In-depth Soraka guide, builds, and runes for League of Legends Wild Rift
A guide to a never dying team with Soraka. Be the Star of the Match!
Thumbnail Artwork by tospeed
Greetings, fellow champions! We have teamed up with Fukuro Gaming for this one to provide you with the best possible Soraka guide. He is an ex Arena of Valor veteran, consistently placed as Master in the top 500 over the ranked seasons.
Why play Soraka?
Soraka brings a lot of sustain to the team, and by that, I mean a ton.
Sit back and keep checking on champion health bars to help your team while they make the plays. Worried about a champion way across the map? Use your ult to see the magic happen.
Getting started with Saroka is a great idea for noobs as you can keep a low profile and learn about the roles while your partner does the heavy lifting.
So if you are starting with Wild Rift or just want to take a break from heavy champions like Alistar or Braum, then Soraka is the perfect champion for you. The skill floor for Soraka is very low as there is no trading or need for last hitting. Moreover, you also have no skill shots. But keep in mind that Soraka has a high skill ceiling, meaning that your experience with the Champion will play a factor in how much impact you have on the match.
Pros
- Brings heavy regen.
- As you are a support, you don’t need to focus on last hitting. Instead, just focus on healing.
- Your partner will never be low on health if you play well.
- Low cool-down Silence in the kit.
- Her ultimate is a global heal.
- Low skill floor but high skill ceiling.
- Great passive for mobility.
- Recommended for new support players.
Cons
- Needs really good positioning for optimal play.
- Cannot directly apply heals to herself and her healing has an HP cost.
- No immediate Crowd Control ability.
- Cannot tank teammates and is squishy.
- Burst is her worst enemy.
- Her passive only works when teammates are low.
- Countered with items and skills that have Grievous Wounds.
Builds, Runes and Spells
Standard Soraka Build
Ardent Censer:
This is a great item to start with as it gives your allied champions a burst of attack speed in early game. The passives on this item also enables Soraka to become offensive from the bonus magic damage.
Boots
Ionian Boots of Lucidity: Soraka is an ability reliant champion. So you should take the Ionian Boots of Lucidity if you don’t want never-ending cool-downs.
Ninja Tabi: If your enemy has more Physical Damage, then exchange the Ioanian boots with the Ninja Tabi.
Mercury Treads: If your enemy has more Magical Damage, then get the Mercury Treads to reduce the burst.
Redeeming Enchant: We recommend that you upgrade your boots to Redeeming Enchant as the active of this enchantment perfectly goes with Soraka’s kit.
Harmonic Echo:
We recommend that you take this as your third item, as by that time the game will be in its second half. At this point in the game, you will be sticking with your team. This item will help you heal multiple allies, hence giving you team sustain. With this item, people will also stop calling you a noob.
Athene’s Unholy Grail:
This is a really good item for two different reasons. First, the healing is increased based the premitigation damage(in other words the damage that would be taken without any resistance). This makes the unique passive stack very quickly. Second, the damage can be stacked from any enemy champion and the additional healing value is also very high.
All the above items are core build items for Soraka.
Protector’s Vow:
This item shines in the late game as it gives a shield to both you and your allies. This shield is dependent on the bonus health and AP which you build overtime. Moreover, it grants a movement speed bonus that lets you reposition during team fights.
There are two choices for the last item. If your team is in the lead then go for Zeke’s Convergence. If you are getting the shit beaten outta you then go for Randuin’s Omen.
Zeke’s Convergence:
This itemhas great tanky stats and can turn the tide of team fights with it’s passive. you will mostly be using your ult in team fights, and if any threats come close to you, their damage will be reduced by percentages while they take increased damage.
Randuin’s Omen:
Reduces attack damage as well as attack speed of the enemy champions.
You may also use Abyssal Mask if your opponents have more AP damage.
Abyssal Mask:
Additional items
Spirit Visage
If you are starting out with Saroka and health management is an issue for you, then try using Spirit Visage. Take it as your second item during the game. However, do not replace any core items. Spirit Visage should only be used as a replacement for your last item (but bought second). It boosts both your base health regen by 100% and also your regen received(from your Q) by 30%.
Semi-tank Soraka Build
This is the Warmog’s- Spirit Visage combo variant of a Soraka build. Since Soraka consumes a percentage of her health regardless of HP, stacking heavy HP based items might seem futile. Then you might ask what is up with a tank Soraka build?
This is so that you get HP back when out of combat with Warmog’s and you increase any healing you give your self with Spirit visage. Remember how we mentioned in the cons that she doesn’t have many heals for herself? This means she has to recall frequently especially if you are a beginner and can’t hit your first skill frequently.
So a semi-tank Soraka build is an answer to exactly that.
If this is the best build or not is for you to decide and depends very much on your playstyle! We recommend you try both builds and decide which works best of you.
Spells
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| Flash: Flash is useful for burst mobility, which Soraka is sorely lacking. | Heal: Healing ability/spell used gives a stack to your Q empowering its effects | Exhaust: Burst counters Soraka and an Exhaust counters Burst. An enemy of an enemy is a friend. | Ignite: If you need some lane dominance, Ignite is a good choice, but only if the assassin threat in the enemy is low. |
Runes
Recommended
Triumph and Loyalty are useful for beginners as they give your bonus sustain, giving you more chances for a comeback during a fight.
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| Aery | Triumph | Loyalty | Pack Hunter |
Snowball oriented
Once you have mastered the E stun switch Triumph with Weakness. This will give you a bonus to damage but will remove your bonus sustain.
Hunter Titan will give you a permanent boost instead of the temporary health boost provided by Loyalty.
However, to use these runes optimally, you will need to learn how to properly position yourself in a team fight.
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| Aery | Weakness | Hunter Titan | Pack Hunter |
KEYSTONE
Aery: This is one of the best runes for supports as it gives your allies a huge shield. Moreover, Airi also gives you additional poke allowing you to keep your enemies at bay.
DOMINATION
Triumph With Triumph you will get 10% of your Max HP every time you get a take-down. Soraka also needs to manage her health at all times. So this rune will help you stay alive for longer periods of time.
Weakness: Slowing or Immobilizing an enemy champion marks them for 5 seconds, while marked they take 5% increased damage. This rune goes amazingly well with you kit and whenever you hook or stun a hero, he starts taking way more damage from your entire team. If you hook a squishy target, his fate is more or less sealed. A good thing to remember is that the effect from this rune outlasts Zhonyas(Stasis). So even if the enemy manages to somehow proc it you will still deal insane amounts of damage to them.
RESOLVE
Loyalty: Take loyalty as it starts the game with additional AR and MR. This will negate damage from pokes.
Hunter Titan: Hunter Titan gives you a permanent health boost instead of the temporary health boost from Loyalty. This rune is much better Loyalty once you get better at positioning.
INSPIRATION
Pack Hunter: Packhunter is an amazing Rune for Supports as it gives you gold and experience as long as you stick with your team. Let your teammates handle the farming and last hitting. As long as you support them properly you will get sufficient gold. This Rune also gives you extra movement speed if you are paired up with an ally.
Abilities
Passive: Salvation
Soraka gains 70% Movement Speed when moving toward allied champions below 35% Health.
Worried about a low health teammate? This ability will allow you to quickly reach your allies for a handy heal. You can also use this ability to reposition yourself during a team-fight.
Starcall
Calls a star, dealing 60 magic damage (60+40% Magic) and slowing by 30% for 2 seconds. If an enemy champion is hit, Soraka gains Rejuvenation, healing for 8(8 + 5% Magic Damage) over 4 seconds.
After healing an ally champion 3 times, Starcall is empowered to deal 40% damage in a larger area.
Mana Cost: 45
| Level | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooldown | 7.5 | 6.5 | 5.5 | 4.5 |
| Cost | 45 | 50 | 55 | 60 |
| Base Damage | 60 | 110 | 160 | 210 |
| Heal | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 |
This skill is what makes Soraka the undying regen machine that she is. Keep in mind that this skill is the only way to manage your own health apart from your ult(which you don’t to use for yourself).
Try not to miss this skill in early game as that could mean your quick and noobie death. This ability will also let you escape from tense situations thanks to the slow. Moreover, your healing does not depend on the number of enemies hit.
Your success as a Soraka players depends on the amount of times you hit this ability. The more HP you get back the more heals you have for your team. If you cannot seem to hit many of these, do try the sami tank Soraka build, which will give Soraka some HP back when out of combat.
Astral Infusion
Heals another allied champion for 80 (80+70%). If Soraka has Rejuvenation, the ally gains Rejuvenation for 4 seconds.
Cooldown: 8s
Mana Cost: 55
| Level | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooldown | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| Cost | 55 | 60 | 65 | 70 |
| Heal | 80 | 120 | 160 | 200 |
This is Soraka’s main healing skill. However, it has a health cost and can lead to your death if you are not careful.
Soraka shines as a regen support thanks to her Rejuvenation. Keep in mind that your regen cannot be stopped by damage, but it can be slowed down by the Grievous Wounds status effect.
You cannot suicide by spamming this ability, but your HP will literally be reduced to the smallest sliver(at which point even a minion can kill you with an auto attack), after reaching which you won’t be able to use this ability even if you have sufficient mana.
Equinox
Create a zone that deals 70 magic damage (70+40% Magic Damage) and silences enemies. The zone expires after1.5 seconds dealing 70 magic damage (70 + 40% Magic Damage) and rooting for 1 seconds.
Cooldown: 22s
Mana Cost: 70
| Level | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooldown | 20 | 18 | 16 | 14 |
| Base Damage | 180% | 200% | 220% | 240% |
| Duration | 1 | 1.25 | 1.5 | 1.75 |
| Bonus Damage | 70 | 120 | 170 | 220 |
Equiox is the ability that differentiates a good Saroka from a bad one. Mastering the E is the key to winning team fights. It’s a game changing skill shot that can help your team win any engagement.
Soraka’s E can change the tides of a battle when used appropriately. This ability roots your enemies giving your team a huge advantage during fights. This ability can also be used to escape from bad situations.
Pair it with your Q to quickly reposition yourself while running away from dangerous enemies.
Wish
Heals all allied champions for 150 (150+40% magic damage), increased by 50 % if the ally is below 35% health.
Cooldown: 100s
Mana Cost: 100
| Level | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooldown | 100 | 90 | 80 |
| Heal | 150 | 250 | 350 |
Soraka’s ultimate is a map-wide heal. It’s quite apparent why this ability is so good. You can save your allies even if you are on the opposite side of the map. However, Wish has a very long cooldown, so use it wisely and save it for crucial moments when your teammates are near death.
Remember, if their health falls below 35 percent, you this ability does 50% more damage! So in a way you want to bait the enemmies into thinking your ally/allies are gonna die and then boom, proc the ult and a few heals and you will have tilted feeding enemies on your hand.
Be careful with timing this ability, if you wait too long to heal an ally, that can get burst down, and you will have a dead body at your hands which no amount of healing can revive.
The perfect timing of a Soraka Ult only comes with practice and patience.
As, a general rule, if you are a beginner, it is ok to heal your mm when they fall below 50 and are under a lot of threat. You can take your chances with tanks, because they have a lot of other survivability tools at their disposal.
How to win with Soraka
Soraka is a one of the best beginner friendly supports in Wild Rift. Her regen once applied either on herself or on her allies can’t be canceled even when they are damaged. However, it can be reduced through Grievous Wounds.
Start your game by taking a point in Astral Fusion then Starcall, followed by a point in Equinox. Max your E first and put in points for your ultimate when possible.
An important thing to keep in mind is that Rejuvenation negates the health cost of Astral Fusion. So always try to use Starcall after using Astral Fusion.
Soraka is a beginner-friendly champion with easy to master skills. You only need to keep your team alive during fights with your constant heals. However, while Soraka is easy to learn she is hard to master. Positioning and learning how to use E are crucial if you want to become a pro-Sorakaa player.
Saroka is NOT a carry and cannot do anything if the other teammates are absolutely brain dead. However, she is very good at keeping her carry alive. You can definitely win any game as long as you have a few decent teammates.
Good Soraka’s always pay attention to the positioning. Positioning is the key to maximizing your healing. Moreover, good E usage will guarantee a win for your team. Always try to be with your team while they secure objectives. You need to keep your teammates healthy and alive. Keep tabs on big objectives across the map and try to secure them as soon as possible. Your regen helps your marksman and Jungler stay alive, which eventually leads to a win during team fights.
During mid game to late game always try to be with your teammates. Try to stay in the range of as many allies as possible to improve your healing efficiency. Late game your W heal has less cooldown than your Q Passive. This lets you apply Rejuvenation to multiple allies during team fights. Try not to miss your Q as the Rejuvenation passive is essential to your own survival. You will quickly lose all your health if you do not hit your Q after using Astral Fusion. As a support your positioning plays a vital role during mid and late game. Don’t try to be the center of attention by being in the front. You can easily change the flow of a team fight by using your E at the right time.
Soraka’s ultimate should be saved for team fights when the entire team is in danger. Moreover, it can be used to bait your opponents. Let your teammates fall to 40% HP, which will tempt the enemies to overextend for kills. Then use your ult to save your team and turn the tides of battle.
Soraka’s Trolley problem: Save one ally or the entire team?
Yes, we are moving onto some heavy philosophical questions here.
Let’s say for instance, the dragon has spawned and the dragon fight is about to break down at any moment. But right around that time the Baron Laners have broken down into a full on fight to the death. You see both their HP bars are dwindling. If at that moment you ult your Baron Laner, he will surely win the fight, but then you won’t have it for the dragon fight. Keep in mind that most teams that take the first dragon win, and a Soraka ult will surely help you a lot. So what should you do in this scenario? So a sure first blood or securing the first dragon?
Just like with the Trolley problem, there is no clear answer. You will definitely face a lot of situations like these, where one of your allies is low and dying but a major objective is about to spawn soon.
To make an appropriate decisions during these scenarios, you need a lot of game sense and knowledge of the champions. Let’s say in the same example, your Baron laner is an early game Olaf verses a Tryndamere. So, the lower he gets the more powerful he is. An early game Olaf can probably survive the trade without requiring the heal. Then it is pretty clear that you just trust his axes and save your skills for the dragon fight. If the same scenario is switched with a Nasus, an early kill for Nasus is really bad news for enemy. No one wants to see an infinitely scaling champion start getting kills at a point in the game where he shouldn’t. The game might just snowball out of control. let’s say you have lane dominance and the enemy duo probably won’t be much use in the Dragon fight anyway, it is then safe to feed the Nasus an early kill and then trust your team to either stall and reset the dragon or win the fight without needing yout ult.
It always depends on the situation and you will always be in the process of learning. Much of this also comes down to coordination between your team and communication. Remember to ping your Ult cooldown to your allies before a fight to let them know that if a team fight breaks out Wish won’t be ready.
Best Synergies; When to pick Soraka?
Artwork by Obertik Orsolya
She usually goes well with many team comps. There are of course, some that shine more than others. Remember that Soraka lacks tankiness and cc. A balanced team must also have a front liner for the heavy team fights and a decent amount of cc. If the other picks have enough tankiness and cc combined, then feel free to pick Soraka and you will only enhance them with your abilities.
Draven
Draven relies a lot on aggressive engages and can sometimes find himself in spots that he cannot potentially get out of. This is where Soraka comes in and keeps healing him just when the enemies think they are finally rid of the menace. The aggressive mm playstyle is what suits Soraka the most as she cannot stay in the front lines at all and needs someone else to make the engages.
Tristana
Another aggresive mm who relies on jumping in and out of team fights. Tristana has a weak early game and Soraka can help babysit her till she is all stacked up and level 15. Your duty is still not over! tristana can find herself in sticky situations often, with your passive and insane healing you can ensure that the odds are turned in your favor.
Jhin
This psychotic opera boy likes to keep his distance. Soraka ensures that whoever comes close knows that you have a heal for every bullet he shoots. Psst! Don’t tell him that your first skill enhances at three stacks. He is a bit obsessive about the number 4.
For the other picks, she is ideal with many front liners.
Amumu
No one is crying on Soraka’s watch! Amumu fills in everything Soraka lacks, gank potential, heavy cc, chip damage and tankness. But Soraka has something the sad mummy lacks as well..regen. So if you have an Amumu jungle a Soraka goes really well into it, as you won’t have to worry much about who will tank in the team fights anymore.
Olaf
The lower this dude is, the angrier he gets. In many team-fights he sometimes cannot sustain enough to fully utilize his attack speed. But with Soaka heals he turns into an absolute killing machine. You heal him the most when he’s the lowest, that just helps him stay at his ideal low hp, high attack speed stage for an extended period of time.
Olaf might boast about how he never used steroids but Soraka knows the truth.
Darius
Darius does have regen in his Q but it can feel lacking. Also, Darius is not a pure tank. He can get bursted down fairly easily in team fights. With Soraka he can fulfill the role of a tank. Just help him survive till he procs his passive and then boom, find yourself on a penta-kill Darius montage.
These are not the only champions that go well with Soraka. She goes well with most front lines and aggressive champions. All she needs is a decent front line and good cc. If she can stay safe in a team fight, she can carry it.
How to counter Soraka
Soraka is all about heals, so anything that cuts down healing is a good counter for Soraka. The status effect Grievous Wounds is what you must apply on her and her allies to cut down her healing by half.
Thornmail
This item can be built if you are playing a front liner. If anyone damages you, it will directly apply Grievous Wounds to them. It’s like you are made of, well.. Thornmail. In short it automatically applies Grievous wounds on all the key targets in a team fight without you having to lift a finger. All you have to have is situational awareness of building this item early when verses a heal heavy comp.
Morellonomicon
Let’s assume your front liner doesn’t want to build Thornmail and you are a mage or a support, go with this early on. Any damage you do on enemies will apply Grievous Wounds.
Ignite
Ignite also applies Grievous Wounds, but only to a single target at a time. Be careful to use it on the right champion that is on the receiving end of the Soraka heals.
All champions that separate enemies from their team or have a lot of crowd control are bad news for Soraka.
Blitzcrank
In this duo, Blitz can just hook any of you without any consequence at all. Not a fun matchup for Soraka, especilly since he also has a burst.
If you are struggling against Blitz as a Soraka, make sure you silence him when he tries to hook(many blitz use their mobility ability for an easy hook), this can really mess with his rhythm. Keep a mental timer of his hook and as soon as he wastes it, punish him with your poke.
Alistar
Soraka wants to stay close to her allies, but so does the enemy Alistar. He wants that juicy pulverize into multiple enemies, and God forbid you get caught in it, you have no way of getting out of his combo. If his team mates follow up, then get used to getting the color drained out of your screen.
As a Soraka, positioning is the key! Make sure you are not too close to your mm neither too far away, be in healing distance but you do NOT want to eat an Alistar combo. LEt your frant liners tank it and heal them as a thanks.
Soraka for players from other games
Tips for Marvel Super Wars players who want to play Soraka
Mantis mains, look no furthur! Soraka is the champion for you.her silence is that like Cloak and Dagger’s but do remembe. Soraka has more healing than Mantis given her ult is a huge burst of healing to all team mates, but she lacks the hard cc that Mantis provides. Both have their pros and cons. The playstyle remains much the same. you mm will be roided up forever in lane and you pretty much convert him or her to a semi tank.
Tips for Arena of Valor players who want to main Soraka
She is like Peura(or Payna depending on your server) in the sense that she only heals her team-mates rather than dealing damage on enemies. So peura mains are sure to enjoy playing support with her.
Tips for MLBB players who want to play Soraka
Estes mains will feel right at home with Soraka. With a heal heavy kit whose ultimate goal is to stop any and all feeding, the playstyle will feel very similar.
Conclusion
Soraka brings a lot of sustain (regen). Last hitting and farming is not a major priority for her, instead turning every fight into a win is. She is not only great for beginner players but also very rewarding for a support master. It is really calming and fun to play her.
Special Thanks
It was a pleasure working with Fukuro Gaming on this guide. His insight on Soraka is unique. He has just recently started a YouTube channel so go show him some love there!
Really grateful that Obertik Orsolya let us use her Soraka fanart. She is herself a Soraka main with over a million mastery points on League PC. She has a lot of cute chibbi fanart on her artstation page so do follow her!
Many thanks to tospeed, Viviane Matsukuma, Pomelyne, L Fairy and Evelin Turcsán for allowing me to use their fanart on here. They really help the guide come alive.
And finally, you, the reader! Thanks for reading.
Hope you enjoyed the guide! Got anything interesting you’d like to share - a guide, a piece of fanart or even a tip? Was there something we missed in this guide? Got a query you’d like answered? If your answer to any of the above questions is ”yes”, then connect with us on Discord!