Guide Sections (15)
- Champion Stats
- The Crescent Strike
- Diana's Best Skins
- When They Ban Diana
- Best Runes for Diana
- Diana's Skill Order
- Mastering Diana's Kit
- Diana's Best & Worst Matchups
- Moonfall Greed
- When You Can't Win the Side Lane
- The Frontline Brawl
- The AP Diana Build
- Diana's Power Spikes
- The 5-Man Moonfall
- Recent Patch History
Champion Stats
Low elo players clump together. Always. Dragon fights? Clumped in the pit. Baron? Clumped at the entrance. Teamfights? Standing on top of each other. Diana's R scales with the number of enemies hit—hitting 3+ enemies is a nuke. Furthermore, low elo players don't respect Diana's level 3 or level 6 all-in. They'll stand in lane at 60% HP thinking they're safe. They're not.
The Crescent Strike
Start W (Pale Cascade). Invade with your team. Your W gives you a shield AND deals damage to enemies who get close. In a level 1 fight, you win extended trades because of the shield absorb. Walk into melee range, pop W, and auto-attack. Most AP junglers lose this fight because they expect to kite you.
Passive-proc level 1 trade is better than people think. Auto-Auto, then W-Auto on the enemy. The shield and the passive damage will win you the trade against any melee mid. Get the pusher and dominate the lane rhythm.
Diana's Best Skins
'Blood Moon Diana' has the cleanest Q arc and R visual—highly recommended for clarity. 'Dark Waters Diana' has a distinct splash effect that obscures her hitbox during R. 'Infernal Diana' is flashy but the fire effects can be distracting. Avoid 'Dragonslayer Diana' in dark river fights—the abilities blend into terrain.
'Blood Moon' has the clearest Q arc. If you want a competitive advantage, use it. 'Dark Waters' is the stealth pick for the swampy river fights. Avoid 'Prestige Dragonslayer'—the golden particles are too easy to track in a busy fight.
When They Ban Diana
Ekko is the best jungle pivot for the AP assassin feel. Sylas if you want the bruiser/dive playstyle. If you pick Evelynn, remember you have no dash pre-6. Stick to Ekko for the similar 'jump in and explode' identity.
Ekko offers similar AP assassin jungle gameplay with an 'oops' button. Sylas provides the dive-heavy AP bruiser playstyle. Evelynn is the pure AP assassin alternative with stealth. Ekko is the closest mechanical feel.
Best Runes for Diana
Conqueror for jungle Diana—you stack it instantly with your passive and Q resets. Electrocute for mid Diana when you want burst trades. Triumph is mandatory for the HP back on takedowns (essential for R diving). Secondary Eyeball Collection + Treasure Hunter for snowball gold. Against burst-heavy comps, Bone Plating saves your life.
Diana's Skill Order
Max Q first for poke and R setup. Your Q marks enemies, and hitting a marked target with E resets E's cooldown. Max W second for the shield value—essential for surviving your R dives. Max E last because you're using it for the gap close, not the damage.
Mastering Diana's Kit
Crescent Strike is a curved skillshot that marks enemies. The mark lasts 3 seconds. Landing Q first is ESSENTIAL for your combo—it enables E reset. Don't E until you've landed Q. The arc curves left, so position accordingly.
Pale Cascade gives a shield and orbits 3 damage spheres around you. If all 3 spheres detonate (by touching enemies), the shield refreshes. Stand on top of enemies to pop all spheres. This is your survivability tool in R dives.
Lunar Rush dashes to an enemy. If the target is MARKED by Q, E's cooldown is refreshed. This means Q -> E -> E is possible on two different targets. Use the reset to chain kills in teamfights.
Moonfall pulls all nearby enemies toward you and deals damage BASED ON NUMBER OF ENEMIES HIT. Hitting 1 enemy is mediocre. Hitting 4 enemies is nuclear. Always aim to hit 2+ people. The pull also sets up your team's AoE abilities.
Diana's Best & Worst Matchups
Skill Matchup. He can kick you away during R channel. Bait his kick first, then R. Early game, respect his damage.
Easy Matchup. You burst him before he can reset. Land Q, E, R, and he dies before possessing anyone.
Hard Counter. Her R denies your execute burst. Wait for Lamb's Respite to end before R'ing.
Moonfall Greed
Stop R'ing into only 1 person. Diana's R scales with the number of enemies hit—it should be used as a multi-target ability. Also, stop E'ing onto non-marked targets. E to a marked target RESETS YOUR E. If you E without Q mark, you have no escape and no second dash. Q first, always.
Your R damage increases significantly with the number of enemies hit. If you only hit one person, it's basically a weak slow. Wait for the clump or don't R at all. Discipline wins games.
When You Can't Win the Side Lane
Dodge if facing Lulu or Janna. Their peel shuts down your R engage completely. Also dodge into heavy disengage comps (Gragas + Lulu + Janna)—they will push you out of R range before you can burst. Kayn (Rhaast form) also ruins your day with his healing and CC.
Lulu and Janna will ruin your life. They'll just push you out of your Ult range while their ADC melts you. If you see them, you have to find a flank from fog of war. A head-on engage is suicide.
The Frontline Brawl
Wait. Do not engage first. Wait for your team to start the fight, then E-R into the clumped backline. The ideal combo is: Q (mark 2+ targets) -> E to one -> R while they're all inside your radius. This combo deletes squishies. If you R into 4+ people, you WILL get a triple kill minimum.
E-R into the carries. If you hit or more, you've done your job. Zhonya's immediately after the R to avoid the focus fire. Let your team clean up. Diana is a suicide bomber with a reset—make sure you hit the right targets.
The AP Diana Build
Nashor's Tooth first item into Riftmaker. Full on-hit attack speed Diana. Your passive already deals bonus magic damage on every third auto—with Nashor's, you shred through HP bars. It's tankier than burst Diana and arguably harder to kill.
Nashor's into Riftmaker is the 1v9 core. The attack speed and sustain allow you to duel everyone. Rocketbelt is for the burst, but Riftmaker is for the win. Add Rabadon's 3rd and watch the HP bars disappear.
Nashor's Tooth first into Riftmaker. Full on-hit attack speed Diana shreds through HP bars with her passive. It's tankier than the burst build and lets you duel bruisers. You become a spinning blade of death.
Diana's Power Spikes
Level 3 is your first all-in potential—you have Q, W, E and the reset mechanic online. Level 6 is when Diana becomes terrifying. R pulled 3+ enemies deals 600+ base damage before AP scaling. First item completion (Hextech Rocketbelt or Nashor's) is your assassination spike.
Level 3 is your mini-spike. Level 6 is your global threat spike. First item Nashor's makes you a turret-taking machine. Diana spikes every time she finishes an AP item. Don't play passive once you have 2 items.
The 5-Man Moonfall
Ult into 3+ people and type 'sorry' in all chat after the triple. Flash mastery 7 after every successful R. Camp mid lane and kill them at every power spike. Nothing tilts a mage player more than an assassin who dives them under tower successfully.
Typing 'The moon rises' after a 5-man R is mandatory. It's about the cosmic ego. Flash mastery 7 every time you land a Q reset. Diana is about the relentlessly aggressive pressure—don't let up.
Ult into 3+ people and type 'sorry' in all chat after the triple kill. Flash mastery 7 after every successful R. Camp mid lane and dive them. Nothing tilts a mage more than an assassin diving them successfully.
Recent Patch History
Recent Balance Changes
| Patch | Date | Type | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| V14.9 | May 1, 2024 | BUFF | Base stats buffed |
| V14.6 | Mar 20, 2024 | NERF | P nerfed, Base stats adjusted |
| V14.5 | Mar 6, 2024 | NERF | E nerfed |
| V13.14 | Jul 19, 2023 | BUFF | W buffed, E buffed |
| V12.16 | Aug 24, 2022 | NERF | P nerfed, E buffed |
