Sona and Soraka top nerfs coming in Patch 10.4

League of Legends Patch 10.3 has been a weird patch for competitive play, bringing unorthodox champions to the top side of the map, in particular Soraka and Sona.

League of Legends lead gameplay designer Mark “Scruffy” Yetter provided us with some insight into the changes ahead of Patch 10.4 going live from the PBE client. One of the focal points for Patch 10.4 is addressing the current top lane support issue, whereby supports such as Soraka and Sona are a viable option in the top lane, a viable top lane pick that definitely did not occur intentionally and is reaching absurd win ratios.

10.4 Patch preview with tentative changes: pic.twitter.com/6k1aKdYoar

— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) February 11, 2020

Soraka & Sona Top Lane

Soraka

Currently, Soraka has a 56.95% win rate in Platinum and above across all regions (13,350 games), a ridiculously high win rate for a champion that has it all. Not only has Soraka dominated solo queue but she has also dominated competitive play across multiple regions, especially in the LEC and LCK, with the likes of G2 Esports, Mad Lions, and Hanwha Life Esports taking the mystical unicorn into the top lane.

Soraka’s raw healing numbers were enough for MAD Lions to take down Rogue in a game that many expected Rogue to win. In the last team fight of the game, Andrei “Orome” Popa’s Soraka kept his entire team alive in what looked like a one-sided affair for Rogue. Similarly, Lee “CuVee” Seong-jin’s Soraka enabled the berserker, Olaf, to shred through T1’s backline, and ultimately win the game off the back of Soraka’s spam heals.

The upcoming changes to address the troublesome unicorn in the top lane include:

• Base Stats:
  • Health increased from 529.04 to 535.
  • Health per level decreased from 78 to 74.
  • Mana increased from 350.8 to 375.
  • Mana per level decreased from 60 to 40.
  • Attack damage decreased from 50.04 to 50.
• Starfall (Q):
  • Self-heal decreased from 60/80/100/120/140 (+0.5 ability power ratio) to 40/50/60/70/80 (+0.3 ability power ratio).
  • Rejuvenate heal over time duration reduced from 5 seconds to 2.5 seconds (now matches movement speed buff duration).
  • Mana cost increased from 40/45/50/55/60 to 60/65/70/75/80.
  • Bonus movement speed reduced from 15/20/25/30/35% to 10/12.5/15/17.5/20%.
• Astral Infusion (W):
  • When rejuvenated, max health costs will be reduced by 40/55/70/85/100% (NEW).
  • Heal increased from 80/110/140/170/200 to 80/115/150/185/220.

The above changes to Soraka are directed towards her harassment and self-healing potential through her Q ability, Starfall. Reducing the base numbers of her self-heal and ability power ratios will make her poke less impactful. To ensure Soraka is still a viable option for the bottom lane where she is partnered with a fellow bot laner, her W, Astral Infusion is receiving a new feature. When Soraka lands a Starfall on an enemy, the cost of her Astral Infusion will be reduced by 40/55/70/85/100%, which is perfect for harassing the enemy and then healing your lane ally.

Sona

Like Soraka, Sona’s win rate has been extremely high for a top laner, sitting at 55.23% win rate in Platinum and above across all regions (2,124 games). Using Frostfang to harass her enemy and generate gold from her lane opponents, Challenger top laners across the world have been taking the squishy maven of strings into almost every bruiser matchup in the top side of the map. Although Sona hasn’t seen as much play in the competitive format, her power in the solo queue has left a lot of players frustrated thus her nerfs in Patch 10.4 will be music to their ears.

The changes to tackle Sona’s top lane presence in Patch 10.4 include:

• Hymn of Valor (Q):
  • Mana cost increased by 25.
  • Mana cost refunded by 30 if the aura is granted to an ally.
• Aria of Perseverance (W):
  • Mana cost increased by 25.
  • Mana cost refunded by 30 if the aura is granted to an ally.
• Song of Celerity (E):
  • Mana cost increased by 25.
  • Mana cost refunded by 30 if the aura is granted to an ally.

Much like the changes to Soraka, the direction Riot is taking with the changes in Patch 10.4 is gutting Sona’s and Soraka’s solo lane ability whilst ensuring their viability in the support role is not compromised. The changes to all of Sona’s main abilities (Q, W, and E) are the same and have one goal in mind, to get Sona back into the bot lane. Her base mana costs have been increased by 25 on each ability unless she casts the abilities in the proximity of an ally as it will refund Sona back 30 mana. These changes kill two birds with one stone as it affects her harassing capabilities in the solo lanes, forcing Sona to build more mana items or prioritize her spells differently as the mana changes ensure she will not be able to spam harass and heal, whilst addressing the issues of top lane Sona it also forces Sona to reclaim her position as a bot lane support as she would run out of mana if not with an allied champion.

For all the information on the upcoming item and jungle changes, check out our article which covers everything you need to know ahead of Patch 10.4. The patch is expected to go live on February 20.