How to Play Annie in League of Legends? (Full Guide)

Learning how to play Annie can be of critical importance to all League of Legends players, especially mid laners. Annie is one of the most efficient champions for climbing in the game. And in my opinion, everyone can take advantage of her explosive potential to gain some LP.

In this guide, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about Annie as a champion in LoL. I’ll talk about her strengths, weaknesses, and state in season 13, how to play the early, mid, and late game, and the runes and items you’ll need in-game.

So, no matter if you’re a beginner or an advanced League of Legends player, here’s a complete guide on how to play Annie and actually carry games in season 13!

Table of Contents

Is Annie a Good Champion in LoL?

Many players have negative opinions about Annie. They regard her as an “old champion” without anything new to offer or a champion with limited powers. And while that’s true to some extent, there’s a way to turn these weaknesses into strengths.

But if you’re wondering if Annie is generally a good champion in League of Legends, here’s what you should know.

Annie is one of the best beginner champions in LoL. She has a simple but powerful ability kit that allows you to carry games. Annie has high burst damage, consistent crowd control, and good defensiveness. Annie is also a great pick for multiple roles, such as mid, support, and top lane.

Here are Annie’s biggest strengths and weaknesses in League:

Strengths	Weaknesses
Easy to play	All abilities are short-ranged
High damage in early, mid, and late game	Can’t one-shot tanks
On-demand crowd control (stuns)	Slow wave clearing
Excellent at ganking and setting up kills	Immobile champion (no dash or jump)
Rarely banned	Predictable playstyle

As you can see, Annie is a well-balanced champion in League of Legends.

For example, you can always one-shot the enemy ADC with Annie but you’ll never one-shot the enemy top laner. Annie can gank other lanes and set up kills with her stuns, but she can’t always escape ganks due to her immobility. And even though you can always pick Annie, many players will know how to play against you.

Of course, this shouldn’t cause too many alerts. These are just things you must be aware of before jumping into ranked matches with Annie.

And the thing that I love about Annie is that she’s so easy and powerful that you can always perform well on her, no matter if you’re having a bad day or not.

Annie Fundamentals – 5 Key Things You Need to Master

Here are the 5 most important parts of learning how to play Annie. These are fundamentals that every beginner player must know about Annie. And if you’re wondering “how do you master Annie in League of Legends?” these are things to focus on!

Annie’s Abilities Explained

Passive: Pyromania – How does Annie’s passive work?

When Annie uses her damaging abilities (Q, W, and R), she gains a stack of Pyromania. And when she gets 4 stacks (for example, after casting Q 4 times), her next spell will stun the target. In other words, every 5th damaging ability that Annie casts has a stun effect attached to it.

Q: Disintegrate – How does Annie’s Q work?

Annie’s Q is a simple point-click damaging ability. You point at a target with your mouse and your press Q to use it. Disintegrate deals magic damage, has medium range, and a low cooldown. If Annie’s Q kills the target, half of the cooldown is reduced and the mana spent is fully restored.

W: Incinerate – How does Annie’s W work?

When activated, Annie’s W deals AoE magic damage in a cone area in front of her. You can choose the direction of the cone effect with your mouse. But the ability has a fixed range and angle, so you need to get in range to use it properly. Similarly, it stuns all targets it hits if you have Pyromania.

E: Molten Shield – How does Annie’s E work?

Annie’s E is a shield that you can cast on yourself, your allies, or your Tibbers. But instead of an HP shield, this ability gives bonus movement speed and magic resist for 3 seconds. Additionally, Molten Shield burns attackers while its on, dealing magic damage. Annie’s E can’t stun enemies.

R: Summon: Tibbers – How does Annie’s R work?

Annie can cast her ultimate in a target area, dealing massive AP damage to all enemies. It also summons her pet Tibbers which burns and auto-attacks all enemy champions nearby. Annie can control her Tibbers with the R button or ALT+Right-click on a target or an area.

Read Also: Top 15 Best Off-Meta Supports

Preparing Stun

Setting up your stun is one of the key things you must learn how to do when practicing Annie. And the rule is – always have your stun ready when you roam, gank, or look to fight 1v1 in the mid lane.

In other words, the only time when you don’t need to have a stun ready is when you’re farming minions.

To prepare your stun as Annie, all you need to do is cast 4 different abilities. They can be in any order you want. Keep in mind that although Annie’s E can’t stun a target, it still grants a stack of Pyromania.

So, spam your W and E to get 4 stacks of Pyromania when you roam from mid to bot or from your base to mid lane. Always look at your passive stacks and prepare them in this way.

One trick that many players forget is that you can actually surprise-stun your opponent with only 3 stacks. The way this works is this.

If you cast Q while you have 3 stacks of Pyromania but you immediately activate E after that, your Q will stun the target. This is because while the Q animation travels, the E ability is instant and counts as a 4th stack. It’s a useful trick for outplaying your opponents.

Read Also: 7 Best Mid Laners Against Tanks

One-shotting

When it comes to one-shotting, Annie is an expert at it. She’s actually a champion designed to stun her targets and quickly burst them down while they’re in CC. And that’s how you should approach her playstyle too.

The best way to one-shot an enemy champion with Annie is to catch them with Tibbers-stun (passive ready), then quickly cast W + Q+ Ignite while they can’t move. This will give you the biggest chance of slaying your target.

And you can also do Flash + ulti to surprise your target or catch as many enemy champions in stun as possible.

Aside from that, you can also start with Q, especially if you don’t want to miss your Tibbers. Remember, Q is a point-click stun for Annie, so the Q + R + W + Ignite combo is also recommended.

Runes and items also determine whether you’ll one-shot an enemy champion, but I’ll talk about that later in the post. Scroll down if you want to see the best Annie build right now.

Read Also: Top 10 Most Fun Supports

Taking Advantage of Tibbers

And the last thing I want you to focus on here is controlling Tibbers and taking advantage of the fact that you have a pet that does things for you! Most mid lane champions don’t have this, so it’s good to be aware of it.

Tibbers is a powerful unit. Not only does his initial hit do a lot of damage, but he continues to DPS your enemies well after it. His damage scales with your AP, so he’s always helpful.

You can use Tibbers to chase down enemy champions, block skill shots, and solo neutral objectives such as the Dragon. Depending on how well you control and position Tibbers, you can do all of these things in LoL.

For example, if you play against Ezreal, you can move Tibbers in front of you and block his Q. If the enemy jungler is dead, you can take the dragon while Tibbers is tanking it for you. And when you’re on low HP, you can simply let Tibbers farm of fight your opponent while you back off.

Keep in mind that you can’t control Tibbers from an unlimited range, so pay attention to how far you and Tibbers are apart.

Ganking and Roaming

Ganking is one of the biggest strengths that Annie has in League of Legends. And the whole reason why she is so good at ganking bot lane and roaming with her jungler is because of her passive – always available and on-demand stun.

No matter if you play Annie in the mid lane or as a support, always try to gank other lanes and help your jungler for objectives. Annie has fantastic damage throughout the game and her stun gives your team an advantage in nearly all situations.

One way to constantly win games with Annie is to gank bot lane with your stun and damage. Remember, you can use your E to speed yourself up and get in range for your stun. And since you have two other players in the bot lane, the chances of scoring a kill are high.

Similarly, you should always follow your jungler when he’s invading with your stun ready. We all know what jungle diff can do in a LoL game, so getting your jungler ahead is a great strategy for winning.

Annie Gameplay Guide – Early, Mid, and Late Game

Here’s how to play Annie in all stages of the game for beginners and advanced LoL players!

Early Game

Annie isn’t the strongest mid lane champion and her laning isn’t perfect. In fact, she has quite a few unfavorable matchups in the mid, especially in the current meta. Basically, all assassins and all champions that outrange her are her counters, so

Annie should always focus on farming until level 3. Farming is actually very easy with Annie because you can use your Q to secure the CS. Remember, if you slay a minion with Q, your mana will be completely restored.

Once you unlock level 3, you can start trading with your enemy or go all-in! Depending on the champion you’re playing against and how much health they have, you can try to one-shot them early on.

I recommend leveling up your Q two times and your W once if you’re going to be aggressive in the lane. But if you’re getting poked and you need to play defensively, take E on level 3 instead.

Even though it’s tough to pull off successful ganks before level 6 on Annie, it’s not impossible. And if the situation presents itself, you should always try to roam and help out the other lanes with your stun!

When you reach level 6, you unlock Annie’s whole power. In an ideal match, level 6 is where you first go to the base to buy your items. And with a bit of AP, Annie becomes really scary.

So, if you have Tibbers, W, Q, and Ignite ready, chances are that you’ll slay the mid lane opponent 1v1 on level 6. I always recommend you to try this, no matter the matchup. And if not a kill, you’ll force your opponent to go to his base and lose XP and farm.

Mid Game

During the mid game, Annie is in a much better position as a champion. She’s not forced to stay in the mid lane and deal with problematic opponents. Instead, she can move with her team, gank, and engage team fights.

One of the most important aspects of playing Annie in the mid game is setting up good stuns. And you can often win games simply by catching one enemy champion after another during the mid game.

There are many methods for doing this. One of the best ways to carry with Annie is to hide in a brush and surprise your enemies. This assures that you’ll hit your stun with Tibbers and gives you the ideal opportunity to do burst damage.

However, you can also use Flash to stun multiple opponents at once with Tibbers. Engaging team fights like this often breaks the game because it allows you to take neutral objectives after the enemy team is dead.

So, focus on setting up good team fights and getting as many kills as you can during the mid game!

Late Game

And the late game is where Annie really carries!

This is the point where Annie’s AP is so high that her combo always kills at least one enemy champion. The cooldown of the ulti is also low, so you always have Tibbers available when it dies. Theoretically, you can have 100% uptime on Tibbers in the late game.

But Annie’s playstyle doesn’t change that much from mid to late game. You’re still looking to group up with your teammates and engage in fights favorable to you.

In other words, the only thing you need to do as Annie in the late game is to set up a good ulti-stun. If you do this successfully, chances are that your team is going to win the team fight, secure the Baron, and eventually win the game.

The great thing about Annie is that you often need only one good Tibbers stun to win the game. This ability is really a game-changer and if you execute it correctly, you’ll definitely win more games.

As a last piece of advice, I’d tell you to be careful about your positioning. Annie is a squishy mid-range mage and she can easily be outranged. Don’t stand too close to the enemy team if you aren’t ready to stun them. And only Flash + ulti when you know you can burst at least one enemy down. Otherwise, you’ll need defensive tools such as Zhonya’s Hourglass.

Annie Runes – The Best Rune Page for Annie in Season 13 LoL

Here are the best runes for playing Annie mid or support:

Electrocute – helps you deal more damage when you’re trying to burst a target.
Cheap Shot – synergizes with your passive and increases your damage against stunned enemies.
Eyeball Collection – gives you a bit of ability power in the early game.
Ultimate Hunter – greatly reduces the cooldown of your ultimate so you can use it much more frequently.

Manaflow Band – increases your maximum mana and your mana regeneration.
Absolute Focus – makes you deal bonus damage when you’re above 70% HP (when you engage first).

This is your overall best rune page for Annie in season 13. These runes are super helpful in all situations. However, you can also experiment and adapt your own playstyle.

For example, many players like to go for the Predator keystone. It allows you to speed yourself and stun enemy champions much easier. Relentless Hunter is a passive movement speed buff, useful in similar situations. You can also go for Cosmic Storm for more late-game power or Perfect Timing against assassins.

Annie Items – The Best Item Build for Annie in Season 13 LoL

Here are the best items for playing Annie mid or support:

Luden’s Tempest – gives you a better burst, more AP, mana, ability haste, and magic penetration.
Shadowflame – helps you deal more damage overall, especially to champions with lots of shields.
Rabadon’s Deathcap – increases your overall AP by 35% and makes your combo much deadlier.
Void Staff – grants you maximum magic penetration so you can deal great damage to tanks and remove one of your weaknesses.
Zhonya’s Hourglass – allows you to dodge the enemy attacks and survive, especially after you’ve Flashed and ultied.
Ionian Boots of Lucidity – give you 20 ability haste for a price of 950 gold, so they’re the ideal choice.

You won’t make a mistake if you choose to stick with this item build in all of your matches. However, some items can be really helpful in certain scenarios.

For example, Hextech Rocketbelt is a great mythic item to get against champions that outrange you. You can use it to dash forwards and get in range for your stun. Morellonomicon is generally good against healing champions. And Banshee’s Veil is there to counter CC champions.

Of course, if you’re playing Annie support, then you should start the game with the Spellthief’s Edge support item and then continue with the build above.

Read Also: Veigar One Shot Build Guide

Summoner’s Spells and Skill Order

Which Summoner’s Spells should I use for Annie?

The best combination of Summoner’s Spells for Annie is Flash + Ignite. Flash allows you to get in range for your abilities and Ignite helps you secure kills when you burst them down. You can also go for Exhaust or Teleport if your team has enough damage already.

What is the best skill order for Annie?

The best skill order for Annie is Q > W > E > R. You should always start the game with Q unless you need stun on level 1 for an invade. In that case, start with W and stack it up inside your base. Q is an easy-to-use spell, does a lot of damage, and has a low cooldown. So, always max Q out first.

Additionally, you can take Q two times on level 3 if you’re looking to fight 1v1. Similarly, you can take Q two times and W two times on level 4 if you need a bit more damage. But if you’re looking to just farm, take E for safety instead.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Question About Annie in LoL

Is Annie AD or AP?

Annie is an AP mage champion in League of Legends. She only deals magic damage and all of her abilities scale with ability power. In other words, the more AP items you build on Annie, the more damage her abilities will do. Annie doesn’t have AD ratios. Even her Tibbers scale with AP.

What is Annie’s role LoL?

Annie’s main role is mid lane. She was first designed to be a solo AP carry in the game. But in the later seasons, Annie is played as a support more than a mid laner. Nevertheless, Annie is successful in both roles, so you can play her however you like.

Can Annie go bottom lane?

You can definitely play Annie in the bot lane, both as a carry and as a support. As an AP carry, Annie goes well with engage supports that allow her to get in range for her stun (Thresh, Lux, Nautilus). And as a support, Annie goes well with bursty ADCs (Miss Fortune, Lucian, Samira).

Is Annie a good support?

Although Annie’s initial role was mid lane, she’s a good support pick in League of Legends. She’s one of the best beginner-friendly aggressive supports in the game. Annie has great damage, an anti-magic shield, and can always stun her enemies. That’s how she helps her teammates.

Conclusion

I hope this post helped you figure out how to play Annie in League of Legends. This is a comprehensive guide on Annie as a champion and what you need to do in order to win games with her. All info in this guide is personal and tested throughout many years in high elo in ranked LoL.

If you need additional sources for learning more about Annie, here are some links that can help you out:

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Last Update: March 2, 2024

How to Play Annie in League of Legends? (Full Guide)

Is Annie a Good Champion in LoL?