The date is 12/4/2015 as I write this guide where I have about a 65% win rate with Sonya and rank 13 in Heroes League.

Let's go over this guide.

The reason for my builds?

Because they have been tested and I love facing anther Sonya who builds... different but lets go over talents.

REMINDER: ONLY PICK SONYA IF YOU HAVE ANTHER TANK. SONYA IS A BRUISER/FIGHTER, NOT A TANK. I have learned this greatly in quick matches.

Tier 1:

ALWAYS take war paint. The other talents look good but ALWAYS take war paint. It'll help you stay in lane longer during laning times and allow to soak up more. I can't tell you how many times the 30% heal has saved me or let me win a team fight for my team. It heals about 15-40 HP per swing of your blade. There is little to no reason why you would ever pick any other talent.

Tier 2:

Now this one is tricky, it is based on their other team. Do they have low CC? Weak CC? A lot of slows(Jaina) or roots(Arthas/Malfurion)? IF they do, I would suggest the hurricane since you can easily get rooted or slow by someone and then pop this so you can escape or close the gap. If they have little to no CC, take focus attack. It all depends on how comfortable you are against their team. And yes, I know, what is the point when you have berserker rage in one of the builds? Because, what if you run out of berserker rage? You'll need something to keep yourself going and it will help.

Depending on the map as well, especially if they have little to no slow/rooting(to me Jaina's slow doesn't really hinder if done right), merc lord is a great talent on maps that have a lot of mercs on them. Yes, they changed it to non-boss but on maps like blackheart's bay. Having that talent can make you take camps not only faster but make them stronger. Such as taking the bruiser/siege camps at level 4 with little to no effort. YOu will score your team 4 coins off the bat besides the chests but you can walk your mercs and those siege guys do a **** ton of damage with that talent. Not to mention it can help on some maps to steal mercs such as the double siege one on sky temple near the boss. Stealing camps can help turn battles at certain lanes that are losing espeically if it can distract that lane person or pull others from a lane to help. On blackheart's bay once agian I've stolen so many dubloon camps or even the siege camp in bottom lane because they aren't paying attention to the map. And since you take little to no damage from said camps. YOu can easily get away if you are caught out of place.

Tier 3:

Don't even think about any other talents but the poison spear. The damage off of it, greatly outweighs any other benefit of the other talents. Sonya is a BRUISER, not a tank. Why would you want to consume your fury to heal yourself? That's what war paint, wirl wind and your healer is for. The range of the spear is minimal, you should be able to hit your spear without it and you will NOT BE CHASING or starting team fights. That is what your tank is for.

Tier 4/Ult:

Now this is a decision you must make once again. Do they have a lot of CC? Such as Uther? Brightwing? Gazlowe? If they have high CC, TAKE zerker rage. If they have mid/low/light CC and especially if they have a lot of squishies such as Lt. Morales, KT, and others that must be kung powed out of the fight right away. Then take Leap.

Some say Leap is bad, it's not. I can't tell you have many times I've stomped Raynor, KT, Lt. Morales or other squishes into the ground before they could be healed, flash away(Using that teleport talent), or do anything to save themselves with a well place leap that allows your assassins to give them the D.

Tier 5:

I used to take Life Funnel even before the nerf but doing the math, the healing wasn't that great off of it. The slam talent is great for a slam build but to be all honest, Sonya has no mobility, you miss a spear and you are screwed. The spell shield is for tanks, you are not a tank, you are a BRUISER/FIGHTER. I never had a reason ever to take spell shield, it might help if their whole team is nothing but mages but that is highly unlikely and if you are caught out of place, you will die as Sonya. The best talent to take in this tier is mystical spear. Why? Because, you have little to no mobility and as I said earlier,, if you miss your spear you are out of place and will be kited. Get the spear because even if you miss your spear, it will pull you to the spot near your target and you will be closer to giving them the D. Not to mention it reduces the cool down on your spear by 4 seconds.

Tier 6:

Now once again the slam talent is great for a slam build but I never had a reason to take it. The nerves of steel is a great talent for a tank but guess what you aren't. You are a bruiser/fighter, not a tank so ignore the talent. The choices you have in here is these two. Do they have a lot of auto attack heroes? Then take imposing presence. I can heal you already screaming but that is a tank talent! Yes, but do you know how fun it is to be singled out by valla/Raynor who are trying to kill you in a team fight only to have their attack speed reduce? Reduced attack speed = less damage and that is how your WW/war paint will keep you going and longer.

If they do have little to no auto attack heroes then take no escape. No Escape will help you close gaps better if you miss a spear since you will be moving at 25% extra speed instead of 10%. This will let you close gaps especially if you wirl wind and then can use the extra speed to move around.

Tier 7:

If you take leap, I don't use arreat crater, I feel it does worse for the team and yourself. If you are absolutely sure about your leap abilities then do it but I've always had a trouble of screwing myself or my team mate whose close to where I leap. I feel better about taking nexus blades cause it slows the enemy + I do 20% more damage on my auto attacks. If you take zerker rage you have two choices but the choice I always take is the improved zerker rage because the CC reduction is good but I've taken nexus blade for the extra damage + slow. The last talent ignore pain is not good for Sonya, it's more for a tank and Sonya is you guessed it not a tank but a bruiser/fighter.

How to fight as Sonya:

You need to be with your team at all times, there is very little to no reason why you need to go balls deep or take anyone 1v1 unless you are ahead or confident against who you are fighting. The only time I ever engage anyone in a 1v1 situation is when I am at the same level or higher than them. There has been many times where I go look KT is a squishy but then have to pull out cause I got caught in his knock up and get screwed.

Spear: Is your greatest way to generate fury especially when you pop zerker rage. Not to mention once you get mystical spear it's a great way to pull out of a fight.

Slam: All extra fury goes to this ability and you will slam. Save your slam for when you can hit a hero. The best way to do is to hook into them or close to them and then slam them.

Whirlwind: The most misunderstood ability in my opinion. The best way to use this ability is to not only push a lane but to HEAL FROM IT. You heal more from hitting heroes and if you are in a fight and near minions. Spinning is winning as you can out heal the damage. If you know someone has a skill shot push, knock back or stun, KEEP MOVING. There has been so many times I've made KTs miss cause I spin around/into them and end up behind them and their stun misses. DO NOT spin around anyone with a targetable stun/knock up/pull(Such as Uther/Johanna). You can as well use WW to make yourself move faster because of your trait to escape. DO NOT EVER STAND STILL AND WHIRL WIND EVEN IF YOU ARE SOAKING UP A LANE. If no one is around it's good to be in the whole group of minions and WW but if there is someone in your lane, keep moving because if they have a good Raynor or someone, they'll just shoot at you and when you move they'll push you away. Never WW in a single spot especially in team fights.

Leap: Squishies in the back you should leap, I've turned team fights around because I leapt ontop of their healer/assassins that their team has to turn around to help them while the team is picking them off. If they have a Lt. Morales, you will always take leap and make sure you leap to stop her heal(Usually the team has a chance to kill whoever she is healing) and as well make her retreat.

Zerker rage: Pop this before every team fight and then laugh when brightwing/Uther/others try to stop your rampage only to notice they wasted their stuns/CC on you who will come out of them quickly especially with your level 20 improve zerker rage.

Team fights:

DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT GO BALLS DEEP UNLESS YOU KNOW YOU CAN WIN. You are in my opinion the squishiest warrior. There is nothing wrong if you spear into someone or leap and then have to spear out(if you used leap) to get out. Never be afraid to walk out of a fight and then re-position yourself for anther spear onto the squishies in the back. The longer you are alive, the better you do. DEAD MEN DO NO DPS.

Do not be afraid to get between your squishies if you are all fleeing a team fight. Throw a spear out to make the gap between your squishies and theirs because you have that trait that increases your movement speed and even if you do perish, you saved your squishies.

The point of you is to spear in, slam and once the CCs are over, whirl wind and keep moving. ALWAYS KEEP MOVING unless you are in a position to win/kill/are safe. You should keep moving especially those who have skill shot CC/abilities and etc. The more damage you dodge, the better you are off. You are a life stealing warrior and yes Blizzard does give you the "tank" stat on how much damage you take but the only time you will be "tanking" is if you are in a team fight and you are life stealing from auto attacks or whirl wind that is how you tank. You don't tank with a high HP pool or specialized abilities that some tanks have such as Anub's shield, spike stun and charge/knock up. You are a bruiser and a fighter, you move, attack, keep moving. Dance like a butter fly, sting like a Sand Wasp(Or Itchies, screw those things in D2.)

As well you should master her attack speed. I always always when chasing a moving target, try to get ahead of them, slam, auto attack, move a bit, auto attack, slam etc etc. That way you keep up with them and keep damaging them and since you are slamming them, your trait will help you keep up but if they get near a gate/towers were you can't follow and they are very low on health then you should whirlwind because you will kill them usually.

Threats:

I am not going to go through each hero sadly but your threats are these.

Threat #1: Stuns/knock ups/pulls/Polymorphes

Stuns will screw you up even with berserker rage and timing your whirl wind is CRUCIAL in living in a team fight. Try to avoid any and all stuns that are skill shot or if need be, hang back by your squishies to protect them while the tank engages to soak up the stuns or while their heroes who have stuns go after your squishies and takes the stun you can stop and help peel them away from your squishies. Your biggest fear out of ANYONE is Uther and ETC. ETC will wreck you wish mosh pit even with zerker rage since it's a channel stun even though your zerker rage reduces it to about .5 to 1 second, you will be caught in the full duration since it's a area of effect.

Threat #2: Slows

Since you have no real way to close a gap other than your spear. A great way to get out of things such as Jaina's blizzard if you get caught in it is to spear out of it, into her or near her. That is why the mystical spear is the best talent so you have some MOBILITY on the map. You do not want to be kited and if you are being kited then spear out of range and keep moving away. Remember dead men do no DPS.

Threat #3: Range attacks

Any range attacker/mage that has a way to dash, teleport(that talent one) or anything to get away from you. Be careful around them because if you spear into them, they could cast a few spells, pull away and then kite you. Such as KT who gusts you up, casts everything, pulls back and even spear into him from the start he will wreck you or if you save your spear to get back into range. He will just teleport away, laugh at you and keep casting.

Threat #4: YOURSELF.

This one is a serious one. You as Sonya has to realize that yourself is your worse threat. DO not let your team mates get under your skin for a small mistake because you will make MORE mistakes cause of it. You need to keep calm, keep cool, be with your team and keep on pushing. You do not want to TILT. The other threat for yourself is you chasing a squishy or someone with low health and then you get for a lack of better term, raped because you tunnel vision and got yourself murdered or you let your whole team die or your squishies die because you just HAD to get that one kill. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT get tunnel vision. Most Sonya's fail because of tunnel vision.

I've worked on this guide for the last two weeks, it's my first one I've ever done for a moba but I've played Sonya for a long time since July of 2015 and played her since I was level 2 as a user and I have her at level 12 as of right now. If there is anyway to improve this guide, let me know. I want to put out the best guide for Sonya because when I see others place Sonya, some of the choices I don't feel is good and since I've played Sonya so much I tell the others how to out play their fighting style.

I hope this guide was helpful.