Tryndamere is one of the first champions we ever got to play in League of Legends.

His simple yet powerful ability kit has remained roughly the same, even though Riot Games have developed a lot more complex champions over the years.

Still, Tryndamere is a popular pick and can solo carry games from the top lane.

But is Tryndamere AP or AD?

Is Tryndamere AP or AD?

Tryndamere E in-game info

Tryndamere is primarily an AD champion in League of Legends. His build includes items that give Attack Damage, plus other beneficial stats for him like Lifesteal, Attack Speed, and Critical Strike.

Tryndamere deals physical damage, but mostly Critical Strikes through his basic attacks.

Ever since the start of LoL, Tryndamere has been an AD champion. And although you can play him with an AP build, he’s still better with items such as Goredrinker, Essence Reaver, or Navori Quickblades.

Most of Tryndamere’s damage comes from his auto-attacks. Thanks to his passive, he can significantly increase his Critical Strike chance and deal crits as soon as level 1.

The damage of his crits can also be buffed with items like Infinity Edge. 

Only Tryndamere’s E – Spinning Slash is considered a damaging ability in his kit. It’s also his only mobility spell.

Read Also: Riven AP Or AD – Guide

Does Tryndamere Even Scale with AP?

Tryndamere AP or AD - Q
Tryndamere’s Q in-game tooltip

Besides AD, Tryndamere also scales with AP. His two most important abilities – Q and E have AP scalings and can be buffed with Ability Power items.

This opens up the opportunity for an interesting playstyle for AP Tryndamere, where he deals both physical and magic damage.

If you analyze the AP Tryndamere playstyle a bit, you’ll see that the main damage output isn’t his auto-attacks anymore.

In fact, the whole idea is based around using his Spinning Slash to deal the most amount of damage, then an auto-attack enhanced with items such as Lich Bane or Nahsor’s Tooth.

Is AP Tryndamere good?

One advantage that the AP Tryndamere build has over the AD one is the increased healing. His Q – Bloodlust only scales with Ability Power, so the AP build will always give him bigger heals, no matter the items.

AP Tryndamere can be a very good playstyle in certain situations, especially if your team is already full AD.

Now let’s take a look at how Trynadamere scales with AD and AP.

Tryndamere AD and AP Scaling

Tryndamere AP or AD - Critical Strikes
Tryndamere’s critical strikes in the early game

Q – Bloodlust 

Bloodlust gives Tryndamere 0.15 / 0.25 / 0.35 / 0.45 / 0.55 bonus AD for every 1% of his missing health.

Upon activation, it consumes all of Tryndamere’s Fury and heals him for at least 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70, plus 30% of his AP (this is the minimal amount).

W – Mocking Shout

Tryndamere’s W slows down his enemy when they’re running away. In addition, the ability lowers the enemy’s AD by 20 / 35 / 50 / 65 / 80.

The slow lasts for 4 seconds and its percentage is 30 / 37.5 / 45 / 52.5 / 60%.

E – Spinning Slash

Tryndamere dashes in a chosen direction, dealing 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 / 200 physical damage, plus 130% of his AD.

Additionally, this ability scales with 80% of Tryndamere’s AP too. 

Read Also: Illaoi AP or AD – Guide

What Are the Best Items for Tryndamere?

Tryndamere AP or AD - E Damage
Tryndamere deals physical damage with his E

Here are the best items for Tryndamere:

Starting items:

  • Doran’s Blade – grants you AD as well as Lifesteal to survive the laning phase.
  • Health Potion – regenerates a bit of your lost Health.

Mythic items:

  • Goredrinker – gives you useful stats like Attack Damage, Health, and Ability Haste. It also has an active that lets you heal in combat.
  • Galeforce – offers an interesting playstyle and allows you to dash forward and assassinate your enemies.
  • Kraken Slayer – adds bonus true damage on every 3rd auto-attack, and it’s great against tanks.

Core items:

  • Essence Reaver – increases your Critical Chance and lowers the cooldown of your abilities.
  • Infinity Edge – boosts the damage of your Critical Strikes.
  • Mortal Reminder – makes your basic attacks deadlier by applying Grevious Wounds on your targets which reduces their healing.
  • Navori Quickblades – works great on Tryndamere because it significantly lowers the cooldown of his E. 

Situational items:

  • Maw of Malmortius – grants you a shield that blocks magic damage when you drop below 30% HP.
  • Quicksilver Sash – allows you to remove nearly all crowd control effects in the game and continue fighting.
  • The Bloodthirster – increases your Lifesteal greatly so you can heal way more during a team fight.
  • Black Cleaver – lowers the Armor of four enemies and allows you to deal more damage.
  • Death’s Dance – grants you armor and increases your overall healing while in combat.

Boots:

  • Berserker’s Greaves – give you enough Attack Speed to get through the early game.

Read Also: Heimerdinger AP or AD – Guide

Conclusion

Tryndamere is a duelist that deals a great amount of physical damage from melee range.

He’s a notorious split-pusher in League of Legends and he’s often used for solo-carrying games, especially in lower elos.

And he’s a great pick overall!

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Guides, League of Legends,

Last Update: April 28, 2024