18-06-2011:

Guide posted.

First of all sorry if my English is terrible :)

Well let's get down to business!:D

First of all I didn't come up with this build, all credit to TremoXcore, this is more a in depth guide, with a few modification of that build :3

Link to TremoXcore's build: http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/where-did-you-go-im-so-lonely-ap-support-ownage-87933

To start with, Orianna is a very special Champion and she can be build in many ways (AS/AP, AP Burst, AP nuke and Support). I have tried many of these colorful builds, but all the time the best role was a support.
I would say that Orianna is classified as a offensive support like Lux, they have a over-decent damage output and some heavy CC abilities, so when they are present in a team fight, the outcome can be totally changed.

Just quick to sum up what she can/can't :)

Pros:

- Amazing at zoning champions
- Amazing at supporting your ally
- Great damage for having almost no ap
- Amazing support character


Cons:

- Really Squishy
- Usually focused
- When OOM your really wide open

Items:

The reason for why I use Mobility Boots instead of Sorcerer's Shoes is pretty simple. As support you don't need that much damage, that's for your Ashe or Brand to take care of. No you need the mobility for be everywhere all the time, with your Teleport you can one minute take the blue buff, then take down the dragon (single handed) and then be at top saving your solo Vladimir and get some sweet kills.

So to sum up: as support it's your job the babysit every other Champion on the field.

Skills:

Before you rage about "You can't put so many skill points in Command: Attack!", let me explain why I have done so: League of Legends is a "liquid game" that means you have to be flexible and sometimes choose what's best for the situation.
The skills is correctly set till lvl 6. Because that's the usually the lane-phase, were nothing much is needed to change.
But my basic skill selection is trying to max out Command: Attack, then Command: Dissonance and last Command: Protect.

So you may think it's a strange order, when I talk about being support class, well I explain that later ;)

As I have played Orianna I often occurred the situation of my ball being out of range to hit the enemy team. Every time I command my ball forward, the enemy easily dodge it by moving backward. So I needed to shoot the ball behind my enemy witch could be solved in two ways:
By moving a great distance forward, witch results in great opportunity for the enemy team engaged or harass me down. or I could try to sneak behind them, witch is risky if they have a champion like Twitch or Shaco. This also only works if you are lucky to sneak in the exact right spot at the exact range so you can hit them with your Command: Shockwave.

So to sum it up, you are too fragile to step forward, but it also too unreliable/risky to sneak around in the jungle.

This is why your role as support comes you handy.
Ever seen a Jax used a Restless Assault or Amumu hurling into combat using Bandage Toss?

Thats your free ticket to get your ball right into the middle of the fight! It's pretty simple, attach your ball to your team fight initiator (usually a tank, but it can also be someone like Master Yi or Rumble.

Just to set up and scenario:
You use your Command: Protect on your Amumu right before he initiate the fight. This results that he get a decent amount of Armor and MR, but also a good shield. This shield might not be as good as other champs, but remember that the extra Armor and MR, is affecting his effective HP and therefore also the shields effective HP.
Now your Amumu is decent buffed and he does what he is supposed to to do (AKA Flash, Bandage Toss and Curse of the Sad Mummy) Great now the enemy team is stuck and your ball is right in the middle of the fight! Now you can use your Command: Shockwave and **** them up even more!:D
After that it depends how the team fight goes, is your carry in trouble? Use Command: Protect on him and Command: Dissonance so he have a better chance of escaping.
Are you winning the team fight? use Command: Protect on your chaser and give him a extra speed boost with your Command: Dissonance!
If you are losing the team fight, then use Command: Protect on yourself or any champ who needs it, then activate your Command: Dissonance and run away.

The point I'm trying to make is that I prefer to use my Command: Protect rather than Command: Attack to get my ball around. The reason of that is simple; you get more out of your mana. You do a decent damage with it, gives a decent shield and a decent Armor/MR.

Of course don't I forget my Command: Attack it deals a lot of pain, but when you run low on mana, you better save for Command: Protect and Command: Dissonance!:3

So to clean it all up in three easy steps:

Step 1: The additional CC for your initiator.

Your job is to reach your enemy team via your initiator and cluster them up with your Command: Shockwave.

Step 2: The supporting damage.

Now you responsible of juggling your ball between your allies with your Command: Protect and into your enemy face with your Command: Attack.
Use Command: Dissonance when you find it needed.

Step 3: The utility booster.

Now you either have to chase or flee, in both situation you need to be there to boost your allies movement speed and/or decrease your enemies with your Command: Dissonance.

Early Game:

You can go mid if you want, but I prefer to take double lane only cause Orianna is very mana hungry early game and many mid Champs (like Katarina or Caitlyn) can survive your harass until you OOM. But anyhow I grab a Doran's Ring and hit the top or bot lane.
Oh and a side note, I have tried with many starter items such as Amplifying Tome, Sapphire Crystal and Meki Pendant. But Doran's Ring just seems to top 'em :)

The early game is not your place to shine as an support, let the enemy think you trying to be the AP carry of your team. You job is to harass and zone your enemy away from those minions. The first skill is Command: Attack and ONLY use on champs and ONLY if you can get a clear shot on them! It don't enough damage if it passes through a minion.
But a useful function is to clear out the brushes and make sure that Teemo is not lurking around :) So from level 1-2 just try to last hit and use your Command: Attack and Command: Dissonance to do some midi-harass. When you hit level 3 and rank up your Command: Attack to level 2 you can truly begin harassing your enemy.
Through the whole early game should you farm enough gold to get Catalyst the Protector and your Mobility Boots. You put one rank in your Command: Protect at level 5, cause next level you will get your first rank in Command: Shockwave and your support role will begin around there.

Mid Game:

When you hit level 8-9 your mid game should begin. You can now take down blue buff easily and a bit later on solo dragon. Your job is now to semi-roam around, just take care Orianna is a fragile champ. But try to team up with your ganker/tank and do some ganks. Else it's your job to control that your red/blue buff is safe and also the dragon. If you really feel like being the good support you should buy a huge amount of wards and ward up key points in the jungle. It's also your job to keep your lanes clean, you have Teleport so just use it to get to top tower, so you can clear that nasty huge minion wave.
But your most important task is to be there whenever a team fight is about to happen.
Oh one other thing; when you roam around the jungle, Command: Attack is a great way to check bush for enemies, but be careful you don't got that much mana without blue buff.
So I suggest only to check key point (Baron, dragon and buffs) or of course if your are in doubt about enemies being around.

Late Game:

Well, Late Game is pretty much like Mid Game, just now you have a better mana regen. Your AP is also good enough so you can Teleport to that tower and take it down. But else your job is the same as mid game.

Well, hope you enjoyed reading this guide and you understand my way of thinking.
I will, try to keep this up to date as much as possible, and please rate and response :D

Gobomania.