........As with any APC mid we can run 21/0/9. 9 points in the Utility tree would mainly consist of Meditation , Summoner's Insight and usually Alchemist + Culinary Master . They're nice buffs to our laning phase that don't fall into and category but I like having more durability so we can make it to 6 easier. To explain a few of the most imporant one: Meditation gives us some Mana regeneration, but as I've mentioned before, Diana's mana costs are low and so this really isn't necessary; Alchemist + Culinary Master is a very small bonus, and while it can be effective during the lane phase, it only help us when we buy Health or Mana potions, which won't last forever; Fianlly, although Summoner's Insight is quite strong, it really isn't worth investing 4 other points in Utility to get to it. While these are all nice more general buffs, defense is always better because it allows for a safer early game for Diana, who's both melee and doesn't have the strongest early game.

........Very big fan of this spell. It helps both offensively and defensively. With it, we can gank lanes and roam a lot faster, and much more easily catch them off guard. In a tough poke lane, we can take it to get back to lane after buying items to avoid losing out on minions. Just an overall useful spell if you want to take it.

........This is actually a really strong defensive spell. If you think that your going to be killed easily by your opponent then this can help survive some of their burst. It can also be useful for escaping ganks (which Diana really isn't great at) or help to bait people combined with your already awesome turnaround.

• Take oppurtunites to push when you can as you can decimate towers when given the opportunity.
• Using this during early trades and be very strong when you both lack all your abilities.
• Remember, it has a timer. Waiting to long between basic attacks will reset the counter.
• This does incredible damage if you can proc it due to its high AP ratio and base damage. You can use it for more sustained damage after your combo, don't rely on it for burst because it takes time to proc, and you want to kill your target as fast as possible.
• Wave clearing is fairly easy with this tanks to its decent AOE size.
• You can tell it's up by the faint white aura around you.
• You can get it ready to activate using minions and then engage on someone for a lot of burst damage.

• This spell does take some time to learn. It's speed isn't great and the ark can be confusing. Furthermore you have to choose the range as well, adding even more to think about when you cast the ability.
• This has the highest AP ratio of all your spells (excluding passive). Once you have some AP items built it will nuke hard.
• This is your only truly ranged damaging ability so be smart about using it, especially early on.
• This spell has a fairly low mana cost that doesn't increase with levels. You can use it often in lane to poke or wave-clear, but don't go overboard, or you'll still run out of mana.
• Hit this spell. I cannot stress how important it is to hit it for your combo. Missing this will make you lose out on it's huge damage and a second ult cast which when put into perspective amounts to about half of the burst in your combo.
• When your getting zoned, thanks to it's decent AOE damage it can be used effectively to farm at a distance.
• The large AOE damage can be really devastating in team-fights.

• I like to take a point in this at level 1 and 3 so we can have an easier time early on, avoiding harass and trading better.
• If your right on top of someone the orbs detonate very rapidly amounting to large burst damage.
• This is great for clearing jungle camps, so if the wave is pushed up don't be afraid to take wraiths.
• Use this to farm safely, the AOE damage decimates waves, and the shield will block poke.
• The range of the orbs is quite small so know that you have to go in close to damage enemies with it.

• When chasing, only use it when the enemy champion begin to flee in order to get full use of it.
• As mentioned above it has a long cooldown and a short range. Be smart about using it.
• This can be incredible for engaging larger scale fights. Ult in and activate this skill to pull everyone together for easy follow-up.
• You can use this defensively as well. You can peel enemies off of your allies or hinder an enemies ability to chase you.
• If any enemy tower-dives you this can be used to turn around on them, using this skill will keep them under the tower's fire for much longer and with some burst from your own spells they'll fall quickly.
• Remember: This spell will interrupt the spell channels of enemies hit. If your up against someone that has a dangerous channeled spell ( Vel'Koz, Katarina, etc.) then make sure to save your E for interrupting it, when it becomes available to them.

• This is why it's so important to hit your Q. If you miss than you miss out on not just that damage, but the damage of a second cast of your ultimate and the extra chasing potential.
• This is your only escape in your kit, and it's very limited at that. You can ult to minions and monsters as a pseudo blink.
• With the reveal of moonlight and the refresh of your ultimate you can use Q and R to get over walls in the jungle using the various camps.
• Post-6 you gain immense lane pressure as you can pretty much go in on your lane opponent whenever you want and burst them down. This isn't going to be for a kill so make sure they have Moonlight on them and only cast it once so you can use it again shortly after.
• This allows you to easily get on to your target, useful for ganking lanes and diving out of position enemies.
• You can only use the moonlight refresh once. After ulting someone with the moonlight debuff applied to them, them and all other debuffed enemies will lose the debuff, preventing you from getting more than one reset.
• You're not untargetable during your ULTs travel time so people can stop the dash with CC. Be careful of this as it prevents the reset and the damage.
• For quick burst, try UlTing while your Q is traveling. If you time it right, then you'll still get the reset, as Crescent Strike will hit before the ULT.

Lich bane was nerfed quite recently to have lower AP scaling and base damage that scales with your base AD. The result: it became less useful as an extra AP ratio and therefore less potent for extra burst. Despite that I still see potential for this item on Diana. The passive allows for slightly faster tower push, and it still syncs well with your passive for quick AA burst. Overall more of a situational or prefernce item, but it could fit well as a 6th item or alternative purchase.

Nashor's Tooth is an interesting item. Its stats have fantastic synergy with our passive by providing us with more ATK SPD to proc it, AP to back it up and some ON-Hit magic damage to add some DPS. Personally though, I NEVER buy this item. Yes, her passive was buffed, and this item is strong for providing us with really high consistent damage, but that's just not what I like to go for. When I play Diana I build DFG for huge burst and Nashor's Tooth just doesn't go well with that. When it comes to bursting down my opponents, I prefer to do it rapidly with my abilities rather than wait on procs for damage. I know it's not a lot of time, but it's also the itemization that changes to hurt our spells burst even more. When you buy this item, your committing to stay in melee range, and in big fights, this'll mean more defensive items are purchased early on. This also mean no DFG as these items sort of achieve opposite purposes. When it comes to Moonsilver Blade I use it for secondary damage. My DPS is still high thanks to the massive AP I have and the small ATK SPD it provides to make it easier to use. By all means buy this item, if you prefer to get your damage that way and are good at using it, it just doesn't fit my playstyle.

This item is bought on pretty much every mid laner, so I'd like to clear-up why it's not viable on Diana. To begin, its main selling point is Mana Regen, and that's not something we really need. Then there's its other stats; the AP is small, the MR isn't always necessary and the CDR isn't what we need, especially after the Lane Phase. What we want is damage in our early purchases, not sustain.

Not a bad choice. The slow of this item can be nice for catching people out and extended chasing. The health is always appreciated and the AP is respectable. The slow is also applied to the DFG active making it easier to catch enemies with that. If this is the item that you prefer than there's nothing wrong with it, but I find that it's generally out classed.

Very strong item for keeping you safe from late game ADC or usually inescapable bruisers. On top of its incredible tank stats, it's passive will slow people when they use basic attacks on you making you harder to chase. When that fails, you can activate it to slow enemies in a decent sized area for even more peel. Buy this if your up against the likes of Shyvana or Renekton, or are up against fed ADC that are giving you trouble.

With this item we get the benefits of dual resist and the incredible revive passive. If you find that you're getting focused hard in fights than take it it. Just the sight of the GA aura is enough to relieve pressure, and the actual revive can buy time for your team to follow-up and for your cooldowns to come back. However note two things. First, this item is terribly cost inefficient when on cool-down, so sell it for another defensive item. Second, if you die in a spot were enemies all ready have you surrounded, it's a free kill, so avoid stupid mistakes and plays once you have this item.

........Diana has strong dueling potential, even early in the game, thanks to her Passive and shield. Although you lack your ult for gap closing and burst, you can manage very well against champions that suffer the same weaknesses, or are susceptible to your damage. To name a few champions like this: Katarina, Akali and even Fizz. Key things to note: all of them are melee and short-ranged, forcing them to go in on you for trading, putting them in range of your passive, and shield. In a winning lane, you'll want to be more aggressive, as Diana can be very strong early on if you've got an advantage like this an use it. Just shield damage, poke with your Q, and try and use your passive on them when possible. When trading, if you think you can win (which you probably can), then use your W when they commit, so you can punish them. Only use your E when they begin to back off, as it's on a long cooldown, and you want to get the most out of it. Use your Passive for most of your damage, as it's easy to proc at close range, and costs no mana and hits fairly hard. If you have your ult, then you can use it for trading, as you can easily burst them down when paired with your other skills. If you're doing this, then make to hit your Q, because having it up again immediately means you can re-engage sooner and it gives you the chance to pursue the an enemy whose flashed or blinked away. Also, only cast twice if your committing to a kill/ will for sure get you the kill. It's on a long cooldown early on, so don't waste it or your kill potential will be very limited.

........When your in a lane that's safe for you, feel free to go up close for farm (this doesn't mean over extend, this is never a good idea as you'll be prone to ganks, which Diana can't escape from well). You can use your W and passive to clear waves quickly for with their powerful AOE damage. If you really want, you can use your Q to clear, as it nukes harder and affects a larger area. I don't usually, because I like to save it for poke. You can use R on minions, but only if your Q is is on them, and it's safe to cast it, like when your about to get back to lane, or you want to farm a wave dying to your tower easier.

........When your in a hard lane, you're usually in a very hard. Diana is very weak against people who can shut you down hard Pre-6 with large poke while being able to avoid your damage. Some would be: Orianna, Syndra and LeBlanc. All of them are ranged and all of them can poke and bully you a lot. As a result, you'll have less opportunities to get kills within your lane and have a harder time farming. I suggest that you play passive and only get the farm you can. Don't bother going in for kills Pre-6, it won't happen. Even after 6, be careful, they also just became much stronger. Just stay back and farm what you can because it's better to not fight and make it out of laning phase alive, then to feed and still get low amounts of farms. If you get the opportunity, have your jungler gank your lane, because getting a kill or two on them will give you a nice advantage to play off of, as well as time to free farm.

........The few farm you'll get is when they can't stop you from getting it. When you're getting zoned, use your Q to farm from a distance. Before they get all their spells, it's important to get to lane early for farm. With your W, you can go up to farm throughout the early levels, as they'll lack most of their poke, and you can protect your self from what they do have. When the lane is pushed, ask your jungler if you can take wraiths, as it's close by, and Diana can clear it quickly. It makes for a great source of income, when you can't get your minions.

Probably the easiest lane for Diana. Katarina has a hard time pocking and trading with you thanks to your shield. She's also susceptible to your passive, so she has a harder time getting into melee ranged for farm. At 6, she gains her ultimate Death Lotus but this really isn't an issue because you can just interrupt it with Moonfall significantly decreasing her burst.

TIPS:

• Use Pale Cascade to block damage from Bouncing Blades and discourage her from trading.
• Interrupting Death Lotus seals the deal in this lane. She loses out on the majority of her burst without it.
• Try to keep tabs on when she uses Shunpo as that's her only escape.

Like Katarina, Akali has to get is melee, making it easier to damage her with Pale Cascade and Moonsilver Blade. She has almost no trading power early on too so you'll win fights before 6. At 6 she gains a huge spike in power. Try to push her out of lane before then.

TIPS:

• Pale Cascade makes it very hard for her to trade with you, as all her damage is done at a close range.
• She has built in spell vamp, so it may be more difficult to poke her down.
• At 6 she gains Shadow Dance. Without a build in escape it becomes harder to escape her. Try to shut her down as much as possible Pre-6.

Fizzdoesn't necessarily lack early trading power. He has plenty of damage and can dodge spells. But, he must get close to put down his damage, and if you time Pale Cascade right and make sure to hit Crescent Strike, you can put out fairly similar damage and prevent some of his own. He is also very easy to poke down with Crescent Strike and Moonsilver Blade.

TIPS:

• Playful / Trickster is a powerful escape ability, but it has a fairly high cool-down early on. Keep that in mind when asking for a gank or when you're about to dual him in lane.
• Be careful of sustained fights him him. Seastone Trident's DOT can quickly add up.
• At 6 he gains his Ult Chum the Waters, a huge nuke and CC ability. If you're low on health and he has this available to him, play passive or just return to base.

Twisted Fate is not much of a threat to you. Although ranged, he's still easy to poke down with Crescent Strike due to his low mobility. His own damage is very avoidable, just look out for Pick A Card and Stacked Deck and try your best to dodge Wild Cards.

TIPS:

• Avoid his stun, because if he can lock you down, his burst is very high.
• Let your teammates know when he gets Destiny at level 6 so they can be more careful about over extending. If he does ult to gank a lane, follow him there, via your own teleport if it's necessary.
• He can clear minion waves and take down towers quickly, so don't leave him alone in mid lane for too long.

Nidalee has a really weak early game. She doesn't have Aspect Of The Cougar so she basically lacks 3 damage abilities and her only escape before 6. Her Javelin Toss doesn't hurt as much early on, and is harder for her to poke with at a close range and behind minions. You can bully her decently and with minimal counter attack.

TIPS:

• Your poke will do a lot of damage, but remember she has her heal to sustain her self in the early levels.
• Although not nearly as threatening in lane, if she does land a long range Javelin Toss it will still hurt quite a bit.
• Be careful for her all-in at 6. With Aspect Of The Cougar she gains Pounce, Swipe and Takedown, allowing her to dive you, hit you with large burst, and then execute you. If you're low health at this time, stay at a far range or just go back.