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Choose Champion Build:
-
Main Build
-
The Old Hextech Build
-
Liandry's Torment Build
-
Really Tanky Build
-
Archangel's Staff Build
Recommended Items
Spells:
Flash
Ignite
Items
Ability Order
Pyromania (PASSIVE)
Annie Passive Ability
Introduction
Hi there fellow Summoners. I'm Dani16King, a Gold player who's trying to master this amazing Champion called ![]() I may say too that all the builds present here are based on the player's way to play the game, and some may or may not adopt your way, as happens to me. |
Yeah. Why pick
Annie?
Well,
Annie is an High Burst champion with a great amount of utility, capable of dealing high damage while stunning many targets in the process.
You SHOULD pick
Annie when you feel confortable in your lane (e.g. You're against an
Akali for example) and the enemy team has low Ranged Poke.
You SHOULD NOT pick
Annie when most of the enemy team outranges you (e.g. They've a
Lux,
Caitlyn,
Jayce ...) or when your lane matchup is stronger than you (having more range, or being able to shut you down pretty badly) like
Orianna and
Syndra.
Be aware that Annie is extremely versatile, and if you have an High CC engaging team, Annie will fit there perfectly, as her
Summon: Tibbers +
Pyromania will stun a whole team instantly.
Annie is strong against AP Assassins too (e.g.
Ahri,
Fizz,
Akali) and even low-ranged mid champs (e.g.
Ryze,
Lissandra).

Well,

You SHOULD pick


You SHOULD NOT pick






Be aware that Annie is extremely versatile, and if you have an High CC engaging team, Annie will fit there perfectly, as her








Pros
|
+ Extremely High Burst + Really Good Farmer + Great Utility + High AoE Damage + Tibbers is fluffy |
Annie can "One-Shot" nearly any high value target (Being ADC, AP Carries or even Assassins) if well fed/farmed. Early on you can simply farm with ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Cons
|
- Low Range - Low damage in early levels - No Natural escaping Mechanism - Low Poke |
Compared to Champions like ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I chose to max

Next, you max you

Last,

You should always level your


// After casting 4 spells, Annie's next offensive spell will stun its target for 1.25/1.5/1.75 seconds. The duration changes every 5 levels.
// This Passive is where all your utility comes from. After casting 4 Skills, Annie's next Offensive Skill (Being




// Annie shoots fireball at an enemy. Disintegrate's mana cost is refunded if it deals a killing blow. NEW: This skill now also refunds half of it's CD if it kills an enemy unit.
// This skill will be your early game farming tool. If you last-hit a minion with this skill, all the mana will be refunded and also half of it's CD, meaning that you'll waste no mana and be able to farm most minions with it. Just be careful not to push unnecessarily. It is awesome to poke too, when you've your stun ready and your enemy is in range. It is really good because of it's low cooldown compared with your other abilities, meaning that you can almost always shoot it twice each fight.

// Annie casts a cone of fire dealing magic damage to all enemy targets in the area.
// This Skill will be your main farming tool at mid/late game. It is also an good tool to stun enemies when you're ganking a Duo-Lane for example, or even escaping a gank when you have a stun ready. It deals more damage than


// Places a shield around Annie for 5 seconds, increasing her armor and magic resistance. Additionally, enemies will be dealt magic damage whenever they use autoattacks on her while the shield is active.
// This Skill is mainly used to "charge" your passive early on. It has a really low mana cost, but it stats are not that good, so this is probably what you'll be using it for. But remember, if you're going for a fight, activate this when you're taking damage, as it will reduce any incoming damage (unless it's true damage). It is pretty useful later on, when you're fighting Hit-based champs (as most ADCs and




// Annie releases her bear Tibbers from his toy prison, dealing magic damage to enemy units in the summon area. For a limited time of 45 seconds, Tibbers can move and attack at Annie's will, while continually dealing magic damage to surrounding enemies.
// This skill is devastating, either as a Burst or as an Utility skill. Being part of your burst, this skill is your main damaging one, and you should try to ALWAYS initiate with it +






Combos
//Pre-6 Poke Combo - Ready up your Stun, get in range and shoot







//Anti-gank Combo - YouMUST have you Stun ready or close to that (2 stacks on your passive will do, most times). Wait your enemies to get close and use your














//1on1 Burst Combo - Ready up your Stun, get in range and use






//Teamfight Combo - Ready up your Stun and wait for someone in your team to engage (a Tank probably). When someone do, use your



NOTE: You can also engage using


Tips and Tricks
Try to be unpredictable. Don't ready your Stun and go in on an enemy just like that. Get 3 stacks of



If you get engaged on a 1on1 fight and you have your ultimate, even though you don't have your stun, don't simply run away (unless your enemy is stronger than you, being fed, or your hard counter, as










If you have






You can scout area covered by fog of war with Tibbers. You can, for example, make Tibbers facecheck a bush, making you safer. Tibbers can also Tank turrets and even deal damage to them. Tibbers can also be buffed by your teammates, but it can also damage you while under the effect of

You should always be aware, as Tibbers has a Maximum Distance that he can be away from you, so if he reach that maximum range, he'll be Teleported back to near

// Most Recommended
// Acceptable
// Not Recommended
//
Ghost simply loses to
Flash in every point, when it comes to
Annie.
Clarity and
Heal are not viable at all. They're not good for
Annie because you can farm without spending any mana, and if you build
Hextech Revolver you'll heal alot while farming.
Cleanse is a good spell, just not for
Annie. If the other team has a lot of CC and/or they're focusing you, just rush
Zhonya's Hourglass or even
Quicksilver Sash.
Exhaust wont help you that much. It is good against ADCs and to be able to chase someone effectively, but if you're building Rylai's you wont really need it at all.
Clairvoyance and
Smite talk for themselves. They're really specific roles spells, and as you aren't playing either Support or Jungler you wont need them.
![]() |
// ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
// ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
// Acceptable
![]() |
// ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
// ![]() Well, there are burst champions that can easily outdamage and even outplay annie. If you think you'll have some problems at mid, take ![]() ![]() ![]() |
// Not Recommended
//














Greater Quintessence of Ability Power: // This will give
Annie a really good potential early on, being it farming, poking or bursting an enemy down.
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: // It lets
Annie deal more damage to
Minions and Champions. Many players use Magic Resist Runes at mid, so Magic Pen will be pretty useful.
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: // It will give you some defenses early on, and make you more resistant to poke and harass. Also will help you out-trade your lane opponent.
Greater Seal of Scaling Armor: // This runes will not prove very effective early on, but if you're up against
Zedor
Yasuo you'll probably need them, or you'll get poked alot and burst down.
Greater Seal of Health: // Since the flat armor runes were nerfed, and you will need to resist and stay more time in lane, these will help you ALOT against both AD and AP enemies, and you will become a bit harder to kill early on.
// Other Viable Runes
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed: // Some people use
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed instead of
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power. They are viable if you're up against a champion with high-range, but you'll become a bit weaker, since you'll probably start off without any AP from runes.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power: // If you'd rather be stronger later on than earlier, this runes are the best for you. I prefer Flat AP ones because it'll make it easier to snowball, and
Annie is a great Snowballer.
Greater Glyph of Ability Power: // You can use these when your lane opponent is weak early on, or is an AD champ who deals no magic damage at all. You'll start off with 50 AP (with doran's) but you'll have no magic resist, so you need to be careful who you take them against.
- greater seal of Mana Regen: // You should use this ones if you're against a melee enemy AP and you'll need to poke him really hard early on in order to shut him down. This is the case of
Akalifor example.
21 OFFENSE 9 Utility
B U R N I N G |
sp |
M A S T E R I E S |
|
// Pretty standard AP Masteries. We will want to have all the damage boosting masteries we can,
![]() ![]() ![]() // For Utility, we want ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Q: Why not 21/9/0? // Well, you can always go for defense, but given that you're playing as a Burst Damage Champion, you'll be better using the utility tree instead. It gives you cooldown reduction on Summoner Spells and Mana related buffs, so I find utility better than defense. |
Early Items
![]() |
// ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
// If you can get one of these in your first back, your doing it right! I mean, this item gives you 80 AP just like that, and given that your first back will be at level 7 or so, you'll probably be able to burst down 3/4 of your opponent's HP, unless he has a shielding/healing skill or is building MR (mainly ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
// In case you can't just rush a ![]() |
![]() |
// This was my early-game item of choice. It gives you a nice AP (for early-game), and it lets your stay in lane or without going base for a really long time. I believe that this item used to be viable before all the ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
// A great early item on ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Catalyst the Protector |
// A good early item if you want a lot of Lane Sustain. It gives you HP an Mana, and every time you level up it'll restore a portion of these stats. With the no mana consumption on your ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
// A Core item if you're going to build an ![]() |
Boots
![]() |
// A Core item for most AP Casters. Gives you the Magic Penetration you'll need in order to deal a lot more damage from every Skill and to every target. |
![]() |
// These are great for many Casters, just not for Annie. She doesn't need CDR that much, and MPen is way more valuable for her. |
Core Items
![]() |
// Before all the changes that went down with ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
// This item gives you a REALLY sweet AP boost, and gives you some sustain and defenses against most bruisers, while giving you an awesome active that will probably help you turn around alot of fights. You should always aim to build this as third item (being first ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
// This is another great item for ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() As situational, this item is still great. It is a safe item to buy when you are being focused by tanky bruisers but you already have ![]() |
![]() |
// A good item for ![]() |
![]() |
// This item is great if you're going all-in on late-game. ![]() ![]() ![]() I recommend you to always combine this item with ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Situational Items
![]() |
// I consider this item situational because sometimes you need more Survivability than sustain. However, I use it in almost every build as 5th or 6th item. It helps you a lot destroying tanks or even bursting ADCs down with 2 skills. You should try to get this item ALWAYS and you should forget it only when you're being focused a lot, and ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
// This item is great, and given that ![]() |
![]() |
// This item is viable to buy ONLY if your team has a lot of AP. Otherwise you should sell your ![]() |
Rylai's |
// Although Situational, this is still one of the best items on ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
// You should ONLY build this item if you're going to build ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
// You Last Resort when it comes to Survivability. You should get this item ONLY if you're still unable to Survive teamfights, even if you have ![]() |
Main Build
This build is based on straight up damage. All you want is to burst down a squishy target (or your lane opponent early on) and get him dead in seconds.
This is the most used build. It is good for nearly any situation, but not specially good for any. What I mean is - It is generally good, but not specific. It is still the build that I prefer above any others, given that any enemy team will not have only one specific kind of champions/composition, and you'll need to be good at anything, not only be good against high HP targets, or only be good in lategame.
Pros / Cons
Pros
+ Good at nearly everything + High Burst + High follow up potential + Can erase enemies in a matter of seconds + Really high AoE damage and sustained damage |
Cons
- Not specific to any kind of enemy - Squishy and low mobility - Needs good positioning |
Old Hextech Build
This build is based on Lane Sustain. You'll be able to stay in lane longer if you buy [health potion]. This build is all about having sustained damage and being able to survive fights by using it. The spellvamp provides a good sustain in lane, and it'll help you fight off enemies with higher Poke.
Pros / Cons
Pros
+ Good at nearly everything + High sustained damage + High follow up potential + Health recover per skill + Alot of sustain |
Cons
- Not specific to any kind of enemy - Lower burst than the previous one - No stronger stage during the game - Disposable Item - Low utility |
Liandry's Torment Build
This build is also great. It lets you deal aditional damage depending on enemies current health, making it easier to fight tanks, and also making it easier to burst someone down from full HP to null HP. It is also great because Tibbers will proc the effect on

Pros / Cons
Pros
+ Good against tanks + Higher Burst + Good Over-time damage + Tibbers procs ![]() + Great AoE Over time Damage |
Cons
- Not really good against MR Tanks like ![]() - No stronger stage during the game - Damage goes down the less HP enemies have - No spellvamp |
Really Tanky Build
This build is the tankiest of all I present. It gives you a good sutain in lane, since

NOTE: You can always combine this core with

Pros / Cons
Pros
+ Really Tanky + High Burst + Good follow-up potential + High Lane Sustain + You wont really get that focus |
Cons
- No specific strenght - No stronger stage during the game - No early AP Item - No spellvamp - Takes 10 minutes to Stack after purchase |
Archangel's Staff Build
This Build converts you early/mid game power into late game, meaning that you'll have a really good early game, but you'll have kinda weak early/mid games. You'll be really strong later on, the item will give you a really good shield and you'll probably never run out of mana. The Con about this is that you need to build Mana in order to get AP.
NOTE: Iceborn is a good item if you're going for mana, which would be good if you're up against an AD champ or even a full AD team.
Pros / Cons
Pros
+ Really High late-game damage + High Burst + You'll never run out of mana + Great shield will save your life + Kinda tanky too |
Cons
- Weak Early/Mid games - Takes time stacking - No early AP Item - No spellvamp - You have to build Mana |
First of all, I need to explain what "Early-game", "Mid-Game", and "Late-game" stand for.
Early-game is the first phase of the game. This is the phase where players (excluding the junlger) stay in their lanes mainly farming and poking each other. This phase starts when the game starts and usually ends when all the players are around level 8, but it can be longer or shorter, depending on the game. There are various champions that are really strong early on like



Mid-Game is the second stage of a game. It starts when both teams start roaming around the map, helping other lanes and trying to secure objectives (like

There are also champions who are particulary stronger in Mid-Game like




Late-game is the last phase of any game. It starts when both teams start pushing a single lane (usually mid-lane) and having fights 5on5. It is also when teams prepare ambushs near the main objectives (



There are many champions who shine later on, like




This explained, lets start with the actual In-Game Strategies.
Early Game
Level 1 to 5:
In this phase of the game you should last-hit minions with your








Keep in mind that at level 3 you can probably deal 1/3 of the enemies Max HP with each "Poke" Combo.
Level 6 to 8:
If you hadn't been countered, you should play really agressive now. Try to get your enemy with Half HP, or at least 2/3 HP. When you do, get 3 Stacks of









NOTE: If you've been able to poke your enemy before 6 (and he has Half HP or 2/3 HP) but now he's playing at Max Range and he outranges you badly (e.g.










Mid Game
Playing as


Second option is to push "to infinity and beyond", meaning that you'll push a lot and try really hard to get the enemy's turret. The good part about this is that you'll probably get to late-game with monster farm and probably some kills (if you're dominating your lane), and you'll probably get a turret too. The counterpart about this is that you wont be helping your team directly (you're giving them 150G indirectly by getting the turret) and you'll have to get your mid well warded so you wont get caught by a gank.
NOTE: If you're playing this way and don't want to get their turret down too soon, you can play



The third and last thing you can do is Follow your lane opponent. If you're winning your lane against an Assassin champion or an Strong Ganker like



NOTE: This is the harder strategy, as staying unnoticed is kinda hard, but it is also the most rewarding one (you'll probably be getting 1 for 3 trades or even 0 for 3 trades). This strategy also lets you farm a bit, as long as you lane opponent is there.
Remember to ALWAYS be aware of your map. If your team is going to



Map awareness is probably one of the player's most important "skill", as it will help you win the game.
Late Game
This phase is where the REAL fights start happening. This is where you either win or lose the game, by winning or losing teamfights. Stay close to your team and either wait for someone to engage (a tank like





Your teamfight combo should be




Remember to keep



Some Notes:
1. Annie is NOT a split pusher. If you're underfarmed at late game, you leave your team to farm a maximum of 2 minion waves and then you get back. Otherwise will be either caught and killed, or the enemy will engage a 5on4 fight with your team, and your team will be losing trades.
2. You must ALWAYS use




3. The most important thing as an









I will divide each grade of difficulty presented by an enemy champion in three tiers.
Easy - Easy matchup, you probably counter the enemy or he isnt really strong against you.
Medium - You do not counter the enemy champ but he doesn't counter you either. Sometimes I'll use it for Champions who you should care in a specific stage of the game.
Hard - They probably counter you. If they don't, they're are really hard champions to play against, generally talking.
Easy - Easy matchup, you probably counter the enemy or he isnt really strong against you.
Medium - You do not counter the enemy champ but he doesn't counter you either. Sometimes I'll use it for Champions who you should care in a specific stage of the game.
Hard - They probably counter you. If they don't, they're are really hard champions to play against, generally talking.
Ahri
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() TL;DR - Dodge ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Akali
Difficulty: Easy
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() TL;DR - Poke her a lot. She'll be unable to counter-poke you and eventually be forced out of lane. At level 6 you can take her down easily. |
Anivia
Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Before 6, ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() TL;DR - Dodge ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Brand
Difficulty: Hard
Brand brings the real mean of "Fight fire with fire". He'll burn you down, literally. It's kinda hard to burn someone who's body is already made of fire so... Without joking now - ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() What you gotta do against ![]() ![]() ![]() TL;DR - ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Cassiopeia
Difficulty: Medium
![]() ![]() TL;DR - You gotta dodge ![]() ![]() |
Cho'Gath
Difficulty: Medium
![]() ![]() ![]() TL;DR - ![]() |
Diana
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Diana has only 1 ranged skill that doesnt deal much damage (less than 100 damage in lane, unless really fed), and her hits are melee, so you can poke her when she tries to farm. Her ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() TL;DR - Try to dodge ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Elise
Difficulty: Easy
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() TL;DR - ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Evelynn
Difficulty: Easy
![]() Only thing you should be aware is the shield from her ult. It'll absorb a great damage, so dont waste it all if you think she'll survive, as she may even try to kill you after she survives and you're out of skills. TL;DR - Easy lane. Poke her as she tries to farm. Engage when you want or when she runs towards you. Be aware of her shield, as she may survive and try to kill you when you're out of skills. |
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