My name is ExperimentXIX and this is my first guide! I did read the build guide by jhoijhoi and am going to do my best to make this readable and interesting. Leave as much feedback/criticism as you want! I'm always up for suggestions and tips, especially when I'm new to something.

What made me want to make this guide was mainly the recommended items and the summoner's showcase for the beautiful Diana. I asked myself, "why is Phreak building this Champion like an AP carry, completely ignoring her ridiculously powerful passive and her hybrid qualities?" In this question, this guide was born. It's purpose: to attack the idea of an AP Diana and present the auto-attacking, long-jumping, monster of a hybrid bruiser that I have already grown to love. So let's get to the meat of this thing, hey?

Pros

-Is cool and doesn't afraid of anything (that hair)
-Has a sick passive that scales well
-Her W gives great durability for minimal investment
-Surprisingly versatile (can be played many builds and still be a threat)
-If her Q hits, the enemy should be worried
-EXTREMELY powerful mid-game
-Interesting skillshot and moveset
-One of the best Hybrid Champions I have played; she rivals the power of Jax
-Tanky Akali!

Cons

-Passive isn't particularly powerful for the first 3 levels
-Shield can only reach its full potential if Diana is close to the enemy (better for initiation, rather than escapes or absorbing ranged damage)
-Runes are required to make her truly shine (extra Attack Speed/Armor)
-Ultimate is slightly underwhelming without Q landing first
-Without someone, a minion, or a monster to jump to, has troubles escaping sticky situations (can be remedied with Flash )
-Minimal Crowd Control

"How does Diana even work?" you may be asking. Well, she has a really interesting and unique skill set. Her abilities provide her with both tankiness, utility, and straight up magic damage.


P:

Passive 20% attack speed and every third strike doing a high-damage cleave? Yes please. This ability makes her jungle times very fast, and makes her a viable hybrid. Without this ability, she wouldn't be nearly as amazing to play with. You'd be amazed at how little AP you need to have and still have this passive dealing way more damage than it seems like it should, even to single targets. If you are running an AP burst build, try to get this passive ready before jumping in, so that you can almost instantly melt down their health.

Q:

This is the ability that makes Diana so freaking cool. It's not just a skillshot, it's a skillshot that arcs and explodes on impact. The visual is absolutely fantastic and the arc is something new to learn. This gives a whole new feel to skillshotting. You can use the arc up close to get a really fast hit on a target that is right next to you, so you can follow their attempt at escape with R or you can use it to hit a fleeing target, leading them and forcing them to make very unorthodox jukes to avoid it. If you do land it, following it up with is generally a good idea if it is safe to do so, as there will be no cooldown.

W:

This shield is really fantastic in the sense that it is actually tuned towards aggressive behaviour rather than defensive. As long as you're on top of your enemy, all three orbs should hit them, giving you a second round of your shield! This ability really shares a resemblance with an ability of a Champion that Diana knows quite well. This is also your best friend in early game jungling.

R:

The reason why I called Diana "Tanky Akali" in the pros and cons section is because of this ability right here. You jump to your target, and under certain conditions you can do it more than once in rapid succession. If you want to jump on an opponent, first consider if you can land before you jump to them, as this will completely get rid of the cooldown, allowing you to make your burst even more deadly.

I take at level 1 because it is the best jungling tool and allows you to take multiple hits without suffering a loss of health.

Next I take for faster jungle times.

At level 3 I upgrade the shield again to help with jungling.

At level 4 I take my first rank in for ganking and look for an opportunity to do so.

After that, I max out for the damage, followed by for the survivability, and lastly as it is only for utility. I grab at levels 6, 11, and 16 as you want that skill to do as much damage as possible as early as possible.

I take flash for escape and extra distance when initiating. However, Lunar Rush's range is so far that it is better to save flash for escaping.


All junglers should take smite. You never want a buff, dragon, or baron stolen because you didn't have it. It's simply required if you want to be a successful jungler.



You can take this if you aren't too worried about escaping with flash, or if you simply prefer it. I find that flash is more reliable as an escape tool, while ghost makes a good chase tool. However, due to Lunar Rush, Diana doesn't really have any problems initiating, so I would take flash over ghost.


This is a good option if your team lacks CC for the ganks or if you want to shut down AD carries momentarily.

Attack Speed Marks are used to proc the passive for faster jungle clear time.

Armor Seals are pretty much standard for jungling and make it possible to start with boots instead of cloth armor .

Magic Resist Glyphs are used to give a little extra resistance when ganking mid or an AP top lane. I prefer flat, but per level magic resist runes are definitely viable. Player's choice.

Ability Power Quintessences are used to buff the passive and the damage of Q and W early game.

Attack Speed Marks are used when harassing the opponent in top lane, and to proc the passive when getting CS (takes some getting used to, like Tristana last-hitting).

Armor Seals are used to defend against enemy harass on you and to reduce minion damage when jumping in. Pretty standard.

Ability Power Glyphs or per level glyphs are to increase the damage of your harass and passive. I prefer flat, but both options work well. Magic Resist Flats are a good alternative if you want extra defense against an AP top such as Cho'gath .

Ability Power Quintessences are used to buff the passive and the damage of Q and W early game.

Magic Penetration Marks are pretty much standard on AP Characters. They help with damage throughout the whole game, particularly champions who do not build much magic resist.

Mana Regen Seals help a lot with the fact that Diana's MP5 is absolutely atrocious for how much her spells cost. Viktor has a similar issue. These and a couple of Doran's Rings should solve this problem if you don't have blue buff.

Ability Power Glyphs provide much needed AP. With this build I prefer per level runes, but flat are also viable.

Ability Power Quintessences are needed for the same reason as the glyphs. More AP = More damage.

and are extremely helpful) will lead to faster clear times and more damage dealt during ever-important ganks.

As long as you have the runes, boots of speed and three pots are sufficient to stay healthy in the jungle, even without a leash. If you start at wolves instead of blue, try to lead the wolves towards blue between attacks to save a bit of time and potentially save a little bit of HP.

kage's lucky pick
On your first back, depending on if you have ganked or not and how much time you have spent in the jungle, you'll be able to afford different things. You main goal is to get your Kage's Lucky Pick early for the Gold per 10.

Options

Low on cash? You can get a start on your kage's lucky pick by getting an Amplifying Tome .
kage's lucky pick
Doing well? Had a successful gank already? You'll probably have enough for your Kage's Lucky Pick kage's lucky pick, and maybe even your tier two boots. Another choice if you want to get started on your Stinger or would like more attack speed is a simple Dagger .
philosopher's stone
Are you having problems getting money? Ganks not going your way? Giving blue buff to your mid and running out of mana? Philosopher's Stone can help with all of these problems. This is actually a fantastic choice, especially if you are focusing on ganking.

On your second back, you should get your tier two boots, as you want to be able to move faster through the jungle and be able to keep up when ganking lanes. Boots also provide a few options.

Options

I get these if I am roaming a lot, similar to an Evelynn playstyle.

These are the boots that I get most games. The tenacity is just too valuable to pass up when ganking and teamfighting. You'd be surprised how often 35% less time on that snare can save your life.

These are good if you want more attack speed. I find that the other boot options are better for Diana, but these help you proc your passive more often. These can also be useful if you want to skip buying a stinger and want to rush the Hextech Gunblade or the DFG

These are more of a mid choice, but if you find yourself needing some extra magic pen, they are a viable option.

Next up is working towards your Core!

After some testing with the Jungle build, I noticed that Diana had problems getting geared up in the jungle if a few ganks hadn't gone her way, or she had been counter-jungled, or for some reason she just wasn't getting enough gold. I also noticed that late game, she lacked the burst that a pure AP build would have, and was just lacking the ability to assassinate well. The solution was Deathfire Grasp. This item is amazing as an opener to a combo, and simply provides her with the oomph she was missing in my previous build. The only downside is that some survivability is lost with this item, as it is built for pure damage.


This item is used in the solotop build as well, and there is a reason: it is fantastic! Attack speed, ability power, MP5, what's not to love? I now get this every game with Diana. It is a little on the expensive side, so I start with an early Stinger and waiting until later to finish Nashor's Tooth.


Attack Power, Ability Power, Lifesteal, Spellvamp AND a built in slow? Holy smokes, how do you not get this item? This is absolutely in every build I make for Diana, even the AP burst one purely because it is extremely useful on Diana. The built in slow helps make up for the only CC being and gives her the stats she needs to really start being scary.

Late Game

So by this point, it's probably pretty obvious how much damage you are doing, who's getting focused in fights, and how much damage you are taking when fighting other Champions.

Therefore, you'll have to make a decision of what you need. Generally, I'll go towards getting more damage and a little tankiness and utility. I prefer to have my character balanced so that the enemy team really can't squish me, yet I'm still a huge threat to their carries.

Options

I have recently decided to remove this from my end-game items as I noticed that Diana has a whopping 2600+ HP at level 18, without any items adding to it. I also felt like the slow just didn't matter that much by the point in the game that this can be afforded. Red buff can suffice if you find yourself REALLY needing a slow-on-hit.


Ability Power. 'Nuff said.


This item gives both armor and magic resist as well as giving you an out if you get squashed in a team fight. With Hextech Gunblade's life steal and spellvamp , this item, flash , and Lunar Rush , you're going to be a threat even after death. By end game, you'll just be jumping on the carries mostly, so you'll really need the defenses in order to survive.


Do they have too much healing going on? Is your attack speed fine but your mana regen is keeping you down? This is the item to get to counter those issues.


See Core build section.


You should get this if the enemy is AP heavy, or you need them to not be so resistant to your spells.


This gives you an added nuke if you're having problems with burst damage. I found myself having problems with burst damage in a lot of the games I played with Diana and have added this item to the core build.


Use this if no one else on your team has bought it and the AD carry is kicking your butt every chance they get. Keep an eye out for if the carry has a last whisper, however, as this item will be much less useful.


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Team fights are a huge part of League of Legends and the results of them often decide the outcome of a game due to the respawn timers. So what is Diana's role in team fights? What should she be doing? Well that depends on your build.

Jungle/Solotop Builds:

JUMP ON THOSE CARRIES. Your goal is to get rid of those carries and be able to survive what the team will be trying to do to you when you jump on them. You need to either zone the carry out of the fight, or kill it to reduce the damage to the rest of your team immensely. More often than not, the AD carry is your main target, followed by the AP carry.

Mid Build:

This one is a bit different as you won't survive if you simply jump onto the carry. Your goal is to stay out of the fight until you see an opportunity to take your target out. You're an assassin. Try to get your passive charged up on minions or monsters if you can before charging in and you'll find that it will be that much easier to melt down your target. Again, you'll want to focus on the carries, but you won't be able to be as aggressive until an opportunity presents itself. Do your best to follow your team's lead and burst when you can!

Diana is an absolute blast to play and I've enjoyed learning how she works and all the possible builds she can run. I felt like I wanted to share my discoveries and my way of playing Diana in hopes that other people would benefit from it and have fun doing so.

I said this already in the introduction, but if you have any criticism, please leave it for me. If you upvote or downvote this guide, I'd really appreciate a comment as well (if you'd be willing) just saying why you took the time to do so!

Hope to see more Hybrid Diana players out there, and I'm glad to have her in the league.

Stay Frosty
-ExperimentXIX

Huge thanks to jhoijhoi for the Guide Tutorial and a lot of inspiration for how I should outline my guide.