Soraka champion guide: Carrying as a healer

Soraka is the support that everyone absolutely hates to play against. Thought you killed the carry? Nope! They lived, because the enemy Soraka pressed Q and healed them at the last second.

You, too, can be the clutch Soraka that your team loves and the other team wants to have. Just follow these easy steps!

Skills

Passive - Salvation

If your allies are low, Soraka has increased movement speed towards them. Use this to your advantage during team fights to efficiently scoot around and keep your friends healthy.

Q - Starcall

Hitting enemy champions with this skill shot will restore your health and grant you a movement speed buff. Keep in mind that the health regenerates over time, not instantly. You can pass on these effects to your allies using Astral Infusion.

W - Astral Infusion

This is the important one. Heal your allies with the simple tap of a button. Just remember that it costs 10 percent of your health, so don’t overheal your allies. You should also be trying to stay alive.

YOU CANNOT USE ASTRAL INFUSION ON YOURSELF.

E - Equinox

Use this skill to silence large groups of enemy champions. It works wonders against an ulting Katarina or an enemy about to Flash away from death. If enemies stand in it when Equinox bursts, they also get snared. This is helpful in crowded, chaotic team fights.

R - Wish

This is a stronger, giant, global heal. It can heal your buddy up in top lane when he’s fighting with the other laner. It can heal your entire team during a team fight, really turning the tides of a brawl. It also gives a juicy healing bonus to anyone below 40 percent health, so try not to use it too soon.

Skill Max Order - W>Q>E

Most people start with Starcall to help poke early. I like starting with Astral Infusion early to give an extra good leash, especially if I know my jungler needs it.

Outside of the first three levels, max that heal to make it beefy and then focus on Starcall and then Equinox. Astral Infusion’s cooldown will get pretty dang short at max level, so you’ll be able to spam it.

Runes

Soraka isn’t the most poke-intensive champion, but this rune build works well for her. Her Starcall will hurt a bit more and Summon Aery helps her poke while also giving a bonus shield for her heals. The Resolve tree helps her live longer and Revitalize is crucial to beef up those heals a bit more.

Build Order

Start

Spellthief’s Edge + 2 Health Potions

Ancient Coin + 2 Health Potions

Mid Game Core

Ardent Censer
Redemption
Remnant of the Watchers/Remnant of the Ascended

Late Game Core

Locket of Iron Solari
Mikael’s Crucible

Situational

Warmog’s Armor
Randuin’s Omen
Spirit Visage

Boots

Boots of Mobility

Boots of Lucidity

Your job as Soraka is to be a heal bot. Mikael’s Crucible, Redemption, and Ardent Censer all use Forbidden Idols in their builds, which help you amp up your heals. These three items are important and you can build all three, but you should optimize based on your carry. If you have an AP bot laner and nobody on your team needs attack speed, you can probably ditch the Ardent Censer.

If you plan on poking more, then start with Spellthief’s Edge, but if you’re against an aggressive laner, like Alistar or Thresh, just grab that Nomad’s Medallion and hang back.

You can also pick up a Warmog’s to help you regen more health out of combat, but remember you need 3,000 HP to activate that passive, so you’ll likely need to stack some other HP items, like a Spirit Visage or Randuin’s Omen, based on the enemy composition.

If your items have you maxing out your cooldown reduction, skip the Boots of Lucidity and go for Boots of Mobility instead.

Synergies

Sivir
Yasuo
Jinx
Kog’Maw
Twitch
Miss Fortune
Varus

Soraka does best with attack speed-based champions, so she can really make use of Ardent Censer. Soraka doesn’t do super poorly with anyone, unless the carry is reliant on supports that provide mobility, like Tahm Kench or Thresh. Soraka goes the best with a champion that is somewhat mobile and has a smidgen of self-peel, but also not too mobile. (Tristanas jumping out of healing range and dying to people gets tiring after a while.)

Counters

Zyra
Pyke
Blitzcrank
Thresh
Brand
Veigar

Soraka does poorly against anyone who can capture her and her allies and make them disappear fast. Veigar, Pyke, and Brand can burst your carries down before you get a chance to heal them. Blitz and Thresh love pulling Sorakas and making them useless. Zyra pokes you enough that you’ll likely run out of health from the plants or from you having to heal your carry.

Conclusion

Soraka is a good egg and an easy champion to learn (and to climb with). It’s pretty hard to not control your laner when you’re playing as Soraka, and she can provide tons of utility for the team, no matter where she is. She’s cheap (450 BE) and is worth playing for new players who want to learn how to support and also veteran players who want to take a breather and just press W and R all game.