NOTE: Please note that some parts of this guide are outdatet! I am still working to update the guide for the current season. My first aim will be to keep the cheatsheet updated and the corresponding explanations in the guide will follow soon.

Hello everyone and welcome to my guide Diana - A new moon rises.
Since this is my first guide here on Mobafire it is probably not perfect so I would really appreciate if you leave a comment after reading with constructive criticism or possible improvements.
Please note that English is not my native language so if you find any mistakes in grammar or spelling feel free to leave a comment so I can correct this.

As the title already says this is a Diana guide and it will tell you how to build and play Diana as AP Carry in mid lane or as a jungler. I created this guide because I think I found a way to build Diana with damage and survivability and still having fun playing her. Please don't judge the guide from the Cheat Sheet and read the whole thing before voting. It wont take too much times since I tried to avoid walls of text.

For everyone that is interested in Diana's Lore that will tell you the origin of her weapon and explain her appearance feel free to read it here. :D

As every other champion Diana has positive and negative aspects that I will list here.

Pros Great Damage High Mobility Short cooldown shield Cooldown reset ult Moonfall is a pull

Cons Weak before Level 6 Not much cc No real escape Squishy Often focused

21 points in offense is a must when playing Diana. I go for ability power, cooldown reduction and magic Penetration to maximize my damage and Summoner's Wrath for the improved Ignite. Spellsword is also a really good mastery that increase your auto attack damage greatly late game. I put 2 points in Havoc to get to the next tier but you can also take Butcher for easier last hitting.

9 points is the best choice for me when laning with Diana. The health and magic resist will offer you more survivability against harass. Take Hardiness over Resistance if you are facing an AD mid or you want to take less damage from autoattack harass.

If you don't like the defensive masteries you can also go for 9 Points in utility. Meditation and Runic Affinity are the most important imo. Mastermind and Expanded Mind are about personal preference and you can take either of them.

When jungling you should also take 21 points in offense for more damage. The reasons for this are the same as when laning. The only difference is that you don't need Summoner's Wrath as you aren't taking Ignite and Butcher is normally a good die to clear the jungle faster. Instead of Sorcery you can also take Fury for faster jungling. Spellsword will also greatly increase your clearing speed.

When jungling the defense tree is obligatory. You cannot go without the survivability you get from it. Health masteries and Tough Skin will let you survive longer and Bladed Armor will reflect some damage to jungle creeps. Summoner's Resolve is for the improved Smite. I didn't try it out yet but I think Hardiness could also be an Option.

Marks

Probably the best marks you can take. They give you magic penetration to increase your overall damage what is basically the most important thing as an AP assassin.

Glyphs

Ability power will increase your overall damage. These Glyphs are especially good late game when you got a higher level and your Deathcap.

I don't like these glyphs at all but they will provide you with good survivability when you have a hard matchup against an AP Carry.

Seals

Diana can be very mana hungry. These seals will solve most of your mana issues late game and let you spam your abilites more often.

When facing an AD mid or a champion with good autoattack harass these seals can be incredibly helpful to reduce poke damage.

If you want more overall survivability health seals can be pretty good let you survive longer.

Quintessences

More AP means more damage. These quints will let you start with nearly 15 AP + what you get from your masteries while still being useful late game due to Rabadon's Deathcap

If you are facing a very skillshot heavy champion the movement speed can help you to dodge their poke.

Marks

These marks will greatly increase your jungling speed. They give you good sustained damage due to Moonsilver Blade and Spellsword .

More magic Penetration means stronger ganks and these marks are still useful late game when enemies start stacking magic resist.

Glyphs

More AP means more overall damage. These Glyphs are especially good late game and there aren't any better options for jungling.

Seals

With these Seals you will take less damage while jungling. You will need the armor to survive and not get hit too low by the jungle creeps.

Quintessences

Again more AP, more damage. These quints are very good early game as well as late game due to Rabadon's Deathcap.

Moonsilver Blade (Passive): This is a very nice passive. It will make farming easier as well as inflicting some serious damage to your enemies late game since it scales quite high with AP. It will make your autoattacks very bursty with Spellsword and maybe a Lich Bane proc.
When hitting minions with this be careful that you don't push your lane too much with the aoe damage because you will risk getting ganked by the enemy jungler.







Crescent Strike: This is you main harass and damage ability. It allows you to be aggressive and harass your lane opponent even before level 6. Hitting your target with this skill is not that easy as it seems to be because unlike normal skillshots it will go in an arc towards a target location and do a small explosion there.




You're going to want to max out Crescent Strike before Pale Cascade and before Moonfall.

• This is a key ability for Diana so practice it until you are good enough to almost guarantee that it will hit
• You can use this skill to check bushes since it will reveal enemies hit for 3 seconds
• You can also last hit minions with this ability but care that you don't push your lane

Pale Cascade: This skill will give you some extra survivability and damage. The shield that it grants you scales with AP and it can be used double in a fight since it will refresh as soon as all the 3 Spheres explode. You will also get a nice damage output with this skill when hitting all 3 Spheres.



You're going to want to max out Pale Cascade before Moonfall and after Crescent Strike.

• Use this right before Lunar Rush to immediately inflict serious damage to your target when jumping into a fight
• The spheres deal AOE-Damage when they detonate so use this in teamfights to hit multiple enemies
• If you don't have problems with mana sustain use it in lane to soak up poke damage

Moonfall: This is an awesome chasing skill. It will pull nearby enemies towards you and slow them.



You're going to want to max out Moonfall after Crescent Strike and after Pale Cascade.

• Make sure that you don't use this skill to early in a fight since it's more useful when the enemies attempt to run
• This ability will also interrupt channel skills like Master Yi's Meditate or Katarina's Death Lotus
• You can combine this skill very well with you Pale Cascade

Lunar Rush (Ultimate): This skill makes Diana an assassin. It is great for chasing and deals nice damage too. Compared to other Ultimates this one has a very low cooldown.



You're going to want to take Lunar Rush whenever possible.

• If you use this ability while your target is afflicted by Moonlight, the debuff that enemies get from your Crescent Strike, it will have it's cooldown reset!
• Use this for chasing and assassinating

Generally go R>Q>W>E

Starting Items

x3

This is a very common and also very good start. The flask plus 3 Health potions will give you a lot of sustain and early trading potential as you can recover your Health and Mana. Especially in ranked games, but also in normals ist often a good idea to take a Sight Ward instead of 2 Potions to protect yourself from early ganks.

x5

This is what you want to start with when facing an AD mid. Ist the best set up against AD's for you because of the early armor and sustain and additionally Cloth Armor will be built into a Zhonya's Hourglass later. It's also possible to take a Sight Ward instead of potions here.

x3

This used to be a very common start but at the Moment ist not the best. I only suggest to start like this when facing a really heavy skillshot lane

Early Game Options

x2

On your first back taking 2 Doran's Ring's can be very good. They will give you damage Health and some mana back on each last hit. There are several situations where you could buy them for example you are having an even match-up and want to boost your stats to win your lane. But in the end it's mostly about personal preference.

This can also be a very good early game item. I recommend buying a Haunting guise when you are winning your lane easily. The Ability Power and Magic Pen will let you dominate your lane. If you buy this build it into Liandry's Anguish later.

Boots and Enchantments

These are probably the best boots for Diana and you should take them in nearly every game. They provide you movement Speed, just like all other boots and 20 flat Magic Penetration to help your damage. You should buy them maybe after you got at leas 1 other damage Item on your second back but you will know best when you need them.

Well these could also be viable boots in certain situations. When are are having very big Trouble with enemy AP's you can buy those boots for some more defense or you buy them for the tenacity when the enemy has lots of CC. It is also possible to get Mercury's Treads late game as a substitute for Sorcerer's Shoes when you already bought a Void Staff and need some more defense.

This is the enchantment that you should buy in most games. It helps you to get close enough to your enemies. I don't really feel like Enchantment: Furor would be an option because Diana doesn't have too much problems with sticking close to her enemies.

This is an enchantment that I think you can get on every champion. It can be very good if you team isn't doing well and you are staying at your base a lot. But as long as you are not in that Kind of situation you shouldn't buy this.

Core Items

This is a really great item on Diana. It offers you some nice defense but also good offensive stats with the 70 AP and the Magic Resist reduction aura. As Diana needs to be in melee range in order to kill her enemies you will Profit a lot from this aura. You should get this item in nearly every game and there are several situations where you will also rush it.

Probably one of your most important Items. It gives you a large amount of Ability Power and the passive that will boost all of your AP again. After getting this you will notice a huge damage increase and you should never really skip this item.

This is also a very important item. It gives you great Ability Power and defense. Not only the armor will help you to be more tanky but also the awesome passive that will make you invulnarable for 2.5 seconds. Always buy this

Build Order when facing AP

>> >> >>

So this is and example order of your items when you are facing an AP champion. This doesn't mean that this is a set build order that you should always do. The important things about this are just that you should get your Abyssal Mask and in most games Sorcerer's Shoes before anything else. But you should always vary the exact order according to your current situation.
After building those 2 important items just go on with the core build.


Build Order when facing AD

>> > >>

when facing an AD Champion in mid your build order should be a bit different. It's normally best to rush Seeker's Armguard (after you have boots of course) as it will help you a lot with being poked and kited by AD champions. Then, normally after Sorcerer's Shoes you should build it into a Zhonya's Hourglass. With the damage and survivability of this item you should now be able to win the fights against your opponent.
Again this is not a set order and you should always build according to the Situation.
After you have your upgraded boots and Hourglass just go on with the core build.





Situational Items

After you have finished your core build, the rest of your items should always be bought according to your current situation. There are a lot of items that you can pick from but ist important that you always have a good balance of offensive and defensive items. That's why I will now list the most important onse from both sides here.

Offensive Items This is a great offensive item that will fit very well into your build in most situations. It will give you a lot more damage some very welcomed Cooldown Reduction and a great active to increase your assassinating capabilities. Buy this when you have Problems killing your targets or when you just want more damage because enemies are getting tankier. Another nice item for damage increases. You will get some nice AP from this as well as alot of Magic Penetration. The Penetration is percentual so this item is great when enemies have a whole lot of Magic Resist. Together with you Abyssal Mask, Sorcerer's Shoes and occasionally Liandry's Anguish you will have a big amount of Magic Pen. This item was actually part of my core build on Diana. The main reason it isn't anymore, is that there are so many other great items. But anyway this is still a very good item for damage because of the passive burn from this item. It is especially good if you buy it together with Rylai's Crystal Scepter because the passive slow from it will double the burn. This is another damage item that I really love on Diana. It gives you so nice stats but the best thing about it is the passive. It works so great together with your Moonsilver Blade and will let you deal huge damage with your auto attacks.

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Defensive Items I really love this item. 500 HP is enough to make you a lot tankier and you still get 80 AP from this item. But don't Forget about the passive slow that will apply to all of your abilities, except your Moonsilver Blade. Buy this if you have problems with sticking to your enemies or if you just want to be a bit tankier while still increasing your damage. This is a very strong pure defensive Item. You get great armor and magic resist plus a second life. When it happens that you are often in the middle of a fight or just targeted by the whole enemy team this will help you a lot. When enemies see the effect of this item around you they tend not to Focus you and even if they do you will be revived. Another very strong defensive Item. It gives you a large amount of magic resist and also some Health and Mana. But the best thing about it is the passive spellshield. It will block the next enemy ability that would hit you. This is especially good to block strong cc spells or absorb heavy incoming damage that would destroy you. League of Warmogs. This is item gives you the highest amount of health. It will make you very tanky and also let you recover your Health faster through ist passive. You can get this for example when the enemies like to focus you because a large health pool scares them away.

Starting Items

x5

This is what you should always start with when jungling. The machete will help you to clear the jungle faster and it build into very useful stuff. The potions are necessary when jungling because you dont have any natural sustain and need them to recover your life.

First Back

Boots are very important to buy on your first back. You will need the movement speed to be faster while jungling and also for ganking.

This item should also be bought as early as possible. The Health and Mana Regeneration is needed to sustain your life and Mana and the increased damage to Monsters will again let you clear the jungle faster.

Boots and Enchantments

Okay so for boots and enchanments it is really exactly the same as in lane. I don't want to write all of this again so you just click on the link below to read it in the lane section. :)
Boots and Enchantments





Core Items

Great jungling item. It gives you so many good things like Ability Power, Cooldown Redution, Mana Regen and even more increased damage to monsters. You will also get 20% Spellvamp from this what will help you a lot to sustain yourself in jungle. And additionally with this item the cooldown on your Smite will be reduced by 20% what is just awesome because you will be jungling a lot faster and have your smite up more often to steal and secure objectives.

I used to really dislike this item but after ist rework it is really great for jungle Diana. You get some nice AP, Cooldown Reduction and a lot of attack speed. The AS will let you jungle faster especially because you will proc your Moonsilver Blade. And now it has that awesome passive that will make you deal additional dammage depending on your AP. This is just great to get faster clearing times and particularly in combination with the AP and AS this item already gives.

Situational Items

Again just as when laning the rest of your build is situational. You now have some Items to pick from but remember to have good combination of offense and defense. I think the best picks are nearly the same as when laning. So you can just click the link below to see some options and I will now also list a few additional items that can't be found above.
Offensive & Defensive Items

Additional Offensive Items

Unlike when laning this item is not core for jungling. But anyway I think it is still the best offensive Option and you will probably buy it in many games because of the huge damage increase you will get from this item.

Additional Defensive Items

This is also an item which isn't core when jungling but stil great. It gives you good defense as well as damage. You get Ability Power and a MR Reduction Aura that will normally be appliead on your enemies as you have to get in melee range to kill your foes.

Another really good defensive and offensive Item. You get a very big amount of Ability Power from this as well as 50 Armor. And it has a great active which will make you invincible for 2.5 seconds. An awesome pick for almost every situation.

This is a very strong but pure defensive item. I reccomend you to buy this if you are really taking a lot of damage in teamfights from the enemy AD's. If you get this item and another defensive one you will probably able to act as semi-tank.

Early Game
The early game is the hardest part for Diana. It will be difficult to farm since you will be facing a ranged Champion in many games. Try to last hit as much as possible and avoid getting harassed too much by your lane opponent.
Use your Crescent Strike to last hit minions that are hard to reach. Don't push your lane too much, try to always stay near your tower but not too near because your tower will take your last hits then.
If you can, harass your opponent with Crescent Strike and always activate your Pale Cascade in trades. Be careful that you don't spam your skills too much because you will get mana problems.
Once you reach level 6 you get dangerous. Hit your opponent with Crescent Strike and activate Pale Cascade. If you can kill your enemy pull him back with Moonfall as he attempts to run and finish him with Auto-Attacks and Ignite. If not go back to safety or jump to an enemy minion with Lunar Rush and wait for your jungler to gank.
Always ask your jungler for blue buff. Most of the times playing aggressive is a good idea with Diana. You need many kills to get your core build.
If your lane is going well you should push and go roaming. Gank the other lanes and help to feed you and your teammates.





Mid Game
This is where you start shining. You should have most of your core build by now and even more if you are fed. Depending on the situation you should now start to build a few offensive and defensive items.
You have an incredible high burst power and a gap closer what means you can kill carries extremely fast. Always remember that. If you didn't have a really bad laning phase (what happens too) you should be able to win most 1vs1 fights. So if you see a possibility of getting a kill or assist without dying use it.
Keep laning and roaming until the teamfights start. Harrass your enemy and remember to get the blue buff if possible.
Normally you shouldn't engage in a teamfight since you are still kinda squishy. Let your tank initiate and then follow up with Crescent Strike and Lunar Rush. You will notice that you deal some serious damage to your enemies. It's important that you always focus the highest priority targets since you are an assassin and you can burst them down quickly.
If see a low health enemy running from a teamfight chase and kill them.
If you see yourself getting low because you are focused get out of the teamfight. Maybe you can jump towards an enemy minion with Lunar Rush or you just use Flash to get away.





Late Game
This is where your damage output will reach maximum. You probably nearly have already finished your build. You will have good survivability and damage with all your items and you should be able to assassinate every enemy carry.
The main focus is now on them teamfights as well as the Baron Nashor . Always keep this place warded.
You still shouldn't initiate in teamfights and remember that you always focus the most dangerous enemies. Remember that you are a good pusher. If you see a chance too push you should always do it late game because it could be the difference between a win and a loss.









Jungle Routes
Route 1

1. Blue Buff

Initial Spawn: 1:55 Respawn: 5:00

Start at the Blue Buff.Get a pull here and activate Pale Cascade as soon as the creeps start attacking you. Kill the Golem first and then the Lizards. Use smite for the Golem. You shouldn't need a health potion for the Blue Buff. After killing it you should hit level 2 and take Crescent Strike.

---

2. Wolves

Initial Spawn: 1:55 Respawn: 0:50

After the Blue Buff take down the wolves. Use Pale Cascade and Crescent Strike to kill them faster and receive less damage. You shouldn't need a Health Potion here neither.

---

3. Wraiths

Initial Spawn: 1:55 Respawn: 0:50

When you killed the wolves cross the mid lane and head to the Wraiths. Use a Health Potion here if you get too low.

---

4. Red Buff

Initial Spawn: 1:55 Respawn: 5:00

Next is the Red Buff. Normally you need a Health Potion here. Always use your skills to clear the camps faster. Depending on you fast you were your smite should be back up to finish Red Buff. Now you should hit level 3. If you wanna gank now take Moonfall otherwise put another point in Crescent Strike.

---

5. Double Golems

Initial Spawn: 1:55 Respawn: 0:50

If you have enough health left kill the Double Golems. After that you should recall and buy Items cause normall your health wont be high enough to gank. After that you should gank often and kill any jungle camp that is in your way.

Route 2

1. Wolves

Initial Spawn: 1:55 Respawn: 0:50

Only start at the wolves if you team will help you a bit. Then you can clear the wolves before the Blue Buff spawns. Otherwise take the Route 1. You shouldn't get a pull. Hit the wolves first and immediately activate Pale Cascade to have it back up for the next camp. Now your teammates should do some damage on the wolves to help but not kill them since you will lose experience and gold.

---

2. Blue Buff

Initial Spawn: 1:55 Respawn: 5:00

Now the Blue Buff. Get some help here. Use Pale Cascade and Smite. Kill the Golem First. You shouldn't need a Health Potion until now. Once you hit level 2 take Crescent Strike.

---

3. Wraiths

Initial Spawn: 1:55 Respawn: 0:50

When you killed the Blue Buff cross the mid lane and head to the Wraiths. Use a Health Potion here if you get too low.

---

4. Double Golems

Initial Spawn: 1:55 Respawn: 0:50

Next is the Red Buff. Next are the Double Golems. You kill them before the Red Buff on this Route to have your smite back up for it. Use a Health Potion if needed.

---

5. Red Buff

Initial Spawn: 1:55 Respawn: 5:00

Now the Red Buff. Normally you need a Health Potion here. Always use your skills to clear the camps faster. Your smite should be back up to finish Red Buff. Now you can either gank or recall to your base and buy items. After that you should gank often and just kill any jungle camp that is in your way.

In this section I will discuss what champions you will be facing in mid lane and how to play against them. You will also be able to see a typcal build of that and a rating of the difficulty of the lane. I rated the difficulty on scale from 1 to 5 whereas means easy and means hard.


NOTE: This section is not finished yet. I am currently working on it and will be adding the missing champs slowly until it is finished. Red names in the index are not done yet. It wont take too much time I finish this. :D

Index

Ahri Akali Anivia Annie Brand Cassiopeia Ezreal Fizz Gragas Jarvan Karthus

Kassadin Katarina Kennen Kha'Zix LeBlanc Lissanda Lux Malzahar Mordekaiser Morgana Nidalee

Orianna Pantheon Ryze Swain Syndra Talon Veigar Xerath Zed Ziggs Zyra

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

• Red: Probably the most important warding spots. Make sure that you always have at least a Sight Ward there to protect Dragon and Baron Nashor or a Vision Ward in order to destroy the enemy ward.
• Green: Important when mid laning to protect yourself from enemy ganks.
• Blue: When jungling you can ward here to protect your Buffs.
• Pink: Ward here if you are counter jungling.

If you got this far in my guide, it's finished now. Thanks for reading it and don't forget to comment and vote. I appreciate any kind of feedback and suggestions for this guide. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or PM me if you want.





And now I also want to thank everyone that contributet to this guide in any way.

Special thanks to ciNNEx for the help with the jungling parts.

Thanks to jhoijhoi for the Making A Guide Guide and for the templates there.
And also a big thanks for the awesome guide graphics (banners + line dividers).

Thanks to Xenotechie for reviewing my guide. You can find his Review Shop here.

And of course thanks to you for reading this guide! Thanks to everyone that voted or commented for my guide and helped me to improve it. As long as you keep reading my guide I will continue to update it and everytime someone says I helped him with this it is a great feeling. So I want to thank all of you for voting this guide to 91%, voting it to #1 so that more people can see it.

If you want you can send me your scores with this item build and I will add them here.
I put them in a spoiler so the big images wont make this site load slower so if you want to see them just click the spoiler. :D

• August/9/2012 - Guide released
• August/22-26/2012 - Minor Updates, added more skill combos and items
• August/27/2012 - Reworked Jungling Section
• September/1/2012 - Added Screenshots for all skills and videos for the skill combos
• September/2/2012 - Wow my guide reached #1! Thanks to all voters for that. :D
• September/8/2012
  • - Added banners!
  • - Remade the jungling section again cause the formatting was bad and didn't fit all screens.
• September/14/2012 - Added a second Item build on the cheat sheet as well as in the Items section
• Season 3 Update! Jungling section still outdated but the next update will come soon
• May/15/2013 - Bugfixes
• July/24/2013 - Huge Update. I remade the apperance of nearly the whole guide and updated the content.
• August/2/2013 - Released the new unfinished Mathups section. Will be completed soon.
• August/13/2013 - New guide graphics + minor visual updates.
• September/2/2013 - Reworked runes and masteries section.