Hi there!

My name is Xadiyo, I am a gold 2 player from EUW, I am still climbing and am hoping to get as high as possible. I mainly play top, bot and a bit of midlane.
This is my very first guide, but I have plenty of ideas and possible innovations to share with you guys.

This guide will be about Diana, because in my opinion she is still really strong if she is played correctly, however the current way Diana is played is strong but just straightup overkill.

I mainly play fighter champions and tanky champions in the toplane before playing them anywhere else(Think of Zac ,Khazix, Jayce and Kennen). The champions I play are the ones that make me feel like I can be useful to my team, even when I am struggling , the played champion will still provide the distraction and utility for my team to do well.

In this guide I hope to teach you a different way of playing Diana and maybe an even better way then the current existing one.The goal of this way of playing is to make sure that even though you don't have to necessarily win lane , you will still be able to fight well. I have seen plenty of Diana's who just did not get going and ended up getting jumped from everywhere because of getting behind.

Diana is one of the champions on the toplane that needs to be played a cautiously in the early game, however once you have your first item(s) you should see how strong she can become.

Diana is one of the champions on the toplane that needs to be played a little careful in the early game, however once you have your first item(s) you should how strong she can become. The runes I took should help you in the early game and contribute alot to late game.

For runes I generally take
3x health quints
9x ap reds
9x scaling health yellows OR 9x armor yellows
9x Magic resist runes.


Taking Health yellows or Armor yellows really depends on the matchup , against an AD opponent on the toplane you generally want to take armor,however if you take health quints you should just be fine.

Taking magic resist Blues is something I just generally take because MR blues are more efficient then other blues and MR is more valuable then armor in my opinion

I may have taken tanky runes, however I still do take regular AP mana mage masteries.
I do this because the tankiness from runes and build does not mean that Diana will lack damage. Her abilities have pretty nice base damages and scale well. This causes Diana to still be strong even though she will not be overloaded with AP.

Taking mage masteries (21/0/9) amplifies the magic damage you will do and increases the amount of ap you have to help with scaling. This is pretty neat, you will not be dependent on having a full ap build and still do alot of damage.

+ High base damages
+ Good gapcloser
+ Passive helps a bunch with trading and farming
+ Good survivability from her W
+ Does not need alot of damage to do well.

- Escapes might sometimes be tricky.
- Might get camped because people do not want a diana to become get going
- this build is a FIGHTER build , not necessarily an assassin build.

As I already said, with little damage Diana will still hurt quite alot.
Depending on the matchup you might opt to go for either a Doran's Ring or Doran's shield,
The mana regeneration and giveback from the passive allows you to stay in lane alot longer and also gives a bit of AP which is a pretty nice stat to have.

If you feel like playing it safer, go for a dorans' shield or cloth armor.


The items you will be building are:

- Abyssal Scepter

reducing the enemies aura allows you to hurt like a truck, you will also have
scaling from the AP given and ofcourse the magic resist just makes you tanky.

- Ionian boots

If you cannot apply moonlight to a champion your ultimate will just go on cd after 1 use, if you do not want the target to get away with a sliver of health, cooldown reduction will make sure that your the cooldown won't be too long.
( you could also opt for Sorcerors Shoes,Ninja tabi or Mercurythreads in depending on the matchup)

- frozenheart

Armor, aura and mana.
Armor is really a really good stat to have, gives you survivability and should make trades easier.
Mana is really important on diana, since we do not go for a mana regeneration item, you will find yourself a running low on mana from time to time.This should solve that problem.
The Aura reduces attackspeed of enemies in your area by 15%, Being tanky,having pretty good damage and your gapcloser make it easy to target the ADC and kill them or atleast distract the enemy team.

- Zhonyas

Zhonya helps alot with scaling, offers tank stats and gives you the helpful invulnerability of the active. nothing much to say about this. I would recommend building the seekers armguard or the Needlessly large rod first, Do not finish it before having the items from above.

Wit's end.

Attackspeed&the on hit magic damage synergise with your passive and your gapcloses makes it so that people will HAVE to face you(high base damages + high scaling). (Stealing their )magic resist synergises with the Abyssal scepter, As you fight you get more magic resist and will do more damage.

Voidstaff

Magic penetration goes hand in hand with the abyssal scepter and wit's end. also additional scaling will make you hurt even more while also having alot of resistances/tankiness.



IMPORTANT:
Do not go for DFG or Rabadons , the build above synergises fully with diana's kit and building items that will make you do more damage are not as usefull as you think.

DFG: You might need the AP and cooldown reduction , you however dont need the increased damage, your basic attacks and abilities make sure that you do alot of damage while also being really tanky. THIS ITEM IS OVERKILL, DOES NOT SYNERGISE WITH THE REST OF THE BUILD, IS A WASTE OF MONEY AND SACRIFICING TANKINESS FOR MORE DAMAGE IS DUMB.


Rabadons: This is an item for ap champions with LOW scaling , Diana has high base damages and high scaling. This item also does not give you any tankiness, cooldown reduction or anything else that you need. THIS ITEM IS OVERKILL AND DOES NOT SYNERGISE AS WELL AS THE ITEMS FROM ABOVE.

Lichbane:
This is an OKAY item, it increases burst potential by synergising with your AP and your passive. The MS is really nice and the Mana is also pretty handy. I personally like to have more of a tanky utility fighter kind of role in my team so I will rarely build it.

Liandries:
Magic penetration and health are your friend, this is a pretty nice item if you want some extra tankstats.

Rylais:
You could build this as your 6th item if you want the tankiness, your enemies will have a harder time running a way which is just fantastic.

Start with your Q. The poke is great and using it from time to time makes sure that your opponent has to be a little cautious.
At lvl 2 , get your W, the shield is great and the damage that comes from it makes sure that you will trade well.
At lvl 3, get your E , your Q will be easier to hit if your enemy is pulled in and thus closer and your W will be garanteed to hit your oppontent 3 times if you pull them in with your E

Max Q first >>> Max W next >>> Max E last
Max R as soon as a point is available (lvl6 , lvl 11 and lvl 16)

First of all, be careful with your mana, your costs are pretty high and running out of mana makes you really vulnerable.

Q is meant for poke damage, it also applies MOONLIGHT. If use your ultimate on a champion without the moonlight mark, it will go on cooldown. If you apply moonlight from your Q (or other abilities) and then ult , your ult will not go on cooldown!

W is meant for doing damage while basic attacking,shielding for a whole bunch.
When you activate your W you will have 3 orbs floating around you , each one of those will deal damage AND you will get a shield too upon activation. If you hit someone , minion/creep/champion, it will explode and deal damage. When basic attacking a melee champion, activate it so they take damage and you will be shielded. Also with all your abilities moonlight will be applied which increases your damage.
One last thing about your W , if all 3 orbs have detonated , your shield will become bigger, so you will basically be shielded again.

Your E slows and pulls champions in a circle around you towards you and slows them afterwards , use it to make sure that you get alot of damage off.

Your R is a gapcloser that deals damage and also does not go on cooldown when hitting somebody with a moonlight passive ability (mostly your Q)


NOTE
use your basic attacks alot to apply your passive which will naturally deal damage and using your abilities in between auto attacks will give you a good burst.


combo?
1)use Q to mark a champion (so R wont go on cooldown), use R to dash to them .
2)while flying to your enemy , activate your W.
3)Be sure to E in order to make your W deal damage and increase your shield
4)basic attack in between abilties.
5)use your Q once again to apply moonlight and deal more damage.
5)If they run or flash, try to hit your Q to be able to dash again.

Late/mid game: Q>R>W>E>Q (auto inbetween)

early game: W>E>Q (auto inbetween!)