LOL:Guides:Season 3:Orianna
In season 3, I started playing Orianna mid a LOT more. I've always loved her utility and set-up for the team and I played her bot lane as a support quite a bit in season 2. This season, I feel she does quite a lot of burst when built as an AP Carry, and enjoy playing her mid more than bot. Her passive allows her to farm a lot easier than other AP mids, and I find that even if I don't get early kills, I usually have enough cs by mid game to really help out in teamfights. =)
As I said above, Ori can be played as a support, and does have a shield, slow/ally speed boost, and a cc ult, but I feel she's not as strong as a support as others like Leona and Nunu, and would much rather see Orianna in mid, building damage items.
Contents
ABILITY ORDER
R > Q > W > E (Q-W-Q-E-Q-R-Q-W-Q-W-R-W-W-E-E-R-E-E)
I max Q on Ori first, because it allows you to move the ball around quicker, and harass a bit more. After that, I max W for even more damage and until I get more points in my shield, it's used as much for the shield as it is to get the ball back on me.
Once I do have max shield, I may start using my Q to put the ball back on me, and hold the shield for an ally or when it will be used more effectively.
Orianna's gameplay and abilities revolve around "the ball" If the ball is lying on the ground, she can walk over it to pick it up. Additionally, if the ball goes outside of a certain range, it will automatically return to her.
ABILITY DESCRIPTION
Passive - Clockwork windup - Orianna's basic attacks deal bonus magic damage if she continues to attack the same target. This makes it significantly easier to cs and harass early on her.
Q - Command: Attack - The ball moves to a target location. Enemies in its path take damage, but if the ball goes through multiple enemies, it has decreased damage.
W - Command: Dissonance - The ball places a field around itself, damaging enemies on activation. The field lingers for a few seconds, speeding up allies and slowing enemies.
E - Command: Protect - The ball moves to a target ally, dealing damage to enemies in its path and shielding the ally when it gets there. Allies that have the ball on them have increased defenses.
R - Command: Shockwave - The ball releases a shockwave, displacing enemies around it.
SUMMONER SPELLS
As with most of my AP mids, I usually run Ignite | Flash on Orianna. I sometimes may take barrier, giving me an additional shield on top of my E and a Seraph's Embrace if I build it.
RUNES
I use my 21-0-9 AP Carry (ms) runes on Orianna, giving me a bit extra movespeed to allow me to dodge skillshots easier and travel quicker. Additionally, I feel a faster moving Ori is much better at getting the ball placed where you want it, or getting lined up for your abilities quicker.
My AP Carry (ms) page: 9 Magic Penetration Marks - 7.9 Magic Pen. 9 Mana Regen. / Level Seals - 10.53 at level 18 9 MR per level Glyphs - 24.04 at level 18 3 Movement Speed Quints - 4.5% Movement Speed
MASTERIES
These are my season 3 AP masteries. Don't really see any other way to spec though I'm open to suggestions.
BUILD
I build Orianna straight damage (AP). It means if I get caught out at all, I'm almost guaranteed to die, but I feel I play Orianna passively enough, and with her kit as it is, getting caught isn't going to happen as much as it would on other AP mids.
My build is often the same, and while I'll sometimes stray from it, there have rarely been matches where this build doesn't work out for me. :)
STARTING ITEMS
On Orianna, I'll either fairie charm, 2 wards, and 4 health pots, or 2 fairie charms and 3 health pots.
As a much more defensive start I've also gone 1 fairie charm, 1 ward, 4 health pots and 2 mana pots.
The health pots give me sustain in lane, and I can usually manage my mana well enough to just farm and on my first back get Boots (speed 1) if I didn't have them already, and a Chalice of Harmony, giving me some MR, and mana needed to start harassing a bit more, and keep my cs going.
After that, I get a tear of the godess, Sorcerer's shoes, and Athene's Unholy Grail (built from chalice) in whatever order I deem appropriate for the match.
If I get blue, I'll really make sure to charge up my tear as fast as possible, allowing me to pick up a seraph's whenever I need it in the match.
After my 3 core items (tear, Sorc shoes, and the grail) I build a Rabbadon's Deathcap and Void Staff. Usually, I find that I'm either far enough ahead in farm or kills that the burst from these items is devastating, especially to the enemy carries, who have most likely not built to much MR at this point in the match. After that, I'll build Haunting Guise into Liandry's, or finish my Archangel's Staff, which at this point, will instantly be upgrading into Seraph.
Since Ori is extremely squishy with this build, your positioning is key. Luckily, with run speed quints and your W, and flash as a backup, you're mobility is higher than most AP mids.
With Orianna's high burst, slow, and cc ult, kiting an enemy champ or 2 is usually not a problem, assuming one of those champs doesn't have a great gap closer.
With her passive, and ability to clear minion waves, I find Orianna is a strong pusher. While she isn't a great split pusher, if I'm fed and their team is pre-occupied, I may take a tower or 2. If you do this, just make sure to be map-aware, and know when it's time to run out or recall. Ori doesn't have that great of an escape against an entire team. (unless she can speed herself up while slowing them with her W, but they have to all come from 1 direction for that to work best.)
Your seraph's embrace is your single remotely defensive item. It allows you to still have a shield, and be able to put your E on an allied champion. Additionally, if you're getting jumped on in a teamfight, you can combine your E and seraph's for a shield that is about 1/3 or more of your health, lol.
Additionally, I may take Will of the Ancients in place of a tear, and I find that it works out a lot better on Ori than other AP mids. Since all of Ori's abilities are AOE, she can heal rather quickly off of creeps or jungle monsters.
If I'm in need of some Armor and the stasis, I may also pick up a Zhonya's Hourglass, in place of either my Seraph's or my Liandry's.
I get told all the time I should build ROA and Rylai's. First of all, I think Rylai's is a pretty bland choice on Ori. All of her abilities are AOE, and Rylai's has it's effect reduced on AOE abilities. I'm aware that the slow from Rylai's doubles the damage done by Liandry's, but don't forget, Ori's W is already slowing people. :p
ROA I guess would be a decent choice if you built it before 20 minutes, and don't want to play as high risk/high reward as I do on Ori. I've tried those items on Ori, and I don't like taking a break from building damage items at any point in my build. :/
LANING PHASE
With Orianna's passive, it's rather easy to get cs, even at level 1. I mainly focus on csing until level 3, when I get a second point in my Q. With 2 points in my Q, I may start trying to harass my opponent if they leave themselves open to it. This goes double if I get the second blue. If my opponent is out-trading me, I will just cs, and use my abilities to make sure I miss as few minions as possible.
Normally, I like to play champions that excel in ganking bot or top (since one of those lanes are likely to need help, unless our team is rolling their team all around) but with Ori, I usually focus on CSing until mid game, and hard pushing mid lane if my opponent goes to gank. Once I get a decent amount of cs, I'll start looking for opportunities to gank top or bot, or even start making their junglers job harder.
TEAM FIGHTS
Ori is a great initiate in teamfights. With the way I build her, her Q + R + W is devastating to the enemy team, and I spend most fights (or build ups to fights) looking for an opportunity to catch 4 or 5 of them in my ult. One of the main reasons I take flash on Ori, is so I can be in the back of my team, and instantly flash Q + R if their team groups up and gives me the chance. By ulting a good amount of their team, I've gotten the carries (unless they've built a good chunk of MR) low, and they're now looking to back out (usually) and I've set my team up to win. It's usually just a matter one whether they follow up or not. Playing Ori requires a bit of patience, and waiting for the right moment to ult, but not waiting so long that you miss a chance to ult.
Also, in teamfights, as Ori, you should be aware of who they are focusing, and throw your E on them if you can.