Tristana is a super versatile ADC who excels at doing tons of damage to enemies, taking down enemies, and taking objectives. She is also distinguished by really high mobility and great scaling potential. In this guide, we will cover the most efficient build path for Tristana, that will help you convert an even bigger percentage of your games to victories!
Best Tristana Items
Kraken Slayer
The most common item you will see on Challenger Tristanas is the Kraken Slayer. There is a really good reason for that. Tristana’s Q gives her massive amounts of attack speed in the early game, at least relative to other ADCs. The amount of attack speed is significant enough to proc Kraken Slayer passive, which deals bonus damage on each 3rd hit.
Navori’s FlickerBlade
Tristana is a champion who heavily relies on her basic abilities, therefore anything that can be used to reduce basic cooldowns is really beneficial to Trist. Navori’s Flicker blade is not an exception, as its passive will be really significant in resetting your abilities more quickly. It’s also a great item in terms of gold efficiency, meaning the stats it gives are really worth the money.
Infinity Edge
Infinity Edge is just a stock item purchase. There is really not much to say about this item. We use it to further increase our critical strike, as well as critical damage.
Bloodthirster
Tristana is a champion that fights up close. Most of your engages will involve you pressing W and facing enemies up close. To mitigate some of the danger that this involves, you will want to build Blood Thirster. The passive shield granted by BT is a great perk, and all the healing from its lifestyle is also significant.
Zephyr or Guardian Angel
Depending on the game, you will want to pick between either Zephyr or Guardian Angel. Zephyr is a great item when you are ahead, and there are few kill threats. It will allow you to chase down enemies more quickly, and in turn close out games more easily.
If, however, you feel too pressured by enemy threats, it would be wise to consider Guardian Angel. It will act as a deterrent for enemies, and even if you get shot down, you will still have the ability to rise from the dead (quite literally).
Boots
When playing Trist, we will generally want to build Berserker’s Greaves. These are the best boots, especially early in the game. However, if the situation calls for it, you can also run Plated Steelcaps or Mercury’s Threads.
Tristana Best Runes
- Fleet Footwork
- Absorb Life
- Legend Alacrity
- Coup de Grace
- Demolish
- Bone plating
As we previously mentioned, Tristana needs to be played quite aggressively, and sometimes, aggressive gameplay can get us seriously chunked. Because of this, I would recommend taking Fleet Footwork on Tristana. This keystone is really great for recovering HP and having lane sustain.
Absorb life is another great addition. Every now and then, it will give you an HP boost after killing a minion. Legend Alacrity is the best choice in its branch, as it gives a pretty nice amount of attack speed.
Coup de Grace is great for dealing extra damage with E, to enemies below 40% HP. Demolish is used for better split pushing, and bone plating is great protection against burst.
Conclusion
Tristana is an old-school champion with a kit that has withstood the test of time. The best build for Tristana is the full crit build. When running this build, you will want to master good all-in timings. With a little practice, you will soon be dominating every game with Tristana. Good luck on the rift!