Heroes of the Storm: Sonya Walkthrough [Guide]

Sonya, the Wandering Barbarian, is the female warrior from the Diablo franchise. Don’t let her good looks fool you, as she is not the loving type. Capable of dealing immense damage, Sonya also has the added advantage of being able to deal even more damage the more they attack, and they also have some health gaining abilities that will frustrate anyone that tries to go against them. In the hands of a skilled player, Sonya can be completely unstoppable, and this guide helps you build Sonya to turn her into the absolutely lethal weapon that she is.

Introduction
Sonya belongs to a race of barbarians who hailed from the frozen Dreadlands. Nomadic and fiercely territorial, the Barbarians are a fierce tribe, as anyone who has tried to enter their lands, either voluntarily or by mistake, can attest to. They also have supernatural abilities caused by their unity with the land. This allows them to possess abilities that make them even more formidable warriors.

Stories of their ferocity and abilities in battle are both public knowledge and shrouded in mystery, but what is known is that they will not let anyone, not even Diablo and the Prime Evil, desecrate their home. With this, the so called Children of Bul-Kathos will use their weapons, abilities, and power in order to assure that this will not happen.

Items
Sonya possesses different weapons that she has at her disposal. Among these as swords, spears, hammers, and many others that she can use for both ranged and melee attacks. Sonya also has the ability to channel her Fury, which allows her to steal health, activate abilities, and even increase her capabilities when in battle. All of these comprise the complete fighting machine that is Sonya.

Build
Sonya is one of those heroes that do not utilize mana in the conventional sense. This is where her combat Trait, Fury, comes in. With her trait, Sonya can earn Fury when taking or giving out damage, and this serves as the substitute for mana when using abilities. Players also have the ability to restore Sonya’s health while attacking.

For starting abilities, Sonya has Ancient Spear, Hammer of the Ancients, and Whirlwind. Ancient Spear (13 seconds cooldown) has Sonya throwing out a chained spear which would pull Sonya towards the first enemy that it hits. This will deal damage and stun enemies, and a successful hit will earn Sonya 20 Fury as well. Hammer of the Ancients (15 mana cost, 1 second cooldown) lets Sonya deal large damage to a single enemy while Whirlwind (20 mana cost, 1 second cooldown) lets Sonya move and deal damage to all nearby enemies within four seconds.

As for heroic abilities, Sonya can choose between Leap and Wrath of the Berserker. Leap (40 seconds cooldown) lets Sonya damage and stun all nearby enemies while Wrath of the Berserker (100 seconds cooldown) improves your speed and other abilities, and also reduces disabling effects. This ability will last for 10 seconds, but can be extended for every 4 Fury collected while it is active.

Sonya can be built either as a tank, dealing and absorbing damage from enemies, or as a crowd control or pusher. The former focuses more on being able to withstand attacks while dealing damage while the latter allows you to control the field better.

The first recommended build focuses more on survivability and the ability to dish out more pain to enemies:

Path of the Warrior or Endless Fury – Path of the Warrior increases maximum health for every level gained while Endless Fury increases the maximum capacity of Fury to 150

Amplified Healing, War Paint, or Massive Hammer – Amplified Healing increases healing and regeneration by 30%. War Paint increases life steal of Fury trait by 20%. Massive Hammer increases the damage of Hammer of the Ancients by 50% and Fury cost is increased to 20 as well.

Poisoned Spear or Seismic Slash- Poisoned Spear adds 50% damage which is deducted over 4 seconds while Seismic Slash allows Hammer of the Ancients to deal splash damage behind the target

Wrath of the Berserker – increases abilities and reduces duration of disabling effects like silences, stuns, and slows

Composite Spear – increases the range of Ancient Spear by half

Stoneskin or Mystical Spear – Stoneskin lets Sonya gain 30% of health’s worth of shields for 5 seconds while Mystical Spear will pull Sonya towards the target point even if it did not hit anything. However, this will not gain her Fury.

Fury of the Storm or Anger Management – Fury of the Storm gives basic attacks bounce damage which would deal 50% of damage to nearby enemies up to two times. Anger Management increases the damage of abilities triggered by 50%  while Wrath of the Berserker is active.

This build allows you to survive more hits even from stronger enemies. This will allow you to gain ore Fury without dying, and this will also allow you to serve as a shield for your squishier teammates that can then focus more on attacking and support while you take the brunt of the punishment.

This next build gives you better crowd control functions, which would then allow your allies to move in and deal damage. This also gives you the chance to lay upon opponents for some extra Fury and damage, allowing you to spam attacks and abilities for as long as you can sustain it:

Endless Fury – same reason as above

Amplified Healing or War Paint – same reasons as above

Poisoned Spear or Seismic Slash – same reasons as above

Leap – deals damage to enemies in an area and stuns them for 1.5 seconds

Wind Shear or Cyclone – Wind Shear increases movement speed by 10% and removes all movement impairing effects when Whirlwind is used. Cyclone, on the other hand, increases the range of Whirlwind by 80%.

Imposing Presence or Hamstring Spiral – Imposing Presence will slow by 20% enemies that attack you while Hamstring Spiral slows enemies hit by Whirlwind by 25% for 1 second

Arreat Crater – creates a crater that cannot be passed for 3 seconds

This kit gives you better control over enemies, especially with the Whirlwind ability. This skill allows you to herd enemies in the location that you want them to go, unless they would like to risk getting dealt with a large amount of damage.

Strategy
Get up close and personal if Sonya is in full health and if she has enough Fury. Otherwise, use Ancient Spear to be able to both deal damage and gain much needed energy reserves. The most straightforward way to use the Wandering Barbarian, however, is to really be in the thick of the action. Under the best circumstances, you would be able to spam your abilities as, even if you are the giver or taker of damage, you would gain enough Fury to deal damage.

You may also use Sonya’s crowd control abilities to ensure that you would be more of a damage dealer than a taker. This will allow you and your allows to deal more damage while enemies are slowed or stunned. In this case, Ancient Spear and Leap will be your main weapons while Whirlwind and also Leap will be most important when dealing damage to multiple enemies at once. Wrath of the Berserker, however, can be used if you are more comfortable with going solo against one or multiple enemies, although there is always that risk that your Fury trait will not be able to sustain you for long.

Pros and Cons
Sonya is a powerful warrior, although her range is more geared towards being near enemies in order to be effective. This can prove to be her undoing especially against more skilled ranged opponents. Sonya is also at a disadvantage as she cannot regenerate mana automatically. In order to do this, she has to either attack or take damage. Thus, if Sonya cannot do either of these, then she is pretty much useless unless she is able to do either or both.

However, she does have some ranged abilities that can be used. Ancient Spear has decent range, and the ability to regain a lot of Fury with a successful hit can be a benefit. Despite this, getting pulled to within striking distance of an enemy can also work against her, especially when there are numerous enemies that can gang up on you. Whirlwind is also a very effective weapon as it can deal tremendous damage to multiple enemies at once, and skilled players can also use this ability to group enemies or separate them depending on your needs and on your targets’ behavior.

Tips and Tricks
Use Ancient Spear wisely. The ability’s stun effect will allow you to wail on opponents, but moving towards a crowd of powerful enemies may very well be your undoing despite your health and Fury buffs. With the Mystical Spear buff, you can also use this ability to move away from danger if need be.

Use Whirlwind and Leap if you find yourself surrounded by enemies. It can deal a lot of damage, and it can push enemies away or stun them so that allies can be pick them apart one by one. Spam your abilities whenever available, and you can assure that this is so by keeping up with the attack. Keep on the lookout for your health, however, as even though you’ll be gaining some Fury in the process, all of this would not be worth a lot if you find yourself dying before you get the chance to use it.