For players looking to maximize their potential with the Barbarian King, understanding itemization is key. This Tryndamere guide dives into a powerful build path designed to amplify his strengths and ensure victory on Summoner’s Rift. Let’s explore the core items that will transform you into an unstoppable force.
First and foremost, your choice of boots is crucial for early game aggression and mobility. Berserker’s Greaves are the go-to option for the vast majority of games. The significant attack speed boost they provide is essential, especially when opting for the Fleet Footwork rune which doesn’t inherently offer attack speed like Lethal Tempo. This increased attack speed translates directly to more fury generation and faster trades in lane.
Moving into core damage items, Statikk Shiv stands out as an exceptional rush item. Its wave clear capability is unmatched in the early game, allowing you to efficiently push lanes and accrue a significant CS advantage. The item also provides a valuable burst of magic damage on-hit, enhancing your dueling potential and making you a threat even in early skirmishes. This combination of wave clear and early damage makes Statikk Shiv an ideal first item for aggressive Tryndamere players.
To further amplify your damage and unlock Tryndamere’s critical strike potential, Navori Quickblades is an outstanding choice. This item delivers a substantial damage increase and crucial cooldown reduction (CDR). Reaching 50% critical strike chance with Navori Quickblades allows you to effectively cap out your fury bar at level 18 and consistently unleash devastating critical strikes. The CDR is invaluable for Tryndamere, enabling more frequent use of Spinning Slash for mobility and damage. Navori Quickblades is a core component in maximizing Tryndamere’s damage output and sustained fighting capability.
The debate between Black Cleaver and Trinity Force for Tryndamere is a common one, but through extensive testing, Black Cleaver emerges as the superior choice for this specific build and playstyle. While Trinity Force is a strong item, Black Cleaver offers more immediate damage, comes at a lower gold cost, and provides crucial armor shred. Both items offer 20% CDR, but the armor shred from Black Cleaver is particularly significant for Tryndamere. Since the removal of true damage from Conqueror, Tryndamere can sometimes struggle against tankier opponents. Black Cleaver addresses this weakness by reducing enemy armor, effectively increasing your physical damage output. When paired with Guinsoo’s Rageblade, Black Cleaver’s armor shred becomes even more potent, helping to compensate for the lack of true damage in Tryndamere’s kit. Black Cleaver ensures your damage remains consistent and impactful throughout the game.
Guinsoo’s Rageblade is a powerhouse item for Tryndamere, synergizing exceptionally well with his kit and this build. It grants massive attack speed and total armor penetration, making it effective against all types of champions, not just tanks. Guinsoo’s Rageblade’s passive also has incredible synergy with Tiamat and Tryndamere’s Spinning Slash. Once Guinsoo’s is stacked, Tiamat procs twice every three attacks, and the cooldown reduction on Spinning Slash is doubled (2 seconds against minions, 4 seconds against champions) every third attack. This creates a powerful feedback loop, increasing your mobility, wave clear, and damage output simultaneously.
To finalize your core build and maximize your split-pushing potential, Ravenous Hydra is the perfect item. It provides excellent wave clear, further enhancing your ability to push lanes rapidly. Ravenous Hydra also grants a significant amount of damage, which is always valuable for Tryndamere. Its passive, which also works in conjunction with Guinsoo’s Rageblade, amplifies your damage even further, making you a formidable threat in both split-pushing scenarios and team fights.
Situational Items
While the core build provides a strong foundation, adapting to specific game situations is crucial. Here are some situational items that can replace Guinsoo’s Rageblade depending on the enemy team composition and game state.
Quicksilver Sash: If you find yourself facing champions with heavy crowd control (CC), especially game-changing abilities like Malzahar’s ultimate, Quicksilver Sash is an invaluable defensive item. It allows you to cleanse debilitating CC effects and continue your assault, preventing you from being locked down and neutralized in crucial moments. Consider this item when facing teams with multiple sources of hard CC.
Lord Dominik’s Regards: Against heavily armored, health-stacking tanks such as Sion or Cho’Gath, Lord Dominik’s Regards becomes a necessary item. Its armor penetration and damage increase against targets with higher health pools allow you to effectively cut through their defenses and remain a damage threat. If the enemy team is stacking health and armor, swapping Guinsoo’s Rageblade for Lord Dominik’s Regards will ensure you can still deal significant damage.
This comprehensive Tryndamere guide provides a robust item build and situational adaptations to help you conquer Summoner’s Rift. Mastering this build will allow you to unlock the Barbarian King’s full potential and lead your team to victory.
