Annie Build Guide : Through the Fire and Flames! How to carry with Annie.

Introduction!

Well this is my guide to . The first build is my more used build that gives me all I need to dominate the Fields of Justice. The second build is my more crazy/controversial build that is all to my own liking and, believe it or not, actually works. Just saying this is strictly for Summoners Rift and I doubt this would work in Dominion or The Twisted Treeline. I hope you enjoy reading this just as much as I did making it. Also if you're voting this down could you please say why so I'm not left guessing why you hate it. If you vote it up and you still think I should change something, be my guest and say it. I noticed that the other guides look more visually appealing than mine. If someone could teach me how to do things like that, I would be very grateful.

Pros / Cons

As always here are my pros and cons to Annie

PROS

CONS

Runes for Build 1

I chose these Glyphs because I was going to do Ability Power Marks or Seals, but I saw this gave the best output for starting Ability Power. To me personally it's more important to have a powerful start with because later you get focused a lot quicker and will have little time to get kills and items if you're to busy dying. Plus it's always fun bursting someone down in the beginning.

I used to have armor runes here. Not sure why I did that, but I decided to switch them with the Ability Power seals. That didn't give me enough oomph! So I decide to try these and they work great right off the bat. Sometime I hit a minion to early with my q and NO REFUND! Other times I hit to late. It left me feeling crippled on the inside because you can't keep making that mistake in the beginning. These seals let me sit back for a bit and recover my cool and start blasting the minions again without a problem.

I feel magic penetration is need for all AP carries. These marks work great and magic penetration always helps for me so these don't ever stop helping me. The other magic penetration glyphs aren't as strong and their ability power glyphs are better anyway.

Well as I said before I enjoy extra ability power. These quintessences will give you a great starting boost.

Runes for Build 2

This build is more focused on straight damage and an ap carries best friend can be cooldown reduction. Though I'm not a fan of cooldown reduction on it can be useful. Especially for . I tend to get kills easier with him and if he come faster then I could be more deadly. There's a Glyph for that.

Even if these aren't the best ap runes they're the same amount as the it was more about what marks can do and what better seals can do. I need the marks for magic penetration, so ap seals.

As I said in Build 1's runes magic penetration is big. I just can't give it up.

Now this is when and where the fun starts. EVEN MORE MAGIC PENETRATION! Even though I'm giving up ability power for this it's a very close second in my mind, so that changes things.

Masteries for Build 1

I chose a traditional 21 in one and 9 in another. With these masteries you can dish out more damage and in my opinion I like more damage as a carry. I am now more certain about the masteries I have. I've tested them out and I like them. Give them a try.

Masteries for Build 2

I chose a traditional 21, 9 one. This time going for 21 9 0. Sot of contradicting myself, but this will help "make up" what you are losing with not have . The armor and magic resist gives you a better chance then utility could give in this case. Plus more health and health regen AND less turret damage for turret diving. Just what Build 2 needs.

Items for Build 1

Well I feel like I don't need to explain why I like these, so I'll explain why not some other boots. The only other boots I'd consider are , and . are pretty darn good. 15% cooldown reduction would be great, but if I were to get cooldown reduction for Annie I'd probably get something like so I can get some ap with that and a pretty good active. are really good, but that seems to work better with mids like and because mobility for them= death for you. Annie doesn't exactly need to be fast. In my honest opinion I think Furor and Alacrity are tied. One is straight speed and the other can give speed. If you have Alacrity you are generally faster then the other ap carry and other enemies. (I generally don't see people get their tier 3 boots, so you, in most of my cases will be faster then everyone on the other side other then the ad carry if they have a .) I think the Furor bonus only works with 's , but with her stun it shouldn't be a problem. And I now highly recommend Homeguard on these boots. Don't get it until late game unless you're absolutely crazy about it, like me!

Most mids can't and shouldn't go with out this. It's got a great unique passive that makes a heck of a difference in heath and mana. It also carries Catalyst the Protector's unique passive which has saved my life a few times with Annie and others.

I don't like to be on the bandwagon, but this is a really good item. Plus if you get it early it's unique passive gives you more ap then you would have originally got in the first place. It makes a huge difference in your mid-to-late game.

I can't tell you how angry I can get when I die to the adc. I would pick anyone else to die to! (I pick the support over anyone in most cases, but if they have a bad jungler it's not to bad to die to him/her.) This gives you armor on top of the ap you wanted in the first place. Plus it has one of my personal favorite actives in the game. It also has a really fast active cooldown.

This is another two for one item. Heath and an awesome spell slow. If you're going to be blasting away with your spells why not have them slow. Especially when your spells DON'T stun! Plus the health is better for the late game. It totally helps in team fights when you don't have a stun up. Just on them or if that's also on cooldown then take a chance and throw a W at them.

MANA! MANA! MANA! And an inextinguishable amount, or it would be if your didn't have to be full to get this item. And you get ability power on top of it! If you don't like it then it's easily replaceable due to it not being super key to the build. If you are going to get it though you should probably get it earlier then the chart shows. The active is a life saver, as you may have known or will know.

Items for Build 2

As explained in Items for Build 1, I think these are the only way to go. And extra speed with is isn't bad, but Furor might work for this build a bit better.

Health, ability power, magic penetration, AND Spell burning??????? (As if it didn't already burn!) Between and I choose LT. This is just beautiful for this build! Health, for obvious reasons, good old ability power, my friend magic penetration, for more damage, and burning for MORE DAMAGE! It's just a dream come true.

As explained in Items for Build 1, this gives you a fair amount of health, mana, and ability power and is mid friendly.

Well this will go great for laneing and team fights, plus a few solo fights. It's really good, but make sure someone like maybe your support isn't trying to buy this. It makes you both look stupid in the end.

Well this just made me change Deathcap to this. This thing's active just sold it for me.

As explained in Items for Build 1, This gives you survivability, power and a tough to beat passive that can make all the difference.

Alternate Items for Build 1

These will all get a rating for how good they are. It's out of 10 stars.

*********

As I said this has a great active. It also gives a good amount of cooldown reduction which could change the way you fight, whither it be alone or in a team fight.

********

Well this is a pretty cheep item. And it gives even more magic penetration which is always good. In late game this cam make huge difference and with that's a pretty good amount of magic penetration. Lots of end game damage.

*********

This is a good amount of mana regen and cooldown reduction. This is actually a really good mid-to-late game item that works pretty well with . Plus it can give a grievous wound, which works great with a situation.

******

This one is it good because it gives you magic resist and lowers near by enemies magic resist. That is really good in mid lane. Not bad in team fights either. I feel it's better for melee champs because they need to be close quarters so its unique passive will always work. needs to be a bit further back then that. So it's not the best item for her.

*******

This is one of the better mid items. I would almost replace it for an if it wasn't for the ability power and mana combo. It has a wonderful unique passive. I feel it's better for someone like or who would make much better use of something like that.vIt's not super great with .

*******

I'm not a huge fan of this. Again I don't feel it's meant for some other mid, like or . Plus I don't quite get the whole movement speed thing. Seems weird.

******

This is a majorly situational item. Even with some of my best games I would still not get it. I've only gotten full stacks with this three times and that was still hard. But it's still pretty great item if you can fill it up.

Alternate Items for Build 2

There will be the same rating system for these items

*********

Even though this is no longer part of the build, it's still pretty good. Especially since it now gives more ability power now. If you are going to replace something in the build, this is your item! Or not because they're are other options.

********

This works better for Build 2 then Build 1. Giving a bit of everything that makes Build 2 what's great it is a worthy alternative. It now is a little less powerful, but it's cheeper now. It's still a good buy.

******

As said in Alternate Items for Build 1, this seems like a great item in general. And a not half bad active in my mind.

********

Void staff gives the kind of power Build 2 wants. Magic penetration! It also gives a fair amount of ability power. This is generally a great apc item.

*******

I find this quite useful, but I wouldn't put it with Build 1. Build 2 is a whole different story. Since this build has less escape potential then Build 1 you'll probably end up with less health in the same fighting situation in Build 1. This will change it up, especially if you're fighting with enemy minions around. and will give you some health on the side.

Build Changing

It has come to my attention that some people like to have options for builds. Sometimes these two builds just won't work if you're behind in kills, creep score, or gold in general. Plus these builds aren't ment for defense if you really need it. So I now present a more defensive approach.

Build 1
What you need for this build is

The rest is interchangeable without messing everything up. A few things you can do instead is:

Defensive

These all help for those ap people that are dealing way to much magic damage for comfort. They're listed in my favorite order to my least favorite, but they're all really nifty.

gives you health and magic penetration and makes them burn when you deal spell damage. I have seen people secure their kills or assists off of the burning and plus does throw fire, so it makes sense to have people burn.

gives cooldown reduction, magic resist, mana regen, and has a passive that gives you mana on a kill and an assist. It has some small magic resist that could just save your life. In a team fight, if it goes well for your team, you won't lose all your mana before the end of the fight so you can attack faster without to much of a problem. The cooldown reduction will also help with this and it gets you faster and everyone loves Tibbers!

will help you out due to your shorter range on your spells. In team fights this helps a lot with though I'm not sure what the range of is, so it might be out of range depending on positioning. Plus it gives magic resist and the most of the items.

this is more on the ends of damage in general. It gives you armor to block off that pesky ad carry and the other ad people. The by far best part of this item though is its very notorious passive. A whole 2.5 seconds saves so many lives and for this goes the same. If you have Tibbers with you he can stand next to you and deal his magic damage to those who wait for you to emerge.

Naturally I wouldn't put all these together but they give you survivability and that matters when you're getting killed in a team fight. If all this doesn't help there is always a there to rescue you.

Build 2
Build 2 can't really change that much, but a can always get thrown in there as the could too.

Summoner Spells for Build 1 & 2

Well is always useful. When you're running away from someone or the whole team. Or if you really want that kill you can Flash forward and get them. Very useful.

Ignite is always useful. And it's not always for kills. If there's a that has some seriously high regeneration and just won't die, ignite him so he doesn't have as much regen. Of course you could always just give him a grievous wound. But if you don't have that then use ignite.

This goes really well with those pesky melee ap carries. (Cough, cough, ) They're never prepared to be Exhausted the first time and always results in a kill for me, especially when they try to turret dive me.

Alternate Summoner Spells for Build 1 & 2

I don't ever see Surge anymore. I don't know why. I mean sure it's not the best summoner spell, but it's still pretty good. I mean extra ap is always good and attack speed alright, but that's not the best part. And it lasts for TEN WHOLE SECONDS!

Well this is an alright spell. I feel like is on a whole different level then Ghost. There's also nothing wrong with having Flash and Ghost. I just wouldn't recommend it due to you would only have escapes or chases. The point of this is not to escaping or chasing. It's about submission!

Skill Sequence

Alright! Most Annie's give most of their points to power up right away. I actually disagree with this. If you check the damage on and you will notice goes 85/125/165/205/245 with (+70% of ability power), but goes 80/130/180/230/280 with (+75% of ability power)! That's better at every level except 1. Even then it can be more powerful! If your attacking they both do about the same amount of damage. All you need to do is see how much damage one does to estimate the other and it is soooooo much easier to kill with that. The only time I would level is if I'm taking to much damage so I can activate it for less damage.

Skill Explanation

This is great passive. One of my personal favorite passives. It has great synergy with because on a kill it gives a refund. That's a free stack on your passive. If you do that over and over again you can stun your opponent. Perfect opportunity for a hit with for some good damage. It also works well with for the AoE damage and a good combo. Just try not to waist it too much. It's really vital.

Well this is a medium range spell. And it gives a refund on a kill. That is very useful to farm with and you can practice last hitting with spells by using this. This also does plenty of damage with 70% of your ability power added to it. It's really great early game and not half bad in the beginning. Since it has a further range then you'll want to hit your opponents with this first, especially if you can't fully aim your .

This is a shorter range then and a short range in general. If you want to surprise opponents in lane then attack them with this first. Most people don't expect this. It's a bit harder to do in all honesty. If it works they could try to Flash and will follow them for the possible kill with .

This is actually pretty great. It's like a built in only it can have more damage with more ability power. Plus people tend not to notice the damage and it will stack up. It also gives a good amount of armor and magic resist which works in your favor if your being ganked. The only down side is it gives no actual shielding so don't mistake it for a legitimate shield.

Well this is a great ultimate. Big damage on entry, a minion who deals magic damage around him and when he attacks, and he follows your every order until he dies. This was and is very creative and combined with your stun and all your other moves a few times, basic attacks, and sometimes is a kill in plenty cases.

Team Work

As a lot of mids is squishy. Even with all the health items in Build 1 she still dies easy. In a fight you need to be somewhat close though. Your spells have lower range then the average ap carry's. That can be a problem. I actually get focused easier because of this. This is why it is imperative to have your stun ready for a team fight. Or have a , or both so you get get behind the tank or support before they can get to you. Only if you are confident in your abilities should you approach them and continue to barrage them after the stun, slow, or stun and slow wears off because even if you have they could have it too and you will probably die in that situation. What I do to survive that is have teammates at the ready near by to lure them into my trap. This tends to work out better even if I die because the team usually gets the kills and I get assists. Only thing that beats that is getting the kills yourself. Another thing is if the enemy team has proper focus,you're screwed due to being a focus champ and just has trouble mowing down five champions at once. It's possible, but not probable.

Farming

Farming is simple on . Just hit low minions with and your basic attack for a stack of . What I did to be better at farming is I tested the damage on full heath minions and assessed the damage. I've been able to farm so much better after that. If you're not confident in your farming abilities then take a mana potion at the beginning instead of a third heath potion.

All Mids

Time to test my knowledge.Instead of putting counters here I decided to one up that with all the mids I've ever seen. If I've forgotten someone please tell me so there are no surprises. This is going to be a work in progress for a long time. It's should probably take a good two months or so to finish. Your opinion is greatly appreciated, especially with the more lacking ones like .

REDO! The first time wasn't very helpful. Cutthroat Mercy

Even though is a focus champion is better. Considerably better, to the point of massacring you and laughing at your "burst". Sigil of Silence

Good news everyone! You do have a chance for this one. I have successfully beaten with Annie a fair amount of times. Only a few of those times were legit though. Now this is the situation where if you don't want to replace an item with magic resist, you get an . Another thing is stun her when she is using her and burst away. It's fun to do that while you're under your turret. After laneing phase you and your team need to shut her down or she will rise back up. Other then that you should do just fine with a jungler's help. Sinister Steel

Lets start with don't forget her passive. Some times if is a bit over aggressive it MIGHT mean she has ready. It can also mean you're about to be ganked. She also slows with not one, but two of her moves. (That's and ) Her can stop you right in your tracks, whether you attacking or fleeing. Now dodge all those move and burst her down. Shut her down in the begging. She probably won't bounce back at all.

Technically is a counter to Annie. I don't know why. Most s can only hit you with their and maybe their . I have no problem dodging and maneuvering like crazy, because most s will get destroyed by this point. However if that Brand can actually use his moves, you have a reason to fear for your life/lives. I have never faced this before, but I can say dodge like crazy or die.

She does some serious damage over time. I never know quite how much damage I'm taking from her ever. I just know I'm alive then I'm not. I highly recommend magic resist for her because she needs her damage over time. If you think she is going to ult turn around if you can't get out of there in time. I'd rather take a slow over a stun. Your stun is key for your victory, and if you can't correctly use it, you may be in trouble. Other then that build normal, but maybe replace something with that if she's doing a little bit to much damage.

I'm debating wither she is a mid or not, but I'll keep her here for now. Now is here main damage and paired with is a power to be afraid of. Dodge though, and it changes the story. Even with that combo you shouldn't have a huge problem with , I never really do because it matters about how good the Diana is to make the verdict of dangerous or not.

I don't even know her, so major inexperience. I guess dodge the first so you're not automatically targeted. I guess a few s will do well because of her passive, . Other then that I don't know.

This is a weird match up. I guess watch out for the , , combo. It's even worse when he gets in the combo. He has some great sustain, so you'll have to burst down fast or no good. If you poke he'll just a minion, or you. Watch out for him ing over a wall and then ing you plus a . You'll probably die in that situation. So I guess this leans more his way, but it's more on the ends of an even match up.

Well just watch out for and . That can take you down in a jiffy. gives him instant tankyness and gives him back what little help he lost in the first place. If you can do your burst well enough, you'll probably win lane. The more damage you do the less helps. He can run away with and do the same only towards you if he knocks you closer with and you're an easy gank, or no flash. He's kind of good late game, but if you destroyed him in lane he shouldn't be a problem. His 's debuff can make all the difference in an early kill, so if he's low on health dodge like crazy if you want that kill. Also if he gets fed you're doomed with the rest of the team, so if you can't win run and just don't lose.

Well I haven't faced any s in mid that were any good, but I used to play him a lot so I do have tips. Now you clearly know about the turret situation, but I'm explaining it anyway. A lot of s like to level their s to the max first and as soon as possible. Those things will take you down fast if you take even a few hits. Combined with makes them get even more hits off due to the slow. Up next is the which are prone to failure when you're around your minions. Then is the CH-1 concussion grenade, which was my personal favorite move. It is blind and a stun on it's own, but if he throws it close range he's probably going to hit you. gives him better sustain than you, so if you want to poke, poke hard. Try your best to dodge the , and the CH-1 concussion grenades. Unfortunately that leaves the s and , which is all he truly needs. It's not a total waste to stun a turret that has on it. Also try not to turret dive him. isn't to great of a turret diver in the first place and with the turrets active and right by the turret is a bad situation. You'll probably die, and there is no guarantee that you'll even kill Heimerdinger in the first place. Remember he is a better team fighter than you, so he is worth your focus. Well then good luck!

Now these are champions I've seen in mid, but I don't consider them mids. Some I'll say why I don't consider them that. At least the ones that I feel may need a bit explaining to what I think they are.

I personally think is a top. Maybe he could be an AD carry in some situations. He is pretty good in mid. In fact my stomach drops down a bit when I see him in mid. A Teemo that can properly use his Camouflage and is even worse. You don't know where he is half the time, and knowing where he is doesn't help all that much with a proper use of Camouflage, , and s will destroy your moment of triumph. As always and are his main damage and are difficult to dodge due to them not having to be aimed. Luckily you can still burst him down if he has no proper use of Camouflage, , and s is doomed to die by your burst. Just don't feed him or he will easily kill you and everyone on your team, even in a team fight.

All I can say is strong bombs. 's is his only damage from an ability. Well direct damage at least. Anyway this is his huge damage and it doesn't just hit you, it hits those around you. That includes your minions and teammates. If you have a bomb on you isolate yourself and DO NOT run into a teammate. Combined with he can toss another bomb on your head, even if you've got one already and it makes the first one blow up. isn't something to be too scared about, but it is perfect for ganks, whither it's used on you, the jungler, or himself. When he gets he is even more dangerous, because turret diving isn't an issue anymore. Plus does work on so it's not that big of a waste, especially if he kills you. In team fights is way to useful, as are s, and a proper . Try to get him to ult someone else and then jump him so you can actually kill him.

is one of the best tops I've ever seen. He is all powerful, but you HAVE to know how to use EVERY move and his passive to be any good. Now I have never played , but I've seen him in action enough to know there are many combos he can pull off. He has about the same range as you do, so assume if you can hit him he can hit you. to me isn't as easy to predict as is, so be wary of that. Each seems to play very differently, so treat each situation differently. As you can expect is a great escape method, and great for dodging and your stun. gives him extra health and ability power and it doesn't stack on itself, but it's something to worry about mid to late game. I have no advice for that to be honest.

I love this guy. He is just SO awesome! He is my absolute favorite AD Carry and he isn't a half bad AP carry. His moves will drain you though. His , , , and scale off of ap. knocks down your magic resist leaving you open for 5-25 seconds, which is more then helpful. It also has 70% of his ability power with it so he can slam you down. Does a percent of your health in health and AP Kog gets extra EXTRA damage from that. isn't a huge problem on damage as much as it's a really potent slow. The thing is against an AP Kog that's level 6 is dangerous when his jungler ganks. You only need to be caught for a short while before he can finish you off. All you have to do to win is dodge. Even with items is very mana hungry and in the earlier levels he will run out of mana constantly, especially from as each cast will cost more if it's fired in a certain time frame. If the can't aim anything then he's doomed, be cause his burst may hurt, but yours hurts more. Hop on him any chance you get during the early levels because his abilities cost way to much in the beginning to be used for attacking and sometimes even defending himself. Any smart will be carrying flash

So anyone that says AP Yi is for noobs is lying. I tried many time and I failed every time. It might be because I suck with Yi anyway, but most people don't suck with Yi. Whether AD or AP watch out for his . I've seen Yi's be able to poke with this and it hurts under the influence of AP. The other thing you have to watch out for is . The key is to stun him after he uses so he won't be able to heal and will be open to attack. has a bigger cooldown in the begging and most AP Yi's level their first and just get one point in for the attack damage, but not always. If the Yi does get points onto can be dangerous up close. will close in the gap and combined with will make a Yi that you might not be able to escape, even if you have your stun. isn't scary for an AP Yi, but an extra attack is an extra attack. What I recommend doing is never waisting your stun. A good will punish you for that. I would also say that your would be your best bet to hit Yi, as makes him "untargetable" for the duration of the move. This means is essentially dodgeable. More then likely you will be using your a little more often, as a 's can burst you down. I noticed from playing is he isn't very defensive. Your stun is key to taking this guy down. That's how to take down a Yi.

Change log

11/17/12 Added a few more codes.
12/05/12 Masteries, runes, and items changed to fit new season.
1/07/13 Items changed and more code things added to fit.
1/09/13 Fixed typos
5/9/13 All Mids almost done.
6/10/13 Lie confirmed. All Mids not almost done.

Thanks to...

Jhoijhoi for the teach how to make a guide.
MOBAFire for the easy BBCodes.

Summary

Well that about wraps up my guide on . I hope you like it and please tell me what I can do to fix it if you think it's broken in some way. Your opinion matters. See you all later.

Through the Fire and Flames! How to carry with Annie.