Hello, and welcome to my new guide for Annie. For those of you who followed my old guide I thank you for your support. Being new or experienced this guide is designed to help you understand Annie and her role better. Essentially my old guide was made when I just barley hit level 30 and thought I could whip up a good guide for her. While I must have done something right to have gotten top rated looking back at it now I feel it needed much more then a revision so I'm starting from scratch. Along with a more simplistic approach this guide should have more detailed information to help new and experienced players alike.

Annie has a number of ups and downs. I'll be brief with this so you get a general idea.

Pros:

-Amazing bursting power
-Long auto-attack range
-Amazing passive
-Easy to use
-Great skins
- Summon: Tibbers

Cons:

-Short ability range
-Somewhat low mobility
-Can be outplayed due to lack of complexity
-Expensive Skins

First thing is first, Runes. If you are below level 20 I would recommend saving your IP for tier 3 runes because they will get expensive. Runes play a pretty big role in how you start. The game of course is still pretty dependent on your gameplay but runes are important for starting.

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration

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These are useful runes for dishing out more damage. There runes you could place here for other things like ability power but it only has about half the effect compared to the magic pen.

Greater Seal of Armor

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I used to use ability power runes here but the armor is more useful. Aside from every now and then there is going to be an auto-attack from the enemy this helps give you a little more standing on AD champs who go mid.

Greater Glyph of Ability Power

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These pretty much explain themselves. Ability power is nice and there's not much else you could put here. I have thought about cooldown reduction runes before but they are 820 each so it's not very affordable.

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power

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Pretty standard for most AP champs. You could try some other runes for more interesting effects but these are expensive so I recommend what you know will work.

Recommended:

Pyromania

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This is a good passive. It gives you a nice stun that is amazing when used at the right time. Most people want to cling to the stun once they get it but this is a bad idea. It makes you limited int he spells you can cast and your opponent can easily manipulate your playstyle. If you get this don't waste a second thought about tossing it to last hit a minion. If you plan to attack the enemy soon you can start saving up for it since it's doesn't take to long to build up but it's important you remember not to be clingy with this.

Disintegrate

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This is your standard early farming tool. Last hitting minions will give you back the mana cost of the spell and last hitting them with it is simple enough with it's high power. You might be a little worried starting off with Incinerate first but this is important to do because of it's early usefulness.

Incinerate

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Although you are maxing this second you will be starting off with this. The reason is because you have a good minute to prepare at fountain when the game starts. Using this time you will cast it 4 times on the fountain to proc your passive. With this you will have a level 1 AoE stun before the game even starts. This is important as you can use it to defend your jungle in case they invade or as good help by stunning the buff for a good 2 seconds for the jungler to attack without worry. This skill is used later in the game for farming.

Molten Shield

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This skill is basically a built in Thornmail. Aside from the small buff and reflected damage the main reason your getting this is to give you better control of your passive. Using this shield is cheap and easily lets you manipulate the counter without having to even attack anything. The cooldown is a bit high on it though so be sure to use it as needed.

Summon: Tibbers

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The only other bear in League of Legends besides Volibear. It has been scientifically proven that the more bears you have on your team the greater your chances of winning are. This guy right here is your strongest spell that not only does high AoE damage with potential stun but also gives you a big tanky minion. Normally you don't want to burn this guy to fast as he is best used to attack groups mid to late game. A nice extra feature that not all people realize is that tibbers can proc item effects thanks to his constant AoE damage around him. Use of the right utility items can turn the tides of a fight given this.

Core Spells

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Ignite

Ignite is standard for most mid champs. With Annie it helps finish off the enemy if they escape with a little health left. This doesn't always happen but it's nice to have in case it does. It can also be used early to prevent certain champs from healing to much during late game.

Flash

Flash is a must for almost any champion. For Annie however this won't often be used as an escape, but rather as a gap closer. When your opponent has their health a little chipped away and is keeping a good distance from to avoid any more attack that's when you flash in to quickly stun and burst them down as needed. Flash is very important and has a long cooldown so use it carefully.

Other Spells

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Teleport

This is a useful utility tool when used right. Using this effectively will usually require good communication with teammates. Using it to teleport to hidden wards can easily turn the tides of a fight. It gives you a lot of map control so try to understand where you can be most useful with it.

Exhaust

If the enemy team looks like they have good mobility this spell might be a good choice. Slowing down fast enemies takes away a big part of their advantage when used right. This spell can be tricky to use at the right times but can pay off well when it is.

First off, we will look at the common type of minions you will see. After that we will look at your farming methods and strategies. Minions spawn at 1:30 with waves being spawned every 30 seconds. Minions gain increased stats every 3min and do 50% more damage to towers and -15% damage to champions. Siege minions spawn at 2:30 and respawn every 1:30min(3 waves). For more detailed information on minions you can try here

Minion Types

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Melee:

Starting Gold: 20(+0.5 every 3min)
Starting Experience: 58.88(4.6 every 3min)

Caster:

Starting Gold: 15(+0.5 every 3min)
Starting Experience: 29.44(2.76 every 3min)

Siege:

Starting Gold: 40(+1 every 3min)
Starting Experience: 92(6.44 every 3min)

Farming Methods

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Given the above stats, you can see what to prioritize when last hitting minions. Most of the time you will be last hitting minions with your Disintegrate and Incinerate as needed. Don't worry to much about the mana cost from Incinerate as it will quickly come back thanks to your Disintegrate and Doran's Ring. You want to try and prioritize getting as many minions as you can but keep in mind that melee minions give more gold and exp. Over time the gold difference will become less and less noticeable so it's important to mainly focus on getting as many last hits as you can. Last hitting with your auto attacks can be difficult but very useful so be sure to practice with it as well.

Farming Tactics

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Getting your own farm is important but you can't forget about your opponent on lane. While farming you will both usually dance around while trying to hit each other with some attacks. An easy way to predict there movement is to watch your minion health as well as they will be trying to last hit them when possible. Watching enemy minions, your opponent, and your minions as well as the mini map can be tricky so of course you will make mistakes somewhere. Try to remember that while you might get some gold from killing your enemy your biggest advantage of doing so is the gold you get from them not being in lane to control your farm. Ideally you want to stay in your lane as long as possible. When going back be sure to consider how much farm you will lose when doing so.

Below are the core items, offensive items, defensive items, and utility items as listed above. There are more items then this that you can put on Annie but these I decided were most viable in most cases. To be brief the core items are items that are almost always built as they are essential to have to your champion. Offensive and defensive items are exactly what they sound like. Utility items are items I found to be highly situational and are useful depending on if you know when to use them.

Core Items

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Sorcerer's Shoes

These are your boots. Boots are good, boots are important. You want to build these maybe as your second item unless you need the early mobility.

Rod of Ages

This is an important item. To be exact, the catalyst the protector it builds from is important. This item will give you the sustain you will need to stay in lane for a long time while restoring any lost health or mana each time you level up. I often will sometimes start with a Sapphire Crystal and pots first instead of Doran's Ring and pots.

Rabadon's Deathcap

This is the best item you can get for any AP carry you have. High AP and bonus AP make this item essential for almost all AP mid champions.

Offensive Items

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Deathfire Grasp

This item is great for taking out those champions that just won't go down easy. Aside from the high AP boost and some CDR it's active takes out 15% of their health and makes them take more magic damage even if it's from another champion. Good item to get when not get focused much and carrying pretty well.

Liandry's Torment

This item gives some AP, health, and magic pen. The main thing about this item though is it's passive to deal % damage to current health over time. Normally this wouldn't be to interesting on a champ with burst powers but this item can be used in teamfights to deal good AoE damage since Tibbers will proc it's effect as he deals constant fire damage to enemies near him. Combined with the stun and possible movement impaired effects like from Rylai's Crystal Scepter can make it deal some decent damage at the start of a fight.

Morellonomicon

This item has nice AP and CDR. It's passive makes it a nice offensive option against enemies that have strong healing effects or lifesteal. Usually best idea to get it for tanky champions who can heal while taking your damage.

Void Staff

Pretty self explanatory. Good AP and high magic pen. Usually an item you get late game to buff up your damage or if they are stacking MR for whatever reason.

Mejai's Soulstealer

The holy grail of risk items. You can get this item early and pretty cheap but of course you only want to do so if you have full confidence your going to carry the game for some reason. I can't say this won't do you any good at all because I use to build this first thing in blind picks when I saw an enemy champion I knew I would do well against. Outside of blind picks though it's pretty risky to get. A method to test the waters is to buy a Amplifying Tome and a single pot from the start. If you confirmed your going to win your lane without a doubt you can build into it otherwise sell it or build it into something else.

Defensive Items

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Abyssal Scepter

I was thinking of putting this as offensive but I think the MR and aura make it more defensive. Essentially it should be used if you have other AP carry's on your team. More of a supportive item but can still boost your output for damage.

Athene's Unholy Grail

Probably not the first defensive item you would pick but it's stats aren't that bad. AP, CDR, and some MR make it a decent item even if the passive isn't that needed on Annie. In the event you somehow are running low on mana often then it just gives another reason to get it I suppose.

Zhonya's Hourglass

The most popular choice for defense and with reason. Great AP, great armor, and amazing active. It might take awhile to get used to the active but this is a must have for a lot of situations.

Banshee's Veil

The item used to be pretty awesome but since it's been buffed it's even better then before. So aside from the shield which can block a skill it also heals you a little over time after you get hurt from an enemy. This can be coupled well with an item like Spirit Visage to make the healing even stronger.

Spirit Visage

Pretty defensive without any real offense in it. The CDR is nice but I would mostly recomend building this if you plan to use other items that go well with it such as Banshee's Veil or Hextech Revolver.

Utility Items

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Banner of Command

Some AP, armor, and CDR. This item is useful if you went to push lanes quickly and has some decent stats to it. Late game though you are likely to sell it off for something else.

Hextech Revolver

Not an item I would normally put on Annie but I can see it's use. Health generally works well on Annie because of her Molten Shield so building something like spellvamp and coupling it with items like Spirit Visage will make it harder to take down for sure. The tradeoff is of course your aiming for less burst damage or more sustained damage.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter

Good AP and health but I find it's passive more situational so I listed it as a utility item. The slow is useful for more mobile champions that can get away from you and the fact tibbers procs effects around him can make it great for teamfights. It can also be coupled with an item like Liandry's Torment to double up it's passive.

Seraph's Embrace

This is a pretty amazing item but sadly can take time to build effectively so I had to list it as a utility item. You would need to buy the tear early to start charging it up but once it's ready this item will not only buff up your AP but give you a shield using your mana. Since Annie rarely has mana problems late game this gives you a pretty strong shield when needed.

Twin Shadows

Decent AP, decent MR, but the main reason to get this is it's active. It can be useful if trying to catch a fleeing enemy or just trying to spot the nearest ones that might be hiding in your jungle. Pretty situational so it's almost purely utility based.

Will of the Ancients

If you have other AP carry's on your team this can be really beneficial. Spellvamp can be a little useful for you but to other champs it can be amazing. Overall this item mostly depends on your team composition but it's useful to grab in some cases.

Guardian Angel

Your probably wondering why I listed this as utility instead of defensive. Normally it's good defensive item yes but generally champions like Annie don't really need it except in certain situations so it felt more accurate to label it as a utility item. As it says it's got armor, MR and a passive that revives you every once in awhile.

Key Bindings

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Key binding can be changed by pressing [esc] while in game and selecting [key bindings]. Here, you can change a number of keys to your liking, including keys you might not have been aware of such as smart casting and spell level up. Most key binding have a nice setting to them but I find it useful to change the normal QWER keys to smart casting versions. What smart casting will let you do is hover over the target or direction you want to cast your spell in. You have to learn your champions spell range with this but it saves much time and is critical if you want to burst down your enemy in the 1.75 seconds you have them stunned.

Wards

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Vision is critical in this game. Normally your only vision comes from towers, minions and your own champion. Warding at least 1 area near your lane is important so you can spot if the jungler or another lane is coming to help, or use it to escape if they are coming from another direction as you know that way is clear because of your vision on it. You will also want to pick up wards when you can mid to late game to help ward yours or the enemy teams jungle depending on who is winning. Vision is very important and can be expensive to push all onto one person so don't forget to get some wards while you can.

Colorblind Mode

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If you watch some pro players streams you might have noticed the colors are different from normal. This is because they are often using colorblind mode, which mostly changes anything green to a light blue. The reason this is used is because it can help identify objects better. It is also a common preference as the light blue is generally more appealing the the standard green. You can find the option for colorblind mode by hitting [esc] and selecting your display setting. It can usually be found at the bottom left of that area.

9/24/2013 - Guide Created. Old Guide(finally) Archived.