Greetings Summoners!

Allthough I was thrilled at the idea of a more durable Annie, this straightout bad build displayed such an incredible lack of knowledge about tanking, Annie and the game in general that I was surprised to find it work - still not convincing, but playable. Well, I used the the time to improve this build, and I can happily say now that I found a way to make a durable Annie that has anything it takes to be played as a unique tanky-AP-bruiser.
Please feel free to contact me with questions and feedback,

my IGN is "Gott der 7 Meere" on EUW

AP-Annie with Sight Ward and AP runse and masteries.

Bruiser-Annie with Catalyst the Protector and defesive runes and masteries.


Spell Damage and Utility mid game (lvl 12):

• ~450(5) vs. ~150(1)
• ~450(4) vs. ~350(5)
• ~80(1) vs. ~80(5)(nuke) or ~800(10 AA trying to kill you...)
• ~550(2) vs. ~400(2)
• ~100 vs. ~75(nuke) or ~750(10sec trying to get away until bear is killed...)

I am trying to illustrate that pure AP has a much higher burst (obviously) but that AP-Bruiser can surpass that easily if he uses the DPS from Bear and Shield and sticks around for a second stun without dieing.

Pure AP (Mid) Annie relies on her nuke-power from a - - - . She suffers of small ranged skills, and a terrible squishyness, even when building Rod of Ages. It can work very well, but I don't see it comming close to the true pyromaniac Annie can be.


Pure Tank (No place in the Meta) is nice in theory because she can: protect your squishy carries, initiate battles, prevent dangerous ultimates, kill enemy high priority enemy targets - all in all the definition of a tank. Lastly, you can only tank properly if you can live through all of it wich anyone - given the proper items - can. Annie has got an amazing tool to control her battlefield when (to begin with it) we ignore her damage. Her passive allows her to AOE stun every 5 seconds for a huge duration. Together with her AP-carry-taunt (even when you build tank, ppl will focus you out of habbit) she can do it (but others can do it better). Getting Farmed in this role is difficult.


AP-Bruiser/Tank (Top/Mid) Building no AP on Annie is just outright stupid. She has splendid AP ratios. Interestingly, there is one AP item that will make your stun dependent arsenal of CC a pure annoyance: Rylai's Crystal Scepter. Every ability can use the slow. Your Q will apply the full slow and is excellent at singleing out targets, not only due to the fact that you will have it up every 2.4 seconds with 40% CDR. Your shield gives you your own Randuin's Omen, slowing anyone who hits her. Your bear can use the slow with his Aura to stick to targets. Finally your W has another AOE application. Reste assured that ppl will focus you hard, and that your ammount of CC will keep enemies from doing what they would like to. For survival, we take Will of the Ancients. This might be a surprising choice, but every single one of Annies skills will apply Spell vamp, diminished mostly, but from plenty of targets to make up for that. It is definitely superior to HReg and also much cheaper, plus you get some AP on top of it.
Now things get difficult as you will need either Armor or MR to ignore large portions of enemy damage when your shield is too small or on CD. Other than resistances you also want CDR because you want to increase your total damage by those 40% rapidly, you want to stun in closer succession and you want your shield and bear up as much as possible. Also, Annie has quite some Mana issues without items. For MR you can build Abyssal Mask/ Banshee's Veil, and for Armor you will get Frozen Heart. Items like Thornmail or Force of Nature just pale in comparison to these. Another essential item to keep your bear fighting is Guardian Angel; if they ever succeed in killing you, you can clear up the remainders with your skills off CD when you revive.

Take defense seals/glyphs and masteries vs AP/AD depending on your oponent. I advise MS quints. You will get MPen Marks in any case. Get into the offensive tree until you get percentage penetration. I leave the rest to your personal taste.

Summoner Spells are obviously - / .

Start with boots and potions. Only in difficult AD cases start with Armor and pots to have more sustain and rush Ninja Tabi.

Your early game items depend on your oponent in terms of resistance Cloth Armor/ Chain Vest/ Null-Magic Mantle/ Negatron Cloak, but you want a Giant's Belt and a Sapphire Crystal always. A Catalyst the Protector can disguise your tanky intentions longer and gives you good sustain, but delays your build. For sustain generally take a Hextech Revolver. Buy one Doran's Ring for the incredible stats it gives (and another if your loosing your lane).


In mid game you want to be of some use in the first fights. I suggest rushing Rylai's Crystal Scepter and Sorcerer's Shoes or Ionian Boots of Lucidity (if you don't need Ninjas). Get upgrades to your defensive items, I would always get at least Glacial Shroud for Mana and CDR at this stage of the game if Banshee's Veil is not needed.

Late mid game you complete your Frozen Heart/ Abyssal Mask/ Banshee's Veil, you got your Molten Shield maxed and you will just wade through their teams.


Get a Guardian Angel in late game, because now enemies will be able to kill you, but you want to give your bear those extra seconds. Upgrade your Revolver for a slow Hextech Gunblade or aura Will of the Ancients, depending on what your team needs. You can sell your boots for Mercury's Treads if needed. Get at least Elixir of Brilliance.


Remember in all stages, that you are not focussed on nukeing, but that you want your team to take advantage of your CC. You can kill anyone 1v1, but you should not venture into the unknown or solo more enemies. If your AD carry dies, you did something wrong.

A transition to pure AP carry is obviously possible as well as a more tanky setup, depending on what your team needs most you can get Rabadon's Deathcap, Zhonya's Hourglass, Deathfire Grasp ... or Shurelya's Battlesong, Aegis of the Legion ... and many more.

HHH Pyromania (Passive): This is what this build tends to utilize with CDR and durability. Initiate fights with it, stun high priority targets, disrupt enemy ultimates, gank. Whenever possible use it with Incinerate or Summon: Tibbers to get an AOE stun. Again; rush 40% CDR, because it gives you incredible CC and also raises your DPS considerably.
HHH Disintegrate (Q): You early game last-hit and stun-charging tool. If you use it for poke, it will take away your mana. But perfect for ganks. Later this will be an awesome slow with your Rylai's Crystal Scepter and DPS, due to its small CD [4 - 2.4 sec], use it whenever you can in fights.
HHH Incinerate (W): You use this to make an AOE stun and to dish out some high AOE damage, learn to get used to its maximum range. In mid-late game this also allows you to farm and push your lane. Sometimes you may want to use it to stun stealthed targets. You can choose to rank this over your shield if you feel save.
HHH Molten Shield (E): Never underestimate the damage this will do. You use it to charge your stun, to damage AA depending enemies and to slow. Nice to know that you gain health for every AA used on you with some spellvamp. Max this first or second if you need resistances.
HHH Summon: Tibbers (R): A big, angry bear-entity that follows the commands of a 4-year old girly and can appear out of nowhere... you better see that there's something very very wrong here! Teddy-Bear has undergone some serious brain-washing and now just want's to see the world burn. DANGER!!!


The only thing Tibbers needs, is the slow from Rylai's Crystal Scepter and enough time to wreak havoc. Realize this, place him well, control him. He is the reason Tank-Annie is viable and the thing that should make enemies focus both you and your bear (And obviously also a good reason to heal/shield/buff him, he is not invincible). Let's not forget that an AP ratio of 0.9 is good enough to merit AP.

• Initiate with a stun, but not with your ult, you need the activation cast counter of your ult to speed up your second stun (times assume 40% CDR).
  • 2 AOE stuns: + - - - - + (~3 sec)
  • 2 non-AOE stuns: + - - - - + (~2.5 sec)
  • Without R: + - - - - + (~5 sec)
• Keep your bear away from yourself to increase your zone of influence on a battle.
• Don't save stuns, save Molten Shield and Summon: Tibbers to quickly charge a stun.

Remember that Annie, like I scetch her is really unique and not to be classified easily. This build has its weaknesses when finding a decent team composition on SS, but it works well in TT and CS. Try it, and have fun with it.