Tristana is
a long ranged AD carry with a built in escape mechanism and attack
speed steroid. She packs a great utility ultimate that has the ability
to protect her allies by knocking the enemy away. She is a strong
farmer, lane pusher, tower destroyer and also has an incredible auto
attack range thanks to her passive.
This Tristana guide aims to be a basic and simple introduction on basic strategy that should be adopted when playing Tristana, it is recommended for people just starting to use Tristana.
This Tristana guide aims to be a basic and simple introduction on basic strategy that should be adopted when playing Tristana, it is recommended for people just starting to use Tristana.
Abilities
-
Draw A Bead(Passive) Tristana's passive gives her great auto attack range late game, helping her stay safe and use range to her advantage. -
Rapid Fire
This skill gives Tristana a massive attack speed bonus, allowing her to
focus on other items. It is amazing at pushing towers and taking on the
enemy team both in team fights and 1v1 situations. -
Rocket Jump
This skill provides Tristana with a built in escape mechanism, it is
great at chasing down a fleeing enemy or to escape, especially in the
jungle. Rocket Jump also contains a slowing effect where Tristana lands
and also refreshes on kills or assists, allowing her to get in and out
of battles with ease. -
Explosive Shot
Explosive Shot has both a passive and active effect. It is a great
farming tool for Tristana and can even harass enemy champions during the
laning phase. The active effect is particularly great against healing
based champions like Vladimir and Dr. Mundo or at countering an enemy
carry's life-steal. -
Buster Shot (Ultimate)
Tristana's ultimate packs a punch, literally. It has the ability to
knock away enemies and is great for saving allies or pushing an enemy
back towards your team. Be very careful using this as a finishing move
as if it doesn't score the kill you've just knocked the enemy away from
your team.
Ability Order
Ult > Rocket Jump > Rapid Fire > Explosive Shot
Rocket Jump should be taken at level 1 (to avoid early ganks or provide a strong slow for your team in a level 1 fight) and maxed first to give you strong burst capabilities early game. An early point in Explosive Shot is important as it gives Tristana an amazing early-mid game farming ability which she needs to be an effective carry, it also doubles as a strong harassment skill in lane and can prevent enemies from recovering health through potions or abilities (only 1 point is needed). It should be noted that if you are against a lane opponent that is dangerous to jump on, consider maxing Explosive Shot first for the long range harassment. Rapid Fire should be maxed second to give you a massive mid-game attack speed boost, allowing you to focus on damage or defensive based items.
Runes
Yellow (Seals) - Mana Regeneration Per Level // Armor
Blue (Glyphs) - Magic Resistance
Purple (Quintessences) - Armor Penetration // Health
Armor Penetration on Marks and Quintessences helps Tristana deal massive damage to her targets and is very powerful early game especially. If you want a more defensive rune setup consider taking Health on Quintessences instead. Mana Regeneration on Seals give her all the mana regeneration she needs for her skills throughout the entire game, especially for her early game harassment, if you find yourself not needing the mana regeneration consider running armor to improve your early game survivability. Magic Resistance Glyphs help give Tristana a slight edge against casters and also reduces the overall harassment she receives from them.
Summoner Spells
Best Summoner Spells:
-Flash
-Ignite
Flash is a great summoner spell choice for Tristana as it provides her with a strong escape and positioning skill. Ignite is great to compliment her anti-healing effects and early game burst damage.
Other Good Summoner Spells:
-Ghost
-Exhaust
Exhaust and Ghost are two other very strong summoner spell options for Tristana. As she already has a built in Flash, Ghost helps Tristana escape after Rocket Jumping away or catch up to enemies, this makes her very hard to kill. Exhaust is great at giving her the damage reduction she needs to survive a 1v1 match up. Try out different combinations until you find one that suits your play style.
-Flash
-Ignite
Flash is a great summoner spell choice for Tristana as it provides her with a strong escape and positioning skill. Ignite is great to compliment her anti-healing effects and early game burst damage.
Other Good Summoner Spells:
-Ghost
-Exhaust
Exhaust and Ghost are two other very strong summoner spell options for Tristana. As she already has a built in Flash, Ghost helps Tristana escape after Rocket Jumping away or catch up to enemies, this makes her very hard to kill. Exhaust is great at giving her the damage reduction she needs to survive a 1v1 match up. Try out different combinations until you find one that suits your play style.
Masteries
Item Build
Final Item Build:
-Berserker's Greaves
-Infinity Edge
-The Bloodthirster
-Phantom Dancer
-Banshee's Veil
-Last Whisper
Steps/Reasoning:
-When playing Tristana you want to start with a Doran's Blade, this gives you some extra starting health, a small damage boost and some life steal to help you stay in lane.
-On your first trip back you want to build your boots you should build Berserker's Greaves or Mercury's Treads if the enemy has lots of crowd control. Also grabbing another Doran's Blade if you have left over gold but not enough for a B.F. Sword (1650 Gold)
-Now you want to build your Infinity Edge, providing you with a massive damage boost.
-Next picking up a Vampiric Scepter is not a bad idea to help you farm and clear out the forest while maintaining your health levels, if you need some survivability at this stage build your Banshee's Veil. Otherwise begin building your Bloodthirster, this gives a great life-steal boost and a powerful amount of AD.
-From here you'll want to build yourself a Last Whisper to get past the enemies armor. Also consider a Phantom Dancer to push your attack speed even higher.
Alternatives:
-Madred's Bloodrazor (Good counter to high health targets)
-Black Cleaver (Strong item choice against a squishy team)
-Frozen Mallet (If you need some added survivability and cannot secure a Red Lizard Buff)
General Tristana Tips
- Always save Rocket Jump to escape, you do not want to initiate on multiple enemies with it, it is okay to use it in a 1v1 situation if you are going to score the kill as the cooldown will reset in case anybody else shows up.
- Always be sure to activate Rapid Fire when pushing towers or a team fight, it is a massive attack speed boost and allows you to bypass attack speed items mid-game.
- Don't use your ultimate to finish off enemies, save it to knock enemies away for allies or knocking them back towards the team.
- Late game Tristana has massive attack range due to her passive, use this range and your positioning to your advantage.
- Tristana has lots of interrupt and saving potential, using Buster Shot can save enemies from potential Fiddlestick, Kennen and many more ultimates.
Early Game (Level 1-6)
- Farm as much as possible, you should have no problem grabbing lots of last hits as a ranged champion.
- Use Explosive Shot to harass enemies, especially if they have just used a potion, this will reduce the amount of health they recover. You can also use this on champions like Vladimir to keep him from healing himself effectively.
- There should be no reason to use your Rocket Jump (apart from jumping to kill a low health enemy) it should always be up to enable you to escape.
- If possible time your minion last hits so that the enemy champion takes explosive damage from them.
Mid Game (Level 7-12)
- You can flank your enemies (with the help of Rocket Jump) and use your ultimate to knock them into a team mate or a friendly turret.
- Start grabbing the red lizard buff, Tristana is very powerful once this is obtained.
- If you are doing well focus on ganking the enemy and snowballing with levels and gold. If you are not doing well focus on farming and avoiding bad spots, it is easy to fall behind with Tristana very quickly.
- You should be starting to activate Rapid Fire whenever attacking an enemy champion, it is a very handy attack speed boost and allows you to get more attacks on the enemy.
Late Game (Level 13-18)
- Tristana is squishy like most ranged carries, build a Banshee's Veil if required and focus on your positioning.
- Tristana is a great 1v1 champion (especially with Exhaust), don't be afraid to make use of your Frozen Mallet/Lizard Buff and your long range in a 1v1 situation.
- Continue to grab red buff, it makes a big difference during the late stages of the game.
-
Don't forget that Rocket Jump resets on kills or assists, you can
quickly jump in kill and enemy and jump to safety if you are doing well
late game. Banshee's Veil helps here as it prevents you from being
stunned before you are able to jump out.
General Tristana Tips
- Always save Rocket Jump to escape, you do not want to initiate on multiple enemies with it, it is okay to use it in a 1v1 situation if you are going to score the kill as the cooldown will reset in case anybody else shows up.
- Always be sure to activate Rapid Fire when pushing towers or a team fight, it is a massive attack speed boost and allows you to bypass attack speed items mid-game.
- Don't use your ultimate to finish off enemies, save it to knock enemies away for allies or knocking them back towards the team.
- Late game Tristana has massive attack range due to her passive, use this range and your positioning to your advantage.
- Tristana has lots of interrupt and saving potential, using Buster Shot can save enemies from potential Fiddlestick, Kennen and many more ultimates.
Early Game (Level 1-6)
- Farm as much as possible, you should have no problem grabbing lots of last hits as a ranged champion.
- Use Explosive Shot to harass enemies, especially if they have just used a potion, this will reduce the amount of health they recover. You can also use this on champions like Vladimir to keep him from healing himself effectively.
- There should be no reason to use your Rocket Jump (apart from jumping to kill a low health enemy) it should always be up to enable you to escape.
- If possible time your minion last hits so that the enemy champion takes explosive damage from them.
Mid Game (Level 7-12)
- You can flank your enemies (with the help of Rocket Jump) and use your ultimate to knock them into a team mate or a friendly turret.
- Start grabbing the red lizard buff, Tristana is very powerful once this is obtained.
- If you are doing well focus on ganking the enemy and snowballing with levels and gold. If you are not doing well focus on farming and avoiding bad spots, it is easy to fall behind with Tristana very quickly.
- You should be starting to activate Rapid Fire whenever attacking an enemy champion, it is a very handy attack speed boost and allows you to get more attacks on the enemy.
Late Game (Level 13-18)
- Tristana is squishy like most ranged carries, build a Banshee's Veil if required and focus on your positioning.
- Tristana is a great 1v1 champion (especially with Exhaust), don't be afraid to make use of your Frozen Mallet/Lizard Buff and your long range in a 1v1 situation.
- Continue to grab red buff, it makes a big difference during the late stages of the game.
- Don't forget that Rocket Jump resets on kills or assists, you can quickly jump in kill and enemy and jump to safety if you are doing well late game. Banshee's Veil helps here as it prevents you from being stunned before you are able to jump out.
