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Choose Champion Build:
Spells:
Flash
Ignite
Ability Order
Moonsilver Blade (PASSIVE)
Diana Passive Ability
Introduction
Diana is a melee assassin that is VERY similar to Akali, being able to 'tag' targets, jump to them (several times if necessary), and instantly burst them down.
She can also be built Tanky DPS because of her VERY high base damages, and using her skills as utility rather than damage, but I prefer to build her as an Assassin as it utilizes her high base damages and ratios better at the cost of survivability, as well as snowballing better in the hell known as Solo Queue xD
I play Diana in the Mid Lane and Jungle, but this guide will be focused more on Mid Lane. After playing Diana, I found out that while her kit is based on Jungling, it can be abused more easily in a lane against squishies. Mid was the perfect place.
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+Very high base damage +High base stats +AoE Pull +Difficult to kill with Pale Cascade +Snowballs very well |
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-No mobility until 6 -Naturally pushes lanes -No real escapes - Crescent Strike is hard to hit -Somewhat item dependant |
Conquering your Cons
No mobility until 6
This is actually a big issue with Diana. Junglers with strong gap closers such as Amumu or Shen are falling into flavor just because even after you Flash away they can still catch you if you're unprepared. Lacking any kind of mobility before level 6 and, even worse, abilities to stop champions from getting to you will make you very vulnerable to getting bullied in lane. I attempt to solve this problem by starting with Boots and 3 Health Potions, giving me the speed to escape and health regeneration to get back up to a healthy health pool.
Naturally pushes your lane
Intentionally pushing your lane is good, unintentionally doing it, especially if they have a strong ganking jungler like Maokai or Alistar, is bad. This unintentional push comes mostly from your passive, Moonsilver Blade. However, this can easily be solved by positioning yourself so that your cleave will hit as few minions as possible, OR waiting a few seconds to reset the Moonsilver Blade cooldown. Alternatively, if you have Blue Buff, you can hardcore push your lane and take Wraiths/Wolves if your jungler allows.
No Real Escapes
See first paragraph in this section. This can be solved, however, by maxing Pale Cascade first so you can be incredibly tanky so you can just survive by the raw blocking power of the shield alone.
Crescent Strike is hard to hit
Practice practice practice ^_^ Really, it only takes a few custom/bot games to get the hang of the curve and all the cool tricks you can do with it.
Somewhat item dependant
Farm farm farm ^_^ Learn to last hit well, or face the consequences. Again, it only takes a few custom or bot games where you wholeheartedly learn to last hit to really get the hang of it.
Marks
Runes
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M A R K S |
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M A R K S |
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Seals
Runes
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S E A L S |
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S E A L S |
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Glyphs
Runes
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G L Y P H S |
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G L Y P H S |
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Quints
Runes
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Q U I N T S |
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Q U I N T S |
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Explanation
As an Assassin, I prioritize damage and mobility in my runes. However, I run Flat Armor runes because Diana has a weak pre-6 laning phase, where due to the lack of gap closers the enemy AP Carry can harass you easily with auto-attack pokes. Flat armor will help reduce that damage so you won't get bullied out of lane as easily. Also, there aren't a lot of offensive options for Seals that are better than using health or armor.
I use movespeed quints because extra speed is always helpful for staying in range, or
Always Take!
O | Flash is a MUST on Diana! It is absolutely perfect for those Flash > Moonfall or Flash > Crescent Strike > ults shenanigans which allow you to easily surprise and catch squishies or low life champions for the kill. Also, it is one of the best escaping spells in the game, something you NEED as Diana pre-6, especially against junglers like Alistar or Lee Sin. | O |
Viable
O | Diana is an assassin, and having Ignite to add to your burst will really make securing kills early-mid game easier. Late game it can be used to shut down heals or the AD Carry's life steal so he doesn't heal through your damage. | O |
O | This is great against a lot of CCs, but I'd rather get Quicksilver Sash as this doesn't remove suppressions. Not a lot to say about this. | O |
O | Sticking power on a 3 minute cooldown. It's a good replacement for Flash, but it's not as good as Flash E/R/Q > Rs. Still a solid choice, but I don't think it's better than Flash. | O |
O | If you're jungling, only if you're jungling, and ALWAYS if you're jungling. The risk of losing Baron or Dragons is NOT worth having an Ignite or Exhaust as every objective stolen can add up exponentially and you WILL end up losing the game. | O |
Do Not Take
OR
While at first glance both of these may be good, other Summoner Spells are way better as their utility is better, and these Spells fall off hard late game.
Clarity may seem like a temporary fix to your mana problems, but a Chalice of Harmony or two Doran's Rings, and maybe Blue Buff (you don't really need it) you will hardly run out of mana.
Surge implies you're building based on your passive, something you should NEVER do. And last time I checked, you built champions based on their role. Diana is a Burst Assassin, like Talon. There won't BE time to auto-attack more than a few times. Also, Surge is just bad -.-
O | Bonus Attack Speed and additional cleave damage every third hit. Timer resets every 3 seconds. Scales very well with levels AND AP. |
- The AoE is kind of short, but it is wide. Position yourself properly so that you don't accidentally push your lane too hard. Hitting 1 or 2 extra minions early on won't hurt, so don't fret too much.
- Before you Lunar Rush someone in lane, try to stack up this passive so that you have extra burst right off the bat, instead of having to wait 1-2 auto-attacks for that proc.
- Timing this with Sheen or Lich Bane will allow it to have a 1.6 AP Ratio and deal absolutely tremendous damage.
- The cleave portion will not apply on-hit effects such as Lich Bane, Sheen, or Trinity Force procs, it will only apply the damage.
O | Curved AoE skillshot. Ranged harass. Part of your 'stickiness'. |
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- Practice with this skillshot and get used to how the curve curves. This is a MUST.
- Try to aim with the curved portion of your skillshot rather than the circular end portion. The area is bigger and you will still be able to hit people when they move slightly to your left.
- Anything hit by Crescent Strike will apply Moonlight and grant vision.
- Try standing a bit more to the left if you want to use this to push your lane, as you can hit more minions more easily if you position properly.
- Use this to last hit if you're getting zoned.
O | Shield that refreshes if all three orbs detonate. HUGE damage mitigation. |
- When leveling this ability up first, buy more resistances like Chalice of Harmony, Abyssal Mask, or Zhonya's Hourglass first so you can mitigate more damage.
- Each of the orb does a small amount of AoE damage, meaning you can use this to farm efficiently.
- Using Lunar Rush then Pale Cascade will allow all three orbs to detonate onto your target due to you being on top of your target.
- Try to get the refresh off in lane so you can take less damage from harassment. The easiest way to do this is walk close to minions.
- This ability, like Riven's Valor, will allow you to built straight resistances and damage and still be extremely tanky.
- Given enough AP, this ability is like a mini heal bait with both the initial and refreshed portion of the shield. Never give up!
O | AoE pull and slow. Use as an escape to juke chasers or to group up enemies. |
- When you're running into a brush, you can use this to juke enemies more easily. Or, you can use this when you're being chased because this IS an interrupt and it WILL slow enemies down and save your life.
- Use this to group up minions in lane so you can AoE them more easily and push faster.
- When engaging on champions, Moonfall is best used immediately after Lunar Rush as it will catch them even if they Flash away immediately.
- In teamfights, if your team has any form of AoE like Solar Flare or Soul Shackles, use this to group together enemies so your AoE can hit more.
- This isn't just a pull and a slow, it's an interrupt, meaning it will cancel channeled ultimates like Absolute Zero or Death Lotus.
O | Gap closer. Cooldown refreshes if used on enemies 'tagged' with your Q. |
- If you use Lunar Rush on a champion afflicted with Moonlight, the cooldown will instantly refresh. However, the refresh only happens once, meaning you won't be able to tag 5 champions for 5 refreshes.
- A lot of times it's worth it using this JUST as a gap closer, like for harass OR if you don't need the double dash for a kill.
- If you need an escape, tag minions or jungle creeps with Crescent Strike then use Lunar Rush to quickly gain distance. Again, you don't need to use Crescent Strike if it's an emergency.
- When ganking enemies, you can tag minions in lane, Lunar Rush to them, then again to your target. This is a very good way of gaining a LOT of distance very quickly, and not a lot of champions can actually avoid this.
R > Q > W > E
Max Q first. After a bit more testing, Q is superior as you gain a more consistent form of harass, and also Diana is amazing at keeping out of trouble.
There are still times where you'd want to put more than 1 point into Pale Cascade if you need the shield more. In those situations, putting points into W will prove more beneficial than extra poke or harass.
Starting Items
Early Game Pickups
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Double Doran's Rings if you're maxing Crescent Strike first, as the mana consumption is relatively low, and your kill potential is higher, so the extra Ability Power and slight mana regeneration will help.
Yes you can switch things around! You can always buy Chalice of Harmony if you're maxing Q first, or vice versa, however this is just the way I felt works the best in relation to her ability usage and build path :)
Boot Choices
Gold Per 5
Core Items
Situational Damage Items
Situational Defensive Items
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Know what this is?
Don't get it.
It might be good on Diana, but that doesn't mean it's a good item. Period.
Levels 1 - 5
Just farm. Use Crescent Strike to last hit ONLY minions that are out of range, or if you'll take too much harass from walking to it. Your goal is about 100 in 15 minutes, but you CAN do 100 in 10 minutes, which is what I shoot for if I'm playing seriously, and that WILL put you very far ahead in terms of farm.
Use Pale Cascade to absorb harass damage so you don't get forced out of lane too quickly.
If your laning opponent gets too close to you feel free to use Moonfall > Ability you're leveling first to push them away.
Be sure to manage your mana well too, and ALWAYS have enough for a clutch Pale Cascade. The easiest way is to make sure you're never full up on mana (if you are full, use some up to harass with Crescent Strike or get out of position on purpose and block stuff with Pale Cascade, etc.) but play conservatively.
Pre-6 is when Diana is the MOST vulnerable to basically anything, so you don't want to be too aggressive or cocky. Your time will come.
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Post-6
NOW you start playing aggressively :D
Once you have Lunar Rush, you start bullying your lane opponent. Every time your spells are off cooldown, you use them to damage your opponent. Over and over. And when they stay in lane with a low amount of health, you kill them. Not a lot of champions can avoid getting pushed out of lane against a Diana post-6, and even fewer can actually push her out.
If you max Q out first: Try your best to lane Crescent Strike, Lunar Rush to them, Moonfall (so they get slowed and pulled even if they Flash) and pop Pale Cascade for additional damage. Keep auto-attacking them to get your passive proc off and wait for Crescent Strike > Lunar Rush again. Ignite if they will die from it, if not don't be greedy and just settle for pushing them out.
> > >
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> > >
If you max W out first: Lunar Rush > Moonfall > Pale Cascade every chance you get, and try to have all three orbs detonate on your target. LANDING Crescent Strike FOR THIS IS NOT NECESSARY! Do this EVERY TIME Lunar Rush + Pale Cascade + Moonfall (not really necessary) is
up. If you get the chance to land a Crescent Strike before this combo, DO SO!
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(optional) > > >
In addition to bullying your lane opponent, you should also look for oppurtunities to take the Wraiths on BOTH jungle sides or roam.
Diana is an innately fast jungle camp clearer, meaning you are able to push your lane, clear a jungle camp, push your lane again (without missing CS!) and clear more jungle camps, allowing your leveling to outpace everyone in the current match! Sometimes the clearing speed is so quick that you just walk up to it and they die a second later.
*Tip: If you need to push your lane quickly, group up the minions with Moonfall first, THEN apply your AoE so that it hits all 6/7 instead of just 3 or 4.*
In the case of taking the ENEMY jungle camps, you might want to ward it for a while first so you don't end up getting caught in unfavorable situations. Alternatively, just play it safe and only take your own.
Oh, and be sure to ask your jungler for permission, or he'll get angry at you :C Taking Blue, Wraiths, AND possibly Wolves basically limits your jungler to ganking every second and SUCCEEDING every gank.
At this point, I look at my map for potential ganks that can end in my team's favor, and while doing so I unrelentlessly push my lane, especially if I have Blue Buff or a Chalice of Harmony. This will ensure that 1)The enemy mid laner cannot roam because I will break their tower (20% AS Buff from passive OP) or 2)If they do abandon their tower, Mid lane will be extremely pressured after the tower has died and that will let ME roam more. And, like in the Early Game, when I finish pushing my lane and there's nothing to do, I farm my jungle.
There isn't a lot to explain in Mid Game :P Just try to deny the other team any Dragons and gank when the opportunity arises. That's it.
The best thing to do is to BE PATIENT around Baron fights, and calmly find the AD Carry.
Towards End Game, you have TWO main roles in teamfights. The first and your top priority role as an Asassin is to take out the AD Carry on the other team, and the second is to peel for your OWN AD Carry.
End game, the AD Carry will almost always have a monstrous amount of DPS through items, but also a monstrously small amount of defensive items unless they decide to get an early Guardian Angel. You're going to abuse that by landing Crescent Strike on them, jumping onto them with Lunar Rush, and have Pale Cascade/ Lich Bane/whatever other burst you have to take them out as quickly as possible. SAVE Moonfall UNLESS YOU NEED THE INTERRUPT!
Now, to peel is simple. Position yourself so that the enemy you want to 'peel' is between you and his target. Then click E. Congrats, you have now given your carry some distance and possibly saved his life, and he will now carry the rest of the fight :D
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Items
This is the only real thing I want to talk about while playing Diana as a jungler, as everything else is either set in stone or already explained somewhere.
Triple GP5 in the jungle is AMAZING in conjunction with Diana's super fast clear speed, as it basically allows you to farm up TONS of gold with little to no effort. Every time I have used triple GP5, I haven't regretted it as I would gave an enormous income despite not even being slightly fed, and because of that income I was able to get far far ahead in terms of items.
But you really shouldn't ALWAYS go triple gp5, but the Gold Per 5 items you want to get as early as possible would be philosopher's stone and Heart of Gold. You want to get them earlier than 10 minutes in (most optimal), or 12 minutes at the latest. kage's lucky pick is optional, but getting it ~12 minutes in in conjunction with Philo Stone and HoG will yield positive results.
As for big items, just buy your Core Items ( ) as both of them are efficient items for your gold and for what you're doing.
And that's it! You can basically buy whatever, but keep in mind Junglers have to be tanky, especially if you have a squishyish carry at top. Pure tank items like Randuin's Omen are especially good, but Rylai's Crystal Scepter/ Abyssal Mask/ Zhonya's Hourglass (Tanky AP Items)are great as well.
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Route:
- Wolves
- Blue Golem
- Wraiths
- Wolves (you might have to wait 1 - 2 seconds depending on how well your leash went
- Red Buff (right when Smite comes off CD)
- Wraiths or Golems
This is the 'standard' route, meaning if NOTHING goes wrong and you don't need to do anything EXCEPT farming the jungle. If you have to gank, GO GANK! If you need to cover, GO COVER!
If you get invaded, it's okay, just start at Red Buff or steal their Blue. Diana doesn't need Blue to jungle, but it DEFINITELY makes her a hundred times better.
If you end up with no Blue:
- Play conservatively. Avoid using Crescent Strike to clear jungle camps and limit yourself only to Pale Cascade and Moonsilver Blade.
- Try to gank a lane more often to sap a bit of experience so you level up faster. However, don't stay too long as you don't want to leave your laner at a disadvantage.
- Buy an early Chalice of Harmony or philosopher's stone, or a Sheen if you prefer a raw mana source.
Hope you learned something about playing Diana, and if not oh well :P
Thanks to:
- Jhoijhoi for her Line Dividers and her Guide to making a Guide, I always have to reference it when I make one of these :P
- IceCreamy for his Columns Guide for aesthetics in a lot of parts :P
- Everyone who reads this and votes on it, providing valuable feedback <3
- Published guide
8/19/2012
- Noticed I had W maxed first in the Q cheat sheet *facepalm*
- Changed around some masteries.
- Added Change Log
8/25/2012
- 15k Views and only 8 votes wtf why u no vote? D:
- Changed around the jungle build, masteries still awaiting further testing
8/27/2012
- Decided to listen to people and not max W out first :P Also because I finally realized it's not necessary.
- Added Screenies :3
9/2/2012
- Added a win screenshot
- Still testing Rose's suggestions. So far, they work really well, but I'm fed up the *** every game :/
9/5/2012
- Changed cheat sheet.
10/11/12
- Cheat sheet changed again
- Removed jungling section, after giving it some thought she really doesn't work well there :l
- Going to open up Soviet's review and work on this later
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