Dolia dominates Honor of Kings Season 9 with a 39.2% pro ban rate and 33.3% pick rate. Her Celestial Melody resets allied cooldowns while Wavebreaker provides sustained healing, creating unmatched roaming pressure. Here's why Grandmaster players prioritize banning her and how to counter when she slips through draft.
S9 Roaming Meta: The Dolia Phenomenon
Season 9 (launched March 5, 2025) shifted support meta from passive laning to aggressive map control. Dolia capitalized better than any hero with A-tier roaming classification.
The stats tell the story: 2.00% pick rate and 0.59% ban rate in ladder play explode to 33.3% pick and 39.2% ban in pro matches. Skilled players understand her potential while casual matches underutilize her kit. Even Dyadia—another premier roaming support—only hits 47.6% ban rate.
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What Changed in S9
Reduced respawn timers in first 8 minutes created windows where successful ganks translate into immediate turret pressure. Dolia's Ode delivers four soundwaves—the fourth deals 250 (+35% Magical Attack) damage with 50% slow for 1 second.
Wavebreaker's water pool reduces cooldown by 30% when cast in the zone, enabling sustained skirmishes. This 4-second zone forces enemies to fight in disadvantageous terrain or cede map control.
Passive to Aggressive Support Shift
Mermaid's Gift passive reduces slows by 50% while restoring 70 Health/sec and 5 Mana/sec, granting exceptional sustain during rotations. Base movement speed of 360 plus slow resistance makes her one of the most mobile supports.
When enemies disengage from Ode, the echo deals 150 (+16% Magical Attack) damage and knocks back or stuns enemies in water pools—creating unavoidable CC chains.
Why Dolia's Must-Ban: Core Mechanics
Three interconnected strengths: cooldown manipulation, sustained healing, layered crowd control. Celestial Melody resets an ally's longest cooldown while Dolia absorbs 120% of that cooldown. This transforms team fights—reset your marksman's ultimate during objectives or give your assassin a second engagement window.
If the ally uses their reset skill within 5 seconds, Dolia gains 20% faster cooldown recovery. Coordinated teams extract exponentially more value, explaining the 40% pro ban rate versus ladder oversight.
Skill Kit Breakdown
Skill 1 (Ode): 12-sec cooldown, 50 mana
First three waves: 125 (+16% Magical Attack) damage, 10% slow each
Fourth wave: 250 (+35% Magical Attack) damage, 50% slow
Echo damage: 150 (+16% Magical Attack) with knockback/stun in water
Skill 2 (Wavebreaker): 12-sec cooldown, 60 mana
Restores 300 (+40% Magical Attack) Health
In water pool: 8.4-sec cooldown (30% reduction)
Heals every 8 seconds during extended fights
Max Skill 1 before Skill 2. Standard combo: Skill 2 + Skill 1 + auto attack.
Early Game Dominance
Level 2 power spike arrives fast. Base stats:
3286 max health
168 physical attack
132 physical defense (18% reduction)
50 magical defense (7.6% reduction)
460 max mana, 16 mana regen/5 sec
Starting items:
Crimson Shadow: 1900 gold
Boots of the Arcane: 710 gold
Core path: Dawnlight (1950g), Venomous Staff (2050g), Sage's Sanctuary (2100g)
Vision Control and Objectives
Water pools provide temporary vision, revealing enemies. Strategic placement near river buffs creates ambush opportunities. Knockback interrupts enemy steal attempts while sustained healing keeps your jungler healthy during burns.
Flash enables aggressive flash-Ode initiations, reflecting the offensive roaming meta.
Dolia vs Top-Tier Supports
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Win Rate Analysis
49.57% win rate across all levels masks her coordinated strength. Pro matches show significantly higher rates with voice comms. The 33.3% pro pick rate means she's selected in one-third of unbanned games, forcing opponents to adjust entire compositions.
Dolia vs Angela
Angela provides global teleport with shields and damage amp on single targets. Dolia's Celestial Melody affects any ally, resetting their most impactful ability—potentially multiple resets per fight.
Angela excels protecting hyper-carries. Dolia excels in fast skirmishes where resets create immediate kill pressure. S9 meta favors Dolia's burst over Angela's sustained protection.
Mastering Roaming Strategy
Rotation Timing Windows
Level 2 (1:30-2:00): Complete blue/red buff with jungler, rotate to nearest gankable lane. Ode slow plus ally damage secures first blood in 60%+ of proper executions.
Level 4: Unlocks Celestial Melody. Reset your jungler's ultimate during invades or mid laner's burst combo. Prioritize lanes with high-impact ultimates ready.
Jungler Coordination
Wavebreaker enables aggressive invades. At level 3 red buff invade, the 300 (+40% Magical Attack) heal keeps your jungler healthy while Ode prevents interference.
Water pool's 30% reduction means 8.4-sec Wavebreaker cooldown during invades—approximately 35-40 health/sec with early items. This exceeds most junglers' damage intake from neutrals.
Gold Lane Ganks
Approach through river, place Wavebreaker between enemy and turret, unleash Ode. Positioning forces enemies through water pool (echo stuns) or into 50% slow.
Ganks at 2:30 and 4:00 deny enemy marksmen critical farm. 360 movement speed allows 15-20 sec return to mid/jungle.
Counter Strategies
Hero Counter-Picks
Sima Yi: Silence prevents Wavebreaker, teleport matches roaming
Guiguzi: Stealth detection, AoE CC disrupts combos
Lian Po/Dun: Frontline bulk absorbs CC chains
Prince of Lanling/Li Bai: Burst damage deletes her before healing
Itemization
Venomous Staff and Mortal Punisher apply grievous wounds. Multiple enemies building these (2050g) drop Wavebreaker heal from 300 to 150-180.
Purify cleanses Ode slows and echo stuns, sacrificing Flash utility. Supports and marksmen should prioritize against Dolia comps.
Vision Wards
River bushes and jungle entrances provide 3-5 sec warning. Focus wards on river entrances near vulnerable lanes during first 8 minutes.
360 movement speed means 12-15 sec travel from mid to gold lane. Wards at 6:00 and 8:00 minutes provide info to avoid CC chains.
Draft Phase Mastery
When to First-Ban
Ban Dolia when your comp relies on long-cooldown ultimates that become exponentially stronger with resets. If your mid/jungler favors game-changing ults, deny enemy Dolia.
If your team favors sustained damage with short cooldowns, her reset value diminishes. Ban higher-priority threats instead.
Blue vs Red Side
Blue side gets first-pick advantage. Red side dilemma: ban Dolia and lose pressure on other S-tier heroes, or leave open and risk blue securing her.
Red side bait ban strategy: leave Dolia unbanned while banning synergy partners. Blue side should leave unbanned if confident in first pick.
Team Comp Factors
Dolia synergizes with high-impact, long-cooldown ultimates. If enemy shows early picks suggesting reset-focused comp (assassins, AoE mages), prioritize banning.
If your team secures early picks with powerful ults, leave open for your selection.
Optimal Build Guide
Core Item Path
Crimson Shadow (1900g): Sustain and gold generation
Boots of the Arcane (710g): Movement speed and CDR
Dawnlight (1950g): Magical attack scaling for damage and healing
Venomous Staff (2050g): Penetration and magical attack
Sage's Sanctuary (2100g): Team utility and CDR
Succubus Cloak (2080g): Defense and magical lifesteal
Emblem Configuration
Aggressive (10 Saint, 10 Harmony, 10 Tribute):
+77 Magical Attack
+450 Max Health
+4% Movement Speed
+52 Health Regen/5 sec
+7% CDR
Defensive (10 Fate, 10 Void):
+23 Physical Defense
+1162 Max Health (total ~4448)
+10% Attack Speed
+6% CDR
Spell Selection
Flash in 95% of scenarios. Flash-Ode creates unavoidable initiation. Offensive Flash usage defines high-level play.
Sprint amplifies roaming for map coverage. Purify provides self-cleanse against heavy CC. Rarely justify sacrificing Flash's versatility.
Team Synergies
Best Hero Combinations
Assassins with execute ults (Prince of Lanling, Li Bai): Four assassination attempts instead of two per fight.
Mages with AoE CC: Control entire teams through sequential ultimate casts.
Avoid pairing with short-cooldown or basic attack-reliant heroes.
Solo Queue Communication
Use quick chat to signal Celestial Melody availability and ping reset targets. Allows teammates to position aggressively.
Cast Wavebreaker 1-2 seconds before team commits, ensuring water zone remains active throughout engagement.
Objective Control
Reset jungler's smite or burst ability during secure moments. At 4-min Lithowanderer, position near jungler for damage threshold enemies can't match.
Late-game Dark Slayer/Tyrant: reset primary damage dealer's ultimate after using on objective, redirect second cast toward enemy heroes.
Common Mistakes
Low Skill Misconception
Optimal Celestial Melody usage demands game knowledge from hundreds of matches. Identifying which ally ultimate to reset, predicting enemy positioning for echoes, managing water pool placement require split-second decisions.
Pro 33.3% pick rate demonstrates skill ceiling. Casual 49.57% win rate masks coordination requirements.
Overcommitting Errors
3286 health and 132 physical defense feel tanky early but focused damage kills quickly. Recognize when to disengage for subsequent rotations.
Most common: tower dives assuming Wavebreaker sustains through turret damage. Limit dives to scenarios where allies tank initial shots.
Power Window Misunderstanding
Strength peaks levels 2-7 when base damage outpaces enemy defense. Many default to passive laning instead of aggressive roaming. By level 10, enemy carries acquire items that neutralize early advantages.
Front-load aggression into first 8 minutes. Transition to utility support late game—use Celestial Melody for resets rather than solo plays.
Climbing Grandmaster
MMR Optimization
Focus on:
High vision scores (wards on cooldown)
60%+ kill participation
Under 4 deaths per game
0/3/18 scoreline contributes more than 5/8/10. Prioritize assists and survival.
Adapting Playstyle
With hyper-carries: protective playstyle, defensive Wavebreaker, save Celestial Melody for carry ults.
With early-game comps: maximize roaming aggression for insurmountable leads.
Resource Management
Sacrifice your life to preserve fed carries. Low gold priority (functions with 2-3 items) makes you acceptable sacrifice for 1000+ gold carries or major objectives.
Avoid unnecessary deaths granting 200-300 gold without strategic benefit.
FAQ
Why is Dolia most banned in S9 Grandmaster?
39.2% pro ban rate due to Celestial Melody resetting allied cooldowns, creating multiple high-impact abilities per fight. Combined with 300 (+40% Magical Attack) Wavebreaker healing and Ode CC chains, she provides unmatched utility coordinated teams exploit.
What makes Dolia stronger than Angela?
S9's fast skirmish meta favors cooldown resets over sustained shielding. Celestial Melody affects any ally and resets most impactful ability versus Angela's single-target focus. Current burst damage and objective control emphasis aligns with Dolia's kit.
How to counter Dolia effectively?
Pick Sima Yi (silence), Guiguzi (stealth detection/CC), or burst assassins (Prince of Lanling, Li Bai). Itemize Venomous Staff/Mortal Punisher to reduce healing. Place vision wards in river entrances for early roaming detection.
What's Dolia's optimal skill build?
Max Skill 1 before Skill 2. Combo: Skill 2 + Skill 1 + auto. Water pool first ensures echo stuns land with immediate healing. Use Flash offensively to initiate with Ode's fourth wave.
When to ban Dolia vs other supports?
Ban when your comp features long-cooldown ults that strengthen with resets. Leave unbanned if your team favors sustained damage with short cooldowns. Consider opponent coordination—ban against organized teams.
Best team comps with Dolia?
Assassins with execute ults (Prince of Lanling, Li Bai) or mages with AoE CC. Ensure two+ teammates have long-cooldown, game-changing abilities to justify picking over other supports.