Talk:Annie/@comment-4636093-20190509060810/@comment-26808509-20190525101527

Funny sidenote: Riot and many others had the same exact thoughts about 's  before the big mage update. E was only ever usefull for stacking and in situations where you actually are supposed to use it (getting dove on or focused) you'd either have it on cooldown or it wouldn't make any difference wether you survived or not. Main reason was that the old E didn't give damage reduction but instead flat resistances and since you maxed it last, these resistances weren't even high (10 on rank one).

So they changed it to damage reduction instead and on top of that increased the damage return (base damage AND AP ratio), which was a huge buff for the spell in all aspects. The thing is, it still doesn't make a huge difference. At least not with Annie's playstyle of a burst mage. Setting up a stun is just too important for Annie, the cooldown is too high and the duration too low for it to become really effective. The 40% damage reduction is nice, but since you max it last the spell is simply weak and forgettable for like 90% of the game.

But yet again, buffing it is not an option. Annie is strong enough in most elos (bronze to high plat) and she isn't the only champ who has one weak spell. Think of. Or the old from. In the past Riot tried to get rid of these weak spells and tried to shift the power more evenly within champion's kits, so there is no spell that feels redunant. And maybe Riot will do the same to Annie's E (although I don't quite know what other part of her kit they could nerf for compensation). And maybe a new, stronger E with a better, balanced power budget wihin her kit could make Annie viable in higher elo aswell.

But I doubt that will happen annie time soon. Heh.

...I am so sorry.