• Mastery tree has been updated
• chapters including, Masteries, Summoner Spells, Lane Phase/early game, turret diving and team fights have all been updated and improved.
• chapters including, Mid/Late game, tips, and updates have been added
• title picture upgraded and title name changed back to normal.
• After all this time i finally realized i had the wrong masteries put on this guide. (sorry, changed on 04/22)
• update to come with athenes unholy grail (05/20/12)
• experimental item build added (05/23/12)
• updated "tips" chapter, added farming chapter, and altered experimental build (6/25/12)
• removed tip that included bug from passive

AP tristana is very underestimated, however with her amazing AP ratios shes a very effective nuker. With her jump she can close a very large gap and do good damge if you land on them, she quickly follows that up with an explosive shot and a buster shot, this combo does about 2/3s to all of their health. On top of that her ult has a very short cool down allowing you to do this constantly. Her jumps cool down is instanlty reset after a kill or assits meaning you can easily turret dive anyone with a safe escape plan.

With the new mastery page its taken me a while to find something thats very usefull with tristana, but finally i found it. I put 21/0/9 just like last time. i gave her the standard 21 in offense for a mage except i gave her 3% life steal. this along with dorans blade gives her some actual sustainability in the lane which is very usefull. Even though yo can only really notice that 6% life steal for the first 6 levels, thats all you need it for. Some people might want to put these points in blast but really it hardly gives any effective amount of ability power especially begining game which is where u need it most.

For the marks, theres really nothing better for a mage then magic pen, so im not gonna go into that. For gylphs I run 9 flat AP to increase early game damage. and for seals I run 9 mana regen becuase tristana is fairly mana hungry especially if you want to spam your ult. For the quints I go 3 flat AP for the same reason as the gylphs, to maximize damage, with such high AP ratios AP runes are super effective, however if you want you could replace 1 of the AP quints with a mana regen one just to help neutralize any mana problem.

flash ignite is just about the only spells you can take on tristana, flash is great for turret diving, jump in, kill em, flash out (if you have enough health you can jump out, but the jumps slow enough to where you would take about 2 turret hits) ignite helps for adding more AP with your point in burning embers, and it adds more DoT which is part of the fun in Tristana, massive DoT!!

another good option is ignite and surge this isnt too effective however cuz your jump just isnt enough to get you away in tight situations all the time.
another good option is surge and flash
this is also good becuase it offers more AP but i like the extra DoT from ignite to help out.

Increases Tristana's attack range as she levels.


not to useful till you get sheen/lichbane.





Increases Tristana's attack speed by 30 / 45 / 60 / 75 / 90% for 7 seconds.

Cooldown 20seconds
Cost 80mana
Range 20


The only time this ability is useful is if your taking out a turret or inhib, otherwise it just drains your mana.





Tristana fires at the ground to propel herself to target location, dealing 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+80% of ability power) magic damage and slowing surrounding units by 60% for 2.5 seconds when she lands. On a champion kill or assist, Rocket Jump's cooldown resets.

Cooldown 22 / 20 / 18 / 16 / 14seconds
Cost 80mana
Range 25000


this is an amazing gap closer, use this to surprise your enemys and nuke em down or just to soften em up with an explosive shot, its also decent for doing damage. Also becuase of its instant cool down upon kill or assit its great for diving, runing or chasing, especially paired with flash.





Explosive Shot
Passive: Enemies explode when slain by Tristana's attacks, dealing 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 magic damage to nearby enemies.

Active: Explosive Shot rends target enemy, reducing healing and health regeneration by 50% and dealing 110/140/170/200/230 (+10% of ability power) Magic Damage over 5 seconds. Lasts 55 seconds.

Cooldown 16
seconds

Cost 50
/ 60 / 70 / 80 / 90mana

Range 600



This is what makes Tristana so hard to lane against, its a more powerful ignite that you get back in about 15 seconds at level one, which does about a quarter of their health. any time your opponet uses a health pot try to get this on to reduce its effects, basically whenever its off cool down try and get it on. The passive on this is also very effective for farming and keeping them away from the minions.





Tristana fires a massive cannonball at an enemy unit. This deals 300 / 400 / 500 (+150% of ability power) magic damage and knocks surrounding units back 600 / 800 / 1000 distance.

Cooldown 60seconds
Cost 140mana
Range 700


this is gaurenteed half your opponents health at minimum, and it has a huge range. you can either spam it becuase of its relitvely short cool down, or you could tenderize them with your explosive shot enough to be able to surprise em with a jump, ignite (for extra AP), explosive shot, and ult for the kill.

With AP tristana you want to up your poke as fast as possible, because it has the hishest base damage and a nice passive and a rend and its a 1:1 AP ratio. Your rapid fire is a very unnecisary skill until your taking out turrets, but until then, you wont use it at all so its best to ignore it till level 13. The jump you wanna level mainly just becuase its better then rapid fire all its mainly used for is a gap closer however, use it for damage whenever it is safe to do so. Your ult is the main part of tristana, LEVEL WHENEVER YOU CAN, with its 1.5 AP ratio and low cooldowns it makes for a great way to take out half their health bar by itself.

starting items:

explanation: this is becuase tristana is meant for AD so this will give you that power while at the same time not committing you to it.

core items: (in order)

explanation: you want to rush the fiendish codex then turn that into morellos evil tome, this is good becuase AP trist needs lots of mana to use her full combo and keep up constant harass, plus it gives a good amount of AP and a lot of CD so you can harass even more. the deathcap is for sheer power, and if your feeling kind of slow or youre having an off game get tier one boots before the deathcap. After the deathcap follow it up with sorcerers shoes for more magic pen for better nukeing capabilities. if your having a terrible game and getting sent back all the time go with sorcerers shoes before the deathcap.

end game:

explanation: after you get your core you'll probably have nuked down everyone on their team at least once, this means theyre all getting magic resitance, meaning your next item should be a void staff or you are useless. the hextech is simply for some survivability and it gives a little AP as well. the sheen i get for a little more AP and if they happen to still be alive somehow after your ult you still have a little something to hit em with. After this you get a lichbane for that extra 500 damage. Lastly you wanna turn the hextech into wll of the ancients becuase its better and doesnt cost much at all, its like 900 after the hextech.

starting item:

explanation: this is becuase tristana is meant for AD so this will give you that power while at the same time not committing you to it.

core items:

explanation: AP tristana if played at full potential can be very mana hungry, while the grail nulifies any mana problem it also gives 80 ability power and 15% cooldown reduction, which are both vital for burst and harass. all the other items are for out of lane, doing your job of bursting down everyone around town. sorcerers and deathcap are obvious.

filler items:

explanation: The VOID STAFF is a necessity if their team gets MR for obvious reasons.

ZHOYANS is great for adding lots of AP,and armor so you dont get killed so quickly, however the most important part is the active. This is useful if you jump in the group and combo someone only to have them walking away with your on them, and about to die. you dont get your jump back UNTIL they die. In this scenerio, being untargetable is extreamly useful.

the ABYSSAL SCEPTOR is good for AP and if the enemy has high MR, not only does it add to defensive and offensive capability, but when you land right on top of them with they have less MR due to the sceptors passive, and they also have less when you use your and because all her abilities are fairly short ranged.

How I Would Do It.
note- most late game items are situational, the order they are bought in varries.
start-
early game gaols-
mid game goals-
late game goals-
please comment any suggestions or if you liked this build better then the original, thank you.

This i didnt add at first because i thought it was fairly basic, however some people are asking so i will deliever. from start to the time you get your you farm with only basic attacks whenever you can, when you kill one minion the next one will lose about 1/3 to 2/3s of its health due to the passive on , so you kill him when he gets low enough, at this point the next minion is really close to dead, and the best part is that whe you kill him all the other minions will die also. after your grail, your should be enough to kill the whole minion wave (if not they're extreamly low and 1 to 2 basic attacks should kill the wave). At the point you get your deathcap, everyminion should die to your .

SOLO LANE: 1v1
Pre 6: passive enemy.
With Tristana you want to use your opponents underestimation against them. You can do this by not being too agressive or too passive, everytime they come in range or are almost in range hit them with your e (follow that up with a basic) this will usually do about a quarter of their health maybe a little less. Doing this consistently will put you at a huge advantage as theyre start trying to avoid it allowing you too farm, just be aware of where they are and get your e on them whenever theyre in range. If theyre being really passive and staying way far back to where it doesnt look like theyre getting any experience, make sure they dont by either going on their side of the minions to put even more distance between them and the minions or by using your w to surprise them with a quick gap closer then an e and a basic, then just go back to farming. When doing this only last hit. DO NOT PUSH THE LANES. other then that use that combo as much as possible until level 6, when you reach level 6 it become a whole different game.

Pre 6: agressive enemy.
This usually happens when your opponet has some kind of gap closer, theyll use it whenever they can and just keep chippin away at your health. Usually when people do this they dont care about last hitting which means the lane will get pushed , just use your e whenever you can and wait for the minions to come to you. with your 6% life steal from masteries and dorans you should be able to get a decent amount of health back, while your e
wait until the right moment, when they get a little braver, maybe a minion got kinda close to them and they wanna farm it, this is where you pounce with your w try to land on them if you can but really you just want to be in range for your ignite (for extra AP), e prevents them from healing anywhere near as well. Do this till level 6 or when your lane gets ganked.

After Level 6: BOOM.
This is what every tristana dreams of, being able to jump from 5 miles away on their head, use your explosive shot (this alone does half their health) then follow this up with your ult and theyre gone. boom. no more champion. with morellos evil tome you can either spam your ult or save it for when they least expect it.

DUO LANE: 2v2/2v1
Your going to have the same tactics you use while solo laning, foucus one person with your explosive shot and when hes weak enough finish him with jup ignite and explosive shot (and your ult if you have it). In a duo lane i find you get even more fed then a solo lane, however since youre the ame level as everyone else or a little higher then other duo laners your not really too much of threat.

SOLO LANE: 1v2
NEVER DO THIS WITH AP TRISTANA!

Once youve developed a good farm (either in creeps or champions) you can start ganking, anyone you gank is almost guarenteed dead. Just use your combo when the moments right (try and ult towards your team if you can) and then boom its a free kill and youre capitalizing on your early fedness. AP tristana is very effective early game and not so much late, this is why ganking is so important.... GET YOUR OTHER LANES FED. along with your ganking shes like any other character when it comes to dragon and baron control, DONT LET THE OTHER TEAM GET EM. For late fighting startegy game refer to team fights

As far as turret diving goes you only want to do this if you A. know they dont have a long supress/stun/snare ready thatll keep you under the turret. B. (if you dont have a flash up) are able to kill them instantly and not with DoT becuse your jumps cooldown isnt refreshed till they die. C. can nuke them before they nuke you.

PEOPLE YOU SHOULD NOT DIVE IF THEY HAVE THEYRE ULT UP:

EXPLANATION: all these people have an ult thatll either stun you or nuke you down, and for tryn thats fairly obvious.

PEOPLE YOU SHOULD BE CAUTIOS ABOUT DIVING:

EXPLANATION: All these people have the ability to either stop your attempt to kill them or stun, snare, silence, or grab you. And for karthus you just have to make sure he cant kill you after you kill him.

PEOPLE YOU SHOULD DIVE WITHOUT FEAR:

EXPLANATION: just about any AD carry or mage without Crowd Control or CC thats hard to activate (takes 2 spells) you should dive without mercy

NOTE: these are not all the champions but you should have a better guess at who you should and shouldnt dive. and for some of these champions a lot of it depends on how good you and your opponent are.

In team fights you wanna target the person you know you can nearly one hit with your ult, becuase if you can do this you can jump in, kill them and jump out, and then boom its a 5v4. on top of that its uually the AD carry or support you take out which changes team fights greatly. Im always hesitent to use my jump for the slow effect, especally if my exploding shot and buster shot are on CD, but if you know your team can catch up to finish em before the enemy kills you, go for it.

This is what seperates the good Tristanas from the bad ones... knowing when to go in to take out the carry. This part will usually take a few games to get the hang of, for example; a good place to be if all 5 enemies are pushing mid is the ganking bush (if they come at you just jump over the wall) once they pass this and your team is ready to go in, look for their AD carry or support (these are the best but look for basicay anyone you can 1 shot) if theyre in the back of the pack, perfect. This is the best time to jump in, ignite, explosive shot and ult for the win, however this whole thing needs to be done fast, so dont walk at em for a while then jump, try jumping out of nowhere e and ult then leave. After this they will usually die after the ult or in a few seconds, either way you'll get your jump back really soon allowing you to create distance or jump a wall. If you hav a good team theyre engage while the enemies confused and you can come back in to use your explosive shot for people with heals or to clean up, and you can use your jump to slow people for your team to get em.

• You can use your e and ult while in mid jump . This helps with the surprise effect which is good against people like kassadin who just needa get off one spell and youre stuck their doing nothing for a while....
• Make sure when you use your jump to initiate you can either kill them or hav an escape route. Your ult can be considered an escape route.
• try not to use your jump if they have a knock up or supress they havent used yet, becuase if its badly timed enough they can use a knock up right when you jump sending you straight up and straight down, putting your jump on cool down and most likely killing you
• dont try and jump over viegars circle, or any detonating things like singularity or barrel roll (ive been unfortunate enough to jump over a random "never move" while in mid air rooting me when i landed)
• dont try and get buffs unless someone is giving it too you or its late game and all the lanes are pushed and baron and dragon are controled. It takes too long to kill blue without using your ult which you dont wanna use to early becuase it would send him through the wall to start healing.....
• dont hesitate to use your ult to save people by pushing enemies away, its very effective. unless you can kill them... then just do that.