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Tristana Build Guide by Prenora

Middle The one and only AP Tristana (7.1)

Middle The one and only AP Tristana (7.1)

Updated on May 27, 2017
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Prenora Build Guide By Prenora 317,664 Views 3 Comments
317,664 Views 3 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Prenora Tristana Build Guide By Prenora Updated on May 27, 2017
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Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Ignite

Ignite

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Introduction

Hey Everyone, Before you jump to conclusions this is not a troll build in any way.
Go ahead check out the numbers for yourself and see why AP Tristana is still viable after her update.
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Pros / Cons

Pro's


* High Range.
* Free poke with with Explosive Charge's passive.
* Ungankable With Rocket Jump.
* Turret Destoyer.
* AOE/Burst
* Mobile assassain



Cons
* Squishy
* Item Reliant
* Hard to catch up if behind
* no CC
* Rocket Jump counts as a dash
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Runes

Marks
x5 Greater Mark of Attack Damage Though this is an AP build these runes will help last hitting and increase basic attack damage for better harrass
x5 Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration As a glass cannon you want to get as much damage off as fast at you can

Seals
x9 Greater Seal of Armor you want to take the least amount of damage possible when making trades, jumping into the fray makes armor essential, with the runes and masteries combined, and early lvl 2-3 all in should easily get you the first blood

Glyphs
x7 Greater Glyph of Magic Resist as an AP mid Magic resist is just as usefull as the armor as you'll be mostly going against AP casters
though adding a couple of Greater Glyph of Ability Power runes would certainly increase your early harass

Quintessence
x3 flat Greater Quintessence of Ability Power all your abilities scale of AP, any other quintessence would just be a loss of early power, again, you're a lane bully so take advantage of that
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Masteries

The masteries since the update are mostly generic small boosts that we're gonna take to lane bully early on, to prepare for your mid game when you hit your power spike
but basically they are more suited for different play styles rather than builds
essentially you're going to want to take the 12 points in the "Ferocity" tree but put your main focus on the thunderlords running 18 points down the "cunning" tree
I wont go to in depth, but build to early game harass, you once again are a lane bully, you'll want to get the masteries that give you as much damage as possible.
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Summoner Spells

Good

: Great escape or chase, with Rocket Jump + Flash = goodbye or...well still goodbye
Exhaust is another good choice for most mid laners now, especially on ap Tristana where you'll be jumping right on top of the enemy carry, this will keep the trade damage down as well as slow your opponent to get your stacks
: secure those kills with ease by adding some handy dandy true damage
: late game Rocket Jump is a 5-6 second cool-down so in theory you could trade flash for a cleanse if you're against a lot of cc. Though if you're not confident in your lane, it's a good way to cancel out an Ignite

Bad

:against a zed or another bursty champ Barrier is decent, but they'll get their cool downs before you get barrier back.
:the speed and heal it provides fall off late game when you do
: nope, rapid fire doesn't even cost mana, you should have no mana problems
: can be useful if you're against a champ with a lot of sustain
this is more situational, but as a bully, you shouldn't have a problem in the laning phase
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Starting Items

Dorans ring adds a great amount of starting ability power and mana regen for sustain along with the passive, add the 60 hp and you've got yourself a great start
the tome is a good start if you know you'll be rushing nashors tooth it's riskier but if you're confident the extra 5 ability power will secure your kill then go for it
you're going to need a few of these to recover from any unfavorable trades or poke

: always get a Stealth Ward rocket jump is your main source of damage on AP tristana but also your only escape, if you jump in blind you're wide open to a gank with no way of getting out unless you burn flash
if you're going against a skillshot reliant champ like Ahri or Brand then Boots will give you more time in lane but you still trade for the early game damage output, so that's a call you'll have to make
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Early Sheen

Basically if you have the gold to spare you're going to want to get this on your second back, reason being is that whenever tristana uses an Explosive Charge her attack timer is reset automatically granting a free AA that procs the sheen you're going to build it into the Lich Bane later anyways so it can only help, if you really need to focus on your all in you can afford to skip it, but it usually makes the difference between a kill or a 25 hp talon flashing away
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Core items

rushing the Nashors tooth will make last hitting easier and with Rapid Fire getting 4 basic attacks in for eplosive charge will be easy as well
the passive however doesn't scale well until late game when you have all your ability power
since the constant nerfs to AA based mage items, it's a hard toss up, but usually nashors is the first I get for the CDR
being cheaper than the deathcap you'll want to get this second, 100 ability power and 400 health for living even longer when you jump in is worth it alone, but the passive slow is invaluable, any trouble you had getting off all of your Explosive Charge procs will now be gone.
with the ability to whiddle down the front line and assassinate the back, magic penetration is a must, grab the void staff third if you're ahead, 4th if you're not
the recent update cut the scaling of Buster Shot from 1.5 to 1.0 the extra ability power from the deathcap shouldn't even be a question.
well zonyas was nerfed again, but it's passive and cdr are still pretty descent
if you don't have your nashors tooth yet then the 15% CDR is very useful from these, even if you do have it, 35% cooldown plus the 5% cooldown from Sorcery caps you at the 40% CDR so spam your abilities away.
I usually prefer cooldown reduction over the magic Penetration that the Sorcerer's Shoes give but if the enemy is building heavy MR this is a good buy.
the lich bane will turn a basic attack into another part of your burst, the mana isn't really needed but the 80 ability power can only help.
with Explosive Charge scaling so well off of AD cashing in on a late game AD item will seriously increase your damage
not only will it give you a nice shield as you proc your E
but your basic attacks while doing so will hurt more
sell the Lich Bane for an end game Bloodthirster or buy it instead if you're going against a team building a lot of MR
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Defensive items

this is a great buy against a cc heavy team comp
but can also easily save your life against a rouge super mega death rocket or something of the sort, due to the recent changes to this item, this isn't a bad item to grab if you're getting locked down, but in teamfights you should be waiting until after the initiation from your team before jumping in anyways.

as an ap assassain you're going to have to face the fact that you will die at some point, you have decent mobility on a reset, but building defensivly it's going to do much for this particular build, there are other builds where you can throw in a defensive item sure, there's actually another great ap tristana build out right now that has a few in the build, but this guide is running around jumping in, killing then jumping again.
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Skills

Draw a Bead is a great scaling tool for your kit
At level 18 you increase to 669 range which also applies to your Explosive Charge and Buster Shot with your passive you will out-range at lvl 1 almost if not all who oppose you mid lane.

before the update Rapid Fire was only useful on AD Tristana for sieging, but now with the new Explosive Charge it becomes almost a necessary part of the combo
the best part is, it costs no mana, it's also an easy way to proc the Lich Bane.
This will be a one point wonder Max it last

Rocket Jump is why this build is even viable in the first place, Tristana will jump to a location, when she lands she deals magic damage and slows all enemies in the radius, with each stack of Explosive Charge landing on them will do 20% increased damage, up to 100% damage meaning that with all stacks this ability will do double damage, and it resets if you get the kill or assist, making Tristana a cold blooded reset queen. Rocket Jump is the most important tool in your kit, use it for escaping chasing and dealing massive amounts of damage Max it second

Passively Tristana's last hits deal damage to surrounding enemies making this an unlimited form of free poke that scales with 25% of your ability power if timed right you can use minions as mobile bombs to harass in lane
The active puts a bomb on an enemy unit or tower this ability is your main for of harass and wave clear, the next 4 basic attacks ramp up the damage of the bomb by 25% up to 100% damage increase, which for you means more double damage
Rocket Jump relies on this ability to be successful Max it first to Maximize your presence in lane

Note: even though Rocket Jump will do more damage early game we want to max it second so we don't end up relying on it for our damage and ruining our escape.
if you feel you have the ability to trade lane presence for burst then max this second instead.

This ultimate is a wet dream, it knocks back enemy units and nearby enemies 600/800/1000 distance, but on AP trist this ultimate becomes a single target nuke dealing 300/400/500 damage + 100% of your AP in magic damage, making this a phenomenal addition to your combo, a glorious execute or a fantastic Disengage it's knockback can also be used to interrupt any channeled abilities such as Death Lotus
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Combo's

> x4 this is basic lvl 1-2 combo

> x3 > > when Tristana got updated they put a reset when you get all 4 procs of Explosive Charge off but also made it so Rocket Jump counted as a stack, meaning you can use the jump to set off your charge reset the jump then jump on them twice in a row, if you pull this off it basically garuntees you first blood at lvl 2


> x4 > after lvl 6 just add Buster Shot somewhere in the mix..the A.P ratio is a game changer just make sure you don't accidentally push them away before you're sure you can follow up for the kill
throw Ignite into the mix and it's almost a sure thing

Explosive Charge + Rapid Fire is a great way to destroy turrets even building AP

> if near a turret Rocket Jump over them you can use Buster Shot while in midair when over their head and push them into your turret or into your team

so here's a couple of mechanic mistakes I've figured out while playing this build

*firstly when you jump in with rocket jump be sure to walk back and kite while doing so, I've had rocket jump spell shielded or dodged and it left me high and dry
*spell weaving is important here, Explosive Charge, then aa then Rocket Jump, then aa is much more efficient then jumping on them right away, this is due to ability cancelling.
*buster shot can and will add a stack of Explosive Charge, so always use it last.
*never jump and buster shot in midair unless you are sure of the kill, you end up wasting your ult 99% of the time, make sure you land the jump on them first, then ult them to death. you get the jump right back if they die so it's not wasted.
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Gameplay

Early game
Early laning is easy enough, take advantage of your kit and harass as much as you can to establish lane presence while keeping yourself warded to secure your saftey, an easy Explosive Shot and a basic attack or two to keep an enemies off of you if you're having trouble
at lvl 6 your ult will change your lane in your favor or further dominate you
I'll go into more mechanic detail in the combo's section.


Mid Game
at lvl 6 depending on how ahead you are roaming is extremely easy with Tristana rocket jump makes ganking from the brush to any lane a cinch this crucial point where you try to stack up any kills you can get if you can't get any keep farming with your passive or use your turret busting kits to knock some easy turrets down ap Tristana is a snowballer and you'll want to make sure she snowballs, steal (secure)kills always if your team won't flame you if you're putting the gold to good use.

Late game if you make it late game before the enemy rage quits then you're team fighting and resets will make you feel like a full fledged AP Assassin, turrets will be easy to take, and enemies will cower before your burst

If by some chance you couldn't snowball and you fell behind, go push towers. I'm serious, it may not be the best strategy all the time, but between her waveclear and turret damage you're going to get towers easy or at the very least alleviate some of the pressure from other lanes...Farm Farm Farm, unlike other off meta builds, ap Tristana scales very well into late game.

Team Fights
In team fights as with any champion with resets you'll be better off waiting until the end of fights for cleanups target the backline, with the high mobility from Rocket Jump and burst with Buster Shot you can even knock back the front line tank and buy your team a few precious seconds to jump in on their important carries
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Have Fun

I hope this guide gave a new perspective on Tristana
you will slaughter with this build but most importantly have fun
Thanks for reading my first guide on mobafire
if I made any mistakes feel free to let me know or share any comments you have
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