Diana Build Guide by nicemustang

Introduction

Hi guys, I try to work on this guide from time to time to make it more in-depth. However that takes a long time and I don't always feel like updating this. So it can take a long time. Thank you for understanding and have fun reading this guide and playing Diana! :D

About the author

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Hi. I'm nicemustang. A s4, s5 and s6 high gold player. I've joined the League in September 2012. I'm a jungle main, but I'm playing a lot of ADC lately. Oh, and I hate playing toplane :p.
I'm Dutch so if you see some grammatical errors in my English, please forgive and maybe let me know so I can change it :)

About Diana

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Diana is my favorite champion in League. I just really love her assassiny playstyle while also allowing me to occupy my favorite position in the jungle :D She snowballs really hard so if you can steal some early kills please do ;). If you get rolling you can carry the game so easily on your back, however if you get set far behind it is VERY hard to come back.
Landing your q, Crescent Strike, is the most important thing for a Diana player, because that will reset your ult cooldown and allows you to put out the maximum burst. Luckily the cooldown is very short (get get as low as 3.3 sec with 45% CDR). If you miss your q in a teamfight, it is often best to wait ~4 seconds and try again before you go in.
Diana isn't super mechanically difficult like Lee Sin, but she has a surprising amount of different combo's/small moves you can perfect. This means she is rather easy to pick up, but you have a lot of room to improve if you put in some extra time :)

Explanation of technical terms and abbreviations

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AOE -> AD -> AS -> AP -> MR -> CDR -> DPS -> DMG -> CC -> AA -> Blue -> Red -> OOM -> carry -> ADC -> Squishy -> Bruiser -> Peel -> SS -> TLD -> CotC ->

Area of effect Attack damage Attack speed Ability power Magic resist Cooldown reduction Damage per second Damage Crowd control (slows, snares, stuns etc.) Auto attack Blue Sentinel Red Brambleback Out of mana The act of "carrying" your team to victory Attack Damage Carry, Marksman , usually paired with a Support in the bottom lane A champion, usually a Mage , Marksman or Support with very little survivability A champion, Fighter that usually has a lot of CC, damage and survivability. The act of protecting your teammates by providing CC and protection. Stormraider's Surge now: Phase Rush Thunderlord's Decree Courage of the Colossus

Pros / Cons

Why would you play Diana?

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Pros: + Fun to play due to varied use of abilities + Very good cleartime and survivability + Easy ganks with Lunar Rush + Good 1v1 potential + Insane objective damage (dragons/turrets) with Nashor's + Scales incredibly good with AP but also AS + Easy to carry games when fed + Very flexible build paths: can fill different roles in a team

Cons: - No good escape without Flash - Very dependent on landing your Crescent Strike - Pretty bad ganks before level 6 - VERY item(kills/farm) dependent - Mana intensive (OOM all the time) - Absolutely 0 damage against tanks

Diana jungle is not very strong atm because she has too little impact before lvl 6, and if you get behind (which you will because you usually get invaded/counterjungled or your laners die to early enemy ganks), Diana can't really do much. However most of her weaknesses are fixable to some extent:
Using Stormraider's Surge you can jump in, assassinate and quickly run back out again giving you more chance to survive after an assassination without burning Flash. If that's not enough you got your Hextech Protobelt-01 to help you quickly make or close a gap (protobelt can NOT cross terrain)
Stalker's Blade gives your ganks a little extra cc and makes up for your bad pre-6 ganks.
Stalker's Blade - Runic Echoes gives great stats and especially the mana refund on monsters helps your clear.
This leaves 3 weaknesses: Dependent on gold, no damage against tanks, and little impact earlygame. But with all of her pro's I think she can definitely be successful in the right team composition, there are better choices but she has her advantages. Especially if you are playing in low elo.

When should you play Diana?

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Good situations:
+ If your team lacks AP (bruiser top and an AD mid for example)
+ If your team needs a 2nd (follow-up) initiator.
+ If the enemy team has multiple squishies.
+ Your team has strong early laners. (Because Diana]]'s ganks are quite weak before she hits level 6)


Bad situations:
- Your team has no Tank , in this case it is usually better to pick an actual tank champion.
- Enemy team has a lot of Tank champions, Diana has no way of dealing with them so better not pick her.
- You expect your team to get destroyed in the early game (all weak laners)
- You are afraid of getting counter jungled ( Lee Sin or Elise for example can really give you a hard early game). You need to get lvl 6 asap so you are heavily set back if the enemy just steals your camps or kills you. With solid warding and some help from your team this isn't a problem but in soloQ it is.

These are guidelines. Not rules. You could pick her every single game and win but in certain situations she is just better ;)

Summary

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If your team needs an AP assassin or AP offtank Diana jungle is a good choice because she has good sustain in the jungle, great objective (splitpush) damage, and can carry games when fed. Her main weaknesses are that she can't really kill tanks and her ganks before level 6 are not strong. She also has no real escape without flash.

Abilities

Diana's abilities: stats and tips

Moonsilver blade (Passive)

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Diana passively receives 20% bonus attack speed. Also, every third attack within 3.5 seconds cleaves all nearby enemies for 20-250(depending on level)(+0.8*AP) bonus magic damage

• Moonsilver Blade AoE damage is great for clearing the jungle.
• The AoE effect is ~half a circle centered around Diana, not the target, so when clearing, make sure you stand in the middle of the camp.
• The damage also applies on turrets, making you a great splitpusher.
• The damage also applies on inhibitors but you have to stand as close to the inhib as you can otherwise the "Area" of Effect can't reach the actual hitbox of the inhibitor. For the Nexus there are only 2 sweetspots to stand where you passive can hit the nexus (top right and top left I believe).
• The bonus damage is an on-hit effect (Fully stacked Guinsoo's Rageblade will not deal the damage twice, instead it will proc the bonus damage every 2nd hit instead of every 3rd).
• The bonus damage will be blocked with spell shields.
• Attack speed is such a great stat to get on Diana: you get 20% bonus AS for free, and more AS means you can proc this bonus damage(pretty sick damage lategame) more often
• Your passive has the highest AP scaling of all your abilities, so if you can: make sure you include this 3rd strike in your combo for maximum burst.

Crescent Strike (q)

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Diana throws a curved skillshot that deals 60/95/130/165/200 (+0.7 AP) magic damage and marks all enemies it passes through with Moonlight for 3 seconds granting sight of them. Costs 55 mana. Maximum range is 830. Cooldown is 10/9/8/7/6 seconds.

• Crescent Strike is your main damage source due to it's low cooldown and high AP scaling.
• Crescent Strike has a very short cast time which means it will interrupt your movement.
• The small cast time also allows you to Q and thén instantly flash and it will fire from your new position. This will give the enemy a little bit less time to react.
• Crescent Strike is considered a projectile, so it can be blocked by Yasuo/ Braum wall.
• However, due to it's curve it is possible to go around the wall and hit whoever is behind it.
• It has a very distinct shape so make sure you manually click the ability (when you are using smartcast) so you can see what the shape is exactly. Then you can throw it accordingly in order to hit everything you want to hit. (ONLY the first couple of times ofc! Eventually you should get a feeling for it and just smartcast it all the time)
• The moonlight gives sight so it is very useful if you want to check if there is anyone in the brush or to check if blue or dragon is taken.
• The moonlight does not give vision on stealthed targets.
• Using your ult Lunar Rush on an enemy afflicted with moonlight will consume ALL of the moonlight debuffs. So you can only get 1 ult reset off of every q.

Pale Cascade (w)

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Diana shields herself for 40/55/70/85/100(+0.3*AP) health for up to 5 seconds and summons 3 spheres that orbit her for the duration. The spheres detonate upon contact with an enemy and deal 22/34/46/58/70(+0.2*AP) magic damage to nearby enemies. If all three spheres are detonated the shield is reapplied and the duration is refreshed. Costs 60/70/80/90/100 mana. Cooldown is 10 seconds. Maximum damage: 66/102/138/174/210(+0.6*AP) Maximum shield: 80/110/140/170/200(+0.6*AP)

• Pale Cascade is great to keep you healthy in the jungle while also helping you clear
• If all three orbs hit the same enemy it will proc your Thunderlord's Decree
• If all three orbs detonate the shield is reapplied, that actually means it stacks ánd the duration is refreshed.
• The orbs are considered projectiles for a Yasuo/ Braum wall.
• Pale Cascade has no cast time and will not interrupt your movement.
• You can cast Pale Cascade while flying mid-ultimate.

Moonfall (e)

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Diana reveals and pulls in all enemies withing 350 range. Slowing them afterwards for 2 seconds. Costs 70 mana. Cast Range is 350 Slow strength: 35/40/45/50/55% Cooldown: 26/24/22/20/18 seconds.

• Moonfall is great for interrupting channeled abilities like karthus' Requiem, Katarina's Death Lotus or a Teleport.
• Of course it is also great to pull back those fleeing/jumping squishies.
• It can even interrupt dashes like Tristana's Rocket Jump mid flight if you time it right :D

Lunar Rush (ultimate - r)

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Diana dashes to an enemy and deals 100/160/220(+0.6*AP) magic damage. If the target is afflicted by moonlight the buff is consumed on all enemies and Lunar Rushes cooldown is reset. Costs 50/65/80 mana. Cooldown is 25/20/15 seconds. Dash range: 825

• You can be stopped mid flight by stuff like Thresh's Flay and your ult will get the long cooldown.
• If you cast Lunar Rush on a target that is very close to you, it will place Diana on the other side of the enemy relative to her position on cast. If you cast it while near max range you will be placed in front of your target instead.

Summary

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I suggest leveling -> -> -> . Getting an early 2nd point in Pale Cascade is also just fine.

All and all, these abilities make Diana a champion that has low cooldowns, high damage vs squishies and she scales really well with AP and AS.

Runes

About the runes. I tested a couple so far. Here's my initial evaluation of the keystones.


Electrocute: Like the old TLD, still super strong. probably the best, and most reliable of them all. Great burst early ánd lategame. But it will probably be nerfed soon because of this.
Dark Harvest: Very situational, takes a very long time to stack to a useful amount of damage, but will outscale Electrocute in the super lategame. Personally, feels a little awkward but it's not bad at all.


Phase Rush: A much weaker version of the old Stormraider's Surge. Earlygame it feels terrible (20% movespeed doesn't really cut it for me anymore). Lategame it's not super bad, but still feels much worse than SS used to, untill it gets some buffs I won't be using this one. Even though I used to run SS every game in S7.

Arcane Comet: Don't really like the rest of the sorcery tree tbh, the damage from the keystone is not bad though. roughly the same as Electrocute, but it can be missed. Not a bad keystone, just think Electrocute is more reliable. Especially on high elo where people will dodge all of the comets :p

Predator: Feels actually super good. 45% movespeed for 15 seconds is HUGE. the cooldown is 180 seconds earlygame, which is very high so you won't be getting a lot of damage out of this rune. But the utility it gives is great. It's like having a ghost (which can be interrupted.). This keystone rune allows even Diana to have decent ganks (albeit only once every 3-2 minutes :p) Like I said, the damage is not very high. But the utility is not bad at all. I'd Take this one in games where I don't want more burst, but I more utility.

Press the Attack: I haven't actually played it on Diana, but it seems like the best rune to pick if you go for a bruisery- splitpush - teamfight Diana build: RoA, Nashors, Zhonia's, etc. Great for teamfights. Ok for 1v1s still, but doesn't offer much utility, and much less reliable burst than Electrocute.



So overall: Electrocute feels like the most reliable source of damage, plus Domination is a decent tree for the rest of the runes, I usually pair it with Precision for the Attack Speed and Coup the Grace. If I want more utility/gank potential I'd go for Predator. Pretty ridiculous move-speed starting very early in the game. but on a high cooldown. Zombie wards and Poro wards are very good too, but only if you can utilize them. If your vision game is not on point: Fix that, but in the meantime: go for eyeball collection

Summary

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Electrocute is like the old TLD: the best and most reliable burst. Dark Harvest is only better in the super lategame. Phase Rush is very underwheming compared to old SS. Arcane Comet: less reliable than Electrocute, but does the same thing. Press the Attack: Has potential in a teamfighting/tanky build.

First Clear + Early game

Here is a map of Summoner's Rift(taken from the League wiki) with all the monsters except the Scuttle Crabs. These girls wander the river, one in front of each epic monster: Dragon or Baron(=Rift Herald before 20 minutes).
Bottom left is the Blue side, top right is the Purple side.

(sorry if it is small, it was big when i posted it, but I can't find the big version anymore, I might have to make a new one myself...)

NOTE: Riot just loves to rework the jungle, in terms of xp, hp, mr etc every few patches. So these are guidelines in their earliest stages, they have not been perfected but are just the basic starting routes that I know of right now. (patch 7.22)

Normal bot-side start

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Blue side start:(if you start this side you have to manage your mana carefully untill you get your Bluebuff)
Red --> Raptor --> Wolves --> Blue( Smite) --> Gromp ( Smite) --> Get Scuttle if you can before you Recall (Buy the Skirmisher's Sabre, Tracker's Knife or Stalker's Blade) and a Control Ward.

Clear raptors and go full clear again and try to include a scuttle crab if you can. Or gank if it's a free kill or countergank.

Purple side start:
Blue --> Gromp ( Smite) --> Wolves --> Raptors --> Red --> Krug ( Smite) --> Recall (Buy the Skirmisher's Sabre, Tracker's Knife or Stalker's Blade) and a Control Ward.

Clear raptors and clear what's up for you to clear (scuttle/Gromp) or gank if it's a free kill.

If you can do the full clear 2 times (including rift scuttler) you should reach level 6 at around 7:00. at that time your first buff will respawn, so I recommend you recall again, go to that buff and try to gank since you now have ult+at least 1 buff.
In any case, try to reach level 6 as fast as possible, so focus on farming, but always keep an eye out for ganking opportunities. Try to ward your own jungle/river if you are afraid of getting counter jungled. If you are not worried about the enemy jungler you could also place some shallow wards in his jungle if its safe (like next to raptors).


Your clear can always change if for example you feel like you need to gank top lvl 3, or if you get counterjungled etc.
Ganking is always possible if you get a good gank path and some lane CC or something. With a Stalker's Blade it goes even better, but I recommend just farm until you are level 6 before you start actively forcing ganks. If you see a free kill/countergank, please do go for it! But ganking before 6 just isn't your main task.

Summary

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All and all your priority should be to reach level 6 asap. So I recommend focus on farming the jungle till you reach lvl 6). If you see a free gank before that go for it but your priority should be to reach level 6 as fast as possible. Keep your jungle/river warded so you can see invades and react accordingly.

Mid-game

In the midgame your focus should be on objectives. Gank only if that gank will result in a kill, leading into an objective, or just the objective. You can solo dragon once you are level 6 but it will leave you very low, and if you don't have a blue buff it will also leave you OOM. You kill towers very fast so if you can always help a laner push the tower if the opponent recalled. But whatever you do, always try to keep farming whenever you can. You should try to follow the jungle priority chart from unswlolsoc (link to full video from the man himself for some great jungling advice: https://youtu.be/W6Hjbf1xYA4)

1. Counter gank
2. Minion Crash Dive
3. Gank
4. Objective
5. Push wave into turret when enemies leave
6. Hold lane
7. Invade/Ward
8. Power farm jungle


As you can see clearing you jungle is all the way at the bottom, but that is because it should be your default state, unless there is something more important for you to do.

Late-game