So I just got Diana. I really like her kit and see a lot of potential to do cool things, but I need some advice. Should I take her to the jungle or to the mid lane? For either one, what should I do when I'm there? (How do you survive lane until 6/what route should you take, and should you gank pre-6?)
I have a general idea for how to build her, from reading mobafire guides, but any pointers would still be appreciated.
Lane:
Rush Abyssal Scepter VS AP, you should have this mostly finished by the time you hit 6, and it gives you a very strong edge vs APs. I usually start with flask + pots so i can last hit and harass them some with out going OOM or OOH. Once you hit 6 you will be able to all in most APs.
Rush Hourglass VS AD, and I start with dorans ring and pots in this match up, as they cant zone me as easily since most of them are Melee as well. its mostly just a farming game vs AD assassins, and really all about who out plays who.
Jungle: I like rushing sheen and catalyst, and building them into lich and Rod. Sheen for more burst when i gank, and catalyst for more sustain in the jungle as well as making me a bit tankier, allowing for possible tower dives. ganking wise, i prefer not to gank until 6, but it really depends on the lanes. Is some one out of position that you can gank and get a kill on? then do it. or do you just need to relieve some pressure on a lane?
Just remember to be patient with your Ult. the barrier from a good Diana and a bad is how effectively they use her ult reset. in the earlier lvl some times its not worth waiting for another Q to cast R again, but in the late game you should have Q on a 3.5 ish CD and you should take advantage of the reset as much as possible.
1 match I had recently, our top lane fed a Aatrox, who was getting huge, pushing hard, and roaming alot. One engagement our team surprised them and we insta killed 2 of them, but aatrox started destroying the rest of my team, it was soon just me with 1/2 HP vs a full HP aatrox. So I knew i would never be able to just stand there and fight him out. So I would Q>E>R>AA>W and run away, then 3.5 secs later Q>R>AA and walk away, then do it again and again, each time he was only able to get 1 AA in, and most the time my shield took it. Every time he would cast his Q to jump on me I would R to him right as he lifted up, thus we basically switched spots and he took some damage. LOOOOONG story short i continued to take advantage of my Ult reset and finally killed him because of it. Even when he finally decided to run it was to late, as I could stay out of his AA range and just Q>R to him every time Q was off CD, allowing me to keep up.
Build situational no matter what. Dont grab the same 6 items every game.
Get a Zhonyas if theres a yas or zed and cait or jinx if you plan on roaming bot a lot
Get a ROA/Omen on top of a Zhonyas or abyssal if you want to engage for longer periods of time.
Add a Lichbane to every build and practice getting off the passive every chance its available to maximize damage but finish it as a 3rd or 4th item. Its better as just a sheen until you get enough ap
Use Crescent strike without smart cast on. I personally land it a lot more without SC on my 130 ping and that half second delay make it annoying to lane imo.
Dont attempt to fight Xerath. I'm told Syndra counters her hard but down here in bronze ive yet to get destroyed by one. Xerath on the other hand is an annoying super poking bitch. If you manage to survive all his poke until 6 then he goes down like a sack of bticks
I'm not jungling with her anymore. Its good and roaming is what shes great at but not being able gank efficiently pre 6 kills me especially when theres a Lee and hes kicking shit all over the map at lvl 3 and my team is screaming down by back for ganks.
Botrk is also a fun last item to abuse on her. Its passive + Her Passive + LB passive should let you engage more than 2 people and win.
i see lots of lane commments so heres a jg one.
Never buy devorer. it may seem good but its not. had 100 stacks on it once, totally useless, was carried by team.
Shes incredibly mana starved, so be careful who you give blue too. I would only give it to mid if they are either in a close matchup or wining by a slim margine, and use mana. so a 1-0 leblanc.
you fail at ganking pre 6, dont even waste time trying, hard farm up to the point you can and try to gank immediatly after you get 6. balancing this out is her clear times, some of the fastest in the game thanks to her passive and huge amount of aoe.
if your team is loosing in lane id get a chilling smite for stronger ganking potential, and a trailblazer if your team is winning. if its running even its up to you, pick whichever you would rather do, blue for ganks, purple for farm. Rush magus enchant, good amount of ap for passive and cdr for your q/w.
spell order i like to use is w-q-w-q-e-r then just r>q>w>e. You dont need e until you start ganking, which isnt happening until 6 anyway, better to up your early damage with the shields and skillshot.
after magus enchant your itemization is totally game specific. in a farm heavy game you may want a 
next, while ganking you would go for a 
. Diana is, to me at least, naturally a bit of a bruiser/assasin, so full ap builds work just as well as building ap tank. offensive options are 
and , while some ap tank possiblilities are 
Sometimes i have bought straight up tank items, but i would advise getting mana with those if you do opt for that path, as once again, diana is super mana starved
. boots are negotiable to me too->
all have times they can be usefull.
You can do both, I dont really know which one is better though
