Hello fellow Summoners,

Having recently bought both Sona and Lux (I like Support champs) I have been trying various builds with both. I have played more games with Sona, and I feel I have a decent idea of what to build on her. With both, I use Clarity and Flash (for staying in lane longer).

For Sona, my build goes something like this:

(Start Doran's Ring, replace later)
Tear -> Archangels later on
Boots -> Mercury's Treads
SoulShroud
Morello's Evil Tomb
Rabadon's Deathcap
Abyssal Sceptor

That is the basic build. If the team needs the extra buffs I'll sometimes grab the Aegis. With the Merc's boots and big CDR (maxed with my runes/masteries) I feel like I don't need much HP to survive, since I can stick back.


With Lux, I am feeling a similar situation, but there are so many different ways to build her. I'm not sure whether to go with RoA or Archangels, or to just skip those and what not. An idea build I was thinking might be:

Dorans Ring
Tear -> Archangels Later
Morello's Evil Tomb
Ionian Boots of Lucidity
Rabadon's Deathcap
(Rylai's? Zhonya's? )
Abyssal Scepter


I'm still fairly new with both of these champions, so I'm not quite comfortable picking of Mejai's on either of them just yet.

Any advice for these from people who have had some experience with Lux and/or Sona? Any and all advice is much appreciated Thank You

if you are having mana problems with lux early game, you are probably spamming spells too much. you should be able to get by with skipping tear altogether and looking at fiendish codex as your first real item. you get some AP, enough mp5 until your runes kick in ( are are using mp5 runes right?) and the cdr is a nice bonus. when you upgrade it, you get that -20% cdr, which with runes and masteries (again, assuming you have standard ones) you end with ~35% which is as close to 40 as you really need to be imo.

that lets you skip the ionian boots and get either mercs or sorcerers depending on what you are up against. of course, if you are getting AAs just for the AP, then you can buy it later. the codex is just more useful early on than a tear would be.

also keep in mind, you should have a core build with 2 or 3 items, and be able to substitute anything else depending on what you are fighting. my core lux build is morellos and sorc boots. everything else i tailor to what the team needs.

I play lux regularly. I like to rush a ToG, merc boots, Morello's Tomb, then upgrade the ToG to a Arch staff.

For runes I use CDR seals, Glyphs, and 1 quint. With 9-0-21 masteries that gives me about 19%CDR at level 1. With the evil tomb I get just over 39% and pretty much unlimited mana.

Then I build a deathcap and a zhonya's to cap it off. I find that getting any survivability is kind of useless. If someone is going to get a hold of you, then you're dead no matter what. When playing Lux you need to make sure you stay at a safe range and NEVER let them get close.

@Sageoffire

I'm not really having too many mana problems so far, and if I end up spamming too much or my lane partner needs mana I use clarity. I am using Flat CDR blues, MP5 yellows, and Magic Pen Reds (I don't have the rune page filled yet, only level 22 and the Quints are expensive lol) And yeah, I get the Tear as I look into getting AA's later on (it's too expensive for early but the Tear I find is helpful early on). I have a lot of experimenting to do with both of them.

@holySatan

Well, for my runes/quints I'm going to stick with something that will work with most mage/supports (I don't have much IP to throw around yet) so I'll be sticking with the runes mentioned above. That's like I like using Morello's/Ionians as I get the max CDR with those two, not sure what else I would get the CDR that would be beneficial (I could try Frozen Heart, but that's expensive as well). However, I do agree that Lux (and Sona) are both about keeping a ton of range and not getting near the fray, as I always go down fast.

for a beginner with lux, you may be temped to build a lich bane, and id advise against it, regardless how nice her passive and a lich bane proc is, any time youre in auto attack range, youre too close. once you learn lux better and you want to try it, go for it, but make sure you take flash as a get out of jail free card, and dont even build it going against anyone with a decent gap closer(irelia/jax/xin).

as with builds, i have ap quints so starting with a dorans ring makes your e hit decent at low lvls, my first item is a codex, and going for max cdr, i get cdr boots. if youre doing good early, try a mejais, i usually avoid this item, but on lux it seems i can almost always carry 10+ stacks. after that i get morellos, a hat, zhonyas, and finish with a void staff.
9/0/21 masteries, and make sure you max the mana regen, youre gonna need it after you start shooting lasers every ~22 seconds.

For Sona, i'd skip doran's ring and go straight for meki pendant+2mp pots. Doran's AP won't be enough to burst anyone down (Q+power chord+normal atk at best do a quarter of an equal level champion's hp). The mana pots allow you to continue harassing or let you use your heal to balance your hp:mp. You want to get that tear asap and hopefully the AA staff which would be your major (and possibly your only) AP item For boots i recommend swiftness because it's a bit cheaper and Sona is an amazing kiter.

A good sona will know how to position so her heal always land at the correct target. People think sona is easy because her spells doens't require targeting, WRONG. Sona is HARDER because she CAN"T target. Her Q targets the two closest champion and she heals the ally with the lowest % hp. Noobs would just button mash, you want to distance yourself in such a way that you won't waste a heal on a 50% hp tank and instead, heal the 55% hp carry and also drop her Q on enemy carries. This is difficult to do in a team fight when everyone is in one big mob. The +3 boots also let you put yourself in a better position to ult. It's funny how people think landing a skill on any champion (besides slight difficulty of TF's PaC sorta, and mb Swain's nevermove) is hard. Most champions have a memorized skill order, like Ryze. I'd consider other supports like taric even easier. The stun is usually used to initiate (often on the carry), the heal can be targetted (not a skill shot) and shatter for the kill...please...difficulty?

If you have a decent early game, a sheen can be a good investment. Her Q->Power chord->normal atk->sheen combo does a very surprisingly high burst. Don't upgrade to LB until later (usually never).

Your 4th item should be an aura item. Good choies are shurelya because of good stats and a very powerful speed boost if you use it correctly. Soul shroud is a fine choice and so is Aegis if your tank isn't building.

At this point you can consider finishing you sheen->lb. Don't get rabadon, Sona would never get that much gold and still get the aura items her team needs. If fro some reason you're so very very fed, get a zhonya instead, it's more important. Remeber that as long as Sona stays alive, her auras are still helping her team. Until you get max or close to max, CDR will always give you better numbers than AP point for point. Also, don't forget about blue elixir and maybe red.

It's important that you pay attention to your powerchord stack at all times. Obviously, you would keep repeating the same powerchord if you do the FCFS(first come first serve) cooldown mashing thing. Dmg power chord is always a good choice once the teams already initiated (both team's carries starting to feel the heat). Heal power chord is good right after you tank initiate, -20% dmg is huge against their carry. Speed chord is good for chasing and saving your allies when they're getting chased.

It's often necessary to STOP spamming and wait in order to get the right spell to come off CD for chord. Remeber that doing so would mean you get a 2sec cd for everyone one of your spells on the next rotation. So THINK. Don't just spam whatever's off cooldown, and remeber that positioning is the most important thing with sona. You also need to consider when to hold a power chord by constantly moving. Sometimes you want to keep rolling your moves but hold on to your power chord proc. Remeber that the longer you hold, the more procs you waste since ur already at max

Ulti usage. Don't be afraid to use it. If you hold it too long, it would become ineffective because your team might get rolled and no one will dps be able to dps even if their whole team is stunned or their team is already roflstomped in which case your ulti doesn't play a big role. And you could also die before you get to use it. 2-3 targets is very good. Sometimes it may be necessary to pop it to disrupt (like a nunu) and maybe even on the initiator (like a jarv). Your team will always instinctively focus on the stunned targets. Think about it, the worse case scenario, you stun a tank, their team has to initiate, so for the next 2 seconds, it's 5v4(+ a stunned tank). Good scenario, you stun 2-3, team walks around the tank and roflstomped 1 carry, gg. Sure you could probably do better, but at least you have that much of an advantage.

Remeber that sona is very f lexible with item builds

Edit: to all Sonas and her laning partners. Just because Sona has a heal button doesn't mean it's a go ahead to dive. Her heals are puny but frequent. Her dmg spell is much more efficient than her heal and in the early game, the dmg aura is also better since she can't hold both up forever. Oftentimes, only one of you would get hurt, so the heal is wasted because it's only half efficient but her dmg will always be 100% effective as long as there are two targets. In the early phase where mana is limited, you want to heal when and only when:
1) you picked up clarity and it's about to get off CD (if this is the case, you want to use it about level 2 so it pops back up about lvl 5ish, you can use it about 3x before having to back with enough money to buy tear+boots)
2) your mp is maxed and ur hp isn't so you equalize your mp so you won't waste the regen
3) the difference between your mp and hp % is big
4) one of you or your partner is at a critical hp level
5) you FORSEE large amount of dmg (like a sion stun and they are charging to you)
6) you partner is an idiot who tanks a lot of dmg

In case 5 and 6 you will probably not be able to heal a significant amount but you still have to do it. It would probably force you to grab another level of heal by lvl 3, making both your dmg AND your heal inefficient as chances are, you would be unscathed and your ally is either dead or unable to engage in fear of getting knocked over by a feather

When I Play Lux... I build almost Straight AP.... I use Clairty so I can use this build.

boots, three pots.
Ionia boots
Deathcap.
Morrelos
Zhonyas hourglass.
Lichbane

I rush Deathcap, Lux has good fire power early with no items... use it.

I plan on trying Philo stone -----> Miracle next time I play Lux though... I have max CDR without Revie

I used to use Abssyal on her untill someone told me she out ranges its aura... so I decided that Lichbane will be my magic resist.

If you want to pull yourself out of uber squishy into the regular squishy category, build an RoA instead of an archangel. Laning power...you can get hit once or twice more with an ability...and it's usually enough hp that you don't have to build armor/mr.

RoA
Sorc Boots
Deathcap

are the core items im always trying to build. from there, it's usually Void Staff>Lych bane>will of ancients>...aegis or hexdrinker if i'm needing a little defense.

I sometimes throw on a cheap chalice after completing deathcap, if I'm being crazy spammy with abilities.

Level Q asap. then E.
I'd suggest 1 point in your shield at 4, and then wait til l you're forced to upgrade it. it kinda sucks. obviously if you're in a teamfight all getting hit by aoe's...sure it's good, but prioritizing for that scenario is silly.
...cdr per level blue, mana regen yellow, mpen reds, mvspd quints

I play a lot of Sona, and one thing to remember, more so than with my Lux games, is to be fluid with your builds.

To start, your runes look solid, and I'd recommend flat HP Quints. Once you have those Doran's Ring isn't needed, but before then it does help with a little early padding. If you're confident you don't need it obviously go with Meki/Ward. MP pots, if you have Clarity and MP runes, really aren't that useful imo.

Then comes your first choice. Tear, or Chalice? I've had people say Chalice is terrible, but I've had success with it. Your skills use a moderate amount of MP, and you have a good base pool anyway. The extra MR helps a little against nukes early, and with the regen and Clarity you're pretty much able to stay out in the lanes all the time. If you don't feel you need the MR at all, Tear for sure.

Boots are the next choice. I go between Mobility, Swiftness, and Mercs depending on the enemy lineup. If they have chasers you're pretty good with Swiftness and can outrun a lot of them, otherwise Mobility is nice for the general map travel.

I almost always build a Mejai's. It's easy to get stacks with Sona, and it covers your early AP needs well. If you're doing even just okay, you'll still have a few stacks on it.

I've never gotten a Soul Shroud, but that's just my personal preference. By the time I could get it I feel most of it's usefulness is gone. I'd much rather get a Spirit Visage.

Ah, Spirit Visage. I love it on Sona. A little HP and MR, CDR, and the self heal buff makes you deceptively difficult to kill unless they have disgusting burst. I've managed to kite off, heal, and finally kill an Ali TF chasing me with only that, Mejai's, and Chalice before, simply because the heal buff kept me alive enough to keep kiting.

My core in a majority of games ends up with those three items, and a ton of wards.

After that I recommend more Aura Items. Sona is Aura crazy already, and getting even more is nice. My favorites are Abyssal Scepter and Aegis, depending on what you need. Abyssal is another item I get often, followed sometimes by a Deathcap if I'm doing really well. I'll some times get it done, and almost never manage the deathcap unless I got lucky with early ganks and am buff. I've also considered grabbing a Frozen Heart, if nobody else is getting one, but never seem to get that far. But Aura items are amazing on her.

Other situation items are: Soul Shroud (Haven't seen a reason to get it over Visage yet), Shurelia's Reverie, (Very situational but possibly useful, especially if you're not getting early assists/farm at all), Banshee's Veil (If the game is getting later and you feel you could use the spell block/MR), Sheen/Lichbane (If you're balling out of control, I guess, you can get this. You proc it often when spamming skills)

But mostly Sona = Aura Items. You can offer so incredibly much to your team with an Aegis and/or Abyssal.

http://www.leagueoflegends.com/board...d.php?t=741612

That's a fun build but don't use it in ranked...you get yelled at for not topping off carries 100% of the time.