Tristana Is A Watered-Down Version of Jinx (And Other Problems)

Jigabachi·Oct 13, 2014·3 votes·555 views

Tristana got new splash art today. And while it's wonderful and fun it also underscored a weird problem I have Trist lately that I wasn't able to put my finger on until today: Tristana is a thematically and mechanically confused champion.

When it comes to loving destruction and blowing things up for fun Trist is the undisputed O.G., so it's kind of weird that Jinx came along and took that part of her identity and turned it to 11. Jinx, as a whole, communicates that sense of wild destruction much better than Trist does in both visual style and in her mechanics. In fact, the only real difference between them appears to be that Jinx is totally okay with killing people while Trist seems to have a more child-like fascination with explosions and shooting things.

Trist is also weird when it comes to her mechanics. She's the Irelia of ADC's, a ball of stats that can do just about anything and offers very little interesting mechanics to play with or against. The most dramatic decision you have to make with her is when to W in on people, right-clicking will get you through the rest.

I think it's time to start thinking about who Trist is and where she's supposed to fit into this game.

3 Comments

Solidair3Oct 13, 20142 votes

Tristana likes explosions and action, yes.

But Jinx loves explosions that hurt people and especially explosions that make Caitlyn and Vi mad.

And Tristana is hardly a criminal. I don't that thematically they're really all that similar. They both love explosions, is that such a problem?

Viktor and Heimer both love inventing things, does that mean one of them needs a theme change? I don't think you. You've over-simplified the problem.

Mechanically speaking trist is a problem, and it's a good thing riot is finally starting to really address it.

JigabachiOct 13, 20141 votes

There's a pretty clear difference between Heimer and Viktor, though, and that's their intent behind their creations. They communicate their themes very well; Heimer builds thing because that's what he loves to do, because science! whilte Viktor is actively seeking his warped sense of perfection.

Actually, now that I think about it, this comparison might be exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for when it comes to differentiating between Trist and Jinx.

Trist is the Heimer of this analogy, she enjoys explosions and firearms but has no inherent malicious intent, while Jinx is the Viktor of the analogy, taking that joy and perverting it, twisting it to a dark place. And in a lot of ways Trist does communicate this, I just feel like she need to be pushed further. She'd an older champ, so she feels a lot more reserved, especially comapared to newer champs who push their themes a lot.

MarthianOct 14, 20141 votes

Jinx doesn't love explosions that hurt people. Rather it's she loves explosions, but doesn't care if someone gets blown up along with it (so unless I'm mistaken, she doesn't go out of her way to kill people, it's just if it does happen, "I'll put it in my box of cares, oh wait, it's empty.")