Talk:Diana/Strategy/@comment-69.19.14.43-20121011051209

So I'm posting this because I feel helpful right now.

How to play Diana: (mid lane)

Build: boots, 3 health pots > 2x dorans rings > Deathfire grasp > buy Needlessly Large Rod and then sell dorans rings for full Deathcap > upgrade to Sorcerers shoes > Sapphire/Catalyst the Protector then get Rod of Ages > Lich Bane >

Last item depends on how the game is going. If your team is winning and pushing but the enemy team is building Magic Resist- Get the Void staff, if your team is being pushed and they have an AP team, get Abyssal Scepter (or, only if desperatly needed, Force of Nature), if they have an AD team- get an Hourglass (or, once again only if desperatly needed, get a Thornmail), or if their team is balanced- get a Guardian Angel.

Why no attack speed to help with her Passive 3rd strike? I personally think that because of her passive, AS items are wasted on her since most of her damage comes from her Q-R-W-R combo, not her 3rd strike from her Passive.

Masteries: Standard 21/9/0 for Ability Power.

Runes: Depends on how you play, I go for damage/survivability so AP bonus quints and HP/Armor/magic resist runes for the rest.

Skills: 1:Q 2:W 3:Q 4:E 5:Q 6:R for 7-18, max your Q out first, then W, then E. (of course take R whenever possible)

Playing Early Game: Dear God, you're screwed! ...or so it may seem. Diana can't do much early game and can be harassed quite easily. Luckily for you she is one of the tankier beginning champs so you have more health than most and that HP regen rate will really help you out. You should never commit to a fight before level 6 unless you have a gank coming that can stun the enemy. What you should do is counter-harass the enemy champ with your Cresent Strike (Q) by moving in just close enough, hitting them with your Q, then backing off. This works very well to prevent you from being overwhelmed early game but don't spam it because Diana will get mana hungry, I usually stop at around 100 mana and wait for it to be 200+ before I start again. Why wait until that high? Because you need some extra mana to activate your Pale Cascade (W) when the enemy gets a minion wave rush and goes for the tower because they will go for you since your squishy, and your shield will save your life. The second reason why I wait to have that much mana is because I can activate my shield and still have mana left to use my Q if the enemy champion decides to overcommit and tower dive, securing you a kill!

Mid Game: You are now level 6, you have your ult, Lunar Rush (R), and now your ready to hear that sweet sound of "Legendary!" whenever you kill someone. You will be the biggest threat on the battlefield if you farm enough to get your AP up.

You are still going to be in the mid lane, so just use the previous tactic of using your Q to hammer down your enemy; but don't use your ult unless one of 3 things happen: 1) You are about to recieve a friendly gank 2) The enemy is at 60% or lower health 3) The enemy doesn't have full health and you are about to get a huge minion wave push so they'll have no minions to protect him.

This is where the skill comes into play. You -must- land your Cresent Strike (Q) before you commit this early in the game. Your combo should be Q - R - W - normal attack. Now your target has been sufficiently hammered and will be making an attempt to get out- here comes your E, Moonfall! (REMEMBER -  never use your E unless the target is running away because it does -NO- damage, its only useful for stopping a runaway.) By now your Cresent Strike (Q) should be refreshed so hit them with it again and follow with your Lunar Rush(R), if their still not dead they will have very little health, use your Lunar Rush again to finish them off. Only use your Lunar Rush twice in a row if they are close to death, otherwise the cooldown isn't worth it.

After their dead either recall or, if you have a bunch of friendly minions behind you, attack the turret a little but run away when your down to your last minion and recall--- Diana is still too squishy to handle more than one normal fight per recall. If your lucky enough to get in a fight where your target is trying to run the entire time and you take little to no damage, go for a gank and help your team! When ganking, mark the target you want your teamates to focus on and wait until they push just an inch too far and use your combo on them. When ganking you will need to use your E quicker than usual because, well, its a gank so their going to run- so substitute in this combo: Q - R - W - E - normal attack - Q - R

Full Combo: Q > R > W > normal attack > E (when they run) > normal attack > Q > R > R

Late Game: Nothing really changes with your combo here, but your strategy does. By now your burst damage is probably countered by the enemy team building Magic Resist. Even with Magic Pen. items your no longer the OP assassin you were mid game. Late game you switch to more of a defensive stance. If you see someone trying to back door you and your sure its not a lure, go for the kill! 1v1 late game Diana is still going to win, but don't stick around too long because his friends will be running to team you for an easy kill.

Diana's weakness lies in team fights late game. She will be focused and even though she's a tanky for an assassin, she will still go down very quickly in a team fight. (I have made this mistake constantly because I kept thinking I would be more of a help to my team if I actually did something so I initiated a bunch of fights and die quickly while my team is coming in, gets one kill, looses someone, then both teams back off leaving my team at a net loss of 1 kill, 2 deaths.) It goes against logic (atleast my logic anyway) to stand and watch a team fight unfold and just be on the sidelines watching the battle, but you need to wait! Find the AD/AP carry of their team and unleash your combo on them while they are distracted by your teammates. Once their heavy hitter is delt with your team should be gaining the upper hand and when the team starts to run- thats when you use your Moonfall (E)! Pull them all back in and 9 times out of 10 you'll get an Ace and be able to rush the base with your team while they are waiting to respawn.

(I overly explained many things because I want it to be able to help newcomers to LoL, and experts who are just starting to play as Diana. So if you know how to play alot of information I say will be redundant to you but still read it because I put in a winning strategy for Diana there!) I hope this helped you!

Have a different build/strategy? Please reply so we can see if we can combine them to make an unstopable Diana strategy guide! =D