Diana combos: cooldowns, costs and the order that matters
Ability-by-ability breakdown of Diana with real cooldowns and costs, the combo worth drilling, and why order changes the outcome.
Damage is a sequence, not a sum
Casting in the wrong order on Diana does not shave a little damage off — it frequently wastes an ability outright, because the setup lands after the payoff.
At 150 attack range Diana has to walk into damage to deal it, so every trade begins with a decision about whether you can afford the walk.
The kit, with the real numbers
Moonsilver Blade
Every third strike cleaves nearby enemies for an additional magic damage. After casting a spell, Diana gains Attack Speed for 5 seconds.
Crescent Strike
Unleashes a bolt of lunar energy in an arc dealing magic damage. Afflicts enemies struck with Moonlight, revealing them if they are not stealthed for 3 seconds.
Pale Cascade
Diana creates three orbiting spheres that detonate on contact with enemies to deal damage in an area. She also gains a temporary shield that absorbs damage. If her third sphere detonates, the shield gains additional strength.
Lunar Rush
Becomes the living embodiment of the vengeful moon, dashing to an enemy and dealing magic damage. Lunar Rush has no cooldown when used to dash to an enemy afflicted with Moonlight. All other enemies will have the Moonlight debuff removed regardless of whether they were the target of Lunar Rush.
Moonfall
Diana reveals and draws in all nearby enemies and slows them. If Diana pulls in one or more enemy champions, the moonlight crashes down onto her after a short delay, dealing magic damage in an area around her, increased for each target beyond the first pulled.
Skill order, and how to reason about it
Take Moonfall at levels 6, 11 and 16 — the ultimate is always worth the point it costs.
For the basic abilities, Lunar Rush (E) gains the most from being ranked: its cooldown falls by 8 seconds between rank 1 and max, which is the largest improvement in the kit. That is the usual argument for maxing it first.
This is reasoning from the cooldown data, not a win-rate ranking — a matchup that punishes you can invert it.
- Q · Crescent Strike — cooldown 8/7.5/7/6.5/6s, improving by 2s across its ranks
- W · Pale Cascade — cooldown 15/13.5/12/10.5/9s, improving by 6s across its ranks
- E · Lunar Rush — cooldown 22/20/18/16/14s, improving by 8s across its ranks
Reading the cooldown column
Those cooldown figures are per rank, lowest first. The gap between the first and last number is the best argument for a skill order there is — an ability that drops sharply as you rank it earns those points; one that barely moves does not.
Diana is mana-gated, which is the real limit on how often you can contest a wave early.
Riot's own notes on playing Diana
These are the designers' words, not ours — the tips shipped in the client for Diana.
- Landing Crescent Strike is critically important, but don't be afraid to miss. The cooldown is short and the mana cost is low.
- Consider when to cast Lunar Rush without Moonlight and when to wait for another Crescent Strike.
- Use Moonfall and Lunar Rush to stay on targets and activate Moonsilver Blade for extra damage.
Drill it in practice tool
Practice tool has no MMR attached and lets you reset cooldowns on demand. Ten minutes there beats ten games of learning a sequence while somebody fights back.
What the stat line does between level 1 and 18
| Stat | Level 1 | Level 18 |
|---|---|---|
| Health | 640 | 2493 |
| Attack damage | 57 | 57 |
| Armour | 31 | 104.1 |
| Magic resist | 32 | 66.9 |
Movement speed 345 and attack range 150 do not grow with levels — they are the two numbers that stay true all game.
Full Diana page — abilities, stats and every skin →