Orianna is an extremely difficult champion to play. Yeah I could describe how to use all her skills; and yeah I could describe what it feels like to be actually starving to death, but you still would never know what what it really feels like. I feel that no guide can teach you how to play Orianna, it can only be achieved through experience. The purpose of this guide is to give you the tools to play a good Orianna, and describe her role. This build is not going to describe how to use her skills.

The point of these runes is to give you decent AP without items. Without AP Orianna is just a second rate support character. I do not like using CDR runes because with masteries and a CDR item, such as or , you should be fine. Not to mention you should be getting blue buff unless you have a Swain/Anivia or some one that needs it, and when people see your damage they will gladly give you blue.

Pretty standard AP carry items in my opinion. I do not like getting because I feel that its not worth it. Unless you plan on getting some serious mana items, or you really need the extra mana its not that great. The point of getting an early Philosopher's stone is to hold you over early game and mid game. Also buying s is also a good thing to do if your spamming too much. And agian you should be getting blue buff unless some one really really needs it. Also if you didn't get the hint swapping with can make a big difference. Defensive items? I never really find myself needing them. I'm always behind a wall of meat spamming my skills from a safe range. and should provide all the durability you need. If you do find yourself taking a lot of damage they're two things that might be happening. Either your not playing her right or the other team is smart. That being said If you swap out an item in my build I will personally hunt you down. I have found myself getting defense items on two isolated instances. First they had a fed tryndamere and an AD heavy team. I swapped for a this gave me the extra CDR I needed, enough mana so stay spamming and a great anti-ad weapon. Another time they had a Kassadin, Leblanc and an AP Shaco. Instead of I got a they where so squishy I didn't miss the Lich Bane at all, but they were sure mad that they couldn't pick me off anymore.

+ = lol

Orianna really shines in a duo lane. The ball is awesome for harassment and your W can help score you or your partner some kills. You should focus on harassing with your passive and your ball more than last hitting. That is another reason why your getting a Philosopher's stone. Orianna evolves into one of the fastest farmers in the game after the laning phase, so can easily catch up in creep score, but you should still be getting last hits. You should have your by the time you leave the lane. Teleport is going to be used to maximize your lane presence. As soon as I get 800gp I recall and buy Philosopher's stone, and a Sight Ward. I only recall when Teleport is up. This really maximizes my presence and creep score, and if you find yourself recalling back to base solely for healing purposes during the laning phase your during something wrong.

Orianna is a great solo laner, but I hate doing it. Duo laning is a lot more fun in my opinion. In the instance where you find yourself in a solo lane you need to do things a little bit differently. First you should be last hitting more than harassing. Orianna's solo lane is like some what like Kassadin's. All you can really do is poke. Also like Kassadin you have to poke and hope they don't recall, and then when you hit level 6 you can take them by surprise and kill them with your ult. When I solo with Orianna I usually just focus on last hitting and wait for ganks.

farm, farm and farm. At this point in the game Orianna can farm extremely fast. You really want to try to get as soon as you can. Also this is where you can start to piss the other team off. If your Flash is up you should be poking non stop. Orianna's role mid game is two things: poke the enemy team to hell, and assisting your carry. Save your Teleport for saving turrets, and meeting up with your team if your forced to recall.

If you made it this far you have evolved into an AP super carry. Isn't it beautiful? You have more magic dps than anyone at this point (assuming there isn't a Veigar in the game). Don't believe me? alone will have around 800 damage on it with a 2.4 sec cool down. If your doing something right when people see your ball they will know fear. And late game is just wow.

I really don't want to tell you how to use Orianna's skills but these are some things you should keep in mind about them.

- moves very slow, however, moves very fast. Remember this every time you try to do a long range

-Think of as a .

-Orianna has low base armor and magic resist due to the ball

-A good Orianna can only be killed by hardcore CC

Orianna fills the role of a support very well. I really love how strong every level and every item makes you. And after you get Deathcap your damage start to grow out of control. Despite all this, if your team needs a strong AP carry picking Orianna is going to be a gamble. You can't really carry a team until late game. Think of Orianna as the Tryndamere of magic damage.

I hope this guide helps you understand what Orianna brings to a team. Learning how to control the ball is a fun experience. Every game you will get better and better at it. I remember at first it felt very rigid, but now when I play Orianna it looks as though I'm dancing. Lastly, her ultimate has so much potential its a lot more than a press R to do damage skill.