Don't nerf Annie's AA range, give her passive a nerf.

Chris Chiaki·May 3, 2015·6 votes·710 views

Annie isn't strong because she can auto you from far, her attack speed is awful and learning how to weave autos to abuse the range is actually one of the more skill-based aspects of her kit. Her biggest problem is that she can never be all-in'ed by a vast majority of her lane opponents because she can insta-drop Tibbers on you and then 100-0 you back.

Her stun passive never runs out. Letting her only hold onto the stun indefinitely lets her zone out melee champions like fuck. If it was like 10 seconds or 15 before it fizzles I think she'd be balanced.

15 Comments

IcyPepperMay 3, 20151 votes

Honestly, Riot prefers nerfing something not intended to be a champion's strength (close range Jinx rocket rather than her Q, Annie's aa over her passive) in order to preserve their identity.

Although

If it was like 10 seconds or 15 before it fizzles I think she'd be balanced.

That isn't terribly unreasonable. I could see it like what cinderhulk's passive is right now, the immolate ticker, and the passive losing one stack every 10-15 seconds.

Chris ChiakiMay 3, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Honestly, Riot prefers nerfing something not intended to be a champion's strength (close range Jinx rocket rather than her Q, Annie's aa over her passive) in order to preserve their identity.

Although

That isn't terribly unreasonable. I could see it like what cinderhulk's passive is right now, the immolate ticker, and the passive losing one stack every 10-15 seconds.

Her AA range is her strength, it allows for great harass in lane if you do it right since it outranges short range spells and dashes like Fizz Q.

Have you even tried playing a melee midlaner into Annie? You have to give up CS at times to avoid eating a W+Q+AA+minion aggro while she can just freely CS.

IcyPepperMay 3, 20151 votes

It's not intended to be her strength, and unfortunately it goes against her kit's identity. Annie is a short-ranged cc burst mage, not a long-range poke mage like her aa acts as.

LifeCyclesTWAMay 3, 20151 votes

So, Annie is a squishy champion with no mobility whatsoever who gets countered hard by Banshee's Veil and you want to take away her stun?

lol, what do you want to give her in return? How about we just delete her as a champion because without her current passive she is an easy target.

IcyPepperMay 3, 20151 votes

I really don't see what "her aa range isn't intended to be her [main] strength" has anything to do with her passive.

LifeCyclesTWAMay 3, 20151 votes

Sorry, comment was meant for the OP! :]

If she didn't have that stun to keep people away, and if she couldn't burst people 100-0, what would keep other champions in the game from hopping on her and instagibbing her? She would be trash. No range, no mobility, squishy.

IcyPepperMay 3, 20151 votes

Happens to the best of us, mate.

Vistha KaiMay 3, 20152 votes

It's like some people say "GD/Reddit knows balance"

Giving her a delay on ult and making passive go away after idle, wouldn't make her a trash champ. Hell, ult delay could change with range, so she would still insta-stun Zed or LB, while giving people who are just trying to CS some form of safety net. As it is now, if you are in her general range you are done for. Mobility or not.

And what kind of a great idea it is for a mage to rush Banshee's veil as a first item? "This champion deals 10000 damage with one spell, but because Banshee's Veil exists it's balanced." That's NOT how it goes.

LifeCyclesTWAMay 3, 20151 votes

"That's NOT how it goes."

Well you obviously don't rush banshee's, but late game her power drastically drops because people should have it. Similar to how if Warwick or Malzahar is on the other team you should build QSS.

Look, in a competitive match where everyone is equally skilled, Annie is not going to pubstomp everyone, she may have a strong laning phase, but come late game when it matters she will have trouble because most if not all people should be running BV.

They already weakened her early game because people are playing her support. She doesn't need to be changed more, people just need to learn how to play. This whole "Nerf Annie!" thing is horrible, same with them nerfing Blitz. They've been fine for nearly 6 years, deal with the fact that she can be a bitch to deal with early on then laugh at her end game when you have banshee's. Its as simple as that.

Same can be said about Malzahar and WW with QSS. Its players that are crying about Annie that got WW nerfed to shit.

Vistha KaiMay 3, 20152 votes

Except QSS actually does something in this game. You need to try your damnest to not have Banshee's wasted by random Ez Q or other mid-long range skillshots that tend to fly in the mid and late game.

And don't justify it by using imaginary situation that won't happen in a solo queue match. "(...)where everyone is equally skilled" This sounds like a distasteful joke at best.

LifeCyclesTWAMay 3, 20151 votes

I just think its crazy when a champion has zero mobility and is squishy, the only thing going for her is an amazing stun and her very short ranged burst, and people want to take away what makes her special.

Here is a real situation. Master Yi is split pushing a lane, you try to stop him as Annie. You flash in, and burst him down 100-0 if he hasn't invested in defense.

Here is a real situation. Master Yi is split pushing a lane with Banshee's Veil up, someone else better go stop him because he will destroy you. Or he will just walk away unharmed.

I am not an Annie main or anything, no bias. Just saying any she can't screw with anyone unless her teammates remove their BV for her.

Vistha KaiMay 3, 20151 votes

Or you can use one of your other no-skill abilities, pop the Banshee and kill him with the same spell 2 seconds later, because you are Annie.

OJ191May 3, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Honestly, Riot prefers nerfing something not intended to be a champion's strength (close range Jinx rocket rather than her Q, Annie's aa over her passive) in order to preserve their identity.

Although

That isn't terribly unreasonable. I could see it like what cinderhulk's passive is right now, the immolate ticker, and the passive losing one stack every 10-15 seconds.

do you people even think this shit through, that would be a BUFF

Suddenly annie can farm with spells without losing her massive zone potential

IcyPepperMay 3, 20151 votes

I did think of that.

To be honest, it would need a lot of testing if that ever happened. Probably change her spells. Maybe an entire rework like bami's cinder was for sunfire's cape and the jungle item.

Sightless66May 3, 20151 votes

I think she'd kind of suck if she got that change. She has the vast majority of her value tied up in that stun in the mid and late game. Put that kind of timer on it, you remove her ability to initiate, you kill the champion. I'd bet that she'd be the single worst champion in the game with that change. You could maybe argue for having it on a timer in the early game, but once the midgame hits, she can't have that nerf.