Hey everyone, Never here! Orianna is my favorite champion, and to see why just pick her and type /laugh. :3 One thing to be made clear - this is for AP Carry Orianna, though I fully acknowledge that Orianna does do some support. I'll get into that in the guide.

Anyways, this is more of a guide on how to play Orianna, less on how to build her. Please be sure to actually READ the whole guide before making a snap judgement, good or bad. The build is just to show my usual and get some ideas/thoughts stirring in your head. This is a guide more than anything.

However, as building the right items is very important, I'll have a section on building which items and when. the ones above are simply my usual. Note the chapter on Orianna's Auto Attack. It is GREATLY underestimated. This is my first mobafire build and I spent a lot of time and effort on it, so I hope you like it =)

~ Trying out Orianna with Jayce Patch changes today, will update soon ~
On a final note - Please read it and TRY it before judging it :D

*Special thanks to Jhoijhoi for the guide on making guides, it helped tremendously :3*

*****NOTE- Almost completed! Ranked section still needs done and to add pictures like post-game stats, but the rest is for the most part finished! =D Thank you for taking your time to check out my little guide here. <3 *******

Pros

• Amazing Burst
• Fun to play
• Stop their ticking!
• Secretly backdoors o.o
• High and rewarding difficulty
• Turn the tides with a pop of your ball!
• Command: Dissonance = Escaped their gank! xP
• Adorable <3

CONS

• Difficulty can be frustrating when new to Orianna
• Squishy D=
• If you don't know what OOM is, you will.
• Practice, practice, practice >.>
• Can lead to increased vocabulary.

9 Greater Mark of Magic Penetration - Magic Penetration. Self Explanatory I hope. Your AP will come from the glyphs and quints.

9 Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration - Mana Regen. I prefer this over flat mana regen, but if you're going to build Athene's Unholy Grail, Flat ones or Magic Resistance Runes may be preferable.

9 Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power - More AP -> More damage -> Even MORE damage late game.

3 Greater Quintessence of Ability Power - AP Awesomeness. Starts you out with a nice bit of AP, and with the masteries you have as well as Rabadon's Deathcap, these work out quite nicely for having lots of AP throughout that match.

• Flash - Greater for getaways that your W won't save you from, or also if you need that last bit of range because you can't quite reach from the bush or wherever it is you're at.
  
  
• Ignite - Deals true damage per second, reduces healing, and when on CD (most of the match) you get free AP. What's not to love about it?

Other Viable Summoner Spells

I'm only going to list a few other's that I can understand why people would want to use them, as they ARE viable, but if you intend to grab Resurrect, slap yourself now.

• Heal - If you're a beginner and are having trouble dodging, this is understandable. If you're ranked you shouldn't be relying on this.
  
  
• Clarity - Similar to the above, if you are playing ranked you shouldn't be relying on this. Late game it's a waste.
  It's nice in the beginning though as it does give you that Mana so you can stay in the lane longer. Something to consider.
  
  -If there is one summoner spell in this list you're considering, I'd have to suggest this one.
  
  
• Teleport - Get back to your lane faster, Aid a tower or ally in seconds. It can change tides of battle.
  
  
  A special DO NOT GET goes to...
• Clairvoyance No. This is not for you Orianna

A quick reminder of the skill sequence, showing the priority of your skills, then we'll explain ways to use your abilities, and why I pick the skills the way I do.

The section that is the main reason of the guide. The build is more recommendation and to show viable options than anything. Now for how to actually USE Orianna

When playing Orianna, the best position is the Middle Lane. She can absolutely support, but her support isn't what she's best for. I find her best as an AP Carry that can in the middle of fights easy and rapidly switch and mix from AP Carry to Support and vice versa.

For starters, I see a lot of Orianna players who mana short all the time in the beginning. This really shouldn't be the case for the majority of matches.

From what I see, people like to use their ball to farm, usually a Command: Attack "Q" followed by Command: Dissonance "W". That's certainly a quicker way throughout the game to farm, but it's by no means efficient in the early game because of the mana loss.

(For specifics on Farming, go to the Farming section)


The reason I include that here as well is to make it clear not to waste your mana farming. Use your "Q" to POKE your opponent! If you are certain that you can also get them with your "W", then get that extra burst of damage in there too.

When laning, it's of utmost importance to position both your ball AND yourself properly. Because the ball's range for your "Q" is focused around YOU, it's best to remain mobile, and find positions where if you use your "Q" it'll either land and your opponent so you can combo with your "W" (or Ult when it's up, then the "W"), or so that it goes *through* them on its way to its new destination.

Against more seasoned players who know your moves, positioning so the ball will go through them, or better yet go through them and into where they're heading and combo-ing them there.
This is a needed skill, because they'll know to stay out of range or be smart of enough to dodge if you throw it straight at them.

Common Orianna mana-wasting move I see is this: Orianna has her ball in the minions, and the enemy goes into her range, and as Orianna "Q's" at them, the enemy is already backing off and Ori just wasted 50 mana, and it's on CD for a few seconds so they can get some farm or get a spell of on Ori, or at the very least get better positioning +Exp. by forcing her back.

A good thing to do that a sadly large number of Orianna players I see do not do is use the ball to: Check a bush. Ward a bush. Initiate into/from a bush. Her ball is truly like a second champion.

If you get Nashor's Tooth like I often do and maybe swap another item for Malady if you are truly so inclined, you are even more so like two champions. You will have very good DPS with your auto-attack, and while doing so you use your ball as you like. How awesome is that? VERY.
-Also, if you want to do some back dooring that the enemy won't see coming, getting some AP + Attack speed as previously stated works wonders. You'll burn through turrets quickly, and the minion farm on the way up even quicker.

A very fun - and incredibly useful, sometimes if not often game turning - thing to do with Orianna is to steal baron . If you have a ward there, that makes it safer to do. Go to the bush to the top right of Baron . If you have a ward there already, awesome.

Just wait, keep track of the rate that the health goes down, and keep in mind enemy Smite. Once it gets to the amount that it'll die in about two seconds, "Q" your ball in, ult/w for the steal!

If you DON'T already have a ward there, just toss your ball in so Baron is within your Ult's range. If you have it right next to it they'll usually assume you intend to steal it, but if its further away, they seem to often feel safe and keep working on it quickly.

Be ready to "E" and book it in any case, though if it comes down to you stealing baron but dying afterwards, figure which is worth more. And also, your team will give you much love for a successful steal with your ball <3
- This applies to things like dragon, blue, etc.

Also, aside from simply stealing the beloved Baron , you'll be herding most of the enemy team, dealing good damage, slowing, etc. Plus your team has Baron buff now. Dominate them if your team is ready.

Most matches that I have done this, I steal Baron , and get most of the team anywhere from dead (not too often, but pretty close on a couple of them about every time) to half health.
That is a very good start for your team being at full health.

Even if your entire team isn't there, you will sometimes be able to knock one or two off then get to saftey. Use your best judgement.


More fun stuff such as tossing the ball through trees (when and where) to come when I'm not so lazy and tired =)

Ohhhh yes. Farming. Orianna is just amazing for this. Her autoattack is great for last hitting minions, as well as simply getting their hp down quickly. Now, if you follow the build up top, Nashor's Tooth will make this a breeze without wasting any mana.

I usually use my Q through all of the minions, and autoattack the rest once I have Nashor's, and will get all of the farm. Prior to Nashor's, just focus on last hitting, and positioning your ball properly so that the enemy can't farm as much as you, if at all.

If they come in range, poke them. Your Q and your auto are both good pokes, though your auto attack is only recommended if you know you're going to get away with it.

Another important thing with farming is that some people simply outrange you. Ex - Lux and Ahri. This is where the positioning comes in, as well as reading your opponent. It's all critical to your farm in the early game.

Final Note - If you have a good and awesome jungler, they will give you blue once it's back up. This makes farming much more quick and lots easier, as well as harassing your opponent, since mana isn't as much of a worry.

However, it's still best to last hit and not waste mana if you can help it.

I'm a very big fan of her Passive. If you are too, then Nashor's is the item for you. Her passive makes it so that her auto-attacks deal magic damage ON TOP OF the damage she's already doing.

Also, the damage dealt goes up when he attacks the same target. I can't tell you how many times her Passive/Auto Attack is what gets me the win. Again, it's very underestimated.

Take a look at the other Item builds if you haven't to see a couple of ideas on building to put this to good use.

Abuse it - I command you.

*still need to flesh out this section

Now the Boots and health pots are the usual. However. If you are up against someone like Annie who just clicks and hits, the boots won't do much good. In that case, get Doran's Ring to start.

If you are someone who hates auto-attacking with her, or needs some magic resist, or the mana regen, swap Nashor's Tooth for Athene's Unholy Grail. It's an amazing item for Orianna, and depending on your opponent and what's working best, it can be considerably better than Nashor's, and vice versa.

---With Nashor's Tooth, I go with the the Fiendish Codex first for the AP+, Mana Regen +, and the CD Reduction.

The Ionian Boots of Lucidity give you CD reduction. If your team is being good and giving you blue, then get Sorcerer's Boots Which means more of everything, most importantly it means you can use your Q more. However there are plenty of cases where it may be more viable to use the Sorcerer's Boots for magic penetration.
If it doesn't look like you'll need the extra magic penetration, I recommend the Ionian ones because you'll likely be getting Void Staff or Abyssal Mask if the opposing team builds magic resistance.

Now... why Rylai's Crystal Scepter? Top 3 reasons: 80 AP, 500 HP for survivablity (not that you should plan on needing it that much, you shouldn't be right under the line of fire. Nonetheless, hits and damage will come your way, so it's nice to have.), and lastly is the slow. Slowing your opponents is a great thing. Combined with your W's slow, they'll be moving quite a lot slower than your team.

*NOTE*
I personally prefer this over Rod of Ages for both the reasons listed above, and because in matches you don't always have the time to wait for Rod of Ages to build up. However, Rod of Ages DOES have the mana boost.
How I will usually go about it is Rod of Ages if I have enough money early on. If I don't however, then I generally stick to the build at the top of the page, possibly switching Nashor's Tooth for Athene's Unholy Grail if I'm mana shorting too much.

Rabadon's Deathcap is a given. I'm not even going any further.

Lich Bane - Your auto-attack, as I've said, is very underrated. combined with the Sheen ability from this, it get's ridiculous. Now combine Lich and Nashor's and you've got a lot of auto-attack for pretty insane damage when you're an AP that doesn't actually focus your auto. Also, gives AP, mana, magic resist.
Why wouldn't you get this?

Zhonya's Hourglass... Situational, very replaceable. 100 AP, 50 Def, and that lovely 2 second freeze. In many matches this can be swapped for [Abyssal Scepter] or [Void Staff] if the team has some Magic Resist or a lot of it.
However, this can be a big life saver, and you're very beneficial to your team when you're alive.

Notes on other Items / Builds

I personally don't recommend, as you can see, a straight up AP Orianna. I've seen some people who go for AP + Attack speed. Those builds look something like this...

Malady , Ionic Spark , Wit's End , Madred's Bloodrazor , Berserker's Greaves , and Nashor's Tooth.

Now, while this is fun, I don't recommend it at all for ranked :P

The other viable builds (as far as items go) are just a click away up top.

Unless your are very, VERY solid with her, I don't recommend this. However, I love playing her Ranked, so I will get to this later =D

Ahri and Lux have both been mentioned. This is because they outrange you.

Lux can snare you, but if she does manage that, keep in mind you can still use your abilities, going offensive or defensive when snared like that is situational, like if you could q the ball over, ult, w, then e and have her die in that process.

Ahri has that oh so frustrating taunt as well as her dash. Just get good at dodging and find positioning that allows you to harass her. Stay mobile.

Akali is easy. Until level 6, at which point it's no longer fun to mid against her. Only midded against Akali twice so far, but the advice I give here before level 6, harass her like hell, do not let her farm. Watch for her invisible circle, you don't want to be close when she drops that. (kind of a given, I know).
At level 6, I've found it best to go from the offensive to defensive because of her ult, which she can destroy you quickly with.

Talon - His main source of trouble is that he can E to you, silencing you and get some real damage in. You can usually tell when he's going to to try and jump by the fact that most Talon players will either start running straight through the minions to you, or go to the side, then beeline to get you in range. Keep him at bay using the range of your ball.
If he makes movements to get in range to jump to you, back away and give him a poke of your ball. Also, versus Talon, I recommend boots, so that you can keep a good pace. Playing defensively in the cover of your tower tends to best.

Haven't had much trouble vs other mids like cassi, veig, etc. However small notes on them are in order.

Cassiopeia - Just stay mobile so she can't get you with her Q then spam that E. It hurts. Keep your ball at or just barely behind the mage minions, it helps keeps her at bay. If she wanders too close to your ball, pop a W then poke her if you can.

Veigar - Just care for that trap more than anything. Unfortunately a good Veigar can simply place his trap room wall right on you, stunning you instantly. Similar to Cassiopeia (and most champions really) you'll want to keep your ball extended and be ready to Q then W them if/when they get in range.

***More to come***

*This first section is about how you actually treat team members, and in my opinion is probably the most important section overall*


Let me be perfectly clear here on this. If someone is doing poorly, no matter how much they're feeding and failing... Do NOT be rude. This includes but is not limited to: calling them noob, telling them to un-install, saying they suck, spending as much time typing insults as time spent playing, etc.

I know it can be frustrating when someone simply fails and feeds hard. But if you think for a moment that they'll do better, or anything will improve by being a jerk, think again. No one will do better, but will instead do worse.

It usually leads to: Rage Quitting, AFK, constant arguing, reports, and the match going several times worse than before. The best thing to do in that situation is to support them with what you say and what you do.

It promotes teamwork instead of ruining it throughly. If you want to say it because it makes YOU feel better, then please get some humanity and grow up.

I've seen far too many matches be lost because someone starts poorly and people treat them horribly, yet we all have been in matches where someone has a bad start but ends up carrying the match to a win in the end. The difference that's almost always there? - The way people treat each other.

NOW, time for the actual guide on playing with your team.

Here is your situtation: You are in the middle. You are Orianna. Therefore, you are utterly adorable. Unfortunately, Yorick up top is not adorable and also having some trouble.
Normally it's jungle that should be helping top.

If jungle is busy with something important like helping bot and therefore can't help nearly as quickly as you can, ask someone to cover mid while you go top. That someone should be the jungle who will go mid as you head top. Go up and help unless the following condition(s) are present.

1- Middle turret is already being pushed against you, so that if you leave Mid will be gone.

2- Multiple opponents are coming middle.

3- You're one maybe two hits from dying and the top turret is already one maybe two hits from dying. This will just lead to you dying along with the turret in most cases.

4- Low health, and top opponent has range or a way to close it, kill you beneath the tower, and escape.

5- Minions are in the middle of the lane, not pushed to the enemy's turret and the opposing champion in mid is there.

Keep in mind these "conditions" are very general, and obviously bendable depending on the situation (especially #3), but they are good things to keep in mind when making your split-second decision on going top.

Ask Yorick (you sad, hideous thingy) on your way up if there is a ward in the bush if the bush is a nice position. Gank them if you can, if they get away, oh well.

The opponent using their Flash, recalling, or being pushed back is all win. It gives you advantages in experience, gold, and positioning. Well, it gives it to Yorick. Go back to middle ASAP unless there's opportunity to hit the tower a bit, or happily enough to take it down.

The example story given above applies to a lot. Most things will follow the same logic. You see an opportunity to help someone finish an enemy off who otherwise will get away, you need to consider the position your lane is in. If leaving and killing them gets your turret's health hacked away, it really just wasn't worth it.

Team Fights

As our little Angel of the Clockwork, your ball CAN be used to initiate. However it isn't always the best option.

This is because most often the enemy team will be together, but not close enough together for you to toss your ball into the middle and ult them into a tight group.

If they actually ARE in such a position, then initiating a team fight with that combo we've talked about is awesome. It will almost always get most of the team down to near death health - half health. Tanks might not get quite so low.

Else, what I recommend is let the normal initiator do the job, quickly following him with your ball. One strategy that can work well is using your E as he goes in because he's going to get pounded on.

Two bonuses here. the range your ball can go is farther than you can shoot it with your Q. It's already in the CENTER of attention, ready and primed for your Ult.

Through the battle, focus on Command: Attack the ball around, using your [Command: Protect]] on who needs it AND can utilize it best, like your AD Carry (when its not on CD), and using your Command: Dissonance when it's not on CD as well. Try to focus the squishies. Don't bother using your Command: Attack on the tank with 200 MR in a team fight.

Remember, we're all people and this is a game. Yes, it is highly competitive, but the point is to have fun. I personally add people that I find to be chill and fun to talk to. I don't see the point in playing a multiplayer game if you aren't going to chat and have fun. On that note, have fun!

Coming to the end of my guide, here are some matches that I've had with Orianna.

(By the way, took me forever to figure out how to get a picture and upload it then get it on here >.>)

Sorry I know it's incomplete at the moment, try not to hold it against me xP In the end, Orianna is amazing, underrated and underused (the underused part I actually like). I hope you liked the guide, and would love to see some comments and ratings :) Please note that I appreciate *constructive* criticism. As well as some help on how to make the guide have the stuff other ones do D: Later! <3