User blog:Luci0us/Diana Strategy- Mid lane

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! The combo I recommend for ganking is very similar to the normal combo, except you will need to press your E sooner. 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. So unless you build more Magic Pen. items you're no longer the OP assassin you were mid game. But don't let that discourage you, Diana can still pull her weight for the team (her whole 60lbs?) 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 most likely be focused and even though she's a tanky for an assassin, she will still go down very quickly in a team fight. 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, Diana is a very good asset to any team fight as long as she isn't focused. Once their heavy hitter is delt with your team should be gaining the upper hand and when the other team starts to run- thats when you use your Moonfall (E)! Pull them all back in and you and your team will destroy most of them. Moonfall's ability to slow and bring the champions in direct melee range really helps you keep them in the line of fire for a long time, so if you're lucky you'll get an Ace and be able to rush the base with your team while they are waiting to respawn.

Before I end this, there is one crucial fact that not many people are aware of- Lunar Rush can go through walls. You can use this to your advantage late game if you see an enemy champ trying to run from one turret to another; hit them with your Q, then immediately use your R and auto attack him- if needed, use another Lunar Rush to finish them off before the rest of the enemy team closes in on you. This goes against what I said in my guide above but this is a special case. You are base diving and trying to take down one specific champ that decided to leave the safety of the turret, you want that champion dead and then you want to be out of there quickly. So this time you can spam your Lunar Rush to finish him. Notice how I said Q - R - Auto Attack - R. You don't want to use your shield (W) offensively in this situation, save it for when your trying to run back out because the enemy team will attack you as you run past the turret and so will the turret so your shield will be a life saver.

(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 then alot of information I say will be redundant to you but still, I encourage you to read it because Diana is my favorite champion and I know how to play her) I hope this helped you! =D