Anyone want to give me some tips for playing tristana? specifically if you build BOTR or not and I always have trouble with mana while harrassing in my lane early game and survivability late game (which is probably a positioning issue)
I main her so maybe I can help you.
I don't build BOTRK because it has bad synergies with Tristana's game flow : early on it doesn't scale well with low HP enemies, and later it doesn't mix well with other core items to deserve a slot. If you're having mana issues, it means that you overuse your E (explosive shot) or jump around too much. Always try to auto-attack once before even trying to use E. Dont use/level up you Q before lvl 8, when you can start relying more on your AD. Your ult should be kept as a last resort finisher/escape. Using explosive shot to harass if your opponent has a good healer is a waste of time (you should try to burst him down in one go with the help of you support if that happens and only harass with autoattacks if you feel safe doing it).
If you still have mana issues, try running teleport as a summoner spell (with ignite or barrier depending on how aggressive you feel).
Late game, it depends on how fed you are compared to the enemy team and how much they are focusing you. In the worst case scenario you may need to let your team engage without you, this way the enemy wont have much burst left to deal with you when you enter the fray. If they're smart and jump on you from behind, stay close to your team and try to be very reactive with your auto-attacks, as they heal you (if you build correctly you should have decent lifesteal to go with your high AS/AD/crits). You have 2 very good escape mechanisms (jump + ult) so you should be safer than most AD carries, given that you also have the best auto-attack range at lvl 18. Depending on how you die, you may want to invest in a guardian angel or banshee's veil (but sometimes a second bloodthirster is better).
Also, don't forget to lifesteal random minions or jungle monsters if you have lost HP and have no other valid target at the moment.
My typical full stuff is : Berserker's greaves with Homeguard, Statik shiv, Infinity's edge, Bloodthirster, Phantom dancer, + situational item. I go with full AD/lvl reds and quints, flat armor yellows, and magic resist/lvl blues. Masteries are 21/9/0 or similar.
If used well, late game Tristana is probably one the scariest thing in this game, by the way.