New League of Legends champ Diana, Scorn of the Moon is an insta-buy for junglers

Riot just revealed their upcoming champion: Diana, Scorn of the Moon. Using the power of moonlight, in contrast to Leona's sunlight, Diana has high area of effect damage and defensive abilities that make her an ideal jungler. She features a kit that comes together in team fights and possesses the ability to execute quick ganks. She also has a unique curved skillshot. Her abilities are:

• Moonsilver Blade (Passive): Diana has increased Attack Speed. Every third strike cleaves nearby enemies for additional magic damage.
• Crescent Strike: Diana swings her blade to unleash a bolt of lunar energy, afflicting enemies with Moonlight and dealing damage in an arc before exploding.
• 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. This shield is refreshed if all three spheres detonate.
• Moonfall: Diana draws in and slows all nearby enemies.
• Lunar Rush (Ultimate): Diana teleports to an enemy and deals magic damage. Lunar Rush has no cooldown when used to teleport to a target afflicted with Moonlight.

Her ability Pale Cascade creates three orbiting spheres around her that detonate and deal damage to enemies that come close, while also protecting her with a shield that absorbs incoming damage. The great thing about it is that if all three orbs are detonated, the shield effect is refreshed, so she can absorb even more damage. In addition to the cleave attack from her passive, she should be able to clear the jungle quickly and without taking much punishment.

Combos and the use of Moonlight are going to play a huge role in distinguishing the good from the bad. Her ability Crescent Strike is a unique curved skillshot that is unleashed in an arc, damaging enemies in its path while also afflicting them with Moonlight. Her ultimate, Lunar Rush, teleports her to an enemy. If that enemy is afflicted by Moonlight, then the cooldown on Lunar Rush is refreshed while consuming all active Moonlight debuffs. It gives her great mobility and high damage.

It was also confirmed on the official League of Legends forums that Diana is an AP (ability power) jungler. This was confirmed by Statikk, an assistant game designer.

I look forward to seeing her champion spotlight and playtesting her in the test server.

You can follow Movies and Culture Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ