Sonya
Written By Nicklas 'Scorp' Hansen
1 Hero Introduction
Sonya is a solid bruiser capable of dealing great amounts of damage to a single target. Being a Warrior, she does have some durability, but is reliant on someone else doing the real tanking. In practice, she plays much like an odd mix of Assassin and Specialist, as she also excels at laning and clearing mercenaries due to good self-sustain.
Her kit features skill-shot initiation from Ancient Spear, solid burst damage from Seismic Slam, as well as wave clear and self-sustain from Whirlwind. Her Trait may feel weak at first, but allows her to stick to targets more easily, boosting her damage output and survivability.
Sonya has a versatile kit, and can therefore be picked for various reasons. On maps like Blackhearts Bay, she is a contested pick due to her ability to clear camps efficiently, but can also be played as a pure melee assassin. Sonya thrives well paired with a tankier warrior, as well as a support capable of keeping Sonya alive
Her kit features skill-shot initiation from Ancient Spear, solid burst damage from Seismic Slam, as well as wave clear and self-sustain from Whirlwind. Her Trait may feel weak at first, but allows her to stick to targets more easily, boosting her damage output and survivability.
Sonya has a versatile kit, and can therefore be picked for various reasons. On maps like Blackhearts Bay, she is a contested pick due to her ability to clear camps efficiently, but can also be played as a pure melee assassin. Sonya thrives well paired with a tankier warrior, as well as a support capable of keeping Sonya alive
2 Talents
You will want to pick slightly different talents depending on her role in the team. In general, Sonya’s build is based on sustain through damage - with War Paint at level 1, increasing her Basic Attack damage through later talents puts much value into the healing and outputs sufficient self-sustain during fights, as well as allowing her to capture mercenary camps with ease.
If you feel very confident that the healing is not required, Shot of Fury offers additional burst damage during fights and may be worth considering.
If you on the other hand feel the self-sustain still is insufficient, picking Ferocious Healing at level 7 offers great burst healing at a short cooldown. This talent is a great all-round defensive talent with low cooldown, but the damage from Follow Through also is enormous. If you took war paint at level 1, this will also increase your autoattack healing, consider if you need the extra heals from Ferocious Healing.
At 10, Sonya is given the opportunity to increase her ability to, initiate better or deal more damage (and thus more sustain as well). Wrath of the Berserker is a great pick in any scenario, and gives Sonya great impact in and out of fights due to low cooldown and theoretically infinite duration. Leap can however be useful as well, in cases where your team lacks initiation or you have to chase down an otherwise safely positioned target. Initiating with Leap also means you will still have Ancient Spear with Mystical Spear available to re-position yourself past 13.
Aside from sustain through heals, Sonya is offered great defensive talents at level 16. Imposing Presence greatly reduces the threat of heroes relying on auto-attacks, such as Falstad or Greymane. If you are not facing a strong lineup of those heroes, stick with the enormous shielding from Nerves of Steel.
3 Playstyle
When playing as Sonya, it is important to play her to her full potential. She is a great duelist, so laning against heroes like Zagara is a viable strategy unless you have got an even better solo laner in the team. Utilize Sonya’s self-sustain to quickly clear mercenary camps throughout the game, putting additional pressure on lanes.
In team fights, try not to get too deep: remember that you are reliant on your tank and support. Let another warrior engage the fights, and try to single out weaker targets. If you catch an enemy off-guard in lane, Sonya’s burst damage is enough to force a reaction. Do not fear to trade health in lane, as her sustain from Whirlwind and auto-attacks help regenerate quickly and at very low cost.
4 Tips and tricks
Prior to level 13, Sonya’s only ability to re-position is hitting a target with Ancient Spear. Try to fight near enemy Walls or minion waves, in case you need to back off with Ancient Spear. If you feel safe, initiating with Ancient Spear gives a great amount of Fury, which converts directly into damage from Seismic Slam. It can also be cast during laning or clearing mercenary camps to generate additional Fury when needed.
When fighting heroes, it is very important to get an auto-attack in between each Seismic Slam to make full use of Follow Through. Whirlwind should not be used in fights unless you need the additional movement speed from her Trait, but offers great wave clear and healing when used in lane.
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