Talk:Orianna/@comment-212.83.90.24-20130309162544/@comment-208.120.28.147-20130326030550

For me, it can only be Q (unless I need to play REALLY REALLY passively in which I max E). Q gives her amazing DPS, and you need to use Q first before you use your other abilities (except when you just E/shield your allies). Also, her W has higher mana costs and way longer cooldown. I can use W once and it's on cooldown for 9 seconds (without cdr), while I can cast THREE Qs in the time of one W. And it will do more damage.

Of course, you can argue that W scales better with AP and has a slow/speed, but early game lvl 1 - 9, you simply don't have the mana to use W so much, and you won't have enough AP to make all the Ws spent worth it. Early game zoning and harrassing, Qs or Q-Ws are the best way to go. If you miss your W somehow when trading, you're leaving yourself vulnerable for 9 seconds for the enemy to counter-harrass, which will most likely end bad for you. Mid game when teamfights really start, you'll have your W maxed out too so it doesn't matter.

Q for better DPS and more efficient use but less damage on one cast; W for more early burst but higher mana costs and cooldown. W, in my opinion, is just way more risky and inefficient to use early-game.