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Hello, I'm Gleebglarbu, a challenger player on the NA server who peaked at rank 4 on the ladder, but am currently sitting around rank 30 as of 12/16/13. Diana is the most played hero on my Diamond 1 smurf "S Gleebglarbu" in Season 3 and I have a 77.8% win rate with her in soloqueue over 36 games. This is slightly skewed upward because I played a few games as Diana while I was raising the account from placements to Diamond 1, but most of my games as her are against Diamond 1 players, and my match making rating on this account is similar to that of my main account.

Diana is an amazingly strong hero and is a blast to play. She farms up incredibly well, can destroy the back line in team fights, and is able to initiate for her team once she gets Zhonya's Hourglass. Her kit is very straight forward and easy to pick up, but has a lot of subtle nuances such as the curve on her Crescent Strike which really separates the good Dianas from the great Dianas.

Pros

1. High Burst damage.
2. AoE CC with Moonfall.
3. Great sticking power if you land your Crescent Strike.
4. Deceptively tanky because of both base stats and Pale Cascade.

Cons

1. Is weak in the early laning phase before hitting 6 and skilling up Lunar Rush.
2. Mana costs too high to spam spells in lane without either Crystalline Flask, blue buff, or Mana Potion.
3. Your Lunar Rush will not reset if the dash is interrupted by abilities like Howling Gale, Headbutt, or Flay.
4. Deals only one type of damage in team fights (magical).
5. No innate sustain.

9x 9x 9x 3x

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Greater Mark of Magic Penetration Greater Seal of Armor Greater Glyph of Magic Resist Greater Quintessence of Ability Power

9 X Greater Mark of Magic Penetration

Every single one of Diana's spells deal magical damage and she doesn't get to auto attack harass most foes because she has a melee auto attack. This makes magic penetration the best stat to itemize for in marks to increase your damage. If you are in a melee match up where you can auto attack harass a lot like Kha'Zix you can run 9 X greater mark of hybrid penetration for stronger laning, but you will be worse off in team fights, but I personally think it's better to stick with the magic penetration.

9 X Greater Seal of Armor

As a melee hero you take a lot of damage in the form of enemy auto attacks which are physical, making armor very valuable. Creep damage and turret shots are also physical which makes armor even more valuable. You can tank the creep wave to freeze the wave and lose much less health doing it with armor seals.

9 X Greater Glyph of Magic Resist

Most champions you go against in mid lane, like Orianna, Karthus, and Twisted Fate deal magic damage which makes it nice to have MR for lane. Even if you are vs an AD laner, most popular junglers, such as Zac, Elise, and Evelynn do heavy amounts of magic damage which makes the MR runes valuable. If their entire team is completely AD, you can switch to 9 X Greater Glyph of Ability Power.

3 X Greater Quintessence of Ability Power

These quints are very strong on Diana and I run them every game. She has 4 AP ratios that are all .6 or above which makes the AP a nice boost to your ability to all in early game when you get Lunar Rush. It also adds to your survivability by increasing your shield strength.

This is a pretty standard mastery page for AP carries, going 21 in offense gives you the most damage. Arcane Blade is also incredibly strong on Diana because of how much you will auto attack the enemy when you pull them in with Moonfall to proc your Moonsilver Blade. If your jungler has communicated to you that he needs every blue or if you are going top lane, it is better to shift 9 points from the defense tree into the utility tree, picking up improved durability.

This is the start I use in most scenarios, Diana's biggest weakness in the early laning phase is that it is very easy to get pushed out of lane, especially when you only have rank 1 of Pale Cascade. This start gives you a huge amount of sustain without buying items that don't fit into your build such as Rejuvenation Bead. Swap out one Health Potion and one Mana Potion for a ward if they have a strong gank combo on you in the early game, such as Twisted Fate and Zac.


This start is very strong vs AD laners such as Jayce and Zed. If you start with this set up just play very carefully in the early laning phase until you can back and get a Stealth Ward.


On your first back, picking up boots along with two Doran's Rings gives you a lot of power when you get back to lane. The mana regen on killing a unit allows you to push out the lane with ease and the HP and AP better equip you to fight the enemy mid laner.


Once you finish these items, you'll become a tanky assassin that can initiate for your team and squish the enemy team's backline. The combination of flat penetration and ability power from these items gives you a huge spike in damage, and the survivability you get from the magic resist, armor, and Zhonya's Hourglass's stasis makes you durable enough to initiate for your team with a Crescent Strike, Lunar Rush, and Moonfall combo.


While building is situational, this is the late game build I end up having most often because it provides you with immense damage which boosts your potential as an assassin, along with the survivability you gain from Guardian Angel, Zhonya's Hourglass, and Abyssal Mask. Once you have your mid game items completed, you have flat pen and some AP, but not enough to continue to be a threat in the late game. Picking up Rabadon's Deathcap and Void Staff next will greatly increase your damage output and allow you to deal high damage to tanks as well with the % pen from Void Staff. Guardian Angel is a strong pick up because you will be diving head first into the enemy team and baiting their aggro on you. The passive effect on the item, along with Zhonya's Hourglass, will give your team time to clean up the fight while you revive after initiating and chunking their team.

Situational Items:

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DFG is very expensive and gives you no defensive stats, but it can be a good pick up when the enemy team has one huge threat that needs to be taken out, like a Kog'Maw.

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Liandry's Torment is a strong pick up if the enemy team is stacking large amounts of HP on multiple members. This item also gives you better Baron control with the %HP damage on the item.

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This item is not too strong on Diana because you are spending a lot of money for the slow which you don't really need, but if they are stacking HP this item has very strong synergy with Liandry's Torment.

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Nashor's Tooth is strong if you are in a solo lane or against a melee laner. This item gives you no defenses but gives you mana-less wave clear and better split pushing ability which is nice if you are playing Diana in the top lane.

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Morellonomicon is a strong choice if you are against a team that has many champions with either high life steal or strong innate healing. It is very cost effective and the healing reduction will allow you to secure many kills you would have not otherwise been able to.

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This item is very expansive and has some wasted stats like the mana, but it gives you better roam and splitpush potential with the MS to catch targets and the lich bane proc to take down towers. I would only get this item if I was very ahead and wanted to be a larger split push threat. With this and Nashor's Tooth you will maul towers.

Flash is a mandatory spell for every mid laner at the moment. The power it gives you, both offensively and defensively, is too much to make not using it simply not viable. Flash is necessary to set up ganks, escape from ganks, escape over walls, and much more. In it's current state the summoner spell is just too strong to not take.

Ignite is what I would recommend running for every soloqueue game you play. It gives you better kill potential 1v1 and when your jungler comes to gank. It makes it riskier for the enemy jungler and mid to try to dive you. Ignite also gives you better potential to assassinate the enemy back line in a teamfight.

Teleport will give you better pressure around the map, but less kill potential in lane. I prefer taking it on top lane Diana to have a bigger impact around the map.

Moonsilver Blade: Your passive is very strong and gives you good sustained damage, wave clear, and tower killing potential. Your blade will light up before the third hit, indicating that it will deal the increased damage. When getting ready to trade in lane, auto attack the creeps twice and then start the fight.

Crescent Strike: This is the pivotal ability in your kit, being able to consistently land your Crescent Strike separates the good Dianas from the great Dianas. This skill gives you strong poke in lane along with wave clear, so it is maxed second.

Pale Cascade: This ability provides you with durability and also does decent burst when you pop it and then Lunar Rush into the enemy. The shield strength scales well with level so you max this ability third.

Moonfall: This provides you with all of your CC and allows you to initiate fights for your team. This skill is a one point wonder because the CC duration does not increase with rank and it does no damage. Because of this it is maxed last.

Lunar Rush: Your ultimate is what makes Diana a strong hero. This ability adds a lot of damage to your burst combo and the reset on it gives you immense sticking power. This ability is maxed first because of the large decrease in cool down.

Laning

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Diana has a pretty weak laning phase before she gets her ultimate, but it's not too hard to survive with the combination of your Pale Cascade and Crescent Strike. For the early levels you just want to farm up and sustain in most match ups since you will have little to no kill potential vs ranged mid laners. Against melee heroes you can be a bit more aggressive and charge your passive up on creeps, forcing trades with your shield. Once you get your ultimate you can force fights if you land a Crescent Strike, but be weary of where the enemy jungler can be, if you use your dash offensively you are quite susceptible to ganks if there is no nearby creep or jungle camp to dash to.

Roaming

Once you get your Lunar Rush and blue buff, you can easily push up the mid lane and pressure side lanes while the enemy mid laners tries to farm under tower. Even if the enemy has flash, you can follow them with the rest on Lunar Rush for the kill. There are a few things to look for when deciding when and where to roam:

Where has the enemy mid laner warded?

Where have the enemy bot and top laners warded?

Does the enemy have flash / barrier / cleanse / exhaust up?

It's going to be easiest to gank lanes that have their summoners down and lack escapes, like a Rumble or Yorick. If you choose to wander through the enemy jungle to roam, make sure that you're not walking over wards or else the enemy team can easily catch you out of position and kill you.

Team Fights

Once everyone groups as 5 and you have your Zhonya's Hourglass, you want to force fights by diving into the enemy back line and using Moonfall. Once the enemy team tries to burst you down, just pop the stasis from Zhonya's Hourglass. You have immense burst damage and sticking power if you land your first Crescent Strike, allowing you to pursue and take out the back line. If you miss your Crescent Strike, it's usually best to wait until you can cast it again and then try to engage, since a large amount of your burst is gone with no Crescent Strike damage and with one less Lunar Rush. If someone on their team is completely out of position and you miss your Crescent Strike, you can just engage on them with Lunar Rush into Moonfall.

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I hope you enjoyed my guide for Diana. She is a really fun and powerful hero that is easy to pick up, but hard to master. If you want to see me play Diana sometime, check out my stream at www.twitch.tv/gleebglarb1