If you've ever played Diana, you certainly know that she feels just a bit weird to play. She's surely not the hardest League of Legends champion to play, but her ultimate and her crowd control spell (E) always looked kind of disconnected.
Having an R that can instantly reset while your E has almost a 30 seconds cooldown was surely the reason for such discrepancy.
Riot Games apparently noticed it and decided to push a rework that's currently tested on the PBE.
The Diana gameplay changes essentially affect these two spells by switching them, but it also adds a new proc since the E only used to be a crowd control. Overall, it should help the champion feel more complete.
Also, it will directly affect her pre-level 6 since she will now able to dash onto her target without having her ultimate. This should definitely make her early-game easier, especially when she's played as a jungler.
Regarding the mid lane version, that's also a downside in a certain way: the E used to be her only way to get away from a gank by slowing both the jungler and her opponent mid laner. Thanks to her shield, Diana is not often afraid to jump at her target, but without a CC in her 'normal' kit, players will have to be sure of their decision before completely committing.
Moreover, Diana's E used to passively give her some Attack Speed: this effect will now be added to her general passive. Another consistency change that seems pretty logical.
Compared to her current passive:
- The bonus Attack Speed is now decoupled from the E, which means it scales on character level instead
- This bonus is always applied and increases after spell casts
- Passive — Moonsilver Blade doesn't restore mana anymore.
Diana is a weird champion, oscillating between the assassin, the tank, and the mage, but this rework will surely help her compete with Akali and others. Of course, compared to recent champions such as Senna or Aphelios, her ability kit still seems a bit minimalistic — not to say straightforward.
However, with such a rework, she might come back stronger in the mid-lane or in the jungle — don't you think?
In their October champion roadmap, Riot Games revealed the first insights of Fiddlesticks & Volibear's reworks while teasing champions that will be released. Following Senna, we should expect a juggernaut, a jungler and a solo laner...
