Just a log of changes made to this guide.

Version 1.0: Released the guide on 3-6-2011 :).

Hey guys, this will be a fairly simple guide on how to play orianna effectively.
Depending on your playstyle prefferences i suggest to at least try out the build once and if you don't like it use your own, this is more as to how to use her skills most effectively.

If you have any requests for additional information just leave me a post or send me a PM ( if you think it's urgent ).

By the way, just for your knowledge, this champion is one of the hardest to play (difficulty is max) so be sure not to start with her unless you have decent experience with either these type of games or just with this game.

NOTE!!!!!!!!!!! If you don't like the build i gave, just do whatever you want, its my personal build and i explain every mastery,item,spell,rune so if you are interested why read on, if not just use your own build and check out the gameplay / skilling order / what to pay attention for.

Pro's:
- When played well it really is one AWESOME champion.
- Good CC aswell as support for ally's.
- Nice damage overall.

Con's:
- Hard to master due to her difficulty level.
- Burns mana early game (possibly even lategame depending on your item build / runes).
- Is rather squishy like most casters (even with RoA and Zhonya's).

Where you should be:
To use this build most effectively try to lane.
During group fights always hug your tank's ( or less squishy character's ) back and never go first into those group fights, you are a caster/support.

When facing players alone:
For 1 vs 1, unless you are fed by careless squishy's or already have much better gear, you should stick to minion farming to outgear your opponents and some harassment in between.
Do not take risks on situations where you are uncertain you can get the kill or uncertain of where your opponents are because even if you outgear the opponents with minion farming, if you feed them they will gain in on you obviously.

Who you should play with:
- Try to get at least 1 tank and 1 attack damage champion in the team.
- Try not to go with a full atack damage group as it will effectively murder you when facing tanklike champions such as Mordekaiser.
- Try not to go with a full ability power group, same thing as the one mentioned before.
- Try not to go with nukers in general only, this is like the previous examples.

The first build has summoner spells to suit her stay safe at range type of play better.

Ignite, this is merely for those kills you will not be able make with a dive due to low hp or just annoying healers like mundo, soraka, sona, etc.
Don't need this but it just seems more helpfull then most other spells

Flash, normally i'd agree with ghost but this champion just has more gain from flash as she can just pop up into her opponents and use W or R to mess up the opponents.

The second build has different summoner spells to suit her basic attacks type of play better.

Exhaust, just to keep opponents from bashing you up close and to prevent them from running away with flash / ghost, this spell really reduces alot of incoming damage.

Ghost, since you are also relying on normal attacks you need to be able to keep up with opponents and altough W gives a nice speed boost it doesn't last very long thus Ghost comes in handy.

In general these summoner spells are the only ones you are supposed to use with Orianna.

Teleport, Ghost, Exhaust, Clarity, ofcourse take the accompanying mastery when taking either of these 4 spells and lastly Ingite (don't take this mastery).

1. Command: Attack, the basic harass skill you get early on, it also helps you scout brush and behind walls / ramps.

2. Command: Dissonance, the slow enemy / speed ally which will help every fight greatly for both your teammates and yourself, this deals decent damage.

3. Command: Protect, the defend an ally or yourself skill, also helpfull for both your teammates and yourself, it deals damage on the way back if the target champion is positioned correctly which is also a boon.

4. Command: Attack, you want to be able to spam your Q and deal decent damage, so that has priority nr. 1 ( not counting your ultimate of course ).

5. Command: Dissonance, you want the slow enemy/ speed ally and the damage alot more then the shield so there you have it.

6. Command: Shockwave, this is a very usefull skill and as with most champions you level up the ultimate whenever it is available which is @ level 6, 11 and 16.

Command: Clockwork WindupClockwork Windup
This deals a nice ammount of damage which is increased by your AP, so if possible try to hit the target with basic attacks aswell, but if not just range it to be on the safe side.

Command: Attack
Your main harass skill aswell as scouting, like stated earlier it is easily spammable (somewhere around every 2-3 seconds) and serves as harass, positioning for your other skills and scouting out areas or blocking off your opponents retreat or positioning your ball behind cliffs / walls for the possible kill when chasing.

Command: Dissonance
This skill saves lives and brutalizes opponents, the damge is decent and it serves as an AOE slow / speed boost is which makes this usefull enough to be your nr. 2 priority skill.
Depending on your skill on positioning the ball with command: attack it really makes / breaks the game with orianna.
This skill can also be used while on a protected target or while in orianna's possession thus slowing opponents / speeding up allies near the protected target or you so don't forget about this.

Command: Protect
Yes, this protects either you or your target ally and moves the ball from its current location towards the target you used this skill on, it damages anything in its flight path, so it can be used to send the ball flying to an ally to hit the opponents between him and the ball or back to you and hit the opponents between you and the ball.
It gives a decent shield and has some resist / armor which is always welcome.
Use the balls position and targets position wisely, it really boosts your damage aswell.

Command: Shockwave
THE ULTIMATE, not as shocking as its name suggests but if used with carefull aim on your command: attack or just wisely using the current balls location it can really mess up opponents during teamfights and is really helpfull in small fights aswell.
I can not say this enough, use the balls position and targets position wisely!!!!!

Early game:
What you really need to pay attention for early game is which skills did they take first and be carefull at level 5 as level 6 usually means problems, for example you are a caster midding vs ashe, if she turns 6 she will ultimate your sorry *** and you are goners (hope this was enough of an explanation).

Opponent spell/skill usage:
Carefully pay attention to what summoner spells the opponent has and which skills / spells he has used recently to determine wether it is safe to stay / chase / ambush those opponents.

Priorities and the big WHEN do i act:
What has more priority, who do i focus, most people don't carefully put priorities on targets and thus end up attacking the tank or the nuker instead of the squishy's, heavy cc or support.

Heavy support like Soraka? FOCUS HER FIRST!!
Heavy CC like Morgana? GET HER NEXT!! Unless there is no support, then she is first priority.
Nukers & Squishy's? Whichever is more danger to the group if left alone is the third priority.
Tanks? Duh, leave those for last unless they are to far from their group.

When do i attack? When either your tank initiates, your CC manages to catch them off guard or they just make a slip by going to close to your territory.

When do i focus either one of the above roles?
Normally you should keep to that focus list but if they slip up by having the squishy's / nukers up front you should focus them instead and your CC will usually be enough to keep the opponents cc / tank out of the fight.

Also you need to know when to use skills / spells, when to help an ally, when to chase, when to gank and when to flee.
Low health and missing opponents locations?? GET YOUR *** OUTTA THERE!!
Both you and opponent low health?? Depends on the situation, missing people and he is near an escape point? GET OUTTA THERE. both in the middle of your lane and you deal more dmg + cc? GET HIM / HER!!
Ally being chased?? Depends on the situation, you outnumber your opponents? GO HELP HIM / HER.
They outnumber you? Don't try unless you are a ranged heavy cc like morgana and he is getting decently close to a tower.

Lastly you need mapawareness and good communication from the whole team (that also means you!!).
Always look around quickly once in a while to see if you can either help anyone or notice a possible gank incoming to either you or your allies.
Carefully check your minimap whenever you can.
If someone goes out of sight while you don't chase him SS / MISS / CARE !!!!!
Do NOT wait for them to possibly reach your allies as it will then be to late.
The best thing to do is go the same way (unless other opponents are missing) and see where they are going (ofcourse if they run into a brush take the detour and don't facecheck that brush) because this allows you to support your allies who might not be able to run due to a small remaining health 1v1 / 2v2 fight.

The first build focuses on the stay safe at range type of play.

Doran's Ring, you want the starting AP and mp5 aswell as the life boost, fairly simple.

Boots of Speed, you need movement speed to run quicker, simple as that.

Catalyst the ProtectorCatalyst the Protector, health and mana is something you will need earlygame and it is a pre for the Rod of Ages.

Sorcerer's Shoes, mainly for the magic penetration at the start.

Rod of Ages, fairly simple, you NEED mana and health, GET THIS.

Rabadon's Deathcap, it's a caster, need i say more?

Zhonya's Hourglass, the active really helps like with most casters, it has armor for her squishyness and 100 ap.


The second build has 2 different items for the more basic attacks type of play.

Doran's Ring, you want the starting AP and mp5 aswell as the life boost, fairly simple.

Boots of Speed, you need movement speed to run quicker, simple as that.

Catalyst the ProtectorCatalyst the Protector, health and mana is something you will need earlygame and it is a pre for the Rod of Ages.

Mercury's Treads for the survivability on magic damage aswell as the Tenacity it gives which reduces all CC, if you go with basic attacks aswell you will need it for the durability as orianna is quite squishy.

Rod of Ages, fairly simple, you NEED mana and health, GET THIS.

Rabadon's Deathcap, it's a caster, need i say more?

Lich Bane for the 80 ability power and nice boost to normal attacks which is also important, you can spam Q nearly every 2-3 seconds so it really adds alot of damage.

After the core items you get optional items.

Banshee's Veil, this really blocks off alot of damage / cc.

Quicksilver Sash, this really helps you remove it ( and any other debuff like slow, silence and dots ) instantly after it is cast thus allowing you to make them waste it on you when you try to save an ally.

Archangel's Staff, this is a nice item which gives you an MASSIVE load of mana, mp5 and an nice ap boost.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter, this is 1 hell of an anoying item, it slows on EVERY Q, E and R and since all your spells are aoe if your spells are used correctly you slow most / everyone on the opponents team, ofcourse the aoe means its slow is less but it still works nicely.
It also gives you an nice hp boost so it's not useless on the contrary to what some people think.

Morello's Evil Tome, it's fairly nice on ap aswell as mana regeneration and cooldown reduction.

Void Staff, if your opponents stack magic resist, just get this and be done with their tanking reign (stacking as in around 180 magic resist).

Got any thoughts, just post them.

Just a little tip, if things go EXTREMELY well and you rarely get attacked / damaged you may want swap your current gear into 4-5 Archangel's Staff and 1 Rabadon's Deathcap (and if you get 4 staffs you keep the boots), this maximizes your damage output to the max.

If it is not going to well be sure to adapt to the situation.
You should analyze why and act accordingly, you might have to replace certain items for more nessecary items, for example:

You took banshee's veil but you end up getting stunned all the time by malzahar or warwick and rarely get other abilities cast on you, perhaps it's time to remove banshee's veil and get quicksilver sash.

You also might have to change your item order (what to get first) or get something else than you were planning to get when you started.

Different situations require different solutions, don't think the same build on every game will suffice, if you want to rule the fields then be capable of adapting to those situations.

Greater Mark of Insight since you deal magic damage, it's not a requirement but it does help alot.

Greater Seal of ReplenishmentGreater Seal of Replenishment, the flat ones not the level ones, mainly because you NEED that regeneration as she burns her mana earlygame.

Greater Glyph of Focus for the spammability of your abilities (mainly Q).

Greater Quintessence of Potency for some extra ability power, this is better then insight as that only gives 1.89 magic penetration and this gives 4.95 ability power.
Alternatively you can get Greater Quintessence of Fortitude for the extra health (which i preffer).

I will only say this once, if you preffer different combinations of runes then just use that, if you think you know a better combination feel free to post me those idea's and i'll see if i put them in or not.

The masteries, i guess it seems prety obvious, masteries are more for your own prefference like the item build and runes but i give you my own build as it seems the most effective to me.

Offense:

Archmage's Savvy: 3/3, mainly for the AP you get.

Deadlieness: 1/3, you need the additional point to get to the 2nd tier of the Offensive Tree (if you take exhaust you can place it in that mastery).

Sorcery: 4/4, cooldown reduction, need i say more?

Archaic Knowledge: 1/1, 15% magic penetration, OBVIOUSLY GETTING THIS.

Defense:

None, it's your own pick but i don't think it help Orianna much.

Utility:

Perseverance: 3/3, health and MANA regeneration, you will need the mana regeneration for sure.

Good Hands: 1/3, used as it needed one more point to get to the 2nd tier on utility, this point can alternatively be placed in an accompanying summoner spell mastery of the summoner spell that you chose instead of the ones i suggested.

Awareness: 4/4, quicker exp earned is just lovely, i don't find the mana one as helpfull as it only gives you a % of your BASE mana (so does not include the mana gained from your items).

Meditation: 3/3, again, mana regeneration you will need it.

Utility mastery: 2/2, at least 1 point is required, the other point can alternatively be placed in an accompanying summoner spell mastery of the summoner spell that you chose instead of the ones i suggested.

Quickness: 3/3, extra movement speed is always welcome :).

Blink of an Eye: 1/1, flash that is ready more often really helps, if you don't take flash this point can alternatively be placed in an accompanying summoner spell mastery of the summoner spell that you chose instead of the ones i suggested.

Intelligence: 3/3, even more cooldown on your champions skills, awesome!!

Presence of the Master: 1/1, summoner spells ready more often will make you a happy summoner (this is not required but i just like it).

This is merely a filler for the 5000 characters i seem to be unable to obtain with all those previous chapters..... 0_0 i know right, strange.

Prioritize, analyze and stay calm and that will win most games (ofcourse you will need good allies but you are half the reason your team is winning/losing, just think like that and you will make your team win).

Items, runes, masteries and summoner spells, well do whatever the hell you like, i gave you MY build and if you don't like it just use your own or someone else's, this is a guide not merely for the build but also the gameplay with the champion.

I will add some video's soon enough and again, any suggestions or comments just post them here or send me a message :).