EDIT Patch 3.01: The above page would work for 90% of situations, flat HP is always useful early game as Sona is a huge target because of fragility and I usually have it standard now. I keep the other pages for optimizing for gold or pure armor, but this page will work for most situations. You can also use either flat mana regen or scaling mana regen but that's according to taste.

Flat HP Quints are imperative to laning as Sona as it allows you to be aggressive against the lane and also against junglers (sometimes Gold quints are worth it but you have to be very certain the other lane is very passive (Janna Lane ) )
The rest are a good mix of Armor, Mana Regen, and some Magic Resist, the mana regen scales with your defense stats as you heal, my runes are heavy in Magic Resist since I like locket and don't want to die to AP casters mid game

You can also make pages to optimize for the AD heavy lanes like blitz/draven with full armor or passive lanes like janna/caitlyn with gold quints

Extra)

Starting items:


Patch 3.01: isn't a strong start anymore since it holds up your items and sightstone is also now hard to build, so early is now the way to go, I usually don't want flask because it would detour from your sightstone engine and it's not a strong start because of its cost


  Very optional, I get Kages if I'm winning the lane and as a precursor to Twin Shadows. I usually choose to buy another item though


Sightstones are VERY BROKEN and should be bought as quickly as possible. The regular one gives 8-9 GP10 through wards alone, which also is given right away so you don't have to buy wards with it. The core build gives all the sustain and wards that you need so you get on with more important things. However, even though it's really good the 950 cost on the regular is hard to come by so I usually complete the philo stone first unless I get lucky and get the 950 gold on backing.


After core, you should be upkeeping 1-2 extra wards, since you should have about 4 wards on the map at all times. These are usually pink vision wards for versatility for counterwarding. (Sightstones aren't enough!!!)

Later Items:

Firstly, I really like Locket, it's really cheap for what it does and its a great bargain (and you should be looking for bargains as support). I'd get it all the time and be happy about it (though it has no magic resist so careful about that)

Zeke's Herald is my favorite item in Season 2, it's aggressive and punishing and cheap and a great buy. This season it got a huge cost increase and a nerf on stats. The AD is much more situational and the cost is more to justify, but if your team can use it you should go for it.

Aegis of the Legion tree is actually situational in my opinion. The cost of Aegis is actually really high now and it lost its damage increase, usually only good if they have a fed AP or heavy AOE. This is now a common jungler item so you can rejoice and not worry about it a lot of the time, but its still a good buy if the other team is AP heavy and you have a carry jungle

There is a specific timing to this item I think, buying this compared to cooldown reduction will reduce your overall effectiveness but will help you more as Sona especially in drawn out teamfights, I would pick one up if mana starts becoming a pressing need in teamfights. There are certain games where mana is a total nonissue because people die very fast, but also games where people bump their Warmogs together and you'll run out in the middle of a fight. A successful Sona player should be able to recognize when to pick up extra mana power. Usually a good buy midgame after you buy your core defensive items

Twin Shadows is another one of my favorite items, it's made for stomping people if you're winning. The MR will help you not get bursted and the AP will help you kill people, the movespeed will help you get ults off. I think it's a great Shurelya's alternative since the nerf to it, you can use the shadows to initiate team fights followed by your ult. However, since I usually go for Philo Stone I tend to go for Shurelya's.

A common pickup now that Philosopher's Stone is more viable, get it if you need the initiation/disengage. It actually has horrible stats compared to other items like Locket, but the active is pretty invaluable depending on the situation. I get this to fill out my slots when I buy philosopher's stone

This thing is really cool but also really expensive, this much money on low defensive stats is hard to justify, but if there's a situation where your AD Carry is getting locked down by something this might help. This is also another filler item if I got a chalice and the game goes late, a nice active when money is not an issue.

New season HIGHLY efficient item, sometimes its a good buy when you're very fed but locket is usually better, situational

Cooldown boots are more important this patch since the itemization for it is so bad, you'll want to this to help cap you out. A lot of the time I go for homeguard boots since it'll help you get wards out and be a presence, it's good for high pressure situations late game. If you have extra money lying around you can go for Captain enhancement which is good all the time, and helps if you're initiating with your ult.

These aren't a bad choice on Sona but I consider CDR version better most of the time, it really depends on your style of play. This will help with warding and make you a main initiator, try it out

Expensive and you don't want to die with one, however important during key points during the game. I usually buy this during extremes during the game to close opportunities for the opponents, such as strangling the opponents vision while you're ahead or clearing out your jungle when you're losing to make opportunities

Who scales well off cooldown reduction and some cheap AP? Sona, of course! Consider one during high pressure moments when you need extra power and have extra cash laying around

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For those games where you're magically fed you can go demi-AP carry to really scare their bot lane. Going off-role is usually risky and good only if you can use it to push your advantage mid-game compared to ruby crystals (it would be a waste of cash later). Sona scales really well with magic pen so you can stomp with this, or try out power lanes with Varus or Urgot. Support Zyra is definitely more suited for this but Sona does have the option!