Redesign Diana. BUT! With no numbers!

RiotIronStylus·8/6/2014, 12:34:04 AM·123 votes·56,888 views

So, I'm not a designer, obviously. But! I've seen a lot of Diana threads pop up, and indeed she is on our list of low-hanging fruit on the potential gameplay update of the ChampUP team but she's not a priority at the moment. I'm actually jamming with Vesh and one of our new dudes, Paul, just ideating on stuff for a potential update. She's obviously close to my heart, so any discussion surrounding her peaks my interest. Many times, discussions say fighter Diana, some say Assassin Diana, but a lot of what I see on the forums focus around numbers. Thing is, a lot of our design internally focuses on creating holistic characters and cohesive themes, not just a walking spread sheet of base stats augmented by QWER mashing.

SO! Community, I present a challenge. Make Diana a kit, **but don't use numbers. **

Whether you take from her current kit, give her an entirely new kit, or change the order/effect of her existing kit, dandy. Just don't get into the nitty gritty. In this scenario, granularity is the enemy. Take a look at theme. How does the moon create an opportunity for this character's play style? Does moonlight application open up different abilities? Does she make the entire map dark aside from a single AOE damage zone? Does she have an entirely resource system different than mana? Is she a symbol of grace and uses her blade as sword play? Think about it. Think about synergy and the completeness of the experience. Think about Diana as a person, as a character through which you can feel is expressing her personality, motivation and core characteristics through her mechanics, not just an icon that's a series of numbers.

I'm interested to see the suggestions :)

843 Comments

Kao Atlantis8/6/2014, 1:10:22 AM92 votes

Diana

I changed my mind on not changing her... I have put some thought into ideas on how to fix Diana now, without changing her unique identifying skills and characteristics.

#Summary:

All skills now have a bonus of some sort if the target is affected by her Moonlight. I believe that hitting Crescent Strike can be difficult and should be rewarded, especially if comboing with her other skills.

Her ultimate is now Moonfall, and her E is now Lunar Rush.

#Passive:

EDIT: A lot of people want the passive to work with Moonlight as well, which I really like.

Every 3rd attack cleaves nearby enemies. If the enemies are affected by Moonlight, Diana gains an attack speed boost.

#Q: Crescent Strike

Unchanged, I think this is her most unique skill and it defines her. Diana unleashes a bolt of lunar energy that travels in an arc. Enemies struck take magic damage and are afflicted with Moonlight, granting sight for a time.

W: Pale Cascade

Diana gains an absorption shield that creates three spheres that orbit her for a time. The spheres detonate on contact with an enemy unit, dealing magic damage to all nearby enemies. The damage to enemies is increased by any champion affected by Moonlight. Any damage to Diana is decreased if any enemy that attacks her that is affected by Moonlight.

#E: Lunar Rush

Lots of people pointed out that the edited skill I added was probably way over powered, so I put focus back on it just being a skillshot. Diana dashes towards the mouse cursor, if she dashes into an enemy that is affected by Moonlight, her Lunar Rush cool down is reduced by some amount. This skill will be a skillshot, and it will only reduce the cool down if it connects with a Moonlit target.

EDIT: Here is the comment that Blinding Shadows made for an idea for Luner Rush that I edited back out. EDIT: Here is another take by Retocyn on it working more like Nidalee's pounce.

#** R: Moonfall**

Diana draws in all nearby enemies to her location, slowing them and dealing damage. If any of the targets are affected by Moonlight they are slowed for additional time and take additional damage. (This should have an effect on a larger area now as it is the ultimate not a normal skills.)

EDIT: Here is another interesting take on making the skill feel more assassin-like by TJAyo.

#Conclusion:

I believe these changes will bring her more inline with other assassins / fighters and also help round her out and be more playable.

Edit: Riot Baconhawk has a cool idea that she should be an assassin to be the opposite of a tank, like Leona.

Just some thoughts. Love Diana, hope to see her played more in the future.

EDIT: Another cool post to consider by mk DILLY, I edited it in here as I feared it would be buried in the mass comments to my post. mk DILLY has some interesting changes to what I have written above. EDIT: Another post with some changes to consider by Killer X 12.

MissFortune

RiotRiot Baconhawk8/6/2014, 1:24:42 AM51 votes

I like the idea of her being an assassin, the opposite of a tank. Diana vs Leona. It's just so classic.

Moobeat8/6/2014, 12:38:25 AM32 votes

Make her into a yordle.

wait what are we talking about

Estus Flask8/6/2014, 1:42:11 AM31 votes

I love Diana too (a bit too much), but I think that the main problem of her kit is that she's neither an assassin or a fighter, and fails to excel at both. From my perspective, of course. I'm no game designer, but I do play a lot of League and have studied the game's mechanic's in-depth (maybe a little too much). Without further ado, here's my two cents:

Warning, I'm a big nerd so this will be a long read.

Why current Diana can't be a fighter/bruiser:

No sustain. Most fighters have some sort of sustain. Be it being manaless, lifesteal/spellvamp, heal x ammount of health every y. She's veeeeery mana hungry and has no natural sustain, that's why she's so hard to play on early levels.
Attack Speed is counter-intuitive to burst. Attack Speed means high, sustained damage so you need survivability to be able to dish out damage. Burst is the opposite.
Faceroll combo. As much as I love Diana, there isn't much you can do besides Q, R, E, W, auto attack, Q, R. Most bruisers have some sort of combo-y mixup possibility with their abilities. Like Riven, Renekton, Zac, etc.

Why current Diana can't be an assassin:

So-so scalings. Most bursty assassins have really high scalings so they can burst people, Diana has "meh" scalings. (She can burst stuff when she's fed, but that's the thing, anyone who is fed is likely to burst.)
Shield and CC are counter-intuitive to the assassin playstyle. Assassins go in, assassinate someone and then leave as quickly as possible. Not draw everyone into them. Within this time, a shield is useless, as you want to get out as quickly as possible. Lets take for example Katarina. Does she have CC? Does she have a shield? No! She has abilities that lets her kill stuff quickly and get out. Which brings me to the next point...
No reliable escape mechanic. She has to land a Q, and then R into something. And that takes time. Assassins are on the clock. Why can't she reposition like Vayne, or use a Shadow like Zed, or Shunpo like Kat?

How do we address these issues? The answer is obvious, focus on one playstyle instead of making a weird functioning hybrid. I present to you: Bruiser-Caster Diana! (I love Bruiser champions, let me be.)

** Passive - Moonsilver Blade** Every time Diana casts an ability her blade becomes empowered with moonlight, making her next auto attack deal extra damage and recover a little mana. If Diana stacks 3 Moonsilver Blade stacks, her next auto attack will slow the target, deal extra damage, and recover mana.
** Q - Crescent Strike** Diana slashes the area around her, dealing damage to all enemies in an area. Enemies struck by this ability are revealed.
** W - Lunar Rush** Diana makes a quick dash into a target location. Champion kills or assists reduce this this ability's cool down.
** E - Moonfall** Diana draws all enemies around her, gaining extra Armor and Magic Resist for every Enemy Champion or Big Monster Pulled.
** R - Scorn of the Moon** Diana calls for the power of the moon, empowering her and all of her abilities for x seconds. During this time, Diana's abilities cost no mana and have extended range, she also gains the ability to cast Eclipse. THE SYMBOL ON HER FOREHEAD AND HER EYES WILL GLOW WITH SWEET-ASS MOONLIGHT DURING THIS TIME.
** R second cast - Eclipse** Diana becomes shrouded in Lunar energy, rises up in the air, and swiftly strikes in a moon pattern slash (Kinda like her current Q, but with shorter range and a wider area) that damages and knocks back all enemies in the area.

Like I've said, I'm no designer but I do know this game. What do you think, IronStylus? Do you like my Bruiser Diana?

Also! Quick fix:

MAKE HER AND LEONA HAVE AN EVENT ALREADY

Edit: I'm not a native english speaker so I'm sorry if I say something that feels out of place. Edit 2: I added a Diana portrait I drew to draw attention. Edit 3: Nerfs! Removed knock up on E and reset on W, Passive now slows instead of stunning. Removed slow from Q.

Thales8/6/2014, 3:25:39 AM30 votes

Diana's core thematic identity is as a zealot of the moon. Secondarily, she's a silver mirror of Leona.

How do we translate this theme into mechanics while retaining elements of her current feel? Diana's most distinctive elements are the PBAOE vacuum of Moonfall and Crescent Strike's, uh, crescent shape. Both are mechanically cool, and thematically appropriate. But could she be MORE moon-themed? I sure hope so.

Diana's current identity is split between fighter and assassin. One thought I've had (inspired by Gnar!) is to have her wax and wane, with a couple of them growing stronger and a couple growing weaker. Full Moon Diana is a fighter, New Moon Diana is an assassin. This could be really cool, but it's probably too much mindshare. Actually, this is a pretty cool premise, let's prototype it:

Resource: Diana is now resourceless, but her resource bar now indicates the phase of the moon, which shifts throughout the game on a set schedule. Her abilities are in a state of either Full or New, with different strengths depending on the mode. The moon doesn't completely abruptly switch visually, it does do so mechanically. When the moon is Full, she's more of a fighter; when it's New, she's an assassin.

Passive: Similar to the current one. Passively grants attack speed in New Moon (like live) and resistances in Full Moon.

Q: Similar to live, sends out a crescent sweep. Full — Lower damage, Moonlight slows. Sort of like Aatrox E. New — Higher damage (about equal to live — resourcesless, remember?), no slow. Longer lasting Moonlight.

W: Still generates three orbiting orbs around her that detonate on contact, dealing damage (equal amount regardless of the phase). No initial shield. Somewhat harder to detonate all three than on Live, because the reward for doing so is better. Full — If all three pop, gets a large shield. New — If all three pop, Diana turns invisible for a brief duration.

E: A dash to a target, similar to her ult on live. Full — No damage, cooldown resets when used to dash to Moonlit target. New — Low to moderate damage, cooldown resets on kill/assist, can be used to dash to a Moonlit champ anywhere. This does not break her stealth until she arrives at the target.

R: Completely different abilities in Full and New, shared cooldown. Full — Akin to her current Moonfall, but with a stronger vacuum. New — Diana turns invisible for a moderate duration. Dealing damage or being damaged by champion autoattacks or single target abilities reveals her briefly. Attacks from stealth always trigger Moonsilver Blade.

Goumindong8/6/2014, 3:32:52 AM13 votes

So the problem with Diana is that its really hard to design a melee carry champion. Diana is essentially a bruiser mage, but current itemization is not structured to really support that well, either she gets ahead and facerolls, or she gets behind and does nothing.

Much of the reason for this is because Diana has no escape, no jukes/dodges/whatever that don't just put her on top of a target to kill. It would be like trying to balance riven if her Q was a 600 range targeted dash. Indeed look at Riven's kit and look at Diana's kit. If Riven's Q were a 600 range dash they would be almost the same. They have a ranged nuke(riven's ultimate) they have a repeatable dash on a shortish CD which you play around to win. They have a shield which scales on their primary damage stat. They have a passive which increases their auto attack damage based on their primary build stat. They have a short duration PBAoE CC. Besides the dash differences and frequency of their ranged attack they are almost the same champion

Well i don't really believe that riven is particularly powerful or OP. You can balance a melee fighter champion if they need to be mobile, smart, and quick in order to win fights. But in order for a champion to be mobile, smart, and quick to win fights they must have the tools to do so. Riven's Q is the tool that allows her to do that. Diana's ultimate is not the kind of tool that allows her to do that. Either she is so strong she can R in and just dominate, or she isn't strong enough and gets pummeled.

So here is what I would do

Q,W,E, passive are unchanged... except for maybe (sorry) numbers
Her ultimate becomes a short range untargeted dash that does low AoE damage. It works on a charge system with a charge reset every 5-10 seconds. Between charge uses it has an internal cooldown of 1 or .5 seconds. You also gain a charge if you hit a champion who has been tagged with your Q with a basic attack

Basically, Diana becomes the AP equivalent of Riven, with her mobility unlocked at level 6. She had to dash around and dodge skillshots, weave abilities between her power in order to be effective.

This also has thematic power, as the moon waxes and wanes in power so does Diana's power wax and wane based on her charges, forcing a rhythm to her combat.

Plus we will get to see Faker wreck fools with her so that is always a plus

Ten Thousand One8/6/2014, 12:51:44 AM13 votes

Her Crescent Strike is so iconic to me, I really can't imagine changing at least this part of her. At the very least, the skill shot shape has to stay!

Also, as a side note and not what you asked about at all, I'd love to see some little Easter Egg type things with Diana and Leona. Like a special taunt if she's hit with Solar Flare and survives or something similar.

ModCaptainMårvelous8/6/2014, 1:42:16 AM12 votes

Well, I'll give it a shot.

Passive: Remains Unchanged....sorta. Still get the same AS boost.

Like it how it is, also have a few ideas as well.

Q: Also remains unchanged

Again, it's a cool part of the kit.

W: Instead of shielding, hitting an enemy with one of these orbs slows them. Hitting one champion with multiple orbs increases the slow OR it can add in other CC effects, such as silence or blind.

The context of this was that I always felt the two oddest parts of Diana's kit were her W and her E. Why does an assassin have an AoE pull like a tank/initiator? Why does a dashing, single-killing assassin have a shield like a bruiser or fighter? By removing the shield and putting in a slow, Diana has an easier time chasing down targets. In addition, the possibility of putting more CC on the orbs allows for a better sense of "I should be hitting one target with all of these" instead of "I need to get rid of these and get my shield."

There's also the sense of counterplay. Block orb hits so your APC isn't silenced or your ADC isn't blinded.

E: Replace E with current R. Still refreshes when hitting moonlight targets but also lowers cooldown if you strike with passive. Probably increase cooldown/lower or remove damage to compensate.

Diana's lunar rush is awesome but it never really felt like "THE ULTIMATE" ability. Sure it was cool dashing to targets but I never felt like "This is the strongest power I have" unlike other champions. Pushing it onto E will give Diana some pre-6 assassination capability while also allowing her to take advantage of some of her skills.

R: Scorn of the Moon- Diana brands an enemy with the mark of the Lunari. While branded, Diana has true sight of the enemy and deals increased damage to them. In addition, Diana has bonus movement speed/attack speed while within 300-ish yards of the target.

With the ultimate, I felt that there was some wiggle room to add in a type of assassin we hadn't had yet: The relentless pursuer. With this skill, Diana properly feels like an assassin and a woman with scorn in her heart. In my mind, the "Lunari aura" would be the recycled pull-icon on the ground. Furthermore, this would also play into Diana's lore as she too was branded and marked for death.

I also feel it's a good tool to let supports/fellow team members know that "Diana wants to kill this target. You should do everything you can to protect them and get them away from her". Not to mention the idea of Diana's vengeful nature being taken out on one single target is friggin' awesome.

So, that's my idea.

Nemadon8/7/2014, 12:02:41 AM9 votes

Moonsilver Blade: Passive [Every spell cast or basic attack adds (x) Moonlight Stacks to Diana's blade, upon reaching 100 stacks Diana gains a shield for (x) seconds and can activate her ultimate Moon's Descent(R). Autoattacks double the Moonlight gains.]

Flourish: Q [Diana swings her blade to unleash a bolt of lunar energy that deals damage in an arc before exploding. Ends upon hitting a champion.]

Defiance: W - Passive [Enemies struck by Diana's spells are afflicted by Defiance, causing her next basic attack within (x) seconds to deal bonus magic damage and slow the target consuming Defiance. Increases Attack Speed by (x%)]

Lunar Rush: E [Diana dashes to target ground location dealing magic damage. The cooldown is reduced by (x%) when striking a target afflicted by Defiance]

Moon's Descent - Eclipse - One With The Moon / Forsaken: R [Moon's Descent: Consumes all Moonlight stacks to draw in all enemies, applying a slow, an area of effect will remain dealing continual magic damage for (x) seconds, Diana may reactivate it at any time to deal damage instantly and the Ultimate will end reducing the cooldown by (x%). Diana cannot exit the area of effect or the Ultimate will end]

[Eclipse: (x) seconds after Moon's Descent is cast without recasting, Eclipse occurs automatically with all enemy champions caught inside blinded by moonlight unable to see until One With The Moon is cast or Forsaken activates.]

[One With The Moon: Diana transcends sacrificing half of her ability power to gain armor and magic resist and a persisent slowing aura for the duration.]

[**Forsaken: Only occurs if Diana fails to cast One With The Moon within the duration, Diana is enraged that the moon has forsaken her and lower's her defenses by (x%) replacing her other abilities with stronger; and darker; versions, gaining movespeed and attack speed for the duration. Increases Moon's Descent cooldown by (x%-scales down with ability power). **]

Notes: Decisions, decisions, decisions!

This iteration of her kit focuses on good decisions with some pretty significant trade offs, upon successful completion of her Ultimate defense or offense are obtained. By making Diana's playstyle a choice it fits the mold for both those who want to play her as an assassin, as you could channel your ultimate entirely on minions or jungle creatures to come into a fight already empowered by Forsaken, or you could be a front line fighter by soaking damage and gaining massive resistances and a persistent slow effect with One With The Moon.

Flourish, besides a name change this ability is mostly the same, being the ability is the one that defines her the most, with most of it's power gone to Defiance or removed, and Pale Cascade being removed Diana's power has been lowered this spells power can be increased through both an increased hitbox/animation size; a full crescent moon perhaps; and increased damage.

Defiance, removing Pale Cascade you remove Diana's invincibility when ahead, being an ability with no counterplay besides "run" is extremely frustrating. By changing the damage to a sheen effect Diana is forced to autoattack in between spells in order to kill her target. Also the attack speed component is better here because you can now choose what you want to level up, CDR on Q, Attack Speed on W, or Burst on E.

Lunar Rush, this ability is now a skillshot and it's cooldown is not entirely negated by using it on a target afflicted by Defiance, having Diana's autoattacks consume Defiance it is another choice for Diana to make, decreased cooldown on Lunar Rush or more burst on a single autoattack? This also gives Assassin Diana an escape, where Fighter Diana can't afford to wait for Defiance to go in.

Moon's Descent, a slightly more powerful version of her current E, which opens into a new combo. The AoE would spawn in place like a Zyra ult and stay in place until de-activated by recasting Moon's Descent or activating Eclipse. Leaving the AoE ends the combo.

Krazymouse8/7/2014, 1:53:04 AM7 votes

I present to you Diana, in a more moon-y fashion! Playstyle based on the phases of the moon!

Diana

Passive: Lunar Phase Diana has a resource bar called Lunar Phase, rather than mana. Every time she gets a kill, she adds points. Every time she uses a skill, she loses points. Her skills and auto-attacks are most powerful when Lunar Phase is close to 50%, also known as a Full Moon.

As Diana is closer to a Full Moon, her auto-attacks deal more damage.

Q: Crescent Light Diana unleashes a bolt of lunar energy that travels in an arc. Enemies struck are afflicted with Moonlight, granting sight of them for a few seconds. If Diana deals an auto-attack to an enemy afflicted with Moonlight, it consumes the Moonlight to deal extra magic damage.

As Diana is closer to a Full Moon, the Moonlight lasts longer on enemies.

W: Pale Cascade Diana covers herself in a large sphere that shields damage for 5 seconds. Diana can recast Pale Cascade to fire her sphere in a linear skillshot that explodes and deals AOE damage equal to the amount of health left on the shield.

As Diana is closer to a Full Moon, Pale Cascade increases in range.

E: Moonfall Diana leaps to target location, drawing in nearby enemies to her landing location.

As Diana is closer to a Full Moon, the range in which enemies are drawn in is increased.

R: Moonsilver Blade Diana swings her blade around her 360 degrees, dealing damage to all enemies hit. For each enemy champion hit on the first use, Diana gains additional casts of Moonsilver Blade for a few seconds. (ammo system)

As Diana is closer to a Full Moon, the range of her slash(es) increases.

MY NOTES: So, by making her passive the center of focus, it better sticks to the theme of being a "moon" champion. She waxes and wanes (Like the moon!) based off of what she does. Kill too many minions? She becomes weaker. Fire off too many spells. Also become weaker. She has to focus finding a balance, which I think works well with her theme as someone who is struggling to stay in balance. It would be interesting character-wise, as it gives her an internal conflict, fighting between become a a vengeful murderous person who slashes people to death, or becoming the embodiment of a peaceful moon, since right now, all her character is essentially "Vengeance Vengeance Vengeance Vengeance I HATE THE SUN Vengeance Vengeance Vengeance Vengeance."

I just love the ult idea, where instead of Diana doing burst damage, she just slashes and slashes and goes on this murderous rampage based off of how many people are around, so like if 5 enemy champions are hit by the first strike, she can just go on a murderous ultimate spamming AOE slashing spree to kill EVERYONE. Maybe throw in an evil laugh in there.

Also, I'm not certain on the Q: Crescent Light, and taking away it's damage. However, I did turn Pale Cascade into a ranged skill shot to compensate. Also, art wise, it might be cool to have the Pale Cascade actually show the phase of the moon that she is in, so that when she fires it at enemies, they can go "Oh no! A full moon Pale Cascade RUUUUUUUUUUN!"

Graydiance8/8/2014, 2:13:50 AM5 votes

I saw this thread a few days ago, and knew I had to comment on it when my sickness was ending and I could think of a good design pattern for Diana! The concept of her E/R swap is inspired by Kao Atlantis's post, but our implementations are, I believe, different. If these ideas were stated elsewhere, I apologize. I admit that I did not read the full thread and all suggestions.

Criticisms and comments are well appreciated, and I will provide clarification / notes as requested because I've very nearly reached the character limit!

** Summary **

Confirm Diana as a auto-attack focused, AP, Assassin-type character.

Improve the Moonlight debuff, giving Diana additional ways to acquire and spend it that provide a unique and clearer attack pattern.

Modify Moonfall, both mechanically and stylistically, to be more in line with the concept of an Ultimate ability and a foil of Leona’s Solar Flare.

Clarify the focus of Diana’s damage on three abilities - her Ultimate, her Q, (perhaps her E) and her auto attacks. Improve clarity for Diana's player, teammates, and opponents about how Diana's attack pattern works, while providing counter-play and options for her opponent. Improve clarity about what the Moonlight debuff does and make it so people do not want to be affected by it.

Improve Diana's potential to stick to a target and duel early-mid game while having (as with most assassins) a late-game fall-off.

Force Diana players to have to make a decision between using her full damage potential or having increased mobility options by including bonus damage against Moonlit targets, but removing Moonlight with Lunar Rush.

** Passive **

The third strike places Moonlight on all targets hit.

As with other count-based spells, a more obvious particle effect is visible when Diana's passive is primed.

** Q: Crescent Strike **

I see no reason to change Diana's best thematic and most well-known ability.

Unchanged.

** W: Darkest Night **

Changed completely. Her W to me has never had synergy with the rest of her kit, and I spent a while trying to think of a way to solidify it as a thematically fitting and interesting ability based around the concept of vision denial / Moonlight-based stealth. Temporary, target-specific invisibility.

Upon activation, Diana goes invisible to all opponents currently affected by the Moonlight debuff. Her next auto-attack against any target affected by Moonlight will deal additional damage.

** E: Lunar Rush **

I kept this as a targeted dash - I feel it fits her theme more as well as provides a unique ability similar to, but not the same as other champions. Additionally, targeted abilities are more rare in League, and this means that Diana has to again, specifically choose where and how she will use her mobility options.

Diana dashes to a target enemy champion or minion. If that enemy is affected by the Moonlight debuff, the debuff is consumed and Lunar Rush can be cast again after a short cooldown.

NOTE: This ability would have a similar cooldown ramp to her Live value.

NOTE: The “short cooldown” would provide a delay time, similar to say, Kassadin’s jumps, which does not allow for infinite short-hops.

NOTE: This ability would not deal damage, or deal minimal damage at most. Diana’s primary damage is from her Ultimate, her Q, and her auto-attacks.

** R: Moonfall **

As a themed counter / foil to Leona's Solar Flare, which is a long-range, AoE CC, Moonfall should be a close-range, AoE nuke. Let's call down the moon on people's heads!

Diana calls down the wrath of the moon on her current location, striking all nearby enemies, dealing significant damage, and slowing them for a small/still small/moderate amount. Any enemies previously afflicted with the Moonlight passive are stunned for a reasonable amount of time, and any Moonlight debuffs are consumed.

Moonlight Fencer8/6/2014, 5:12:09 AM5 votes

As a Diana main, she is close to my heart, both in lore, and in gameplay. She's my favorite character by far, and I don't think she's suited to be a fighter at all. I think she should be an assassin through and through, keeping high burst, moonlight crescents, and sticking potential to the game. She is angry at her betrayers and wants to relentlessly and quickly hunt them down. Not stay in a fight and take damage. Gameplay wise I think she is almost there and doesn't need major change, just a way to get out. As an assassin, that's pretty key, but I guess no escape is compensated for in her shield. Perhaps make her lunar rush targetable to allies and have a cooldown thing like yasuos e for ally cast and keep the moonlight proc for enemy cast. Then I would increase the range/slow on e just a LITTLE and I think shed be golden. Honestly I don't think there's need to change her too much because she's ALMOST there. But I'm open to almost anything as long as she remains a sticky crescent throwing gap closing assassin. I don't think she's meant to be a fighter in any stretch of the imagination, and I don't think shed be a fun fighter either.

Leyrann8/6/2014, 11:55:25 AM5 votes

Not a Diana player, but I love theorycrafting, and IronStylus' post actually gave me a great idea for an ultimate. WARNING: She'll be an assassin, but with a radically different kit, hopefully viable both mid and jungle.

Passive: Moonlight: Several of Diana's abilities apply a Moonlight debuff for a few seconds, causing Diana to deal 15% increased magic damage to them for the duration (does not proc on Cresent Strike (Q) if it is the ability that applies Moonlight or on the first tick of Nightfall). If she hits a debuffed target with a basic attack, her attack speed is increased for a few seconds and she deals bonus magic damage on autoattacks for this duration.

Q: Cresent Strike: Reduced travel damage but increased explosion damage and area of effect. Only applies Moonlight to enemies hit by the explosion. Is instant when cast from inside the Nightfall area. Now has a minimum range of ~300 (this change is mostly so you cannot simply blink to your target and THEN apply the Moonlight debuff with a guaranteed hit, while still allowing you to walk far enough away from monsters when jungling to hit them (except maybe wolves. Or maybe you just kill them before you need your second Cresent Strike. I don't know)).

W: New Moon: Diana's next autoattack deals increased damage in a small area of effect around her target. If her direct target is debuffed by moonlight, this target is additionally slowed by a moderate amount for a few seconds, but the moonlight debuff is removed.

E: Lunar Flash: Diana disappears in moonlight for a brief duration, then re-appears on her target with a blinding flash, dealing damage to her target and blinding everyone facing her (blinds her target if he faces the direction Diana was when she used Lunar Rush). After 5 seconds, Diana can use this ability again, but ground targeted and without blind, and with reduced damage, for two seconds. During those five seconds, the remaining cooldown is reduced by one second for every kill or assist Diana gains. (note: To be honest I am not too sure about giving her an ability with a blinding flash, thinking about her joke etc, but I felt like it fit. If it'd be better without, in my opinion it should also be best to name the ability Lunar Rush instead, like her current ultimate)

R: Nightfall: Light dims as night comes, reducing the vision range of all enemy units by 10% (note: doesn't remove allied vision) and granting Diana full vision in an average area around herself (between vision range and twice this range). Within 5500 range, Diana can channel to brighten an area with a 600 radius (equal to Amumu ult) with moonlight, dealing average damage over a few seconds (say, 3-4), applying the Moonlight debuff and making the area visible for both teams. Halfway through this duration, Diana teleports to the center of the area. She can then dash to an enemy debuffed with Moonlight once in the few following seconds, using a basic attack command. During this time, she will not automatically attempt to attack an enemy.

The thought behind this kit, is that you first have to hit your target with a ranged skillshot - Cresent Strike - and then can initiate with your (enemy-targeted, so not usable as escape) blink, which also deals damage, following another damage ability, this time with a slow to allow you to land more autoattacks. After a few seconds - faster if you do your job efficiently - you will be able to get out again, but you will not instantly be able to do this, so if you kill your target within a second, but then die within another, it's probably not worth it. If you, however, take two or three seconds for both (or buy a Zhonyas), it is. At the same time, however, crowd control may disable you from using the abliity, which could - if needed - have a brief channel time, say half a second. Either way, it should not be a free out of jail card. After level 6, you can also use your Nightfall to initiate upon an enemy while slightly hindering their battle field awareness and amplifying yours, and even apply Moonlight before using Cresent Strike.

sjw8/6/2014, 9:52:39 AM4 votes

I like the idea of a top-lane/jungle bruiser Diana a lot more than assassin style, so these are my (possibly ridiculous) thoughts...

**P: **Moonsilver Blade Every 3rd attack cleaves enemies on hit and applies Moonlight. Diana's attack speed is greatly increased (more than currently)

**Q: **Crescent Strike As current.

**W: **Pale Cascade Three spheres of lunar energy surround Diana, nullifying the next 3 spells or auto-attacks used against her for x seconds.

**E: **Lunar Rush As current, but with the damage and range decreased. If Diana targets an enemy afflicted by Moonlight, the range is increased a large amount, and damage is slightly increased.

**R: **Moonfall *Passive: *Diana's auto-attacks against targets afflicted with Moonlight deal x% max health damage and consume Moonlight.

Active: Diana channels for 1.5 seconds, drawing in all nearby enemies to her location, and slowing them for 3 seconds afterwards. *Re-active: *Diana can re-activate Moonfall while channeling to throw all nearby enemies away from her, damaging them instead of slowing them.

This kit would give Diana the ability to relentlessly hunt down those she scorns with access to Moonlight on her passive and an increase to range on Lunar Rush when she's marked the target - it would really feel like you're chasing your enemies down. She would have some strong dueling power with her W, but also be able to make a big contribution in teamfights with her ult.

The passive on her ult would give her a power spike at 6, and allow for some cool combos like saving your passive and then trading with AA - AA - Q - AA for 2 procs of the % health damage. It also makes applying Moonlight to enemies a lot more rewarding and important.

Another thing I really like about this kit is that Diana has to choose what to do with her ult to make the best impact. It would open up some really fun gameplay.

A Diana where the ideal build is like Lichbane > Nashor's > full tank would be awesome.

Frawstbyte8/6/2014, 7:17:57 PM4 votes

I think that having a targeted dash as Diana's only movement ability is what causes the bulk of her problems. There is no counterplay against her ultimate, and it forces Diana into the "all-or-nothing" style that she is notorious for. Her current kit lacks any real decision-making when it comes to how to use her abilities and makes playing as and against Diana a very shallow experience.

The concept for my Diana kit suggestion focuses on giving her mobility to maneuver into and out of fights instead of durability to stick around in a fight like a fighter. My concept also makes use of the popular idea of Moonlight procs for different abilities to give her meaningful decision-making in combat. Lastly, my version of Diana's ultimate is a buff (like Master Yi or Nasus) that gives Diana increased movement speed and further enhances her abilities.

Passive: Moonsilver Blade

Every third attack cleaves nearby enemies with magic damage, additionally slowing any enemies afflicted by Moonlight and consuming the debuff. Diana gains bonus attack speed that is doubled while Enlightened.

Q: Crescent Strike

Diana unleashes a bolt of lunar energy that travels in an arc. Enemies struck take magic damage and are afflicted with Moonlight, granting sight of them. Enlightened: Crescent Strike returns along the same path, dealing extra damage to any enemies hit a second time.

W: Pale Cascade

Diana creates three spheres that orbit her, dealing magic damage to enemy champions or neutral monsters that make contact with a sphere. Diana gains movement speed for each sphere orbiting her. Spheres that make contact with enemies afflicted with Moonlight additionally heal Diana and consume the debuff. Enlightened: Diana creates three additional spheres (total of 6).

E: Orbital Sweep (there is an image at the bottom of this post to better explain this ability)

Diana pulls enemies a short distance around herself in a counter-clockwise direction. Enemies afflicted with Moonlight are briefly stunned after being moved. Enlightened: Range and width of Orbital Sweep are increased

R: New Moon (or Enlighten, can't decide)

Diana stealths and begins channeling. After channeling, Diana teleports to a target location, dealing magic damage and applying Moonlight to enemies in a small area. Diana becomes Enlightened for 10 seconds, giving her increased movement speed and augmenting her abilities.

The two major changes are with the new skills, Orbital Sweep and New Moon. Diana's current E (Moonfall) makes no sense for an assassin to have since it pulls in all enemies instead of the intended target. My suggestion (Orbital Sweep) attempts to fix this by giving Diana some decision-making when it comes to choosing how to use her sweep. Should she try to get alongside her target to push them back toward her team? Should she use it to push the rest of the enemy team aside from their carries? Should she try using it to shove an enemy across a wall? All of these questions, I think, provide for better play than "I'm next to someone. I should press E."

New Moon is another major change that I am suggesting. My goal with New Moon is to give Diana a much more open-ended positioning ability with some potential counterplay. Did Diana just go invisible in a teamfight? Try dropping a pink ward and killing her before she teleports. Or use AoE CC on her location. On the other hand, Diana now has much more to think about when using her ability. Where should she choose to teleport to? Should she ult now or go behind a wall and teleport over?

This version of my kit may be overloaded with features, in which case I would take out the interactions that W and E have with Moonlight and just make W spheres always heal Diana. Ultimately I believe that my concept offers a fun, thought-provoking style of play for an assassin while maintaining healthy and meaningful counterplay against Diana.

Hope you all enjoyed the idea!

Felvyne8/6/2014, 11:37:10 AM4 votes

While assassin Diana is much fun... I like more the bruiser patterns (which I feel that still opposes Leona since she is a protector and Diana bruiser is a damage dealer).

Pasive: Moonsilver Blade Diana deals extra damage each third autoattack or when Moonlight is consumed. Each time Moonsilver Blade is applied, Diana gains extra Attack Speed, stackable a couple or three times.

Q: Crescent Strike Same skill, slows and reveals. Applies Moonlight.

W: Pale Cascade Same as it is now or: orbs orbit around Diana for X seconds, when activated and each time orbs hits a monster or an enemy unit generates an amout of shield (doubled against champions), based on max health.

**E: Moonfall While I like the idea of being an ultimate, this kit keeps it as it is (is a really nice skill, I think that Diana is this skill and the idea of coming back and for slashing foes).

R: Moonbath/Lunar Rush

When activated, Diana creates a field where every X seconds all champions inside get affected by Moonlight (I was thinking like a Zyra's ultimate width). ¿Bonus stats while inside the field? I don't feel necesary. While Moonbath is active, Diana can Lunar Rush to a champion affected by Moonlight.

Counterplay is easy: there is a zone where Diana is a nightmare, so RUN. Since all her damage comes from her pasive and Q I don't feel that she would become a nuker. And she still dances around slashing solari bathed by the Moonlight. She still can use the Q as a little of mobility because I would feel her very... stuck in the middle of a teamfight without it.

Deuterium8/6/2014, 12:44:14 AM3 votes

she needs a

energy ball

energy booster

dash

and turn into a giant ape when the moon appears

/thread

Cuix8/6/2014, 2:23:31 AM3 votes

My Diana kit

Passive - Cold Killer: Upon taking damage from enemy units, Diana builds Emotion. Emotion decays slowly over time. At max Emotion, Diana's basic abilities become empowered, lasting until Diana has not taken damage for a few seconds.

Q - Lunar Bolt: Diana sends out a ray of moonlight, which explodes upon hitting an enemy unit for a moderate amount of AoE damage. Empowered Q - Lunacy: Diana sends out a beam of moonlight, which erupts for moderate damage when it reaches its maximum range and lingers for a short period. All units in moonlight receive bonus movement speed, including enemies.

W - Reckless Charge: Diana dashes towards an enemy champion and deals a small amount of damage to them. Empowered W - Umbral Assault: Diana dashes towards an enemy champion, which is then feared for a short period and dealt a moderate amount of damage. All other enemies near Diana immediately after her dash are knocked back and briefly slowed.

E - Shadowblade: Diana's next three attacks deal a small amount of bonus damage. If all three attacks hit a single enemy champion, Diana deals extra damage based on the target's current HP, up to a large amount if her target is mostly healthy. Empowered E - Suffocating Shadow: Diana's next three attacks deal a large amount of bonus damage. If all three attacks hit a single enemy champion, that champion is slowed by a moderate amount for a short duration and Suffocating Shadow's cooldown resets.

R - Marked by the Moon - Diana calls down moonlight in an area, marking enemy champions in a small radius for a short duration. Diana gains bonus magic penetration against those champions. If any marked champions lose 50% or more of their maximum HP while they are marked, Diana immediately gains a huge amount of Emotion and her basic abilities come off cooldown.

Tahalden8/6/2014, 7:02:38 AM3 votes

There's a few things to consider in a new kit for Diana.

To me, Diana is a fighter rather than an assassin. She has no way out, and a new kit would have to provide something like that. A shield simply isn't enough. Moreover, her Passive: Moonsilver Blade along with her E: Moonfall make her quite unique in League as it is, so it'd be nice to maintain that.
There is the parallel with Leona to consider. Thematically those two are linked forever and ever, in being polar opposites. One's all about the sunrise, the other's all about the moonfall. That makes the vacuum ability a must have, because it just synchronizes well with the idea of moonfall. One could argue for an assassin kit to be an opposite for the tank kit of Leona; however Moonfall doesn't work with that. You can't assassinate the whole opposing team, right?
Along the same line of thought, there's a bit of a parallel between both champions' kits. Both can shield themselves, both have a targeted gap closer, both have an aoe CC ability, and both have a passive that enhances auto attacks. Granted, Leona seems to be more focused on empowering her allies, while Diana is all about getting the job done herself.
Crescent Strike is such a typical ability for Diana that it should stay, to make sure Diana's identity (champion wise/kit wise) is not lost.

Considering all this, it seems like Diana's current kit is coherent, with the exception of the ult. That being said, she does need a way to get into the fight as a fighter. This also leaves some room for a different ultimate that can emphasize her fighter identity rather than her assassin identity. So a new kit idea:

Passive: As before. Close combat through AAs is the way to go for Diana.
Q: As before. Still applies the Moonlight debuff.
W: As before. A shield is needed for Diana to function as a fighter in the midst of a team fight, and provides additional damage for close combat.
E: Here comes the gap closer AS WELL AS the vacuum ability. --- Lunar Rush: Diana closes the gap with enemy, without dealing damage. If the target is affected by Moonlight when using Lunar Rush, Diana gets a window of opportunity to cast Moonfall. Moonlight is consumed by Lunar Rush. --- Moonfall: The vacuum ability as before, with no damage. However, anyone who is affected by Moonlight is slowed by a scaling % for a short amount of time. Moonlight is consumed by Moonfall. (Alternatively, you could consider allowing Moonfall to pull in targets from further away if they are affected by Moonlight. However, if you've been hit by Crescent Strike, an intuitive reaction is to disperse. If Moonfall then pulls in targets further away, that goes against the intuitive reaction. Counterplay should be intuitive.)
R: Praise the Moon: Diana's attacks and abilities are empowered by the Moon. --- Diana's attack speed is increased by a given % for a set amount of time. --- Moonsilver Blade deals more damage to targets affected by Moonlight, but consumes Moonlight upon proccing this passive. --- The cooldown of the next Crescent Strike is reduced by half. --- Pale Cascade spawns more orbs. --- Lunar Rush has a cooldown of 1/2 seconds but does not allow Moonfall.

So what does all this mean?

Diana has to make a choice about how to consume Moonlight. If she uses Lunar Rush, she will not slow the target with Moonfall. If she uses Moonfall, she'll not be able to do double damage with Praise the Moon and Moonsilver Blade before reapplying Moonlight with Crescent Strike.
Moonfall is heavily gated. Diana cannot use it during Praise the Moon, and she can only use it after using Lunar Rush on a target affected by Moonlight.
If Diana chooses to activate her ultimate before using Lunar Rush, she will not be able to use Moonfall. But if she Lunar Rushes in, then activates her ultimate, she will not have Lunar Rush available immediately. Again a choice the player has to make.
Heavy focus on AAs, getting in, disrupting the enemy team and timing the passive with Lunar Rush.

Cheers IronStylus!

ChaoticFool8/6/2014, 12:52:07 AM3 votes

I do think more can be done with Diana's kit. Making her more of a fighter is one option, but I feel there is potential for a deeper and more engaging kit then what she has now.

Not sure on specifics but I will say that:

She should be able to dive into a fight. That feels like an important part of her identity.

Attacking with her weapon is also important. She should be a champion who cares about her AA's. Making her AA's a more integral part of her kit is a good direction to go IMO. More then just 'do more damage'. What if getting the 3rd hit on a target marked by your ult applied a mini nocturne effect to the target?

I think she is more suited to a fighter style then an assassin one. Relentlessly pursuing her target over a larger period of time, rather then killing them within a few seconds then running.

SabrewoIf8/6/2014, 1:26:20 AM3 votes

I already tweeted this out but as an uncoordinated rabble. Ok so... The moon is the light of the night, the illumination of darkness. Diana's kit should be able to shine light in dark places, like grant vision in unseen places.

The moon also has 4 main phases (I think) and each champ has 4 abilities. Maybe each ability could reflect a moon phase. So while an ability could provide a lot of vision like a full moon does, an ability could also shut out vision like a new moon does in a similar mechanic to Graves' smokescreen. Crescent strike is also a cool feature and could use a little more love like maybe being able to teleport to where it finishes like Lissandra's E if Diana's Ultimate has the teleporting feature removed.

Well, just a brief few ideas that popped into my head. Look forward to seeing what is used

Mansana8/6/2014, 12:39:19 AM2 votes

So no numbers? Are we allowed to use variables or is it like describing the kit and what it does sort of like the champion preview?