast it on them and it will cancel it.

Lastly we have Soraka's ult, this is global power spike for your team as you will be able to give a bot lane jungle gank great security if played well, or a gank in any lane for that matter(including yours!)..

For those that play Soraka as a support this phase of the game is very familiar for this build. I'll firstly stress the importance that as soon as laning phase ends, OP top Soraka is not going to have relevant damage soon, it will feel like you have a lot of damage and you will be the carry but please do not be fooled. Once Q gets 5 points it will no longer get stronger! So it is very important to start maxing W (heal) ASAP, so you can actually be useful to the team. Late game you become a heal-bot tank, the glory days are gone and you are the medic now. You will likely not be able to farm much and you will not be able to push lanes solo anymore, so it is important you take your early game lead and use it to support your carries.

Pros
-Strong early game
-Great sustain
-Global power spike with ult
-Good for jg ganks (slow and silence in kit)
-late game very good support for late game carries
-tanky late game

Cons
- No late game damage(can't carry)
- Can't push lanes or take towers very well
- Farming requires good skill and practice
- People may think you are trolling

Great item for Soraka top as it gives mana, health and ability power. The really great thing is the passive, when you take damage you get mana. This is great on Soraka as you take damage to get more mana to spam Q to heal the damage back. The active is what makes me prefer this to Rod of Ages, as waves get harder to clear and your opponent harder to kill this will help you maintain respect in lane and help with ganks. With ingenious hunter it may be possible, if fed, to have the item cdr up for every wave which helps maintain that lead and good for poke.

: Also a great item for Soraka top as it gives mana, health and ability power. The really great thing is the passive, when you take damage you get mana. This is great on Soraka as you take damage to get more mana to spam Q to heal the damage back. Later game it looks like this item will help with tank stats and more AP for heals.

: Mana, Armour and 20% CDR? its too good to be true and the passive is great for the team late game and in lane. Always get second against AD

: The health, MR and CDR are great and the passive works very well with Soraka, Ideal against AP as a second item.

: By the time it gets to your 4th item you need to start supporting the team and Redemption is very ideal for this if you need more tank.

Very effective against health and great if fed, can build second item in these cases.

: This item will greatly help your team if you have 3 or more auto-attack based carries.

: Great if you don't have any ocean drakes, make you very tanky and a great source of unlimited healing for the team.(Not really core item, but you can try it out for yourself)

: Great if you want great tank stats and shield is very strong.Would not recommend if support in bot lane has one.

: Great for helping siege and anti-siege, also tank stats.

(Working on this)
Q: Max this first as it is a major damage source and all of your lane sustain, even if your laner puts you below half a few hits with Q will get you back nearly full.
W: Don't need to put a point in this till you have 2 in E, maxed second
E: Put 2 points in this as it helps with damage and ganks, after that max W
R: Take a point whenever possible, make sure to be aware of health bars on allies and pay attention to these when your jungler ganks a lane.(best for when jg ganks botlane)

: A must have for safety and getting those last autos (or Q) for the kill.

: I used to take teleport but now it seems ignite gives the best kill potential in lane and teleport is not very useful if you manage the waves properly.

: I recommend starting playing with this as it makes holding lane easier and for teleporting bot lane for fights.

: Great for if against high burst laner and good late game for helping carries.(great if support doesn't have it)

Thanks for reading my guide to Soraka top, I will be adding to it and making it more aesthetic as time goes on. Feel free to comment and add ideas to this build.