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Diana Build Guide by

Lunar Eclipse - S4 Diana Guide

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40 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author brkl789

Diana Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (40) More Diana Guides

Choose Champion Build:

Burst Assassin
DPS Fighter

Spells:

Ignite

Flash

Items

Safe start

Aggressive start

Shield start

When facing Ap rush

Against AD rush

Then buy

Essential Items

Damage Options

Defensive Options

Alternative Boots

Example Build

Trinkets

Ability Order

Diana Passive Ability

More Diana Counters

Hello everyone and welcome to my champion guide, featuring , the Scorn of the Moon. This was my first guide ever written here on MOBAFire and it's now fully reworked. I'm BroxXx95 and I currently play on EU West. The highest division I hit so far is Gold I in season 3.

I really enjoy playing AP champions and is one of my favourite, right after and . The combination of high damage, durability and mobility makes her very rewarding and fun champion to play, while you're able to build her in a few different ways, which makes her able to adapt to many situations.

In this guide I will cover runes, masteries, summoner spells and possible ways of playing , along with detailed explanation of her abilities and different phases of the game.

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jhoijhoi's Making A Guide guide; Here you will find everything about basic BBCoding;
astrolia's Custom Table of Contents Guide - Here's the explanation how to make custom Table of Content;
Meiyjhe's Everything about guides - Here you will find many more useful guides and threads.

Like any champion, has her strengths, or Pros, and weaknesses, or Cons. She's a hybrid assassin/fighter, therefore she's more durable than most assassins. However, once she gets into fight there are usually only two choices: Fight or Die.

High killing potential
Suprisely durable
AoE Spells

As an assassin, has very high burst potential, especially against squishy targets. When she's doing well, she can snowball hard and eliminate most enemies in one combo. Also, she can easily stick to them thanks to and .
Unlike most assassins, she is pretty tanky and has strong shield with . This allows her to stay alive in team fights longer and deal crazy amounts of damage.
All of her abilities are AoE, except , which means they can hit multiple targets. This makes very big threat to enemy team in team fights. It also gives her good wave clear and fast jungling ability.

Melee Range
No Natural Escape
Requires Precision

Being melee range is one of 's biggest weaknesses. This is especially true in early levels (before level 6) when she can be easily denied from creeps by any ranged champion or ability.
Even she can easily stick to her target, may have trouble trying to escape enemies. Unless there are enemy minions or jungle camps near, you won't be able to use to escape to safety.
For maximum burst it is needed to hit enemy with to use multiple es. Miss you Q and your damage will be significantly lower.

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Moonsilver Blade: Diana passively gains 20% attack speed. Additionaly, every third attack will deal bonus magic damage to all enemies near her.

Moonsilver Blade deals bonus magic damage to structures such as turrets and inhibitors, allowing you to push fast, especially combined with Lich Bane;
Although Moonsilver Blade deals magic damage, it will not apply slow from Rylai's Crystal Scepter or spellvamp from any item, though it will damage Black Shield;
Passive makes it viable to build Attack Speed on Diana, through items like Nashor's Tooth;
Moonsilver Blade gives you high wave clearing and jungling speed;
After you reach level 6 and you get Lunar Rush, use two basic attacks on nearby creep and than Lunar Rush to enemy and proc Moonsilver Blade for high burst.

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Crescent Strike: Diana unleashes a bolt of lunar energy, dealing magic damage and applying Moonlight to all enemies hit.

Crescent Strike is your main damaging tool and as such you should always max it first, by level 9;
Crescent Strike will apply slow from Rylai's Crystal Scepter and spellvamp from items, but with reduced effects. It will also damage Black Shield and pop Spell Shield, while damage will be negated;
It can be used to check bushes if you suspect enemies are hiding there. However, know that it won't reveal stealthed units, such as Twitch or Akali;
Using Crescent Strike before Lunar Rush is highly recommended, as Lunar Rush will have its cooldown refreshed if used on enemy affected by Moonlight.

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Pale Cascade: Diana gainst shield and creates three spheres orbiting around her that explode on contact dealing magic damage. If all three spheres explode she gains bonus shield.

Pale Cascade makes Diana more durable than most assassins. It is worth maxing second by level 13, for bigger shield and higher damage output. When jungling, a point should be taken at level 1;
Like Crescent Strike, Pale Cascade will apply slow and spellvamp from items, but, with reduces effects. It will also damage Black Shield, but Spell Shield will negate only one sphere;
Putting extra points in this ability early should be considered if facing an enemy with high burst, such as LeBlanc or Fizz;
Along with Moonsilver Blade, Pale Cascade gives Diana high jungling speed.

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Moonfall: Diana pulls all surrounding enemies to her, applying slow on them for 2 seconds.

Moonfall is good to take early, for the utility it provides, but should be always maxed last, as it deals no damage;
Moonfall won't pull enemies with Black Shield and Spell Shield will be popped;
It can be used to interrupt channeled abilities, like Katarina's Death Lotus;
Moonfall can help you secure kills when ganking/roaming pre-level 6. After you reach level 6 almost no enemy will be able to escape you.

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Lunar Rush: Diana dashes to target enemy, dealing magic damage on impact. If Moonlight was applied on target, its cooldown is refreshed.

Like any other ultimate ability, Lunar Rush should be taken whenever it's possible, at levels 6, 11 and 16;
Lunar Rush will apply full slow and spellvamp from items, and it will damage Black Shield and pop Spell Shield;
Lunar Rush serves as great gap closer and should be saved when enemy uses Flash to quickly close the gap, unless you can kill them immediately;
Lunar Rush can be used on nearby minions or jungle creeps to escape scary situations when Flash is on cooldown.

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When chosing masteries for , there are few setups to consider. You can boost you damage by going 23/0/7 or go for a more defensive setup with 19/11/0.

If you want to go 23/0/7 setup, you should aim for all damage increase in Offense Tree. The main masteries we want to take are , , , and for nice overall damage increase. For increased Ability Power take , and , while will add some late game power through basic attacks. will make you a little closer to CDR cap and allow you to use abilities more often. will make you ignore some of targets armor and magic resist.
Utility Tree will give you some movement speed and mana regen through and , to stick to your targets easier while being able to spam abilities without going out-of-mana too fast.

For a Defensive oriented Masteries you take all damage increase in Offense, except , , and . In Defensive Tree you'll want to take and to reduce the power of enemy's basic attack, which stacks up nicely with passive. will give you a bit of health regen to heal up if you take some damage. will boost your early health and make you able to take extra damage. Choose to take either or based on the type of damage your enemy mainly deals; Against AD casters take while against AP casters you should take .

boost your early power by giving some Ability Power for stronger ablities and more effective trades.

are another great choice, as they give you more mobility for faster moving between the lanes and while chasing enemy. They are especially good against or , who relies on skill shots to deal damage.

are standard choice for most AP champions and is no exception. When combined you will ignore almost all of enemy's magic resist.

greater mark of hybrid penetration give you both armor and magic penetration for more early power on basic attacks, since most enemies will have armor Runes. However, I don't like them very much since you won't have an opportunity to use basic attack on enemy early, while in late game they make no difference in damage output.

greater mark of hybrid penetration

are pretty much needed in any situation, as being melee means you are always in range for enemy's basic attacks. This is where these Runes come handy, as they reduce all physical damage you take.

are also Runes I consider core in every situation. They give you all necesarry early magic resist to counter enemy AP carry in lane.

Standard Spells

plus

Against High Burst

plus

Pre-Level 12

plus or

Optimal Spells

- is the most important spell to take. It is awesome utility spell that allows you to cross a small distance in a second, whether you want to chase an enemy or you're trying to escape them, even over walls. If timed correctly you can dodge global ults like .

- is another spell you want to take in most situations. It reduces all healing effects on target plus it deals true damage over time to them, helping you to kill them faster and easier. It is especially useful against enemies with high sustain, like or .

- comes very handy when you are facing high burst enemy, like or . Barrier absorbs decent amount of damage and can possibly save your life in many situations. It can be especially useful in team fights.

Alternatives

- should be taken if you are not level 12 yet, since won't be available. It increases your movement speed and allows you to move through targets and can be used either for chasing or escaping enemies.

- is more team-oriented spell, that heals you and nearby allies for decent amount. It should be only considered if you're bellow level 7 and is not available.

When it comes to building right Items for , it's best to make balance between damage through AP Items, and survivability through resistances. This is why items like and work great on her. This will also make her shield more effective. On top of that, she is melee after all and she needs some defenses to be able to survive in fights.

THE SAFEST POSSIBLE START, WITH LOTS OF SUSTAIN
This is my preferred start most of times. With you will give you 3 charges every time you return to base, and it quickly repays itself. Three additional s will hive you 450 effective health and will heal you quickly if you take any damage. serves as free ward to keep you safe from enemy jungler.

AGGRESSIVE START FOR EARLY DOMINANCE
These are good items when you're planning to play aggressive or you're against an easy opponent. gives you a lot of early power through AP, health and mana regen, for more damage output. Two s let you heal up after you take some damage.

PROVIDES PROTECTION AGAINST BASIC ATTACKS
When enemy has good harass and deals mainly physical damage this start can work for you. gives you health and health regen, while its passive will block 8 damage from champion's basic attack. This stacks well with Defensive Masteries and will make you very tough.

GIVES YOU MR TO COUNTER ENEMY AP CARRY
These items should be taken when you are laning against magic damage dealer. At your first respawn grab a or two, depending on your starting items, and take . If you're being harassed hard by an enemy, take , otherwise you can take first. is later upgraded to .

EARLY ARMOR TO COUNTER PHYSICAL DAMAGE
This is suggested early build to use against physical damage dealers. gives you bonus AP and armor, and passively increases the same for every minion you kill up to the cap. Combined with health from s this item's gonna make you more resistant to physical damage. is later upgraded to .

CHEAP SOURCE OF MR AND MANA REGEN
There will be sometimes games in which you can't get your Blue Buff, for any reason, and that's when should be considered. It's quite cheap and gives you a bit of magic resist and lots of mana regen to spam your abilities freely. It is later upgraded to .

ABYSSAL SCEPTER: I absolutely love this item on . It gives you all stats you need in Early/Mid game and has great synergy with 's kit. Ability Power makes your abilities and shield stroger, while magic resist makes you more resistant to magic damage. The Aura reduces magic resist to all surrounding enemies by 20, which stacks up nicely with bonus penetration from runes and , while it also helps your team deal more damage.

ATHENE'S UNHOLY GRAIL: This item works as substitute for , when you're in need for mana regen and CDR. Compared to Abyssal, this item gives you a bit less AP and magic resist, but it greately increases your mana regen and gives you amazing 20% cooldown reduction. Due to nerfs to Blue Buff cooldown reduction bonus, is more than viable to take and should be considered if you cannot have Blue Buff for any reason.

RABADON'S DEATHCAP: Absolutely Core Item for most AP carries due to massive AP increase it gives. Ability Power from all sources will be increased by 30%, making your burst stupidly high. However, you should never take it as first major item on cause you will be too squishy, unless you're snowballing really hard. Take it after your /.

NASHOR'S TOOTH: is an amazing item that will increase your DPS significantly, as it increases your Ability Power and Attack Speed in addition to 20% CDR, for lower cooldowns on your abilities. It also gives you bonus magic damage on basic attacks based on your AP, which has great synergy with . This item isn't exactly substitute for , but it's usually better to build more like a fighter if you choose take it. Avoid taking if you took or , since you'll already reach CDR cap so you'll be wasting some of your gold on unnecessary stats!

ZHONYA'S HOURGLASS: should be your first major item when you're facing AD caster in Mid Lane, or enemy team deals mostly physical damage. Like , it also boosts both your damage and durability, but instead of magic resist it gives you armor. The Active works great when you need to remove focus from you in Team fights, while you're waiting for your abilities to become available again. It can especially work good against some ultimates like or .

VOID STAFF: Whenever you see enemies start to my magic resist, go for . Besides Ability Power this item gives you 35% magic penetration, which means your abilities will ignore the same percentage of enemy's magic resist.

LIANDRY'S TORMENT: , unlike , gives you flat magic penetration. This is generally stronger option against enemies with lower magic resist, who stack health, since Passive burns the percentage of target's current health upon dealing magic damage. This damage is double if their movement speed is impaired, which can be easily achived with .

DEATHFIRE GRASP: This is a great finishing item when you want to maximize your burst. Besides bonus AP it gives you a bit of cooldown reduction and an amazing Active that deals percentage of target's maximum health magic damage and amplifies all magic damage they take by 20% for next 4 seconds.

LICH BANE: Another great finishing item, great for split pushing. It gives you Ability Power, a bit of mana, increases your movement speed and has a Passive that makes your next basic attack to deal bonus magic damage based on your maximum AP after using an ability. Along with it will help you destroy enemy turrets in a matter of seconds and will also give you more dueling power.

Armor

GUARDIAN ANGEL: There will be some games where enemy team will focus you to death and where you can't stay alive long enough to actually deal some damage. In these situations you should take . Firstly, it will give you both armor and magic resist, making you overall more durable. Secondly, its Passive will revive you upon dying, which will force enemy team to find another target who they can actaully kill, while you'll be free to burst them.

RANDUIN'S OMEN: When enemies have two or more auto-attack dependant champions, you should go for . The mixture of health and armor will make you more resistant to physical damage, while passive will reduce their attack and movement speed every time they hit you with basic attacks. This is especially strong when you want to shut down enemy AD Carry. Active combined with can pull in and slow whole enemy team and has great synergy with AoE abilities, such as 's .

FROZEN HEART: Similarly to , is good choice against heavy AD auto-attack reliant teams as it creates Aura debuff and reduces attack speed to all enemies around you. Just like it can solve your mana issues and provide you good amount of CDR, in case you cannot afford Blue Buff. However, never buy these two items together!

ICEBORN GAUNTLET: This item is a defensive version of . It gives similar stats that gives, like armor, mana and CDR, but it also gives you a bit of Ability Power and Passive that creates AoE slow on next basic attack after using ability.

Magic Resist

BANSHEE'S VEIL: Against heavy AP teams or when you just need extra protection from enemy APC is great item to consider. It is especially useful against combo based champion like or , as it blocks one spell every 30 seconds, making thier burst much lower.

QUICKSILVER SASH:Very rare situations you'll need , but it doesn't make this item any worse. Active removes all kinds of debuffs, even suppresion like or . Only weakness is that it hasn't any late game upgrade that suits your role of AP carry.

Health

RYLAI'S CRYSTAL SCEPTER: works very well on as it increases both her damage and durability and it also gives you utility, as it makes your abilities slow all enemies hit. It has good synergy with .

WARMOG'S ARMOR:With 1000 HP, this is the best health item you will find in the game. If you don't have need for resists, feel free to take for massive HP boost.

Boots

MERCURY'S TREADS: Mercury's Treads are useful against magic damage and CC. Should be considered against champions like or , or when playing against hard CC teams. Tenacity reduces duration of any CC you are affected by.

NINJA TABI:When having trouble against AD champions in lane, or facing heavy AD team you may take Ninja Tabi to counter some of their physical damage. Its Passive reduces power of their basic attacks by 10%.

ENCHANTMENT HOMEGUARD: This is one of the best, if not the best Enchantment you can take. It instantly restores your health and mana upon recalling and gives you massive movement speed boost to quickly return to lane. It is good to take when enemy team is pushing hard.

ENCHANTMENT DISTORTION: Another great Enchantment to conisder. It reduces the cooldown of your / by 25%. Normally has cooldown of 300 seconds, but with this Enchantment it will have only 225 seconds (75 seconds of difference). This is pretty good to consider when enemy team has someone like , as you'll need to escape his ultimate.

GREATER STEALTH TOTEM: You should usually avoid upgrading your trinket before you finish your other items. is your standard Late game upgrade, which gives you longer-lasting .

GREATER VISION TOTEM: If you are playing against someone like or , is better choice as it will give you one so you can counter their invisibility.

In early game you should mainly focus on farming creeps, AKA last hitting. Having good Creep Score is the key to success and always keep in mind that one kill is worth around 12-15 minions. The first 5 levels may be the hardes phase for as she doesn't have her yet, therefore she will be vulnerable and unable to fight ranged enemies. Try not to abuse your passive a lot as you risk pushing your lane, which makes you vulnerable to ganks.

Try to poke an enemy with but avoid hitting creeps with it. If you're unable to farm with basic attack you may use your abilities for that purpose. Try to save when your jungler comes to gank. If your jungler has some kind of stun it's usually better to let them initiate first and save when enemy flashes and tries to escape. A good usage of can secure a kill in most situations.

Always keep river bushes warded just in case enemy jungler comes to gank. It may be a little harder against enemies like , since they can pass near the without being noticed. In this case you'll have to invest in .

As the game goes on, Team fights will start to occur. 's role in team fights is pretty clear - eliminate highest priority target as soon as possible! But this doesn't mean you should jump in the middle of the enemy team as soon as you see enemy AD or AP carry. It's quite opposite actually - you WAIT for the opportunity to eliminate them without endangering yourself. You try to catch them out of position and punish them for exposing to you. Or wait for your initiatior to initiate the fight. After initiation you jump to the target with followed by . The main target is usually enemy AD or AP carry, but this can vary from game to game. If their jungler/top lane got fed keep on eye if they are building towards damage or durability. If it's damage, focus them first. Otherwise, stay away from them until you eliminate other enemies.

- It's very important to watch out if enemy has some sort of channeled ability, so you can interrupt them. This is extremely important against enemies like or , whos ultimates can deal tremendous damage if fully channeled. Or, if enemy team has someone like , who can lock down your AD carry with their suppression, be sure to use the first opportunity to interrupt it with .

Always keep on eye important Team Objectives, and . Killing them gives team-wide rewards in form of bonus Gold or strong damage buffs. Always keep these places warded, or enemy team could kill them before you if you're not being careful. If you don' have a Ward at the moment, you can use to see if enemy is attempting to kill them, as they will be revealed for a few seconds.

Who counters Diana?

- In general, champions that can beat in lane are those with naturally high sustain/durability, abilitiy to reduce her attack speed or to poke her down from long distances without too much risk.
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- One of good counters is . Nowdays you will rarely see him but he's one of the toughest enemies you can encounter. He is naturally durable thanks to his passive , which converts percentage of the damage he deals into shield, making him hard to even poke. He doesn't have skill shots so he can easily punish you if you ever try to get close to him. Similarly to , has pretty good chances against you with his long range poke and high sustain after he reaches level 6.
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- A champion that you can occasionally see in mid lane and who's good counter is . He is energy-based champion so he will be able to spam abilities more often than you. His kit gives him nice mix of mobility, durability as well as some good damage. Additionally, he can drastically reduce your attack speed and knock you back if he ever feels threatened by you. Similarly difficult champion is with his high poke/healing abilities and AS debuff.
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- Another good example is . Very strong champion with high poking potential and strong laning phase. She can spam whenever you try to last hit with auto attacks, can toss minions on you and she can easily stun you with or knock you back if you try to to her. At level 6 she has enormous burst, based on the number of spheres she conjured on the field.

Who does Diana counter?

- As an assassin, is generally strong against most squishy champions, so she won't have problem with most AP carries. She is especially good against champions with channeled abilities which can easily be interrupted with proper use of .

- is feared by many, but he's no problem for . Whenever he tries to attack you with , immediately use to shield yourself as well as to damage him. You may want to put extra points to early to reduce his burst. He can be a bit tricky to hit with if he uses , so wait until the spell is on cooldown. If he lands near you use to pull them to you, than use the rest of your combo.

- is also an easy pray for since she is melee, like . She has decent burst with + sinister steel combo, but you have your shield to protect you. At level 6 you will win a fight easily, just wait until she starts channeling and immediately use to interrupt it. is even easier opponent, just make sure to interrupt on time or otherwise it could be fatal for your teammates.

- and are also one of the easier opponents you can encounter, both relying on landing their Q to deal enough damage to actually kill. You should only be careful when to engage them, as cannot be killed so quickly if is up, and has good sustain and farm clear, as well as good protective spell, .

Well, you've reached the end of this guide. I honestly hope you've enjoyed it and it helped you understand better. I'd really appreciate if you could leave me any feedback on how you liked my guide, and if you did like it, an Upvote would be nice ^_^

If you have anything to ask me, feel free to comment, PM me or add me in your buddy list, I'll help you anyway I can.

Good luck on Field of Justice!