Ok, there are practically no Trist guides out there other than an outdated one, an AP based one and a triforce build (-_-). I started playing trist a few days ago and wanted to get some feedback on my build. So here goes.

Ruby crystal -> Catalyst

Catalyst is still very viable for laning and can practically keep you in the lane forever. Turn it into banshee veil later if need be. Early hp from the ruby also helps in those level 1 skirmishes by the lizard. I could go dorans shield as a starting item instead but that wont let me spam rocket jump on every wave. Also, dont say philostone. I could start with lifesteal instead, but it makes her too squishy and still doesnt let you spam spells.

Boots
Sword of the Divine

I start leveling rapid fire over explosive shot when Im close to finishing this item.

Boots -> Berserkers
The black cleaver

Personally I dont think lifesteal is needed because it does nothing in teamfights. In 5v5 you dont want anyone hitting you, so may as well be pure dps.

I dont need a list of 6 super-items. I need the very first items that gives trist the hp and farming capacity early game as well as dps in mid-game to make a difference. I have a relatively high elo rating and that makes it hard to experiment. Practice games does not count as practice at all.

Oh, and please dont say "Hey, I just start with lifesteal and turn it into Bloodthirster ASAP and go 20-0! You should try it!"

In all honesty you dont need catylyst a well played trist usually saves enough mana for those escapes and ganks and health pots are pretty cheap. If your going with Black cleaver getting Malady is usually better than Sword of the divine for the majority team makeups your likely to encounter for the life steal and the damage bonus and it makes it easier on your frequent trips to jungle for Lizard.

I personally prefer going with Boots of speed + couple of health pots and turning into Berserker greaves then getting BF sword as early as possible eventualy turning into a Infinty edge my reasonsing is that Infinty edge does more damage on average than Black cleaver at that stage of the game on Tristanna those more crits + bonus crit damage also help clear creep waves quicker = better farming + pushing. I grab my Malady or sword of the divine afterward I always aim for Black cleaver next but games usually end way before that.

That's about where I did a double take. I get the feeling we play rather different styles.

Rapid fire is the last thing I seriously level, unless I'm slaughtering my opponent so badly that I'm pushing into his tower, in which case I'll prioritise it over rocket jump - but otherwise, explosve shot gets maxed out first.

I can see what you're doing - the increased attack speed means more SotD procs, which gives some nasty surprises, but I still don't like it. Explosive shot's passive by the time you've finished SotD, assuming levelling solidly, makes farming a lot easier, and it does a lot of DoT, with healing reduction, without you having to be there. It's her best solo laning tool, it allows easy harassment without taking the counterattacks that are a big pain for a squishy like Tristana. Meanwhile, rocket jump gives easy escape if things go pearshaped, and even a chase if you're feeling confident and they're on low health.

Both are valid, but I can't help thinking of how much trouble I had soloing against Teemo until I learned to just trade explosive for blind; I've done more damage, and sure I've had to give him initiative by retreating a bit, that's hardly the end of the world. The only thing this build is better harassment-wise for would be against someone with silence - but Fiddle's drain will rape you either way, Soraka can just heal up and pull back to make you waste the rapid fire, and Kassidan... shouldn't really be in solo mid.

The other thing is that rapid fire is so much easier to waste mana on. A rocket or explosive you know will work, but I've wasted the AS boost more than a few times due to having to pull back from a turret or something similar.

Items-wise, I'm not sure about SotD in general. It's more expensive than Malady, is much less useful in a team battle and has only slightly better stats. The active has potential, but it feels like more of a solo ganker's tool than something for Trist.

Catalyst I can see working. I'll often grab it and upgrade to Banshees if I'm facing a lot of CC. However, ruby crystal as first item makes me squirm, and sapphire is of limited value on her. Some heroes can make an instant ruby work, but Trist has no natural heal, and you will lose health fast if you play mid aggressively. Odd as it sounds, I go Rejuvenation Bead and two or three HP pots - it gives me plenty of fallbacks to keep up the harassment, and I suspect would keep me in lane longer than you.

Ok, I admit it - I'm a vampire cannonball player. Rejuvenation Bead -> Emblem of Valour, Berserkers, Emblem -> Starks is my opening build, leading onto Malady and then the heavy damage items. People sneer at Starks on Trist, but that's a lot of bonuses, and gives any melee wanting to say 'hi' a nasty surprise. I really don't agree with building any character on the basis that you won't get attacked. My damage might not be at peak, but compared to a pure damage build, I can stay on the field a lot longer, I can actually duel with someone quite effectively, and the automatic instinct of 'kill the carry' turns out to be trickier than you might expect. Besides, you may sniff at BT, but Trist ranks it up faster than almost any other champ, and it might not have the armour kill of BC, but it's the highest raw damage item.

6

There is no set thing you should do every game. Look at who you have on your team, and who you are playing against.

If they have a number of high hp heros starting with a long sword and healing pot to work your way to a maldreds can work out quite well. If you dont think you will be able to push very effectivly you can start out with some lifesteal to keep yourself in lane longer.
Usually I will either start with a long sword and healing pot or vampiric scepter, and go for the razor or for a lifesteal item(either malady or bloodthirster most of the time). Then berserker shoes. Then you really gota see how the game is going. If you are needed to gank other lanes you can focus on damage and crit, if you are pushing your lane damage and attack speed. A phage/frozen mallet can be great if you are going full out hero assassination, in case you cant jump snare them or they clense.

As for skill builds, I start with jump. Its just too tasty in case your opponent gets greedy early on. I will then put a point in explosive shot, next is jump and after that depends. If I am successfully pushing to their tower I will start building up rapid fire, it annihilates turrets. If it is a constant back and forth I will work on explosive shot.

I appreciate your comments, its nice to see some different playstyles.

Not getting some sort of hp item as the first is really not an option for me, at least when I face the guys in the top 100 elo range. There will always be a fight either in the river or by the lizard. Having ~150 extra hitpoints means you survive 2 extra nukes. So the ruby starting item to catalyst and further to banshee once I have some dps is what Ive been doing lately. However, it obviously slows down my first dps item somewhat, but I tell myself that I get more farming off from the mana regen it gives.

I have been considering starks. Its probably better than malady, even with rapid fire. I could probably skip the black cleaver if I went starks because most casters/dps have no more than the base armor 30 or whatever it is anyways. Unless it can go negative... Anyone knows?

Yes, armour can go negative, so Black Cleaver, Starks debuff and upgraded Exhaust could quite comfortably send someone without armour items into the negative.

Note, however, that only effects can do this. Or in other words, Armour Penetration can only get you to 0, not negative. Or at least, that's what I've heard.

If you're having to tangle in a lvl 1 team battle instead of my usual experience of aggressive 1v1/2v2 harassment, I can see ruby->catalyst, though the lack of regen and pots does make me concerned as to survivability until you get the catalyst.

I'm not a big fan of Doran items (I'd rather have something that can be built), but for your circumstances, I can't help wondering whether Doran's Blade might help you out. 50 less health than ruby, and it'll set back catalyst a bit (assuming you continue to go for that instead of regen a la Emblem/Starks), but it gives you a bit of damage, a reasonable chunk of health, and you've still got enough cash afterwards for an HP pot. Post patch, it'll also have a little lifesteal instead of the gold/10, so that'll be even better.

I suppose it's all a question of how much emphasis you want on surviving that initial clash, and how much on surviving the solo harassing during the laning stage. Sure you can always BP back to grab some pots or something, but I'd be reluctant to lose the initiative like that.

The ruby only in a lane is not as bad as you think. If I solo, I will have the cash for the catalyst by level 5-6. By then I will probably port back based on my hp/mana.

Last few games I tried out lifesteal first and did better than expected. Build was:

Lifesteal
Malady
Berserker greaves
Black cleaver

Game was pretty much over by now but I added a phage at the end.

Malady is a very nice item, partly because it has very cheap components, so it's easy to build it piecemeal and still get a steady progression, whereas trying to build a Bloodthirster inevitably results in long downtime while you save up the 1850 for the BF sword.

Try rushing Starks, though. Emblem doesn't give you any boost, and since you're generally solo there's no real benefit from the aura, but the extra health regen is useful, and Starks itself has such a nice set of stats. Sure you won't always get the benefit of the debuff thanks to her range, but I've always felt like I get more bang for my buck by going for Starks first, then Malady. Only slightly less attack speed, and although you don't get the proc of Malady, you get more lifesteal and the armour reduction, which is a lot more significant at lower levels.