7/12-12

Guide updated to season 3.

The guide will be focused on the mid lane.




29/11-12
new updates:

Major changes in all chapters!

I´m deleting the jungle section of this guide due to there are already 3 approved/featured jungle guides out there.





20/10-12

More info in the introduction Chapter.

More detailed build in the Item Build Chapter.

Trying to get this build approved so it can be found way more easy.

New Chapter: Warding

Also wanna thank you all for the ~80 000 views and not a single dislike :D

Hi!
I have noticed there are no featured or approved guides to mid Diana so I hope this guide will be approved soon so there is a mid Diana guide available out there!
Any who, my name is Filip(summoner Karlhead) and I will start this guide by telling you a few facts about myself. Right now I´m playing around 1700 elo. I am not a Platinum player(yet ;) ) but I can assure you that this build is good anyways =). I will start this guide of by showing you the typical masteries and runes I take when playing Diana.

Season 3 stats so far:





Pros:
Awesome champion with a lot of different play styles.

Deals great amount of damage

Flexible/good snowball

Cons:

Needs a lot of farm

Doesn't really have a place in a meta setup

Maybe a bit lack of CC

Almost banned every time in ranked

Mid 1: When going mid 21-0-9 is a good choice If you like to waste mana or feel confident about your lane. It will give a bit more damage than 9-12-9 but less sustain.


Mid 2: Actually 9-12-9 works really good with mid Diana as well. It gives you better sustain and you really don´t lose that much magic damage and you also get some stats from the utility tree. ( 9-12-9 is the masteries shown in the beginning )

Mid 3: 12-9-0. 21-9-0 is i quess someting in between 21-0-9 and 9-12-9 because you get the damage from 21-0-9 and nearly as much sustain as you get from 9-12-9. The only thing you will miss out is the stats from utility tree so it´s up to you.

I think the runes I have showed you in the beginning are really good for Mid lane Diana and it´s the only runes I use after much consideration and testing, why?

• Quintessences

When playing Diana you really benefit from movement speed so you can easily snowball and be flexible and by flexible I mean for example chasing and moving from lane to lane.

• Marks

I use magic penetration marks because I think it´s really effective, nearly every AP champion you play should have magic penetration marks because it´s simply really good.

• Seals

I use armor seals for better survival ability. If you are going top your probably gonna end up vs an ad champ but it´s also good for early teamfights and when you get ganked to have armor seals in mid as well.

• Glyphs

I use magic resist Glyphs for the same reason I go armor seals just the other way around.

Great summoner and also very good to Diana because it stacks really good with
your and can also be a good escape. Flash is always a good choice. I´m gonna do the classic guide cliche and show you the Flash movie ! ;)

Very good summoner. Extreamly important to Diana because every assassin really needs that ignite to finish there target. (It will help you do that last damage to pick up the kill.)

• Flash and Ignite is probably the most played summoners so it´s really nothing weird.

Diana has increased Attack Speed. Every third strike cleaves nearby enemies for additional magic damage.



An AP based passive which deals good damage. It takes three basic hits to trigger the passive but keep in mind that you only have like 3 seconds to use it because otherwise it will fade away and you will have to do it all over again. You will see when the passive is ready to trigger because your sword will glow. When it´s about to end you will see that as well because it will fade to it´s normal graphic again. It´s also an AoE attack which makes you deal more damage to more targets, very effective!


Diana swings her blade to unleash a bolt of lunar energy, afflicting enemies with Moonlight and dealing damage in an arc before exploding.


A unique spell with it´s own skill shot design. This spell goes in a smooth curve so keep in mind that you should try to hit enemies at the end of your spell(tip of the spell) because that is much easier than try to hit them in the curve. This is also your main damage skill and this spell is also an AoE spell. It deals a great amount of damage. In laning phase try to harass your opponents with this spell but try not to get out of mana. When you get the blue buff you can harass with it as much as you like.




Diana creates three orbiting spheres that detonate on contact with enemies to deal damage in an area. She also gains a temporary shield that absorbs damage. This shield is refreshed if all three spheres detonate.



A good skill which gives you a shield plus three balls that deals damage to anything they hit. Diana is not a ranged champion so it´s really good she has this spell because otherwise she would get really poked when farming in her lane but now you can avoid taking unnecessary damage from you probably ranged opponent. Always engage with your Pale Cascade activated to lose as little HP as possible.


Diana draws in and slows all nearby enemies.



This spell is Dianas only Crowd control aka CC but it´s actually a really good CC spell.
It has pretty good range and it does not only afflict one target , it afflicts every opponets in the area so it´s an AoE cc spell. I´m guessing the only con with the spell is that it does not deal any damage. I know the spell makes surrounding enemies drawn to you but if so it´s a great chase spell but it´s also a good escape spell because they will slowed more than they will get drawn to you so keep that one in mind.


Diana teleports to an enemy and deals magic damage. Lunar Rush has no cooldown when used to teleport to a target afflicted with Moonlight.



A very good Ulti that has a low CD and high damage output. Always use your Ultimate on targets with moonlight so you can use it again. There is exceptions of course, for example when an opponent with low health is getting away and your is out of range then use your Ulti to catch up to them. You can also use 2 times if you know it will kill them. A really good assassin spell if you ask me.

This is by far the best skill order and I don´t think anyone can disagree with it. your does the most of your damage, your is a good spell but you don´t benefit from maxing it first because then your damage will drop big time. Your Is a classic CC spell that you take a point early in but leave it there until it´s the only thing left. Of course you should max as fast as possible ( level 6 , 11 , 16)

/ both good shoes, it´s really a choice of what you like and your opponents team comp.

Litch Bane is a MUST HAVE to Diana because it stacks so well with her and with her other spells etc : and +.

It gives you a great amount of AP which you really need. Nothing more to it.

This item makes you pretty tanky and it also gives you AP + a passive that makes your
spells slow your opponents.

Many people buy Rod of ages for the HP, MANA, and AP on Diana and that is perfectly
fine, but i really prefer Rylai’s for the slow.

Good tank item which gives you armor and MR + a great revive passive.

Good tank item gives you insane armor and good amount of mana. The passive on this
item is really good because it gives you cooldown reduction by 20% and all opponents
attack speed are decreased by 20%

Good item, gives you HP mana and MR and a passive which makes the next negative
spell on you "disappear" ( 60 sec coldown)


Good item which gives you very much MR and HP regen based on your max HP

An aggressive MR item which gives you MR and AP and a passive that reduces MR to
surrounding enemies.

Good item witch gives you good sustain ability (AP + Spell Vamp)

A new good item which stacks pretty well with Diana. It´s a viable choice.

More build info:



Hi! If you got the spare time, here is my longer version of the guide so you really now what to buy.


When going mid with Diana which also is the most played position, you wanna go more of an assassin build.
That´s why I always try to get the rabadon´s pretty early. I recommend you to stay away from the GPS items to mid Diana and go for dubbel dorans instead.

This should always be your starting items.


( Build 2 / my build )
Then followed up by :


The hextech is not a must have. I just love it because It gives you great sustain but if you don´t wanna buy it. Go directly on and then .

After building you rabadon´s you should always upgrade your shen to an

Somewhere you should also have picked up when you feel like it.

Now comes the tricky part. You can build I usually build like this because I like the slow and HP from rylais and also the tanky stats from GA.
Or you can build :

Now you should have 5 or 6 items depending on if you bought hextech. If you wen´t go and If you diden´t you can pick if you went rylais+GA or if you went abyssal+GA.

for example :

1.+/
2.




Enchantments: I think is the most viable enchant to diana because I just love the movment speed bonus you get after hitting someone.

explanation: You throw your then you activate your then you will jump in with . After that you will use your that will slow them + get them to you then you will basic attack with your then your will again go and finsih with .

This is your ultimate combo , You will probably not need to do all of this everytime( depending on what your against and how fed you are + your farm.) Sometimes you will probably be able to slay someone with If you attack an AD/AP carry and your feed.

Warding, warding and Warding.

It DOESN'T matter which lane your on. Always buy wards.
Wards save lives every day and that is a fact. Wards can make your team win team fights because you have vision etc. Always buy them.



But maybe your not so sure where to put your wards? Don´t worry I´ll show you.


You should be focused on 3,4 for mid lane.

Also, Don´t forget to put out a pink ward at baron in late game

Counters


1. Mordekaiser

2. Swain

3. Cho Gath

4. Ryze

5. Galio

-----------------------------------------------

Easy targets

1. Katarina

2. Ahri

3. Twisted fate

4. Kartus

5. Anivia

In early game try to farm really well(It´s really easy to farm with Diana) and harass your opponent with and . DON`T FORGET TO BUY WARDS! Wards are very important. If you get ganked it can ruin your game sometimes so buy that ward (only 75g). I think it is smart to wait until lvl 6 before trying to take out your opponent but if your jungler ganks take the opportunity.

When your level 6 you can try out the combo I showed you before. Always stay alert and as you should be focused on your own lane you should also be focused on the other lanes as well. Tell your team about incoming danger if they don´t see it themselves and if you see an opportunity to leave your lane ( snowball) do it!

In Mid game you should still be farming but also leaving your lane sometimes to help out your team(aka snowballing). For example, when going mid you should be thinking about go down and help your not lane and help your team with dragon and hopefully taking your opponents turret.

Diana is really strong in mid game because when she gets that raba she will do really crazy damage. Ganking will nearly always ends up with a kill.

In late game you can always consider backdooring your lane if your team can push 4v5 on an different lane. Due to Diana’s passive she is a crazy turret slyer. When taking Baron ward up the place. Your support should also be warding but you should always help him for better warding.

A tip: if winning a teamfight and the other team has long death cooldowns don´t take baron if your team can easily push an inhibitor and end it. If you notice that you won’t be able to end just take the inhibator and then go for baron nashor.

Also never be to greedy because if you die in late game it might lead to losing the game because of one stupid greedy death.

In teamfights you can do following: Try to hit their AD carry/AP carry (depends who’s fed) with and then fly to them with and finish him fast.
Or if you feel pretty tanky you can go in and on every one so your team can focus out the AD/AP carry easier or maybe use it to slow the opponents so they can’t get to your AD/AP carry. Never the less you should always try to do your on opponents with moonlight so you can do your Ulti again when your Coldown on is gone.


When you are the AP carry you should try to stay back before the tank of your team engages. You don´t wanna be snared,stunned,grabbed etc because that can ( if your unlucky) be the end of the game. So always wait until it´s clear to go in and take out so many people as possible.


If you are feeling pretty tank or know that you can handle an engage do so. For example, Try to hit someone ( if possible one of the carries ) with and activate then go in with your and when you have so many as possible around you do your and your team can then easy go in and take out as many as possible. You should be carfull though because you don´t wanna die.

Diana Is a really fun champion to play and have many different positions, build and much more. I can really recommend you to buy this champion for several reasons. Easy to win with , let´s face it she is op but she is also a really fun champion to play with. Any who, I hope you liked my major update and I´d like some feed back about it if you have the time.




Good Bye! / Karlhead.