Soraka is one of the oldest champions in LoL. And by now, everyone has either learned how to play her or how to play against her.
So if you’re a Soraka main and you want to shake things up a bit, I’d definitely recommend the full AD Soraka build in season 13 of League of Legends.
In this guide, not only will I explain the runes and items you’re going to need, but I’ll also talk about why this pick actually works.
AD Soraka offers strengths that the regular build simply can’t, so it’s worth checking at least.
And if you’re a support main, I’d definitely suggest you check my 15 favorite off-meta supports in League of Legends. These are all fun picks that could fit your playstyle too!
Now, let’s talk about AD Soraka in s13!
Can Soraka Be Played as ADC?
Can I play Soraka in bot lane as AD carry? Is Soraka good as an ADC?
AD Soraka is an interesting playstyle that you can play in all three lanes – bot, mid, and top. When you’re building like ADC, Soraka’s power shifts from her abilities to her auto-attacks.
And because of that, Soraka can do way more damage in a team fight or duel an enemy champion in a 1v1 fight.
With the normal/support build, Soraka wouldn’t dream of dueling anyone. And as far as her damage is concerned, Soraka is only scary on level 1 when her Q hits a bit harder.
Because of this, building ADC Soraka is actually very good for carrying games.
When you play AD Soraka, you get the advantage of dealing a lot of damage with auto-attacks but also having a lot of self-heal and other useful tools such as an AoE silence.
Other marksmen are designed to have mobility and damage, so they’ll struggle to keep up with you in terms of sustain.
Soraka is a useful pick that benefits your entire team, no matter the build. Her R – Wish is one of the best global ultimates in League of Legends and it heals a lot, even on AD Soraka.
And lastly, having a partner in the bot lane that really understands how ADC Soraka works can make a huge difference. But if you’re playing solo queue, then I’ll recommend these 3 picks for synergy: Senna, Leona, and Pyke.
These champions can fit Soraka’s AD playstyle really well so you can carry games much easier.
Read Also: AP Lee Sin Support Build Guide
AD Soraka S13 Runes – Explained
- Lethal Tempo
- Presence of Mind
- Legend: Alacrity
- Cut Down
- Bone Plating
- Revitalize
LETHAL TEMPO is the keystone to go for on AD Soraka. Since Soraka isn’t a marksman and has no way to increase her attack speed through abiliites, Lethal Tempo provides a nice boost each time she attacks an enemy champion.
The bonus attack speed from Lethal Tempo can stack up to 6 times (if you keep attacking the target). And at max stacks it even increases your attack range. That’s why Lethal Tempo is the best keystone for AD Soraka.
PRESENCE OF MIND is another rune that you’ll definitely need with this build. Soraka is an enchanter mage after all and since you won’t be building any mana items, the mana regeneration from Presence of Mind is essential.
AD Soraka still needs to spam her silence and heal, so mana will always be needed.
LEGEND: ALACRITY is here to further increase your attack speed. But unlike Lethal Tempo which only activates when you attack an enemy champion, Legend: Alacrity grants a permanent attack speed increase.
Like the other Legend runes, Alacrity works on stacks. You collect stacks whenever you score a champion takedown or slay an epic monster such as the Dragon. And the more stacks you have the better your attack speed is.
CUT DOWN is the last rune to pick up from Precision. It’s a simple effect that allows you to deal bonus damage to enemies that have more maximum health than you.
The ADC build for Soraka doesn’t include HP items, so the enemy top, mid, jungler, and support are likely to have more health than you.
BONE PLATING is one of the best runes for combating burst champions and assassins in League of Legends. It reduces the initial damage of your opponent and allows you to react to the play.
Bone Plating has an insane value during the laning phase, so I suggest you pick it up too.
REVITALIZE is a super-cool rune that synergizes well with Soraka’s kit. It increases her healing power by 5% or 10% if she or her allies are below 40% HP.
I’d say that Revitalize is a must-have rune because it improves Soraka’s healing without having to build support or AP items.
Since Soraka doesn’t have mobility, healing is the only way to stay alive in a fight. And Revitalize helps you with that!
Read Also: AP Varus One-Shot Build Guide
AD Soraka S13 Items – Explained
- Kraken Slayer
- Rapid Firecannon
- Essence Reaver
- Navori Quickblades
- Infinity Edge
- Berserker’s Greaves
KRAKEN SLAYER is the most powerful mythic item for AD Soraka. Unlike the regular ADC champions in LoL, Soraka doesn’t have physical-damage abilities that scale with AD.
And since Kraken Slayer allows you to deal bonus true damage, it’s the ultimate power-up for Soraka AD.
Besides the true damage, Kraken Slayer grants attack damage, attack speed, and critical strike. All of these stats are absolutely needed on AD Soraka, so it’s the perfect mythic item overall.
RAPID FIRECANNON doesn’t add more AD but it’s crucial for building the critical chance percentage. It adds 20% crit chance, 35% attack speed, and even 7% movement speed. And all of that for only 2500 gold!
But the best thing about Rapid Firecannon is that it increases the range of your auto-attack. This makes it easier for you to kite enemies, especially on a champion with no dashes.
ESSENCE REAVER is an underappreciated item in League of Legends. It’s a powerful purchase for any ADC, especially the ones that use their abilities more often.
Essence Reaver empowers your auto-attack to deal bonus AD damage after you use an ability.
On Soraka, you’ll likely spam your heal, Q, or E anyway. So building Essence Reaver will increase your overall damage for the rest of the game.
NAVORI QUICKBLADES is another item that doesn’t get too much use. It’s perfect for Soraka because it allows her to lower the cooldown on her abilities when she critically strikes.
Since you’re aiming for 100% crit here, the effect of Navori Quickblades will always be active.
Navori Quickblades gives you attack damage and ability haste as well, so you have no reason to not take it.
INFINITY EDGE is the last item you want in your inventory. When you purchase it, your critical strike chance will be 100% so each banana you throw will critically strike your enemy.
The passive of Infinity Edge makes it so your critical strike deal more damage, so it’s a massive damage booster for the late game.
BERSERKER’S GREAVES are the boots of choice for AD Soraka. They’ll significantly increase your attack speed in the early game, so you should definitely go for them.
If you’re against a team with a lot of CC you might want to go for Mercury’s Treads. But in any other case, Berserker’s Greaves would be the best boots purchase.
Read Also: ADC Kennen Build Guide
Optional and Situational Build/Items for AD Soraka
Besides the crit/attack speed build for AD Soraka, there’s a lifesteal build that works very well too. The lifesteal build offers much more sustain and allows Soraka to heal even more.
For the lifesteal/AD Soraka build, you’re going to need Immortal Shieldbow, Blade of the Ruined Kings, and The Bloodthirster. These items will all increase your self-healing so you can keep spamming the W button on your allies.
And finally, the items Phantom Dancer, Mortal Reminder, and The Collector can fit in either of these builds. They’re useful in different situations, so buy them accordingly.
Conclusion
Playing AD Soraka and overpowering your enemies with wild bananas is one of the most fun experiences you can have in League of Legends.
I honestly love playing AD Soraka in the mid lane, especially when I’m playing with friends.
The good thing is that there are multiple builds that work for AD Soraka. Feel free to mix things up and experiment with different items and runes.
But if you want one standard bread-and-butter build, follow the one you see in this post.
GL&HF!
Read Also: Full AP Thresh Build Guide
