Tristana, the Megling Gunnerhttp://www.leagueoflegends.com/champions, is generally played as a Ranged DPS hero. This means that she can dish out some incredible damage from far away. This is further augmented by the fact that the higher her level is, the farther away she can shoot thanks to her passive ability, and that one of her abilities, Rapid Fire, increases her attack speed by quite a lot when you level it up high enough.

Simply put, she can be a very dangerous foe with the right item build, and should not be taken lightly late game. She can be played both defensively and offensively, and is very effective at pushing, since her Explosive Shot ability can clear out enemy minions very quickly.

In this How to Play as Tristana in League of Legends article, we’ll cover an early defensive style of play. That’s not to say you can’t use the item build included to push the offensive, as you definitely can. Tristana is an incredibly flexible character and can often carry an entire team to victory under the right conditions.

First, what abilities should you get, and when? At level 1, it is advisable to add 1 point into her Rocket Jump ability, and only use it as a measure of escape. Tristana is known as a “squishy” character early on, meaning her health leaves a lot to be desired, and her natural health regeneration is absolutely terrible.

At level 2, put your point into Explosive Shot. The sooner you start killing off minions and making huge amounts of gold the better, as Tristana’s constant kills allows her to get a rather expensive set of items. Every level from this point you should alternate between Rapid Fire and Explosive shot, and whenever you can level up her ultimate, Buster Shot, put the point into that. This will ensure her ultimate is always something to be feared, but still allow you the fast attack and AoE damage to rack up the funds needed for later. After Rapid Fire and Explosive Shot are maxed out, you can start leveling your Rocket Jump – by that point, Tristana will be powerful enough that you can start to use it a bit more offensively if you choose to.

This item build might get you some guff from some of your team members, but after trying it out a few times you’ll understand why it deserves the focus of this article.

1. Longsword (+10 Damage)
2. Madred’s Razors (+15 Damage, +25 Armor. Passive: 15% chance on attack to deal an additional 500 damage to a minion.)
3. Berseker’s Greaves (+25% Attack Speed, Passive: Enhanced Movement 2)
4. Madred’s Razors
5. Phage (+250 Health, +18 Damage, Passive: 25% chance on hit to reduce your target’s Movement Speed by 40% for 2.5 seconds)
6. Frozen Mallet (+775 Health, +20 Damage, Passive: Physical attacks reduce your target’s Movement Speed by 50% for 2.5 seconds)
7. Madred’s Bloodrazors X2 (+40 Damage, +40% Attack Speed, +30 Armor, Passive: On hit, deals Magic Damage equal to 2.5% of the targets maximum Health.)
8. Optional: Bloodthirster (+60 Damage, +15% Life Steal, Passive: Gain an additional 1 physical Damage and .25% Life Steal per kill. Maximum of +40 Damage and 10% Life Steal. Bonuses are lost upon death.)
9. Optional: Black Cleaver (+75 Damage, Passive: Physical attacks reduce your target’s Armor by 12 for 5 seconds, (Maximum of 5 stacks)
10. Optional: Infinity Edge (+80 Damage, +20% Critical Strike, UNIQUE Passive: Critical Strikes deal 250% damage instead of 200%)http://www.leagueoflegends.com/items

By the time you get your Phage you will have only 4 items, as several of these upgrade into other listed items. Obtain the remaining items in the following order.

NOTE: If anyone on your team notices, you’ll probably be asked what the point is of getting two Madred’s Razors. Most people will consider it overkill. However, when you’re walking through enemy minions like a knife slides through butter, they will understand. Every time you get the kill on an enemy minion, your explosive shot will go off, damaging everyone nearby it. This means not only do you soften up nearby minions, but any champions standing too close as well. The bonus damage can also go off against the creeps, which makes this build very powerful for jungling Tristana.

At some point your damage will be high enough that the random chance of additional damage on minions isn’t all that useful – that’s when we upgrade the Madred’s Razors into Madred’s Bloodrazors, an all around strong item that makes a ranged DPS character a force to be reckoned with.

Late in the game, your problem may become the fact that enemy champions can outrun you, helping them to escape and survive just when you are on the verge of a kill. That’s where the Phage and Frozen Mallet play a role. Slowing them down as much as they do generally means once your first shot lands, they’re stuck in battle with you. Their retreat would be sluggish at best, so unless they have some trick up their sleeve, you should have them at this point. Still be careful of enemy Tanks: the fights with them can drag on long enough for team members to come to their aid.

Playing Tristana can be tricky, as it’s hard to determine when you should be defensive, and when you should be on the offensive. The general rule of thumb is when in doubt, be defensive. Tristana can dish out incredible damage, but it doesn’t take much to put her back in the spawning pool, waiting to come back to the fray.

A lot of your style of play will depend on what items you have, and when you obtain them. With the Madred’s Razors, though, you should have no trouble making enough gold for the expensive items in this build.

The first few levels you should try and focus on killing minions in your lane, especially if you get the last hit, detonating your Explosive Shot and dealing damage to nearby enemies.

If you’re attacked, retreat using Rocket Jump. Do NOT use it offensively at this point, as it is critical to retain as much of Tristana’s health as possible. Every moment you spend healing is a moment the enemy team is surpassing you in experience and gold. If you’re against highly aggressive opponents, spend some gold on a healing item so you don’t have to return all the way back to your spawning pool to heal.

You should have no trouble getting to your second set of Madred’s Razors, and when you do, it’s time to enter the jungle. Start in your lane, press the enemy minions back, then just wander into the nearby jungle area. Use your Rocket Jump to pass over and obstacles to save you the trouble of walking around, and start killing creeps. When the section is cleared, try and give the next lane over some help in killing minions, then wander over into the next jungle. Try and stay on your team's half of the map, as it’s less likely you’ll encounter enemies on your side. Every run through the jungles can net you well over 500 gold a pass, so the time used killing creeps is worth it.

If the enemy team forms a massive group in one lane and presses it, try not to get involved. You’re not yet ready for killing the enemy until you have your Frozen Mallet. If it’s unavoidable, hide behind the tower and pick off any minions that get too close. The enemy team is unlikely to advance without minions protecting them from the tower.

As soon as you can afford the Frozen Mallet, or at least the Phage piece of it, get it. You’re more prepared to fight enemy champions, but still not perfectly deadly yet. Avoid getting near too many enemies, and keep on running and jumping through the jungle until you can convert one of your Madred’s Razors into Madred’s Bloodrazors. You should be a few levels higher than the enemy, assuming your team didn’t die too much to them, so you’ll now have the advantage of level, money, and hopefully items as well. At this point, the enemy team will have reason to be afraid of the tiny Megling Gunner.

This is when it gets fun. If you happened to choose the Summoner Spell, Teleport, then kudos to you for a wise choice. You now get to push several lanes at the same time. Choose either the top or bottom lane, push it so that your minions grossly outnumber the enemy minions, then before you get to the opponents Tower, teleport to the opposite lane. Push on this one too. While the enemies are in your first lane pushing back your minions, you should be able to attack the other tower without much worry. As you do, however, make sure to keep an eye on any enemy champions on the minimap. If you see a few of them disappear, pull back – there’s a good chance they’re coming to try and outnumber you.

You can now walk to the middle lane, assuming the Field of Justice your playing on has a middle lane, and repeat the previous steps. Just be careful, as this will get your Champion a lot of unwanted attention, thus making you a target.

At this point you should have no trouble upgrading your final Madred’s Razor, and you get to choose between the Bloodthirster, the Black Cleaver, or the Infinity Edge. If your enemy has a lot of Tanks, go with the Black Cleaver. If they have a lot of DPS champions or Mage’s, try the Bloodthirster. For those who have a high critical strike chance from their Masteries and Runes, get the Infinity Edge to bolster the damage done.

Now, all that’s left is the GG at the end of the match.

Good luck and have fun out there!