When I was learning Ori mid back in the day and played her a lot I could never play well with maxing q in lane(skill issue).
I ended up doing a strategy where I would prioritize q maxing, but split the points between my q and w to keep the combo up more often and make trading safer. So level 2 Q then level 2 W and so on.

I figured/figure that between q and e you have enough control to keep ball where it needs to be without needing to all in on investing a bunch of time and levels into an ability that only merits about 1 second cd and 30 magic damage per level up. Factoring in the trade advantage you get with slow and burst from qw combo following up with autos then popping e to add a bit more damage and win trade with shield if needed, I can't see why its better to max q over splitting the points and cd between the two abilities.

I understand the meta as it is established is to max your q and leverage the low CD, but from my(silver/gold meme elo) experience and observation of the gains with ability upgrades, it makes more sense to me to split max. I also seem to do more damage doing this throughout the game.

So for the far better and more experienced players: I'd love to hear what you think regarding what abilities you max in lane and for what specific reason you put a point in for.
In my head its no different than why Alistar maxes Q first: To keep the W->Q Combo available more often that way you can extend trades with CC and have more abilities up more often(idk if that math is true in that case though)

I get if its me, but I cant see why maxing q is better for anything but lowering its cooldown by a rather measly amount which is hardly any good for you if you cant follow that positioning of the ball up with more damage or leverage.

Luden's is the most commonly bought first item on Orianna despite having a much lower winrate (according to lolalytics), and is recommended in the shop. In a recent thread in this sub discussing builds, it was also highly recommended. I'm going to explain the differences and look at what is better from a first-buy perspective.

We can ignore the 50 gold difference and equivalent mana stats. I also won't analyze the build path, but alternator doesn't have a significant advantage over fated ashes unless you can only trade once every one or two waves (unlikely).

BASE STATS

Luden's 100 AP vs Blackfire 80 AP

When you complete each item, considering Doran's ring/maybe a shard, Luden's gives you roughly 20% more total AP.

At around the time you complete your first item, about 40% of your damage is from AP ratios and about 60% is from base damages. As the game progresses, more damage will come from AP ratios, but we can ignore this as the 20 AP difference will become a much smaller % of your overall AP, and also Blackfire clearly out scales Luden's anyway.

20% * 40% = 8%, so you get 8% more damage from the extra AP when you complete Luden's.

Luden's 10 AH vs Blackfire 20 AH

10 more AH = 10% more damage, as you can cast abilities 10% more often

So blackfire wins on damage from base stats. You also get a bonus to your utility from the AH, which is really strong for Ori. You can reposition the ball more, speed up people more, and ult more often.

EFFECTS

Luden's -> 150 + 10%AP / per 12 seconds
Blackfire -> 60 + 6%AP / per ability hit

So if you hit the same target twice 3 seconds apart (easy with low q cd), or you hit two targets with one ability (easy with her AOE abilities), you do about the same damage.

If you can proc it three times within 12 seconds, for example if you get a 3 man ult, Q somebody three times in a row in lane, have an all in fight, and many more likely scenarios (especially during early game skirmishes), blackfire passive wins clearly.

Remember that in lane it's hard to get the full Luden's proc onto the enemy when they're behind the wave. You are likely wasting it on the minions and hitting just one 20% damage splash charge. You can always get the full blackfire damage. The only situation where you can reliably proc the full damage in lane is if you are fully zoning the enemy off the wave, which is not something you can realistically do in the majority of your games. Also by the time you finish Luden's you're at the laning stage where you're using abilities to push the lane for priority, rather than fighting over every CS.

Just considering the damage passives, Blackfire is already winning. On top of that, blackfire gives you an extra 4% AP per applied burn, making it even better when considering it for a first buy, and making it scale so much harder into the mid and late game.

CONCLUSION

Blackfire wins both via base stats, and also with the damage passive. This is also without considering the extra 4% ap per burn target on blackfire, making the gap even larger. Luden's is only useful for all in/high burst champs with long CD timers like LB/Vex who can't keep proccing the burn, only focus one target at a time, or need more upfront damage than ability haste.

Blackfire also fits Orianna's identity as a caster with low cooldowns that does constant damage over long periods during teamfights. Her all ins and 1v1's also tend to be longer and more drawn out especially during the early/mid game.

Orianna coaching for diamond and below- 10€ per session.

Here’s what we will cover:

-mid lane fundamentals
-runes and itemisation
-drafting
-matchups

DM me if interested.

Shok in shambles. They're buffing the OP champ

I made a pretty unserious video about orianna after playing her all week. this felt like a good place to drop it :D

this guy make me want to play orianna again. (sorry for my english) she's reeally fun to watch and play

t1 orianna is my current favorite, its so elegant i love it!!

what is ur favorite orianna skin?

AHHHHHH PFEW

What are you guys building on orianna mid these days. I just picked uo this champion again after messing around for a long time in ranked, i seriously want to climb but have a hard time building. I used to be emerald on Ori and probably would have hit diamond if i played more games(high wr). I used to run an uber burn kite build(it seems bad this season) of blackfire into liandries into cosmic drive. Recently I feel like a lot of Ori players stopped running blackfire and switched to ludens. I followed suite i like the bonus damage that ludens gives with runes the poke is insane but after i finish ludens and shadowflame i feel like not many items fit her playstyle well. I have been trying to build rocketbelt after ludens and shadowflame but the stats ussually dont align well with the burst playstyle.

TLDR: What builds are we running and what are the advantages/ disadvantages in certain matchups

Scorch does help the early 7-10 levels but at the end of the game it's just 500-700 damage max. What do you take and suggest?

Hello i started playing oriana and im not really sure whats the problem. I thinks its spacing i main kassadin and oriana is ranged so maybe im too aggressive and paying the price for it? Would this be considered an okay game? I feel like my farm was normal but definitely not good (b4 as you can see) and every game i play i get targeted even in team fights even if im not in the center of i always get killed first they run me down. I will appreciate any hate, rune tips or builds against ap or ad or ranged etc anything will help shes really gun to play and i sont wanna miss out on such a great champ just because i dont understand her thanks for every tip

Every time I try to poke and then back off, he dives in and kills me right under my turret

I prefer it over mid 1000% Bot Ori, I love how it drops jaws when I whip out this ball

Orianna sup is great too, healing with a reliable team, and if your team is unreliable DMG does tons of DMG

Wondering if First Strike would be viable as support ori, heals or shields wise, since you can proc it so easily without fear of getting cc'd

I am gonna give it a try

basically title, she was hiding in a bush and one tapped me with R when I walked to hit the wave, as far as I am concerned shes a lane bully, a control/poke mage, nothing like waiting in a bush to literally assassinate someone

https://x.com/RiftboundReport/status/2104587389121274211?s=20

Lets go baby!

I am not sure if I can climb through masters but I will begin.

I know there are better orianna players but if anyone trying to climb has questions ill happily answer.

Thanks

https://op.gg/lol/summoners/na/Youtube%20Trice2eZ-BALL

Thank you Jumaralo.

Well at least it was my best Ori game :)

Hi guys! I recently started playing Orianna because of the new Hall of Legends quests, and I really LOVE her gameplay. I’m thinking about adding her to my champion pool, especially since Riot seems to make mid Seraphine harder to play with every new patch 😭 (Im basically dropping my main of many years)
My current pool is mostly Ahri, Lux, and Aurora, with Morgana as more of a counterpick into certain comps.
Do you guys think Orianna would fit well into this pool? And what are some things I should know or practice if I want to start playing her more?

I enjoy playing Orianna, and in my small sample size, playing her I usually win lane and pull my weight. However, I see her low WR and her consistently projailed status, and it makes me nervous about committing to playing her as my midlane main. If I'm good with her, should I just roll with it, or do you honestly recommend me playing a different hero that is more consistent?

- We've pulled Orianna from the patch due to concerns about nerfing an already weak champion for regular Ranked play

I'm in a league with my friends and saw she's spammed in pro play so decided to pick her up. Is she worth the time in her current state or should I just go with a different mid champ? Overall she feels "nice" with my junglers melee engage champs but she feels so much weaker than other midlane champs. Feels like I'm just there to support vs actually having power unless perma ahead or playing perfectly. On the fence about continuing to work on her or just fully dropping it. This is 100% only for teamplay and never solo queue.