Hextech Annie

Borrowed my friend's account last week while mine was getting unbanned and holy crap, is Hextech Annie worth it? After around 40 games with this skin, I'm seriously considering dropping the gemstones myself even though I've been saving them for months.

The Q feels way more responsive compared to base Annie, and the mechanical tibbers is probably the smoothest ult animation she has. When you drop tibbers in a dragon fight, the hextech glow makes it super clear where he's landing, which actually helped me secure a steal yesterday. The W cone has this blue energy effect that's easier to track than something like Goth Annie's purple flames. But what really sold me was during a tower dive where I could perfectly time my stun rotation because the passive stacks have these bright gear indicators floating around Annie. No more squinting at tiny orbs while trying to CS.

Compared to other Annie skins like Cafe Cuties or Frostfire, Hextech feels less clunky overall. The auto attack animation is crisp, making last hitting feel better, and when you're fed the skin just looks more intimidating. Sure, it's not gonna make you suddenly pop off if you can't play Annie, but the clearer hitbox indicators definitely give you a slight edge in teamfights. And that recall where she builds tibbers piece by piece? Absolutely insane.

For Annie mains this is basically a must have if you can get the gemstones. It's mostly cosmetic but those small clarity improvements add up over time. Worth the exclusive status for sure, especially if you're already sitting on gems with nothing else catching your eye.