Hello and welcome to my second Tryndamere build guide. Please note that this guide is primarily designed for The Summoner's Rift, though you can adapt the basis of this build into Twisted Treeline.

For those that aren't familiar, Tryndamere is one of the strongest melee DPS characters in the game if used and built correctly. He is truly one of the unique heroes whose abilities are perfectly suited for what he's designed for-- which is eliminating individual targets in any situation.

Skeptics and critics will point out that Tryndamere is a hero who, when faced against a team that is heavy on CC (crowd control), loses effectiveness and viability in the game. While CC is obviously a concerning factor for any melee DPS, Tryndamere still has better utilization in fights than most other heroes in his class.

If you're looking for a hero that can eliminate most other champions in 2-3 hits with a great escape mechanism, look no further.

Welcome to Tryndamere: The Death King.

Ever since Patch 1.0.0.109, Tryndamere starts with 10% critical chance right off the bat. Because of this recent buff, it is not necessary to completely stack Critical Strike % runes any longer in your rune page. Instead, you can take advantage of this innate 10% and use some Critical Strike Damage runes to really boost your in-game damage.

So I recommend taking Marks of Malice, Seals of Malice and Glyphs of Malice, all at Tier 3 levels. These will give you roughly 14% critical strike in addition to the innate 10% from Tryndamere's passive, giving you 24% in-game as you start.

The Quintessences are saved for Quints of Furor-- giving you a bonus 13.5% critical strike damage which will be huge later on when I explain why.

I use a 21-8-1 mastery set-up with a points in upgraded Exhaust and Ghost.

21 points into offense is the perfect amount for Tryndamere. It gives him a bonus critical strike percentage, added damage, armor penetration and attack speed. All of which are essential to a successful Tryndamere build.

I throw some points into Armor and Magic Resistance in the defense tree because of Tryndamere's vulnerability in the early game. Also, I throw some points into dodge because while it's only a minimal percentage, it still works and is a noticeable factor in-game.

Ghost is upgraded because of the additional speed and duration of the spell.

By purchasing Brawler Gloves and a Health Potion off the start, you're improving your beginning critical strike chance to 32%. In combination with your passive, this gives Tryndamere a huge advantage over most other champions for early damage.

Some people elect to purchase the cheaper Avarice Blade, but I love what Zeal has to offer for a champion like Tryndamere. 10% Critical Strike, 20% attack speed and 8% movement speed is one of the best bargains at 1195 gold. Having critical strike is only effective if you can hit your enemies, so hitting them quicker with the added attack speed is almost reason enough to purcahse Zeal over Avarice.

After purchasing your Zeal, you can then focus on acquiring Berserker Greaves. The coupled attack speed improvement is enough for a long time, and the movement speed multiplied by Zeal gives you 420 speed-- great for several reasons as I will explain later.

Hexdrinker is a core item for my build. Not only does it give you very good damage (+35), but it gives you Magic Resistance and a shield that will protect you from any magic damage which will threaten to put you below 30% health. Hexdrinker has saved my life on more than one occasion, whether I'm in the middle of a gank, trying to escape one or simply had my ultimate on cooldown in a teamfight. You will never regret purchasing Hexdrinker, I guarantee it.

The other items are self-explanatory for Tryndamere. Infinity Edge is a necessity for any Tryndamere, and the final two items boost attack damage, armor penetration, attack speed and survivability.

I almost always start with Bloodlust (Q). This allows you to lane longer without having to return because it gives you a built-in healing mechanism immediately. In addition, it gives you bonus attack damage and critical strike damage as your Bloodlust stacks, so it's one way of really sustaining your lane capability.

With my second skill, I invest into Spinning Slash. Spinning Slash can be used so extensively that I feel it's Tryndamere's calling card. You can slice forward an unsuspecting laning opponent and throw some quick hits onto them and then spin out, or you can spin away from a possible gank and give yourself enough time to escape.

My third skill point then goes into Mocking Shout. This is one of the greatest initiators for a gank or a teamfight because of it's damage reduction and unique slow. I say unique because it's not guaranteed- the enemy has to have their back facing you in order for the slow to trigger so it's almost like a low-tier skillshot. The slow is also unreal at it's final stage at 60% movement speed reduction.

Having all three basic skills at level 3 can give you an advantage when looking for first blood or when trying to organize a gank. Initiate with Mocking Shout, Spin Slash into the enemy and cut them. If your health gets too low, use Bloodlust to replenish your health and Spin Slash away yet again.

My full Skill Sequence is as follows:
Q, E, W, Q, Q, R, Q, W, E, Q, R, W, E, W, E, R, W, E.

You can see I put a greater emphasis on Bloodlust. The quicker you upgrade Bloodlust, the better the bonuses are. Your healing is improved to 400 at it's final level. Additionally, you gain 32 extra attack damage and up to 35% critical strike damage (on top of your runes, giving you roughly 50% extra damage).

My two spells are Exhaust and Ghost. I try not and worry too much about packing Flash because Tryndamere's Spinning Slash has the same properties as Flash while providing damage. Some users will elect to pack Cleanse to rid themselves of the CC problem, but I disagree with this for two reasons.
1. It is unlikely that whatever CC the opponents throw at Tryndamere will last through his base HP and through his 5-second ultimate. Of course, your effectiveness in a fight is limited if you have been stunned, slowed, blinded or otherwise, but you don't need to pack a Cleanse just for that reason. If necessary, pack a Quicksilver Sash and drop an item somewhere.
2. I prefer forcing the opponents to play my game and not play theirs. Tryndamere is built to be an aggressive champion and the best defense is a strong offense. Exhausting, slowing and cutting their squishy champions early can negate the CC factor if you can do it fast enough. Don't ever let the opponents push you around-- you will surely lose that way.

Ghost provides Tryndamere with unstoppable chasing ability. In addition to Tryndamere's Mocking Shout which decreases enemy speed if they have their backs to you, popping Ghost and using Exhaust on a fleeing champion almost always results in a kill. There's just no escaping a Tryndamere who has 420 base movement speed without using Ghost in the first place.

Tryndamere is not unstoppable. But it takes a lot to bring him down. Let me quickly summarize what Tryndamere is and what he isn't in a few pointers.

WHAT TRYNDAMERE IS:

A great ganker. Use his Mocking Shout and Spinning Slash to close the distance on enemies.
A great jungler. His innate 10% crit and passive allows him to be a great jungler even at low levels.
A great finisher. Tryndamere can pick off wounded heroes with ease.
A great carry. If you build him up, Tryndamere can easily turn the tide of any battle.

WHAT TRYNDAMERE IS NOT:

An initiator. This will almost certainly get you killed. Don't let the enemy use their CC on you, try and pick your battles.
Completely invincible. Unlike Poppy or Kayle who's invulnerability negates any incoming damage, Tryndamere's Undying Rage will only stop your health from dropping below 1 hp. That means you can and will take damage, you just will not die until your Rage expires. This is why after your ultimate has expired, you should quickly escape.
An anti-carry. Don't pit Tryndamere against other beefy DPS characters. It is Trynd's job to target, isolate and eliminate squishy casters or support characters. Don't pick a fight with someone your own size.