Feels like a while since I put together a League of Legends build, but it feels nice to return to the well. This was a very fun one to point together but I don't have much more to say on the subject. As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in an attempt to fit the character. These choices might not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
Let's get into the build for Tristana from League of Legends!
TRISTANA, THE YORDLE GUNNER
CHARACTER Tristana
SOURCE League of Legends
BUILD GOALS
o Tristana is a yordle, a fey-like being from the Spirit Realm, who is fascinated with the adventures of great warriors and the stories of mortals
o She is a marksman who uses the long range of her cannon, named Boomer, to bombard foes from afar before launching into the fray to deliver powerful blasts
o Her passive is Draw a Bead which increases her attack and ability range as she levels
o Rapid Fire is her first ability, which she activates to temporarily increase her attack speed
o With her Rocket Jump ability, she jumps to a location and deals damage upon landing. If she kills an adversary or detonates an Explosive Charge, she can use this ability again
o The aforementioned Explosive Charge is twofold. Its passive effect causes her attacks to trigger an explosion when they kill a target. When activated, she tosses an explosive charge at any enemy that detonates after a period of time. The explosions damage can be increased by hitting the target
o Her Explosive Charge also works on towers, making her capable of destroying structures swiftly
o Her ultimate is Buster Shot, which causes her to fire a massive cannonball at a target that knocks them back and briefly stuns them
o In Legends of Runeterra, she has quick attack and gains power with multi-region allies. When she levels, she buffs those allies and gains the impact, meaning she can deal damage whenever she strikes when blocked
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Vivacious Gnome
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Constitution, +Charisma, +Dexterity, -Strength
o Ancestry Feat: Fey Fellowship
Background: Martial Disciple
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity
o Skill Increase: Athletics (trained), Warfare Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Quick Jump
Class & Subclass: Way of the Vanguard Gunslinger
o Class Ability Boost: +Dexterity
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Crafting (trained), Nature (trained), Society (trained), Stealth (trained), Thievery (trained)
o Class Feat: Munitions Crafter
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str 12, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 12)
Gnome feels to be the best ancestry that best represents yordle with their ties to the First World similar to the yordles’ connection the spirit world and association with fey. While they fit perfectly thematically, their mechanics don’t match as solidly with vivacious feeling like the best fit as a heritage. Tristana’s familiarity with fey, and in particular Lulu, makes Fey Fellowship an appropriate fit. For her background, Tristana’s fascination with martial matters and heroes lends itself well towards martial disciple. Finally, to represent her use of Boomer, a heavy cannon, Tristana is a way of the vanguard gunslinger. The shove aspect of it works towards Buster Shot somewhat, but the vanguard way better serves her further down the line. So that she is able to create her Explosive Charge, Tristana takes up Munitions Crafter while its passive effect is achieved through the scatter quality of her weapon.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Risky Reload
o Skill Feat: Titan Wrestler
o Gear: ring of discretion
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Increase: Crafting (expert)
o Gear: +1 blunderbuss, cloak of feline rest, ring of discretion
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Black Powder Boost
o Skill Feat: Specialty Crafting – Alchemy
o Gear: magnifying scope, +1 blunderbuss, flask of fellowship, ring of discretion
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str 14, Dex 19, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 12)
o Ancestry Feat: First World Magic – guidance
o Skill Increase: Athletics (expert), Survival (trained)
o Gear: +1 striking blunderbuss, backfire mantle, magnifying scope, flask of fellowship, cloak of feline rest, ring of discretion
Speed is not something that gunslingers in Pathfinder are particularly known for, but as a step towards fulfilling her Rapid Fire skill, she picks up Risky Reload. Per usual for this feat, she’ll probably want to use it for her first attack in the round, which means it functions best when she doesn’t start her turn with her weapon loaded. Black Powder Boost is a perfect fit for Tristana’s Rocket Jump aside from the fact that it lacks damage. Given her Small stature, Trist picks up Titan Wrestler so that she can better push people around. Specialty Crafting makes her better at creating her bombs and the like during downtime. Given her long range, it feels appropriate for her to take Incredible Initiative to get a jump on her foes.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Advanced Shooter – Firearms
o Skill Feat: Powerful Leap
o Gear: +1 leather, +1 striking dwarven scattergun, alchemist goggles, magnifying scope, flask of fellowship, Jack’s tattered cape
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Crafting (master)
o Gear: stag’s helm, +1 leather, lifting belt, +1 striking dwarven scattergun, backfire mantle, magnifying scope
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Munitions Machinist
o Skill Feat: Inventor
o Gear: boots of bounding, stag’s helm, hauling weapon rune, +1 leather, +1 striking dwarven scattergun, alchemist goggles
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: First World Adept
o Skill Increase: Athletics (master)
o Gear: +1 resilient leather, boots of bounding, bag of holding (type II), stag’s helm, lifting belt, +1 striking dwarven scattergun
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Dexterity, +Intelligence (Str 16, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 12)
o Class Feat: Phalanx Breaker
o Skill Feat: Wall Jump
o Gear: armbands of athleticism, +1 resilient leather, greater backfire mantle, boots of bounding, stag’s helm, +1 striking dwarven scattergun
Some might choose to skip out on Advanced Shooter, but by taking this feat, Tristana can wield a dwarven scattergun, an improvement to her blunderbuss. Munitions Machinist is another simple improvement, allowing her to build better bombs. Her final class feat of the block is Phalanx Breaker, which is a perfect fit for her Buster Shot, allowing her to blast an enemy and send them flying back. This feat, and its prerequisite, is the main reason that Tristana went way of the vanguard. Powerful Leap and Wall Jump enhance Tristana’s jumping ability while Inventor can help her acquire new formulas to make and works well with her general creativity. Fleet ends up increasing Tristana’s jump range, which is limited by a character’s Speed. Most yordles remain hidden or otherwise disguised, so the spells from First World Adept feel appropriate.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Adopted Ancestry – Human
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (expert)
o Gear: +2 striking dwarven scattergun, armbands of athleticism, greater magnifying scope, +1 resilient leather, boots of bounding, bag of holding (type II)
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Shattering Shot
o Skill Feat: Quick Repair
o Gear: +2 resilient leather, +2 striking dwarven scattergun, scope of limning, armbands of athleticism, greater backfire mantle, flaming weapon rune
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Natural Ambition – Hit the Dirt!
o Skill Increase: Stealth (expert)
o Gear: +2 greater striking dwarven scattergun, +2 resilient leather, greater alchemist goggles, daredevil boots, armbands of athleticism, greater magnifying scope
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Leap and Fire
o Skill Feat: Magical Crafting
o Gear: greater ring of the ram, +2 greater striking dwarven scattergun, greater quick runner’s shirt, +2 resilient leather, daredevil boots, scope of limning
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 18, Dex 21, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 14)
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Increase: Crafting (legendary)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient leather, bag of holding (type IV), greater ring of the ram, +2 greater striking dwarven scattergun, greater alchemist goggles, greater hauling weapon rune
Adopted Ancestry is meant to represent Tristana’s fascination and in-depth study of human and particularly military culture and is taken solely so that she can use Natural Ambition to grab Hit the Dirt. This leads into Leap and Fire, which is another means to replicate the effects of Rocket Jump and even adds some damage to it as it allows her to make an attack as part of the jump. The closest means of replicating the active aspect of her Explosive Charge is by using Shattering Shot. This doesn’t allow her to ramp up the damage of the bomb, but does allow her to deal damage in a wide area. Quick Repair allows her to make field repairs, which may be useful as a gunslinger while Magical Crafter expands on her ability to build while tapping into her naturally mystic nature.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Scatter Blast
o Skill Feat: Craft Anything
o Gear: greater flaming weapon rune, +2 greater resilient leather, greater boots of bounding, greater ring of the ram, +2 greater striking dwarven scattergun, greater quick runner’s shirt
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Homeward Bound
o Skill Increase: Athletics (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater striking dwarven scattergun, dragonscale amulet, greater flaming weapon rune, +2 greater resilient leather, bag of holding (type IV), greater ring of the ram
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Unerring Shot
o Skill Feat: Cloud Jump
o Gear: anklets of alacrity, +3 greater striking dwarven scattergun, speed weapon rune, greater flaming weapon rune, +2 greater resilient leather, greater boots of bounding
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Feather Step
o Skill Increase: Stealth (master)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient leather, anklets of alacrity, greater armbands of athleticism, +3 greater striking dwarven scattergun, dragonscale amulet, greater flaming weapon rune
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 18, Dex 22, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 16)
o Class Feat: Perfect Readiness
o Skill Feat: Impeccable Crafter
o Skill Increase: Medicine (trained)
o Gear: +3 major striking dwarven scattergun, +3 greater resilient leather, mercurial mantle, greater armbands of athleticism, greater talisman cord, greater flaming weapon rune
Scatter Blast serves to further expand Tristana’s range increment while giving it a bigger blast while Unerring Shot allows her to ignore penalty for shooting outside of her ranged increment, matching her Draw a Bead passive. Perfect Readiness is hard to pass up – any feat that makes you permanently quickened is a very solid choice that is always difficult to pass up on. A few more Crafting feats help to round out Tristana’s skill feats as does Cloud Jump, a feat that is going to greatly improve all of her class feats that involve jumping or leaping of any sort. Within the world of Runeterra, portals abound to help them travel to their home. The closest that this build gets to that is Trist picking up the Homeward Bound feat to gain an innate means of traveling to the First World.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: Coming up with a free archetype for Tristana is somewhat difficult but the Alchemist Dedication is a solid choice, granting her some extra bombs. It also allows her to grab Demolition Charge to blow up structures, Quick Bomber and Calculated Splash for when she just wants to hurl bombs, Debilitating Bomb adds some extra effects to her bombs, and Sticky Bomb will give her some extra persistent damage. She will want to keep up with Expert Alchemy and Master Alchemy to keep her alchemical creations close to her level. To replicate her ally-buffing abilities in Legends of Runeterra, Marshal Dedication might also be a solid chance, swapping out any skill increases to Stealth for Diplomacy instead and taking Inspiring Marshal Stance along with Target of Opportunity.
BUILD CONCLUSION
The gnome ancestry works well to represent the fey-like yordle and Adopted Ancestry demonstrates her fascination and fixation with humans and their martial prowess. However, many of Tristana’s other abilities are gained somewhat out of order. Initially, a blunderbuss stands in for Boomer but is later traded out for a dwarven scattergun. She favors these weapons because they have the scatter trait, which causes their attacks to deal splash damage, akin to the passive effect of her Explosive Charge. She initially uses Risky Reload to get the attack speed spike of her Rapid Fire though will want to be careful using this feat on iterative attacks as it increases the likelihood of a misfire. Initially, she might want to leave her weapon unloaded at the end of the turn so she can make use of Risky Reload but as she picks up feats like Leap and Fire, she may want to adjust depending on the situation. Speaking of Leap and Fire, it along with Black Powder Boost work well to capture the effects of her Rocket Jump ability but lacks the explosive landing. Strangely, despite the focus of the vanguard being about pushing others around, its greater deed, Siegebreaker also works for her Rocket Jump as it allows her to Leap or Stride before making a Strike that deals additional damage. Phalanx Breaker is probably the best representation of her Buster Shot, allowing her to make a Strike that knocks her target backwards on a hit. There isn’t a means of attaching a bomb to somebody and then detonating it, but Shattering Shot involves lobbing a bomb that your shot then detonates in a wide area, getting close at least to the effects of it. Finally, for her Draw a Bead passive, Tristana has the range-enhancing Scatter Blast and Unerring Shot.
Lemme know what you think and if there's any other particular builds you'd like to see.
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Have a fantastic Friday!
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