League of Legends

[Ashe]

On the topic of supports, I've decided to learn one, and so my next purchase is a champion I've wanted since she was first announced - Orianna. Any protips?

That's not a character I recommend going gp5 with wards on. Her AP demands are like those of Lux and Morgana - she wants to farm and build like a mage.

You CAN build the other way, but she's far less effective in my opinion when her ball isn't a worry in regards to zoning due to low damage and her shield becomes an easily poppy bubble.

The big four that do the babysitting gp5 thing are Taric, Soraka, Janna, and Sona. That said, there are major changes coming to all of them soon, most notably Soraka and Taric.

---

How I tend to build Orianna is similar to Morgana but more in the direction of Lux. I try to get cd boots on her (a big deal on her, though if I have survival issues, I get Move3. Merc Treads are great, but with her, my positioning tends to keep me out of needing them much and if I do, that's positioning mistakes, not as much a tenacity need. If they ARE just that good getting behind me, I get Merc.) There are only honestly two champs I will say to get this asap on, Lux and Orianna, but get Mejai's asap. You won't die much, due to their "stay in the back doing lots of damage" playstyle, but you'll be doing enough aoe from a good range to either wrack up kills (your ult does a good bit of damage) or at least stack from assists. I rarely have issues justifying it on those two champs - hate it on nearly anyone else for inconsistency reasons.

Beyond that, Deathcap as usual and then decide what you need from their team. I've been unimpressed with Rylai's on her. Maybe I'm not noticing it or something, but it seems like your Q and E, that move the ball, don't trigger it, meaning it more or less is "added slow to your W". Hourglass is good for survival and for AP, but not a requirement - depends on how much they come after you, which if they are diving through your team, that's a different issue. I like ArcStaff on her. I have a tendency to build survival gear after, like Banshee's to protect my stacks.

Play tricks - if your tank is about to initiate, give him your ball for the shield and bonus MR and Armor. If your carry gets jumped, swap it to them temporarily. Use it as preemptively as possible, like Kayle's shield, on anyone that's about to take a lot of damage. Zone with your Q (and its PBAoE moves). Remember that you can throw your ball out with Q, then shield yourself with E to basically damage a group twice, mixing a W in there.

The tricky stuff is remembering that you can activate the ball in ways that aren't immediately noticeable. Its easy when running to want to W while holding the ball to speed myself up to catch up to the group, but if the carry is chasing someone and trying to get that last hit, throw them the ball with E and then W while its on them - they'll get the speed boost and you'll get it once you catch up to that spot as well. This is also a great trick to help extract someone that's being chased. Throw your ball onto someone like Katarina when she ults and then use your ult so they take maximum damage. Q the ball onto a group that's about to be hit by Brand's ult and then ult to keep them there (or to reposition them for something like Lux laser/some kind of cage). I get quite a few kills simply baiting someone under my tower when I'm low and then kiting them with W on myself before activating my shield, getting close and ulting, usually interrupting whatever they are doing while keeping them in tower range for a bit (while slowed from W).

I'd say she's kinda like playing chess in the middle of a match. Very fun and rewarding, but tough to play to her fullest potential.