Building Summoner Spells, Runes & Masteries Itemization What to Buy and When to Buy Skills Skills and Skills Sequence Gameplay How to Play Support Annie

Oi! What do you think you are doing here? Are you not aware of the rumors that come about like whisps, tossed about the gales that run amok in the village? Well, they are most certainly true. Atop the stones that twist and turn about into that terror of a tower, that- that- wretched tower, no, towers. All of them together like stone arrows in a quiver! She lives with that monster, that creature, the abomination, and she- she-AH!

Welcome. You must be here to learn about Annie? Support Annie, to be specific? Where am I to begin?

Annie isn't your typical ranged support. Yes, she lacks durability like most of them and lacks escapes of her own. And may I add the fact that her mobility isn't anything to write a poem about? Of course I could. Unlike the lot though, Annie is a fully capable carry of her own. She was made as a mage, an AP carry, if you will, and does a copious amount of damage on her own. You can build her as an AP carry (more of a secondary one if you want to encumber the specifics), and still function as a support. The girl's been a rather sought-after support as of late, due to her high damage output, hard CC, the ability to both poke and burst and her incredible laning phase, which is also attributed to her impressive AA range.

The mistress is a fervid lass though, and you best get on with your business lest you be burned to a crisp.




Summoner Spells

Flash Required Summoner Spell

Exhaust Suggested Summoner Spell

Heal Optional Summoner Spell

Annie has no gap closer of her own and really low mobility, making Flash a requirement. Among its incredible amount of uses, such as chasing, fleeing and repositioning, its ability to help set up a Pyromania + Summon: Tibbers/ Incinerate combo.

I recommend Exhaust for your second summoner spell. It's excellent on focusing on a single target, and it has both its offensive and defensive uses, such as in peeling or chasing or negating an enemy carry's power.

If you don't want to take Exhaust, I suggest taking Heal. The movespeed buff helps in kiting or escaping, but the fact that your marksman will most likely be taking it as well makes it a less attractive option, considering Heal is less effective if used within 35 seconds of another Heal.



Runes


My recommended runes are greater mark of hybrid penetration, Greater Seal of Health, Greater Glyph of Magic Resist and Greater Quintessence of Ability Power becuase I recommend going for damage with support Annie. Flat runes tend to be better early game than scaling ones, and you're usually going to want the stats early game.

You'll want hybrid penetration becuase though Annie deals primarily through her abilities, you're going to be auto-attacking a lot early game. Annie has considerably high AA range, and you're going to want to take advantage of that. If you don't have Hybrid Pentration marks, you can opt for magic penetration ones or even attack damage ones.

Health Seals are standard in the bot lane to mitigate damage. For glyphs, I recommend MR glyphs for two reasons. First, Annie's MR sucks and usually, you aren't going to be building much early game. Second, mage supports are becoming more of a common trend now, so you'll want to mitigate their magic damage, as well as possible magic damage from the enemy marksman. You can opt for AP glyphs for more damage if you prefer.

AP is recommended over MPen for damage because unlike other AP Supports, such as Zyra, your main damaging skills have excellent AP scalings, which in lane, are Disintegrate and Incinerate. Majority of the items you build are flat out AP items, such as Void Staff, so AP runes tend to go well with that since you couple it with more AP.

If you feel that you want some defenses, you can swap out some of your runes for more defensive options, such as Greater Mark of Armor and Greater Quintessence of Armor.



Masteries

21 • 0 • 9 9 • 21 • 0 9 • 0 • 21

My recommended mastery set-up for Annie is 21/0/9. Annie isn't a typical support, and I run this set-up to take advantage of her high damage output. The 21 points into the Offense Tree is self-explanatory enough. They're all meant to increase your damage output. Annie deals damage primarily through her abilities, so you'll want masteries like or . and may seem strange, but early on, you'll be harassing a lot with your AAs. In Utility, helps with possible mana problems and is especially useful, so you can Flash more often. + help in sustaining through potions, and gives you a bit of mobility. You can also opt for a 21/9/0 set-up, which will give you and . 9/21/0 or 0/21/9 are other possible set ups which focuses on defense, which you may want in an unfavorable match up. Lastly, 9/0/21 or 0/9/21 gives you a lot of utility, which is what I usually get on ranged supports, picking up masteries such as (which uniquely offers item CDR) and (useful with the nerf to Mobility Boots and options to increase your gold income.

On Spawn

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I recommend Spellthief's Edge for your starting gold gen item, as it is excellent for laning. Stealth Ward is the suggested starting trinket, as combined with your marksman, you'll have a fair amount of vision to last in lane. Finish it up with consumables. If you can go without the Health Potions, take Stealth Wards instead.

Ruby Crystal is a defensive option for health, useful if you want to rush Sightstone. You can opt to start with an Ancient Coin for your gold gen item if you want a safer start, as Spellthief's Edge can be somewhat predictable and Ancient Coin offers higher defensive stats. You don't necessarily have to get it if you want a talisman of ascension later, as you can just sell your / / later on.

Early Game

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Frostfang further improves on Spellthief's Edge (if you started with an Ancient Coin, buy Nomad's Medallion), and you're also going to want to pick up a Sightstone. In addition to flat health, it will generate wards, meaning you'll no longer need to buy Stealth Wards because of the newly imposed warding limits. Lastly, Boots are for mobility.

Liandry's Torment isn't a particularly good item on Annie, but building MPen is effective early on when the enemy does not build much MR, so a Haunting Guise can work. It also offers some flat health. Once you pick up your Sightstone, you'll no longer need a Stealth Ward, so swap it for a Sweeping Lens. You may also want to buy some Vision Wards, as at this point, control over vision will become an issue.

Core Items

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talisman of ascension

Though Sightstone is necessary on any support, the warding limits make Ruby Sightstone not. You can delay upgrading it as long as you wish, but it's no longer as needed earlier. Sorcerer's Shoes are the recommended boots to increase your damage output. You're going to want one gold gen item in addition to a Ruby Sightstone, and the rest of your items will be full AP items as any mage would build. Deathfire Grasp is an essential item to any burst mage. There's the huge AP boost, plus the active which is especially useful in bursting targets that are stacking health (this is good because in team fights, the targets in your and your carry's range will mostly be tanks). CDR is important on any support (although for Annie mid, CDR isn't as important for burst), and is will let you have your ult up more often.

Generally, you're going to want to pick up Frost Queen's Claim for the more offensive capabilities it offers as your final gold gen item. Building a lot of AP is effective on Annie, and she can become a secondary source of damage in a fight. The active is also useful for chasing. On the other hand, a talisman of ascension is an extremely useful item. Not only does it gives stats excellent on any support, but it offers an invaluable active that has a multitude of uses to it. You can use it to engage on the enemy team, an enemy caught out of position, chase after a fight or flee from pursuing enemies.

AP Items

You're going to want to build more AP items. You can opt for the support AP + Utility items such as Morellonomicon (it provides some CDR and can help negate some healing power) or Twin Shadows (helps in scouting areas or chasing enemies), but full AP items do quite well on Annie because of her impressive scalings.

If you do build these AP items, you want to rush them as soon as you can. Void Staff and Rabadon's Deathcap is usually rushed when you're Aiming for damage. Void Staff's power is most evident early on, as it will let you cut through MR, but since you could pick up an early Haunting Guise for MPen, more often than nought, I don't pick it up early game and end up skipping it all in all. Rabadon's Deathcap is another item that is bought on any AP champion, as it gives a huge boost to your damage output.

The two above are what you'd usually get on a burst mage if you're aiming for damage alone, but Rylai's Crystal Scepter, Abyssal Mask and Zhonya's Hourglass are excellent items as well for their special synergy with Annie's abilities. Rylai's Crystal Scepter is a rather pricey item, but it does well with Disintegrate and Summon: Tibbers (the aura applies the 15% slow), and it will give you some flat health for survivability. Zhonya's Hourglass provides a lot of AP and some armor, and you can still control Tibbers while you are in Statis, assuming you have summoned him beforehand. Annie has a relatively short range on her abilities, so an Abyssal Mask makes for a good purchase since the passive outranges her own abilities. It's also good if your team also deals a lot of magic damage and have shorter ranges.

Defensive Items

Though I find building AP a lot more effective, you can opt for more defensive support options. The main problem with building AP on a support is that you can't always rush items, which means enemies could build tanky items which will really negate your power. If you found yourself punished really badly or too little gold to go for an AP build, then you could just opt to have a traditional tanky-utility support build.

zeke's herald is useful if your team is AD-oriented. Randuin's Omen is for peeling and is great against marksmen. Frozen Heart is somewhat like Randuin's Omen, but it also offers some CDR. Banshee's Veil prevents getting caught out on initiation, Mikael's Blessing is like a mini- Cleanse and Locket of the Iron Solari gives a shield that can be used in team fights to soak up damage.

Enchants

Enchantment: Furor is really the only enchantment you should avoid on Annie. You'll often be getting Enchantment: Homeguard to get out of base quickly, but the rest have effects which you can use outside of that, so it's really up to you as to which you'd purchase.

P 1Once Pyromania is up, a grey swirl will form around Annie, which will be visible to enemies as well. The number of stacks you have may be invisible to them, but once you have four, they aren't. Despite being a pretty good source of hard CC (an AoE one if you use your W or R), it's not always reliable, so you have to be careful in managing it.

Q 2 Disintegrate is a single target damaging ability that simply put, adds damage to your burst. It's also easier to poke with than Incinerate despite being at equal range, as it can't miss, and it generally feels easier to land. It also refunds mana if it kills a target, although that isn't noteworthy, since you won't really be farming too much.

W Incinerate is a conic AoE ability, and it also deals the most damage out of Annie's abilities, not counting her ult. It becomess an AoE stun with Pyromania, and you can also use it in skirmishes, charging your passive and pushing. All of the targets in the AoE will get damaged, so there's no need to fret if there's something in front of your target.

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More on Pyromania Landing a good stun is part of the techniques that you have to master on Annie, considering it's her only form of CC. It's best to try practicing it yourself, but always keep in mind that you're enemy will know when your stun is up, so it's important to give them as little reaction time as possible. Keep in mind that the stun applies to the first ability that lands when the stun is available. + WITH Q This is pretty much your basic single tarrget stun. Throw a fireball at someone, and they'll get stunned. It's better for bursting single targets down than in fights, and it feels easier to land than the other two, so you can use it to setup a / combo. An interesting technique you could try is sending a Q while you only have 3 stacks, and activating before it lands, so the Q will stun. + WITH W This is one of your AoE stuns, and it's pretty useful in fights. Note that a combo is usually more effective than a one, as you can take better advantage of Tibbers's aura. You can also use your W to charge yoru passive. Early game, this is done mostly in the fountain, but later on, you can activate it while moving, so you have a few stacks when entering a fight. + WITH R The stun will only apply upon Tibbers' summoning, not on his attacks or such. Still, it's a very powerful one, so you better not miss. is usually your best form of initiation if possible (although some find more reliable in smaller fights), but since Annie's range isn't as impressive when you account in a whole enemy team, you may want to use it as a secondary form of iniation. Alternatively, you can use it defensively as well. Being Less Obvious About Your Stun Though letting people know your stun is up is sort of useful for zoning, being less obvious is the key to getting off a huge burst combo. The most basic technique is having 3 stacks, activating , and quickly following up with your / / . A good enemy will probably know of this technique, but fortunately, not many players can keep track of how many stacks you have. Always try to have at least 2 stacks before you engage (3 would be better) and wait about or Flash until the enemy is close enough for you to unleash your burst. Or you can just catch them out.

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More on Disintegrate If you're running Annie down in mid lane, Disintegrate would be your main skill, both for farming and harassing. You can't really use as much mana in the bot lane (you should be trying to harass with auto-attacks more often, so you don't run out of mana), and you most definitely won't be farming. You should be using Disintegrate only occasionally for harassing, but mainly with Pyromania, so it becomes a targeted stun. Popular supports are mostly melee, and only a few reliable CC moves outrange yours. If you communicate with your marksman, you can engage and trade often to drop the enemy's health, so you later burst them down.

E Molten Shield is something of a temporary Thornmail ability, except it also grants MR. The actual defensive stats aren't that wonderful, but combined with its passive, it's decent enough, especially against marksmen. Other than for survivability purposes, Molten Shield is used for charging Pyromania. Not that it can not consume Pyromania upon activation if ever.

R 3 Summon: Tibbers basically, well, summons Tibbers, a pet of Annie that in addition to dealing a huge amount of AoE damage upon summoning, has an aura that damages nearby targets and can deal damage on its own. Tibbers deals damage through melee auto-attacks and that aura, and you can control his movements through pressing alt and right clicking.

> > > 4The Skill Sequnce is quite simple. Max your ult whenever its up. Then you'll want to capitalize on higher damage early game, and since your E's CD doesn't lower with ranks, and it's kind of a one point wonder anyway, you max E last. Since you won't really be farming, W is a better max over Q, as it deals more damage, but Q max over W works as well, if you really prefer it.

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More on Summon: Tibbers Tibbers has a lot of uses other than the initial damage upon summoning. He's become pretty tank as of late, and keep in mind that he still has that aura around him. A few important things to note before I delve into some of the tricks you can do with him; If you die, so does Tibbers. Turrets will always prioritize him before minions and champions, but if he damages an enemy champion under an enemy turret while you're in range of the turret, the turret will attack Annie instead. Tibbers has something of a "leash range" and can only go so far from Annie before he's brought back to her automatically. You can use Tibbers as a ward for bush control or vision. Use him to tank turrets. Bring him back to you or close to allies to peel for them. Tibbers can help in pushing lanes. And of course, you can control him to fight in battles. Tibbers automatically targets whoever Annie will attack, but you can control him with alt + right click to target whoever.

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More on the Skill Sequence I II III IV You have your ult levelled when you can (6, 11 and 16) for the reduced CD and increased damage. That much is self-explanatory. Maxing W is generally prefered over Q, and you want one point in it at level 1. This is so that you can charge your passive at the fountain, so you can prepare for a possible level 1 fight. Incinerate deals more damage than Disintegrate and an AoE ability is fairly better than a single-target one, but on the downside, it has a higher CD & mana cost and can miss. Another thing to note is that you can earn money quite quickly if your W hits multiple targets. If you really want, a Q max could work, just have both maxed by level 13. You need one point in your E early on, but since it doesn't scale that well with ranks, you max it last.

Synergy

As a support, you'll be heading down bot lane with a marksman. Note that you don't necessarily have to fuss over who you're laning with, and it's probably better to make sure the player playing that marksman knows how to play whichever champion was chosen.

Annie generally has some kind of synergy with practically all marksmen, but aggressive laners deserve special mention. Lucian, Draven and Sivir can easily take advantage of your stuns. Pokers with high range such as Caitlyn and Varus also go well with Annie, as they can constantly poke and harass, while keeping a safe distance. Miss Fortune would appreaciate the AoE stuns you could provide to set up her Bullet Time. You could also probably find some synergy with someone like Ashe, even though she's a bit more passive. It's really mostly a matter of finding what combo works best for you or in that situation.


Counters

Match ups are a very situational aspect of a game, as there are too many factors to consider. It isn't as simple as don't play Annie if you're against x champion. Sometimes a Soraka will go full psycho goat mode and shove bananas into your throat, and there are times Leona will constantly spam her abilities and miss at that. Below are just some basic information on possible match ups you may face in bot lane.

TANKY SUPPORTS

You can poke them down, and you have an advantage with your range, but these supports pack in a lot of hard CC and can kill you when their CDs are up. It can go both ways when playing against them, as either can pick up an advantage when possible. Taric is probably the weakest out of the group for his low mobility, but the rest are somewhat popular supports. Leona in particular is quite strong against Annie if she knows what she's doing.

MAGE SUPPORTS

Mage supports are the new trend lately, mainly becuase of their similarly strong laning presence. The thing is, despite Annie having the longest AA range, most of these champions' abilities outrange yours. On the other hand, your burst damage is higher, perhaps only equalled by LeBlanc, but her scaling into late game is awful. Morgana's shield is pretty strong against your stun, but her damage isn't as strong as yours. It really depends on the situation.

TRADITIONAL SUPPORTS

Except for perhaps Lulu (although even she's making a transition to a mid laner), these supports are starting to become less and less popular. Annie's laning phase is stronger than theirs, though they have sustain to provide for their carry. They can inconvenience you with their CC and such, but ultimately, Annie's laning phase is naturally stronger. Their kill potential isn't as high in comparison.

Laning

Annie is a fairly strong laner, but keep in mind that she has weaknesses as well. She isn't tanky, and though she can supply burst, she doesn't exactly do well handling them. All-in supports such as Leona could easily kill Annie if her CC isn't up, and remember, Pyromania is not a reliabe source of CC in a direct confrontation. In addition to that, remember that you don't have an innate source of sustain for you or your carry. I recommend you push at level 1, since your level 1 is pretty decent, so you can have a level advantage.

Generally, you're going to want to harass the enemy champions until their health is low, and then you can attempt to burst them down. Typically, you should be harassing with your auto-attacks. Annie has a very long range, and only a few champions outrange you. You can do the occasional Disintegrate or Incinerate, but remember you shouldn't deplete your mana. Try not to hit minions with Incinerate. If the situation is unfavorable, you should try to zone your enemy and have your carry farm. Once your passive is charged up, you can try for an engage.

You have a rather high kill potential, especially once you get your ult. You may want to ask for a gank, and remember that if your enemy has died or forced to recall, push the lane to deny them creeps and XP. Play smart. Predict ganks. Ward. Know when to freeze the lane or push. Use your stun to fend off fights or start them.



Warding

You should be warding your lane with your marksman early game, primarily to prevent getting ganked. Once you pick up Sightstone though, objective control will probably be an issue. Use Vision Wards and your Sweeping Lens to destroy enemy wards and plant your own. This may stretch out to late game, where Baron becomes a very important priority. Mid game though, Dragon is usuallly the first big objective. Warding limits now mean you're not solely responsible for the vision for the team, but that doesn't make it any less important.


Team Fights

Annie is somewhat like other supports in team fights; you can initiate with her hard CC, and you should be protecting your carries. She's a bit of a backline support like other ranged supports, but Annie also deals a good amount of magic damage to accompant your carries' in a fight.

Your initiation is usually going to be . In some cases though, you may opt to be a secondary form of initiation, or you can chain CC effects. Sometimes you may want to use Flash to set it up. Control Tibbers. You don't just simply ult then do nothing. He's relatively tanky, and his aura means melee champions will get damaged should they approach him. Don't try to enter the thick of a fight just to reach the enemy carries. If they're out of position, sure, shove fire down their throat, but they'll usually be tucked behind their tanks. It's not worth it to get yourself killed over that, and you do your part as well if you damage the tanks.

Don't forget to activate your Molten Shield whenever you can. It only costs 20 mana, and it'll help keeping you alive a bit. More importantly, it charges your passive. Know when to save your stun. It's sometimes more beneficial to hold on to it, so you can Incinerate say, Riven if she jumps to your carries. Also, remember to use your stuns to interrupt moves like Death Lotus or Absolute Zero.

Lastly, you still have items with actives. talisman of ascension is dead useful at the beginning or at the end of a fight. Frost Queen's Claim is pretty good for chasing fleeing enemies. Remember that you can still control Tibbers when you activate Zhonya's Hourglass, so you can use it for defensive purposes. Randuin's Omen is for peeling, Locket of the Iron Solari is for mitigating damage. You can use Deathfire Grasp to help burst a target down, be it for yourself or for your carry.

for now... A gale stirs to life in an ominous whisper.