Hello! Welcome to my first guide on MobaFire! Annie is a very basic caster that has a very high potential and can become a major game changer in mid to late game and has a very strong laning phase. With practice, Annie can be a very strong pick and will be able to destroy in 1v1s and help immensely in teamfights.

Marks

Greater Mark of Insight-Your basic caster marks. These are very important because when combined with your Sorcerer's Shoes, you will have 29 MPen which will cut through all but 1 of any non-tank's base MR.

Seals

Greater Seal of ReplenishmentGreater Seal of Replenishment-Gives you close to 4 MP5. This may not seem like much, but when you get down to it, this will allow you to farm harder and more efficiently and be able to poke and harass without losing too much mana.
Greater Seal of VitalityGreater Seal of Vitality-An extra boost of health that Annie could really use. The reason I don't take this over Replenishment is because we take a lot of health items in build.

Glyphs

Greater Glyph of Force-The best glyphs for this build specifically because we focus largely on early game survivability and the scaling AP this provides really helps when you're not fed or farmed.
Greater Glyph of Warding-If you find yourself getting bullied early game in lane, these will help to keep you in lane longer and reduce the damage you're taking. Both are very useful, mainly personal preference whether you want more AP or more MR.

Quintessences

Greater Quintessence of Potency-The set of these gives you as much AP as a Doran's ring and helps your early game farm and harass. Not much to say about these, they are the best quintessences for Annie in my opinion.
Greater Quintessence of Fortitude-These will give you early game health (about as much as a Doran's) and are the preferred choice if you don't want to rush/stack Doran's rings as much as the build suggests.

21-0-9 masteries are pretty much the basis for casters. The MP5 in utility compliments your Seals of ReplenishmentSeal of Replenishment And Expanded Mind will increase your mana pool. Summoner's Insight will reduce the cooldown on Flash . Runic Affinity is for your blue buff when you're allowed to get it.

The only real other tree you could use would be 21-9-0 taking the same in Offence but 3 points in Resistance , 1 point in Hardiness , 4 points in Durability , and 1 final point in Veteran's Scars . This will help you have more survivability early game and Durability will help if combined with Seals of VitalitySeal of Vitality.

Another very useful setup you could use (brought to my attention by Deluth) is switching your 4 points in Mental Force for 1 point in Summoner's Wrath and 3 points in Brute Force . This will give you a slight farming advantage with the extra 3 AD and although you are down a measly 4 AP, when your Ignite is on CD, you will gain 5 AP AND AD which gives you a higher amount of AP then Mental Force would have anyways.

In this section, I will go over why we build what we do in the main build, as well as the second build. I will also show some situational items that you may want to purchase if a game isn't going your way.

Doran's Ring

-Annie , in my book, is the queen of Doran's stacking. It really helps your early game survivability, gives decent chunks of AP, and a TON of MP5. Some people may say that Doran's stacking is a bad idea because your laning opponent will have much more AP then you and that you'll be behind in gold, but with our Greater Glyph of Forces , we will have a steady amount of AP being added passively. As for the gold aspect, you will be able to farm quicker then if you were to rush other items, and you will only need about an additional 12 CS per Doran's to make up for the selling cost. Only stack these if you are in no hurry to get your RoA, or plan on not buying one at all. 2 is fine, 3 is going slightly overboard but can be useful in certain situations.

Sorcerer's Shoes

-These are your bread and butter. Once you obtain them, your spells will be tearing your opponent up and it will be much easier to farm. These should be taken in almost ALL games, although in late-game if you find that the enemy team is stacking a lot of MR, it will be beneficial to sell them and purchase Mercury's Treads and a Void Staff to prevent CC and to get a higher amount of MPen.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter

-This item gives you everything that you need. Health, Ability Power, and even a very useful slow. Rylai's should be taken in EVERY build for Annie ; it's just THAT good.

Rod of Ages

-This item should always be taken early-ish to have its full affect. Most people overlook a very important part of the RoA, or namely Catalyst the ProtectorCatalyst the Protector, that it gives you Health and Mana upon leveling. That is why in the build we take CtP early, and finish RoA slightly later.

Guardian Angel

-In my opinion, this is probably the most important item for ANY carry in the game. The Guardian Angel will allow you to be more risky, and in teamfights, you lose focus and by the time you're back up, cooldowns will be refreshed. As a plus, you also get a decent amount of MR and AR. When and if you purchase this item is totally up to you, you can get it earlier if you're dying often, or later if you're doing fine and need more AP at the moment. GA should NEVER be stacked on top of a Banshee's Veil because it is just simply too much defense.

Rabadon's Deathcap

-Highest AP in the game, 30% increased AP. What more is there to say? This is a MUST in any game, it will shoot your AP through the roof and should always be purchased mid to late game.

Banshee's Veil

-A great item if you are getting cut down by enemy AP's. Banshee's Veil provides you with health, mana, magic resist, and a nifty shield that can turn a teamfight in your favor. When building RoA, you can switch and build a Veil with your Catalyst the ProtectorCatalyst the Protector and get a Rod later or not at all, depending on how your game is going. BV should NEVER be stacked on top of a Guardian Angel because it is just simply too much defense.

Void Staff

-If they are stacking MR. In reality, your AD carry should have them building armor, and they may only have one or two with 100+ MR, which is fine. IF you are building this item, and you, for whatever reason, have a Haunting Guise , SELL IT IMMEDIATELY. In the same way that Black Cleavers and Last Whispers shouldn't be stacked, Void Staffs and Haunting Guises shouldn't be either.

Disintegrate-

Your Q ability. You will max this first. You will use this as your main farming ability, because when you kill a minion with it, the mana cost is refunded. This is very important to know and I feel it is looked over too much. Your Disintegrate is on a low cooldown, so make sure to use it often.

Incinerate-

Your W ability. You will max this second, and will take it along with your Disintegrate . Use this to AoE stun their team, or farm groups of caster minions.

Molten Shield-

Your E ability. This is your secret weapon. Your Manhattan Project. Get 3 stacks on your passive and your stun will be 1 ability away from being active. The enemy will not think you have your stun handy, when really you are one click of E away from having it up. This is the trick to Annie , and once you master this, you will destroy. This shield also acts as a sort of Thornmail and gives increased MR and AR, so use this whenever things get dirty. Max this last, as it doesn't do any damage.

Summon: Tibbers-

All he really wants to do is give hugs. Tibbers is a very strong part of your combo. He can be used to stun and slay. He has a built-in Sunfire Cape , can tank turrets for you, and is a pretty strong guy. You can control him just like other doubles, such as LeBlanc's Mirror Image , Shaco's Hallucinate , and Yorick's Omen of Death . Tibbers not only does damage by fighting and by his passive Sunfire Cape , but he also does a reasonable amount of damage on spawn, which is why you MUST spawn him on top of your enemies. Max this as you can.

Pyromania-

This is really what makes Annie her self. You can use this to instantly stun an enemy in lane and destroy them, you can use it to escape a gank, to AoE stun their entire team to setup a teamfight, the possibilities are really endless.

Flash

My favorite Summoner Spell. Flash is a great spell to escape ganks, escape chases, finish chases, and to position yourself in teamfights.

Ghost

My second favorite Summoner Spell. Ghost allows you to have extreme chasing power and maneuverability, but limits your escape methods more then Flash does. Both are very useful, it is mainly up to personal preference.

Ignite

Your finisher. Ignite allows you to blow your full combo, and even if they survive(they usually don't), you can throw the Ignite on them to ensure the kill.

Exhaust

This will be good if you are laning against AD enemies such as Tryndamere or Caitlyn . Typically, you won't have anybody AD in mid, but some teams chose to send a ranged carry mid instead of an AP, which is when Exhaust will come in handy.

Heal

A reliable life-saver. When you're facing that LeBlanc or Veigar and you need an extra chunk of health to survive their combo. A good spell when beginning with Annie , but once you get used to her, you won't have any problems with dying too often.

Teleport

If you REALLY like your farm. Use this if you are constantly going back to the base and need to get back to lane quickly to ensure a good CS. Also remember that you can Teleport to allied wards, and to make sure that you take advantage of this.

Clarity

Annie shouldn't be having any mana problems. If you are farming correctly, you shouldn't even use mana because of the lovely passive on her Disintegrate .

Pros

Low CD's
Strong non-skillshot nukes
Single person stun/AoE stun
Decent shield
Teddy Bear pet
No mana used when farmed correctly

Cons

Very squishy early game
No built-in escapes
Slow
Short range on abilities