Hey folks, I am a ranked Talon player with an ELO of about 1800. I am a assassin player and am a heavy, heavy, heavy ganker. In this guide you will find two different builds for him, I've offered both of them to a friend of mine and he found the second more useful, so if you dont find the first quite appropriate for your play style, TRY THE SECOND.

Here is my explanation for the runes I picked for this guide...
Marks- Here is decided upon a lot of armor penetration, in the second build I sacrifice 5 armor pen. for 5% attack speed. Either one works, however in the first build I find the attack speed negligible as it's less about dishing out the damage by attacking, it's more about keeping up with the enemy and either killing them with skills or having your team come in for the kill.

Seals- I really can't think of much else to put into this slot, the 13 armor is a savior early game, and if you are doing the second build pattern then you will end up getting Atma's Impaler which gives some more armor for late game.

Glyphs- These are all magic resist per level so that you will scale up to late game with a great 24 magic resist at 18, this is good because if the enemy team has any casters, you will melt, badly.

Quintessences- Nothing else except armor pen fits here and 10 armor pen is pretty hefty. In many other build I have seen people put in the flat damage quint and to me 7 attack damage doesn't get you very far and doesn't scale to late game so it's a waste. The armor pen will help you decimate anyone who makes the bad desison of buying some armor, early or late game.

Mastery set 1~
21/0/9-
This is your typical mastery make-up for many assassins, it will provide all you need with the built in mana regen especially, the reasoning behind this is, when Talon was nerfed (unnecessarily) he was hit HARD in mana regen and hp regen. These materies have flat mana, and mana regen which helps a lot; stacked with the Philosophers Stone you can get your harass on, hardcore.

Mastery set 2~
21/9/0
What? 21/9/0, what the hell is this, not for an assassin?! Actually it works pretty well, and im not the only one who thinks so. It should give you a whole bunch of survivability early game, it has health regen, and some flat health, esspecially with that Doran's blade early game should be a breeze. So harass when you can but mainly farm, farm all day long.

The offencive mastery tree is pretty typical however, I've received some questions concerning two things...

OFFENSE~Vs.
Talon is more of a burst champ then a DPS champ, I've seen him done well as a DPS champ but it is not how assassins are supposed to be build. The cool-downs will give you some nice harass early game and even help you get the pesky Teemo that "moves quick" away with one tick of health left. In Build 2 I included 2 points in alacrity because I want the transition into an assassin to be more smooth. Hope this helps you to better understand.

Alright, time to settle some big issues that it seems people are having with my build... The various complaints I have received have all included mainly one two items.

FROZEN MALLET
So guys, everyone seems to be having a problem with this item, honestly I am not sure why, it is what makes Talon extremely potent. Every time you hit with Frozen Mallet, it slows an enemy, well your passive makes you do 10% more damage to slowed enemies, do the math instead of maybe a 450 damage, you will do (450*1.10=495) 495 damage. Stack this with Noxian Diplomacy and you have a hefty amount of damage.
It seems the complaints have been "Why Frozen Mallet, who needs health, you're a burst assassin? Go full damage." I hear those who say that and it is a very logical statement, however allow me to offer some rebuttal..
You're not fed, it was you versus Swain mid and you've been getting dominated the whole time, just managing to get some farm and turret hug. Solo top is just basically doing its cute little AFK farm, and your jungle is just gonna waste his time coming for a gank. By buying Frozen Mallet you will gain some essential health and the deadly slow. Become aggressive because when most players see a Frozen Mallet on Talon they think it is no big deal just some health, but really it will offer a perm +10% auto attack damage. "But Dyecraze I thought you said Talon isn't a DPS champ?" He isn't but if you can just manage to Cutthroat to an enemy auto attack, Noxian Diplomacy, Rake, and follow him you will be pretty much guaranteed a kill, Talon is very hard to escape.
By getting Frozen Mallet some people may be concerned that Talon will no longer be an insta-gib. If you purchase it when fed, it should not effect your bursting capabilities, you already should have enough built in damage to destroy those squishes. If you are purchasing it when struggling a little, then it can help a lot. Reference the paragraph before this one for a prime example.

Build 1~

ITEM 1-4~ Now now now, we get down to the meat and potatoes of the build, this is what makes this build 'unique.' First, because you don't have the same survivability as the second build's early game, you are going to grab some boots and three health potions, the boots will help you evade any pesky skill shots and escape those ganks.

Item 5~ Next trip back you are going to grab a philosopher's stone, typically, unless I am facing some awful harass I won't take a trip back until I can buy it in entirety. Obviously the PS gives you mana regen and health regen, further countering his nerf, however it also gives some much needed gold.

Item 6~ Further into the game you will pick up a Wriggle's Lantern for its armor, damage, life steal, and the useful ward.




Item 7~ This is very important, you have three choices for boots, one will make you a very good roamer and ganker (Boots of Mobility), another will provide some great CDR, which is awesome if you are having some trouble killing champs (Ionian Boots of Lucidity) lastly if you are getting CC'd to hell and having some troubles you can grab some (Mercury Treads)
Item 8~ Grab a Bloodthirster for some major damage and don't forget to farm it, especially if you die. It has some much needed life steal so when pushing a tower, if you become injured, just auto attack some minions and it should all regen back, as well as put stacks on it.


Item 9-10~ Next a phage will give you some damage, a chance to slow, and a very much needed flat amount of health. This build into a frozen mallet, which I believe is a crucial item for Talon. Even champions like Master Yi will have a difficult time getting away from you.


Item 11-13~ The rest of the build is someone self explanatory with some cool-down reduction and more damage.

Build 2~

For this build, you are typically a newer talon player who is used to some damage per second and need the health, which is what doran's blade is for.


Next buy boots for that movement speed *yo* and a brutilizer for uber armor pen.
In this build a big difference is there is not to much roaming and ganking, which is what i do, instead of the boots of mobility you're going to get boots of lucidity for some more CDR because you aren't getting a Sherelia's.


Grab a ghostblade so you have some critical chance so you stomp all the champs you encounter (do not forget that it has an active, if you need to be somewhere, and fast, or need to get away, activate it and you are ensured a speedy get-away).





Pick up the next standard items which are Bloodthirster, Last Whisper, and one of the most important in the build, Atma's in this build, also the Trinity Force is your kiting item. This is more for an auto-attack champ but if you are used to someone like Nocturn or Xin-Zhao you can just ease yourself into Talon's champ style.

Here what I try to do... Cutthroat to them, auto attack once for the slow then, immediately after since it restarts your attack time use Noxian diplomacy, once they start running (so you don't miss) rake them for another slow, if they are somehow getting away cutthroat to them again and use your ultimate. If they still somehow are alive, run AHEAD of them as your ulti gives you a movement speed buff and stealth, also you want the blades to hit them going in and out of it's initiation and disengage, now Noxian diplomacy once more. If they aren't dead yet... well riot better nerf Irelia.

Guys, this is my first build on Mobafire and I'd like to thank them for allowing me to write this. I would also like to thank you for reading it. I would love you to leave so feedback and help me really get it right. If you want to play with me, I would love to, the account I am currently working on is Dyecraze. Thanks!