Annette, the Diviner: Abilities and Story Preview
Welcome to AOV PRO Preview series! Today we introduce Annette, the Diviner. She has released in Vietnam, Thailand servers and coming to Taiwan servers.
ABILITIES
Whisperwind (Passive)
When a hero near Annette uses an ability, she gains a stack of Seal of the Wind, up to 15 stacks.
At 10 stacks, when Annette or a nearby ally falls below 70% HP, the seals will be consumed to restore HP to all nearby allies. This can only be triggered once every 5 seconds.
Gust Force (1st Ability)
Annette summons a whirlwind at the target location, dealing magic damage every 0.25 seconds for 2 seconds. The damage increases by 33% for every two hits.
Enemies trapped in the center of the whirlwind take additional magic damage equal to 2% of their max HP, and their movement speeed is reduced by 50% for 0.25 seconds.
Wind Cuffs (2nd Ability)
Fires a wind orb that deals magic damage and reduces enemy movement speed upon hitting a target. The orb keeps traveling, and upon striking a second target, creates a chain that pulls both targets in and deals an additional magic damage. The targets are also stunned for 1 second.
Passive: The cooldown of this ability is instantly reset when Annette is stunned. She also gains physical and magic resistance and a shield for 2 seconds (45-second cooldown).
Hurricane Wall (Ultimate)
Annette dashes towards the target location and summons a hurricane. Nearby enemy heroes are knocked back and take magic damage.
The hurricane also creates a barrier for 3.5 seconds. Allies within the barrier gain movement speed and attack speed. Enemy heroes cannot enter the barrier.
This ability also instantly removes all control effects on Annette.
Tips
Annette has great defensive skills. She takes advantage of bad enemy movements and traps them with Wind Cuffs before unleashing damage. When she faces strong enemies, Annette can use her ultimate to knock the enemies back to protect those behind her, who will be able to deal damage.
STORY
Nightfall is when Annette’s work of the day begins.
Magic wand? Check. Crystal ball? Check. Energizing potions? Check—those had become a necessity ever since she nodded off that one time in the middle of the night. Fully prepared, Annette exited her minimalist but cozy attic and emerged under the starry night skies, where she silently surveyed the sleepy little seaside town.
Seasoul Town is surrounded by the ocean on three sides. For the past few decades, typhoons and tsunamis had been abundant due to the weather changes brought by the currents and the Abyssal Rift. The fishermen had been praying for decades that the Magic Council would send over a powerful sorcerer to aid them, yet the few sorcerers remaining never had time for this border town with its meager population, especially when the frontline in the south was facing increasingly severe attacks. The town had, therefore, become a location for apprentice sorcerers to try their hand at magic instead.
“The fishermen here need me!”
Instead of choosing to intern with the Humans or in another prosperous city, Annette arrived alone at Seasoul Town. Having studied Wind Magic and Astrology, this apprentice sorcerer was an excellent choice for dealing with the weather problems. She was capable of spotting even the smallest signs in the complicated stars to predict typhoons, and could easily notify the fishermen to be prepared before weather disasters occurred.
However, what the fishermen were really looking for was a legendary sorcerer who could repel disasters with their magic, which Annette was not—she couldn’t technically even use her magic, in fact, for apprentices were not permitted to do so outside of Academy grounds. Therefore, instead of a respectable sorcerer, the fishermen saw Annette as a silly girl who spouted nonsense, even if her weather predictions over the past fifty days had always been on the spot, with only two incorrect forecasts marring her records.
One of those errors occurred on a sunny day, where she predicted a storm. The fishermen, boats parked and windows barred, stayed inside for the whole day, until the sun came up the next morning, and they realized Annette was incorrect.
The other time was when Annette fell asleep at midnight. The night sky showed signs of sunny weather before she dozed off, and she did not see the changes in the stars during her exhausted slumber. The storm came the next evening and the fishermen on their way back to shore were caught off guard, struggling in the waves with their boats of fresh catches. Fortunately, the storm was not a big one, and Annette was able to help a little to compensate for her mistake. It was a bit of a scare for everyone, but at least there were no casualties.
The two mistakes, however, led to multiple complaints against Annette. As the Academy was an educational organization directly under the Council, it was important for them to uphold the honor and credibility of both the Council and the school itself. The professors, therefore, sent orders for Annette to return to school and retake her classes.
As a result, this was Annette’s final night at work.
If you asked Annette, she didn’t exactly like the idea of leaving. Though the attic she was staying in, hastily provided by poor fishermen, was much less comfortable than the Academy dorms, she felt at home there. What’s more, before arriving in town, she promised herself to use her magic to help those in need, and she still hadn’t quite fulfilled that promise yet.
As a novice, Annette actually did quite a good job. Astrology is no simple subject, and a 4% error rate was rather impressive. However, Annette herself understood that a 4% error rate on paper was completely different from a 4% error rate in real life. To the fishermen, the 4% error rate could mean death.
Gazing up into the night sky, dotted with stars big and small, Annette recalled the encounter years ago.
It was night, and Annette was in the library. She was the only one there, besides a lady with kind eyes. She knew she had to study hard, for despite excelling in Magic Theory, she was failing her field courses, and failing badly. At the end of the semester, she was the only one in her entire class who still could not cast a proper magic spell. This, she was all too aware, could very well get her expelled.
She tried to seek answers in books, but nothing seemed to help. Seeing the encouraging eyes of the lady, she finally decided to ask her for advice.
“I once had a friend who was horrible at Magic Theory—yet he’s one of the best sorcerers I’ve ever met,” the lady said.
Annette stared, mouth agape.
The woman smiled. “Like you, I was shocked, so I spied on him to see how he usually practices his magic. And what do you think I saw? My friend was dancing in the flames, much like a fire loving fairy. He danced with abandon, as if the flames were his whole world.”
“True magic is not simply words. Burying yourself in books all day will not bring you closer to the truth. You should become friends with magic so that it is willing to help you when you need it.”
Years later, Annette finally found out the identity of that mystery woman at an award ceremony. Sephera was one of the founders of the Magic Council, and a legend. As Annette accepted the trophy from Sephera, the lady’s wise words were replaying in her head: “Become friends with magic, and use it to help the people in need.”
That was what originally brought Annette to Seasoul Town.
All of a sudden, there seemed to be something going on in the stars. Annette watched on in horror when the darkest Death Star, for a brief second, shined pale purple and faded away again. Just a mere second, but Annette’s sharp eyes managed to capture it. A tempest was brewing—a tempest born from the Rift far away and is gradually taking over the oceans.
Ruthless. Deadly.
“My friend, I need your help now!” With impending doom on the horizon, Annette opted to ignore the orders of the Academy. She hopped onto her broom and soared towards the storm like a fearless knight.
The next morning, the fishermen awakened to see their boats in tatters. Annette laid on the ground, completely exhausted. Though the townspeople did not see Annette’s courageous actions, they could still guess from the sight in front of them what she had been through the previous night. “What a great sorcerer!” they said. Being ignorant, they had almost sent away their most loyal ally but luckily she was still right here with them.
There was still time, though, to repent.
The apprentice sorcerer, there to replace Annette, was told to leave by the fishermen. He had no idea what was happening, but the Mayor gave him a handwritten letter of gratitude, complete with the handprints of all the fishermen, to bring back to the Academy. The Mayor not only praised Annette for what she had done, but also recommended that the Academy promote her to the role of Official Sorcerer.
He also revealed another piece of news: the fishermen of Seasoul were planning to build a magical spire for Annette. They were but a small town lacking funds and manpower, yet they still pledged to see this project through even if it would take three generations to complete, for Annette had already promised them that she was there to stay for good.
Now, whenever the Mayor mentions Annette in letters, he adds a title to convey his respect.
Lord Annette.
ATTRIBUTES
ARCANA
EQUIPMENT
SKINS
Original Annette
Athanor Express Annette
