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Recommended Items
Spells:
Flash
Ignite
Items
Ability Order
Moonsilver Blade (PASSIVE)
Diana Passive Ability
Introduction

Hello, my name is Arrizen and this is my first guide so, please, be give me feedback on how well this guide is written and how I can improve. Also, please note that my native language isn't English and if you happen to find any spelling/grammar mistake let me know.
I've been playing Diana since her release and through experience and watching others play I've been perfecting my play style alongside my build. I've experimented a lot with other people's builds and finally found a setup that can actually fit the way I play. In this guide I'll be telling you how I play, why I play like that, and how this build affects this plays tyle.
I'll try to make this guide as detailed as possible, with item descriptions and lane matchups, so be prepared for a long read!

Pros
![]() + Huge, huge burst + Can adapt her build according to the enemy team + Has a shield and an overpowered passive to help her trade and lane and survive later in the game + Very fun to play with her unique ![]() |
Cons
![]() - Very dependant on good decision making - Has a somewhat weak pre-6 (not that bad after level 3) - Useless in teamfights if underfed - Reliant on her ultimate to do the most damage and chase |
As you can see from the pros, Diana is a very versatile champion and can do good in most team compositions. However, there are a few exceptions.
Avoid picking Diana when:
- Your team has no sort of initiation. Although Diana can be a good initiator with
Zhonya's Hourglass, it's best if you wait for your team to initiate in order to straight up go and kill their carries. If you are the initiator you will either spend the whole game looking for their carries' bad positioning or go in on the tanks, who aren't the best target for your damage.
- Their team has too much CC, for example a team with
Leona,
Elise,
Amumu and
Ryze. Hard CC will make it impossible for you to play when you are starting to get used to this champion. I will do my best to try and teach you how to counter those heavy CC teams further into the guide, but I wouldn't advise going against one as Diana. She's an assassin, and assassins are extremely weak against CC.
- If their team has
Kayle. Yeah, it's not funny going in on their carry and he suddenly gets invulnerable. A smart Kayle will save her ulti to counter you.



![]() ![]() |
Well, first about ![]() Next, about ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Alternatives to
Ignite
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Well, ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Ok, I can see some use in ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Ugh. I'm terribly bad with this summoner and it pains me to say that a good player can make wonders with this spell. It's extremelly good in teamplay and even on Solo Q. If you are against a champion like ![]() ![]() |

Runes




Reds: Attack Speed vs others
I started trying these marks after watching and hearing Scarra's stream once. He was talking about attack speed said something among the lines of "it helps me have control over the lane (by controlling which minions to kill and when) and it makes my passive proc faster when trading".
I was reluctant to try it at first but soon discovered why he liked that stat. It really pays off, and compared to having a few penetration points it's really much better. Clearing the wraiths is faster and last hitting in lane is also much easier. If you aren't convinced, please try it at least once. I promise you will like it!
Feel free to take the greater Mark of hybrid penetration if you aren't convinced about the runes above. They are also great and can counter more tanky matchups and tankier junglers like

Yellows
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Blues
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![]() With my setup you start the game with 40 AP, and with the 70% Ratio on your ![]() |
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![]() ![]() ![]() I said sometimes because I usually kill them before they kill me! When I'm feeling like playing safe yes, in those occasions I pick magic resist |
Quintessences
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Defense tree
When I started this guide I had a different opinion on the Defense tree, but thanks to Emikadon I've changed them.
I came to realise that




Quoted:

As for the health masteries I don't think I need to explain. Health helps you survive, enough said!!

Passive - Moonsilver Blade
This is seriously one of the best passives in the game. It gives you 20% attack speed, it deals a lot of damage AND it has a ratio of 80% AP on it!! It's like a fifth spell, just a little weaker, and what's best is it stacks with


Tips:
- This passive works on turrets, it helps you push faster
- The range on this is weird, it's not a circle and I really can't explain what it is. Experiment around with it, I've missed tons of CS because I thought it would hit the whole wave and it didn't, back in the days
Q - Crescent Strike
Your bread and butter! Use it to harass your opponent in lane and max it first 99% of the times.
Tips:
- Try playing around with it a few games without smartcast to learn how it works before smartcasting it. It's a curve!! I really like that unique part on it.
- It gives vision. Use this to your advantage to juke people in the jungle with your ulti
- The moonlight proc on this applies before it reaches the target if it hits, so a common combo is to Q and immediately R if you are sure you will hit. I'll put a video about this later.
W - Pale Cascade
This skill was REALLY nerfed since her release. At max level the base shield used to be 155 and the ratio was 40%. Nevertheless, this skill is still awesome. You are the only assassin with a shield, make use of it. Also, don't forget it procs twice - once on activation and another time when you explode the orbs.
Max this first if you are facing a champion that's mostly on you, such as


There are a few occasions where you'll want to pick this at level 1, while still maxing your

Tips:
- Use this to escape those sneaky
Ignite.
- Position yourself in teamfights so that this hits the most champions possible without putting yourself at risk.
E - Moonfall
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Diana draws in and slows all nearby enemies by 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 % for 2 seconds. |
This functions like an

Tips:
- Can be used to peel for your adc in case there's one last tank going after him.
- Can be used to make plays with other skills such as Malph's
Unstoppable Force
- When you are ganked and the enemy jungler is already on you, use this for the slow.
- Disrupt channeled ultis like
Absolute Zero
R - Lunar Rush
This is what makes you an amazing assassin. Use this as a gap closer and damage source. Yes, it does an incredible ammount of damage if you are fed!
The tricky part about this skill is choosing if you want to use it to gap close without hitting a the Q, or if you want to wait for the Q to be able to use it twice. From my experience, Q - W - R - Passive in lane can kill your opponent when used twice. Just back off after the first rotation and then come back on the next Q, it's as easy as that.
Tips:
- Use it to juke when in trouble! The minions are everywhere!
- Don't waste this skill on tanks during teamfights. Even though the cooldown is refreshed if you hit your Q before, the Q cooldown won't be refreshed if you hit your R and it'll be a waste of damage.
RapidStar on LCS (for a good Diana combo)
Ok that was a good Diana play. First off he saved his ulti when he missed his




He then used



Now for the most important part - The Q - R combo on the minions to gap close:
- You can use you
Crescent Strike and your ultimate at the same time and the cooldown on your ultimate will still refresh as long as
Crescent Strike hits the target
- Use this on strong minions.
If your ultimate kills the minion by itself the cooldown won't refresh because the Q can't hit a dead target

Core items



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What first, Rabadon's or Zhonya's?
I usually start with


The armor from seeker's will help you gank bot more safely and that means getting an advantage over your lane opponent, while it still gives you the AP to increase your burst. And let's be real, Ad carries are squishy and you won't need much AP to burst them down...
The only situation where I build



After the core
After the core items, you are free to build accordingly to your enemy team or your situation
![]() |
After the nerfs I rarely pick this item. Don't get me wrong, this is still crazy strong but you would benefit more from other items that give you more survivability. If you are a fan of this, try ![]() |
![]() |
My replacement for ![]() Why do I rarely pick this: I don't play Diana as a bruiser, and even though I pick attack speed runes, that's more for the early game than the late game. I find the burst you get more benefitial than more passive procs on a teamfight, because if you build more AP the fights won't get as prolonged. When do I pick this? Mostly when there's a tank member of the enemy team who likes split pushing or being away from the team. This item will provide you the ability to 1v1 him faster and then get to your team to finish a 5v4 |
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Actually, I only put this item in here because I've seen other people build this on her and it worked quite well. The only way I can see myself building this is when I can't 1shot anyone on their team because they are too tanky (yes ![]() |
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I used to build this as my second item on release. Back then Diana scaled much harder and this was actually pretty good. Now I only build this when I pick ![]() |
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I loooove this item. This is really a personal preference. The slow it gives is really useful and it stacks with your ![]() |
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This is my last item when their team has an heavy AP damage, or has one of those deadly skillshots like Blitz's ![]() |
Do you have any other item you would like me to add to the guide? comment and let me know why and I'll test it and add it here if it makes sense.

Levels 1-4
At lvl 1-4 you will want to farm, farm, farm. The problem is - you are a melee, you will most likely be harassed. Well, it happens, and you have two choices:
- Do not farm and stay on the back
- Last hit from a distance with your
Crescent Strike
Of course, we will choose the second one. However, the mana used to farm with only Q's will make it hard later on to do anything. So, only use this to farm when you know you can last hit more than 1 minion with it, or it'll be a waste
When you get to lvl 3, your Q's damage is actually noticeable, so you can start harassing with it. The cooldown is quite low, and you'll see that your opponent starts backing off after a few hits. If they don't, stack up your passive and flash - auto - Q - ignite and you should get a kill.
Levels 4-6
At this time ask for a gank. It's extremely helpful to get a kill now. If it happens you can go back and buy items to get an advantage so that when you are level 6 you can kill them again easily.
Always aim for at least a


Warding is EXTREMELY important and will let you go aggressive when you know the jungler isn't there, as well as let you escape from ganks.
Levels 6-10
Ask your jungler for the blue buff, it helps you out so much...
By this time you can probably kill your opponent easily. If you can, do it -> push the lane to the turret -> gank another lane
If you can't, don't worry. Push the lane to the turret and go do your wraiths. when you come back freeze the next wave, push the other and repeat. Your wraiths spawn every 2 minion waves (considering you killed them after you finished the wave) so:
- Kill the wave -> wraiths -> kill the wave -> kill the wave -> wraiths
Dealing with your opponent's roams
When your opponent starts roaming you can either be behind, even or ahead of him.
1) You are behind
DO NOT FOLLOW YOUR OPPONENT IF YOU ARE BEHIND UNLESS THE JUNGLER IS WITH YOU OR YOUR BOTLANE IS AHEAD! If bot lane is even and you are losing, well, it'll turn into a 3v3 where you will lose and worst case scenario the other team gets a triple kills.
Instead, push their turret and punish them for roaming, then you can roam too when they try to even it back and build an advantage.
Instead, push their turret and punish them for roaming, then you can roam too when they try to even it back and build an advantage.
2) You are even or ahead
Push the lane to the turret and then follow him, it's that simple.

From lvl 11 on, mid game usually starts, the team starts roaming and trying to get towers.
You should roam too. Get in groups of 2 and go steal the other teams buffs.
You already got the second rank on your ultimate and you are getting stronger. Diana shines in mid game.
The more Dragon fights happen the better you should be and the stronger you should be getting. Remember, play smart and don't dive them when you are outnumbered, no matter how fed you are.
Is your team losing?
If so, communicate with your team. Instead of trying to force skirmishes, group as 5 and push turrets. That way, the gold, experience and map pressure you get from the turrets will make you come back. Having every lane pushed means the other team will have to split or else they'll see themselves without inhibitors really fast. When that happens kill the people who aren't split pushing.

By this time, your team should be around together warding all the places and getting control over the map.
Be with your team, if you don't you will lose
There isn't much to say about this... Push, push, push and win.
One death later on the game means losing, the respawn times are big and the other team will win a 4v5 teamfight even if they are behind.
Teamfights
Teamfights with Diana are compeltely different than with other AP mids.
Diana is a melee champion, so you should focus on not dying when fightning.
When you are about to teamfight try to get to the perfect position where you will not die if you charge to their team. This is usually from the back, where the carries are. Use the bushes to fake a 4v3, 5v4 situation and sneak from behind. Insta kill their carries and the teamfight will be in your favour.
The problem is, not ever situation is a dream situation. If the other team engages, back off, locate the carry and do that quick Q - R combo to get to him. If you are the one engaging but are grouped up, do the same - wait 'till they have wasted their CC spells and go in on the carries.
Never, but NEVER, go on a fight where your team is on disadvantage.
Never be the one initiating (unless their adc is out of position), your tanks should. Getting focused? Pop your Zhonyas and wait for your CD's to refresh.
Bjergsen on the LCS
From the early parts of the video you can clearly see the power of Diana. Bjergsen could 2v1 their team early. The problem came when teamfights started.
SK had a team full of CC. A



They are both pro teams and know what to do, and SK showed just that. They focused most of their CC on Diana, specially the Vi ulti. That ultimate allows for the rest of the team to collapse on her and stun-lock her.
That last teamfight before they won was really well played by Bjersgsen, he waited for the CC on the other team to be blown and then went straight in for the ad carry. He then went and helped ezreal stay alive by killing Ocelote.

- Difficulty: 9/10 -> Extremely hard
- Explanation: Well... you know those early creep waves? Yep, you're not getting most of the minions there. This guy Ziggs has enormous range and a strong auto attack passive that can be compared to yours. He'll poke you down in your entire laning phase while still being out of the range of your
Crescent Strike.
- My advice against Ziggs is - Play as passive as you can. Back off as much as you can without losing EXP and try to CS as much as you can. Follow his roams because you can always 1v1 him if you hit your
Crescent Strike.
- Take
Pale Cascade at level 1, but still max your
Crescent Strike. This will help you get at least 3 minions from the first minion wave.
- Consider getting an
Abyssal Mask as your first item to reduce his poke damage for quite a lot, and get
Zhonya's Hourglass as your second item because that'll allow you to dodge his ultimate in 1v1 situations.
- Difficulty: 4/10 -> Easy in lane, harder in skirmishes
- Explanation: When Diana was released they called her Akali 2.0. You completely beat her in lane. Harass with every skill except
Moonfall (duuh, it does no damage!).
After laning she's quite a pain - she has 3 jumps, you have 2 at most. And those two are situational. Be very careful when fighting an Akali out of lane after level 6. She'll use her dash to dodge yourCrescent Strike and that will HUGELY reduce your damage potential, and you won't be able to kill her.
- My advice against Akali in skirmishes - Your burst goes off faster than hers, and if you won your laning phase then she'll need two combos to kill you while you will need one only. Make use of that and let her engage.
- Buy and upgrade a
Sweeping Lens to reveal her from stealth during teamfights.
- Buy an early
Negatron Cloak and keep going with the rest of your build.
<========== Section under construction ==========>
I'll add one or two matchups a day
I'll add one or two matchups a day
Well guys, this is my Diana guide.
Please vote and comment with suggestions and what you think is right or wrong and why.
Also, if you have any success with this build then send me some feedback and I'll happily add it here.
That's it guys, thanks for reading and see you in my next guide, hopefully.
Special thanks to jhoijhoi even though he doesn't know me at all for a few templates on the guide
Please vote and comment with suggestions and what you think is right or wrong and why.
Also, if you have any success with this build then send me some feedback and I'll happily add it here.
That's it guys, thanks for reading and see you in my next guide, hopefully.
Special thanks to jhoijhoi even though he doesn't know me at all for a few templates on the guide
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