My In-Depth Thoughts on Diana

Hello,

First of all, I would like to state Diana is one of the most dynamic champions in league. There's more than one way to play her, more than one place to take her, and more than one way to build her. My thoughts below will probably be a bit disorganized, but they're centered around playing Diana top-lane. However, you may be able to apply somethings here and there to the jungle and mid as well.

The stats: Every champion in league has a set stat or stats that synergize best with the champion's abilities and kit. For Diana, I believe the core stats (besides HP, resistances) would be AP, CDR, and Attack Speed.

AP: Diana only has AP scalings, which makes the AD vs. AP argument fairly easy. Items with AP on them will synergize best with Diana.

CDR: Diana is a caster. She will live longer by casting more shields, catch more enemies in her moonfall, and burst down more champions with her q+r combo. Managing your cooldowns is fundamental to playing a good Diana.

Attack Speed: Lastly, attack speed is a good stat to have on Diana, because her passive procs an essentially empowered Lichbane every third attack. Furthermore, she gains +20% attack speed overall so yay!

The items:

Keep the stats in mind, it would be logical to think that a Nashor's Tooth would be the holy grail to Diana, It has AP, CDR, and AS - the whole nine yards! However, I would disagree that it's fundamental on Diana. In the current meta, burst is far more powerful than sustained damage, which a Nashor's brings to the table. It's better to quickly eliminate an enemy champion via burst - and everything they may bring to the table - than comparatively whittle them down slowly. Nashors relies on too many hits and therefore sustained damage to be a high-priority item, at least in the early-mid game.

My build order: Sheen --> boots / Hextech Gunblade --> Zhonya's --> Lichbane --> Voidstaff/Rabadon/Nashor's/Abyssal

Sheen: I love the Sheen! In a given fight you should get about 3+ proc from it, which is very substantial damage boost from a 1200g item. One proc from Q+R combo, 1 proc from E when they attempt an escape, and 1 proc from final q+r or simply an R.

Gunblade: Probably my most controversial item. A gunblade I suppose isn't very gold-efficient, but I love what it brings to attack based mages - sustain! If you play Diana, you may notice long-drawn out fights are your most dreaded nightmare. However, with a gunblade you can stay topped off easily, and gain some unsuspecting heals in a duel. Statistically, a gunblade gives LS that helps with your autoattacks, passive and sheen procs. The spell vamp helps with your abilities, and the AD just makes your autoattacks hurt a bit more. However, the best part is the item's ability, which can help you line up a solid Q, or make sure they can never escape.

Zhonya's: The hourglass is probably thee most powerful item in league, hands down. I like it on Diana, because up to this point you probably haven't built any substantial CDR. And, to make it worse, people probably are focusing your down now. A Zhonya's will negate their focus, and when used appropriately, indirectly reduce your CD's by a few seconds - all you need to perform another high-damage burst.

Lichbane: After building some more AP, upgrading your Sheen becomes more useful, and the extra AP/Movement speed synergizes with Diana's stick to you attitude.

Usually the game ends at this point, but further items are based on either more damage or more tank. I usually prefer a voidstaff over a Rabadon, and attempt to gett a Nashor's as my last item.

Overall, I haven't taught anyone how to play Diana, but this is what goes through my mind when I'm building her. I'm still testing other items - such as DFG (active too short IMO) - but I feel like these items yield the most success. I'll keep updating this thread, and probably revise it tomorrow morning for clarity. It has been a long night, and felt an impulse to write a long thread, heh :p