Major Annie changes in 13.2 may make her viable again
With League Patch 13.1 hitting the live servers, the PBE servers will welcome new Annie changes that will be coming in Patch 13.2.
Annie receives changes to abilities in League Patch 13.2
One of the first 40 champions that were released to League is going to receive some major balance changes. Annie is not used to receiving changes to its kit often, as its latest update was in Patch 12.12 when her Q and R were buffed. Unfortunately, Annie has always been an unpopular champion, with an average of 1.4% pick rate at all ranks (according to u.gg). Riot is hoping to push her back with these new changes and increase her popularity among all ranks.
Following the release of Patch 13.1 to the live servers, Annie received the changes on the PBE servers. Today, Gameplay Analyst Ray Williams posted a tweet with tweaks on the buffs that she had received already. Below you can find the new tentative Annie changes that will should come with League Patch 13.2.
Base stats
- Scaling Mana Regen: 0.8 >>> 1.0
Pyromania (Passive)
- Now set to full stacks on game start and respawn
Incinerate (W)
Mana cost reduced: 90-110 >>> 70-110(removed)
Molten Shield (E)
- New:
deals damage when taking any damage, but only once per enemy per cast. - Now can only reflect damage once per target, per shield – Note: Tibbers duplicated shield counts as new shield
- Damage is reflected from all damage, not just auto attacks
- Increased value of reflected damage: 20-60 (+20% AP) >>>
20-60 (+40% AP)>>> 30-90 (+40%AP) - Base shield increased: 40-220 (+35%AP) >>>
60-220 (+35%AP)>>> 40-220 (+55%AP) - Decay of haste decreased: 50%>>> 15-35%
Summon: Tibbers (R)
- Tibbers health increased: 1300-3100 >>> 1300-3100 (+75% AP)
- Tibbers resists increased: 30-90>>> 30-90 (+5% AP)
- Tibbers MS: 350 >>> 370
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Analysis of the new Annie changes
The new Annie changes are overall buffs that will improve her early game as well as her scaling into the later stages of the game. The passive change can be great to make comeback plays after respawning if the enemies are pushed into the base, giving you the ability to get a free stun.
The W mana cost reduction is a good change for the early game to improve her wave clear. That said, the change isn’t that important since Annie gets a mana refund upon last-hitting with her Q’s.
The E and R changes, on the other hand, are quite substantial. She will deal more damage the more AP she gets and the base shield is also higher for better trading.
Most importantly, her Tibbers will be a lot tankier in the late game: with a normal Annie build, her Bear can gain up to 300 to 500 extra health, as well as up to 25 to 30 extra resistances. He will be a lot harder to take down and she can pilot him to destroy the enemies for longer. Overall, these changes will definitely make her stronger, but we might have to wait longer to know whether she can become a top-tier mid laner or even support.
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