Foreword

This is not a general purpose build. This is a situational/partial build, used only when you need the maximum DPS with little risk of death.


Let me go into a detail a bit.

After hours of trial and error testing, mathcrafting and taking into account everything (that includes armor penetration, runes, masteries, even the 100 extra damage every 4 attacks on sword of the divine, etc.), I have not been able to find a single better build for damage dealing against a universal arrangement of targets (squishy, nonsquishy, tank) than this.

This build focuses around early-game harassment, mid domination and late-game carrying, but it has a very high risk-reward factor. You need a lot of experience playing Tristana to make it work, since you'll go down immediately if you're out of position or can't rely on your team.

Note: I will still have to re-do calculations for the post-1.0.0.108 Black Cleaver. At the moment I haven no idea how good of an item it is.

Did the calculations now, TBC is better than SotD in every aspect.

Runes

9x Greater Mark of Desolation
- Fairly obvious choice. Does more DPS than crit dmg runes, especially in early-game.

9x Greater Seal of Malice
- Gives you that little extra crit chance you need in early-game.

9x Greater Glyph of Clarity
- Much needed mana regeneration ensuring you can jump at an enemy and still have enough mana left to pull off your escape combo if things go bad. Nothing is more frustrating than losing a kill or dying because you're out of mana.

3x Greater Quintessence of Desolation
- Must-have for Armor Penetration, the single stat that you're lacking most with this build (but it's still worth it).

Optional: Greater Quintessence of Fortitude

Masteries

Standing 21/0/9 build, there's really no other way to build her. You don't spam skillshots unlike Ashe or Sivir so no need for the 21 utility points.

Important Masteries:

Havoc
- Must-have

Lethality
- Also a must-have, crit builds are simply the dominant damage dealing builds available

Archaic Knowledge
- Do not underestimate the power of 15% spell penetration on Buster Shot or Explosive Shot

Deadliness
- You *need* crit chance in early and mid game

Avoid the following:

Offensive Mastery
- Completely useless. Last-hitting isn't a problem even without the 4 extra damage to creeps.

Summoner Spells

Very good picks

Ignite
- Very good offensive pick, great for first blood, good for finishing runners (for example Tryndamere), and excellent against healers. I personally get this because I like strong early game presence, but it's rather useless for late-game as you already have Explosive Shot to counter healing. Still, if getting kills early on wins you the game, it's a solid choice. Ignite + Buster Shot will finish off everybody under ~30% HP.

Exhaust
- A very good spell, both offensive and defensive. After the change which allows it to reduce the damage of spellcasters it's practically a must-have for every single team. Combine it with the slow you already have to make it impossible for an enemy to get away even if they have flash. Also, the 10 reduced armor with Cripple make a significant difference in first blood scenarios.

Ghost
- Tristana is a very slow hero. Ghost counters this excellently, especially if you're playing a squishy build. Also, I've seemed to notice that the higher your Elo goes, the more people use ghost. It's practically a necessity to run Ghost + Anything right now, just so you won't fall behind your teammates and enemies.

Cleanse
- Great to break out of CC prematurely so you can Rocket Jump away. A real life-saver.

The first two are offensive, the second two are defensive. Mix and match them according to your playstyle. I personally roll with Ignite + Exhaust but any combination of the above are excellent picks.

Bad choices

Flash
- You already have Rocket Jump which can cover crazy distances, and Buster Shot to separate you even further. No need for an additional Flash.

Fortify, Clairvoyance, Rally
- Leave these for your supporters.

Clarity
- You won't have mana problems with runes.

Revive, Smite
- Simply useless.

Spell Combination

For killing / initiating a single opponent

1. Rocket Jump
- Ideally, you want to hit him with your blast for the extra damage + slow and come down somewhere behind him.

2. Ignite + Exhaust
- You can cast these while still in the air as well. He won't even know what hit him until he's suddenly double slowed.

3. Explosive Shot
- Do not underestimate how much damage the active on this deals, and it along with Ignite prevents the enemy from using Heal as well.

4. Rapid Fire
- For maximum effect, activate it just before you start auto-attacking

5. Buster Shot
- Cast this when the enemy is either nearly dead or nearly out of range. At level 1 it deals 300 magic damage, and your enemies never expect it coming. Don't be afraid to cast it while chasing somebody, but you have to be absolutely sure it will kill him. When done correctly, you can send another auto-attack flying behind it, often in mid game the buster shot itself will hit for ~500 immediately followed by another crit for ~400 in case they survive.

For killing somebody at your own tower

Rocket Jump + Exhaust + Buster Shot
- This will send your enemy flying towards your own tower, while double slowed. Rarely are enemies in such a bad position (good players will never be), so this combo isn't as useful as it sounds. But when you can pull it off, you can expect at least three tower hits to devastate your target.

Escaping ganks and bad situations or saving a team-mate

Rocket Jump + Buster Shot
- If an enemy is coming up from behind you, rocket jump over their head and send them flying in the opposite direction. You can use this skill in the air, it will knock them back when you land.

Finishing somebody off in a teamclash *RISKY*

Rocket Jump + Buster Shot + Rocket Jump.
Ideally, buster shot should kill them while you're still in the air, allowing you to immediately jump out again. This only works when you're ridiculously fed or the enemies very weak, otherwise you *WILL* die. I've ruined my 20/0 stat often this way, since I get too greedy when fed, ending games with 20/1 or even worse.

Harassment

Explosive Shot + Auto-Attack
- Standard harassment combo for when your enemy gets too close. At level 1, Explosive Shot deals significantly more damage than a regular auto-hit, so if possible you always cast it first. Plus, the enemy won't see the glow around you since it has no cast time and a fairly decent range. A skilled Tristana player however will *always* send another auto-attack along with it, which gets easier at higher levels since your auto-hits begin to have a larger range.

At around level 6 or so, you can stop using Explosive Shot since the range is too short to be effective compared to your auto attacks.

During team-fights

Rapid Fire + Sword of the Divine
- Activate both of these at the same time as you start attacking. (It's good to wait for an enemy to be stunned/snared before wasting the cooldowns) .108 change: Just activate Rapid Fire.