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Talon Build Guide by TwillyFSniper

Assassin Living Life by the Blade (5.17 Mid Talon)

Assassin Living Life by the Blade (5.17 Mid Talon)

Updated on September 11, 2015
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League of Legends Build Guide Author TwillyFSniper Build Guide By TwillyFSniper 10,980 Views 0 Comments
10,980 Views 0 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author TwillyFSniper Talon Build Guide By TwillyFSniper Updated on September 11, 2015
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Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Ignite

Ignite

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Player Introduction

I am TwillyFSniper. I am Bronze V. Only Bronze V because I made seriously bad mistakes in placement. I truly consider myself approximately a Gold IV level player. I have approximately 450 games of LoL experience. Talon is my number 1 secondary (might get beat by Jayce soon enough) and my number 1 mid. I main ADC, but I also mid.

Here is a link to my record on LoLstarz:http://www.lolstarz.com/summoner?name=TwillyFSniper&lo=na&l=en
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Champion Introduction

Talon is a high damage and CC assassin/counter-carry that scales well into a fantastic mid-late game and farming ability once he gets his Tiamat.

Talon should be picked when their mid is a AP hypercarry, such as Veigar. Also pick him against mids that have pathetic late games, such as Twisted Fate.

Talon is based on picking off targets and bursting them to death extremely quickly and cleanly. If one burst isn't enough, Talon's CC and Mercy will take care of it, particularly when you have bonkers CDR.
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Pros and Cons

Pros to Talon:
*Talon has good laning, and roaming.
*Talon AVALANCHES.
*Talon is good at picking off single targets.

Cons to Talon:
*Talon has few escape mechanisms.
*Talon is not great early on.
*Talon has low DPS without his burst.

Talon's laning is fantastic for reliance on burst because of his Rake, but also strengthens with the buy of Tiamat. Talon's Snowball is an AVALANCHE. He progresses fast once he buys all of his AD. Talon's whole kit is about assassination. Killing one target SUPER fast. His burst is R,W,Q,E.

Talon can't really escape from fights without using his ultimate or Youmuu's active. Talon scales with AD fully, so he cannot perform without super high AD. Talon cannot really assassinate without Cutthroat and Noxian Diplomacy, they provide his close-up damage.
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Summoner Spells

Good
Flash- Potentially a way out of a bad situation. Just flash out. The distance should be enough to rake the other way, then Youmuu's or ult out of the fight completely.
Ignite- You get plenty of time to use it. A good 4 seconds if you pull rake at a good time. Just pull it right after you use Noxian Diplomacy.

Not Ideal
Ghost- Talon can't escape fights easily without some assistance by flash or Youmuu's, but it's not so bad you need Ghost most times. Even then, his ultimate is more effective for it's purpose.
Teleport- It is amazing for Talon, no doubt. Teleport assassinate. But, mid is the SHORTEST lane. Good for top Talon, not as much for mid Talon. Top Talon isn't even much of a thing, so...
Heal- Talon doesn't have a particularly high Heal to Health point ratio. In other words, he's too tanky for it to be particularly viable.
Exhaust- Talon support is a possibility. Not necessarily a likelihood, because it's ineffective. Talon performs much better when HE is carrying.

Never Use
Barrier- Not even useful for Talon. He can actually dodge damage, and he's not particularly squishy.
Cleanse- I'm sorry, but this is so situational that it's no use. Plus, Mercurial Scimitar's Quicksilver effect suits Talon better.
Smite- Junglers are reliant on early damage. Which Talon DOES NOT HAVE.
Garrison, Revive, Clairvoyance, AND Clarity- All four of these are viable on NO CHAMPIONS IN THE ENTIRE GAME. For different reasons.
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Ability Discussion

The focus:
W>R>Q>E.

Noxian Diplomacy- Noxian Diplomacy is important to have later in the game, as it is an essential part of your mid-late burst. It adds AD to the applied basic attack, and a bleed that grants sight for 6 seconds. I gain this at level 4 and max it at level 13.

Rake- Rake is essential to farming, and Talon's only real range. Rake launches a cone of projectiles to close range, and sends them back, dealing damage twice and also applying a slow that activates Mercy's effect. I gain and max this first. Max at 9.

Cutthroat- Cutthroat is essential to starting and executing a gank. Cutthroat is a blink that slows 99% for 1/4 of a second, and amplifies damage by a certain percentage. I gain this at level 2 and max it last.

Shadow Assault- Shadow Assault is useful for going into a gank, or escape. Shadow Assault is an invis that lasts up to 2.5 seconds. Upon exiting stealth, Talon launches projectiles in a 500 unit radius. This is the ultimate, I level this ability at levels 6,11, and 16.
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Item Discussion

Talon has a definitely HUGE reliance on his AD and a smaller need of Armor Penetration, since Talon's damage is fully based on an immense AD-scaling burst.

Start- Since many matchups require you to outsustain your lane opponent, it's quite necessary to stock up on healing supplies. A Crystalline Flask, 2 Health Potions, and 1 Mana Potion. Get plenty of Mana and Health Potions early.

Early- Boots of Mobility and Pickaxe will be good to have for early ganks. You'll have AD (from Pickaxe) as well as speedy movement into and out of the ganked lane (Boots of Mobility) to provide a fast, efficient early gank, as well as a good end to laning phase.

Mid-Game/Core- Build that Pickaxe into a Tiamat to gain farm more based on basic attacks, then a Ravenous Hydra for a greater effect, more AD, and juicy LS. Black Cleaver is great for busting through armor and makes you slightly tankier as well as giving moderate AD. Youmuu's Ghostblade gives you an extra active that allows you to gain attack and movement speed for several seconds. As well, it gives some armor penetration and AD.

Situationals

Build one or two at least 95% of the time:

Last Whisper- Gives a REALLY nasty boost to the shred, and moderate AD. It's also economical for 2300 gold.
Essence Reaver- Gives a Mana Leech, some Lifesteal, and a lot of AD.
Infinity Edge- Supercrits. Also, lots of AD. More crits on top of those two.

Build one or two occasionally:

Frozen Mallet- Gives a lot of HP, a little AD, and a slow that works with Mercy.
Randuin's Omen- Gives a moderate-large amount of HP and Armor, and has a slow that works with Mercy.
Trinity Force- Gives a small boost to a lot of stats, and Phage boost.
Bloodthirster- Lots of Lifesteal and AD, also gives a shield. Good for flat stats.

Build one or two on rare occasion:

Guardian Angel- Gives moderate Armor and Magic Resist, and a revival passive.
Maw of Malmortius- Gives high Magic Resist and AD, and a shield that blocks Magic Damage.
Mercurial Scimitar- High AD and Magic Resist. Also, a CC-reducing active.
Zephyr- More movement, quite useful Tenacity Moderate-High AS, and CD reduction boost, and a small amount of AD.
Sword of the Occult- What happens when you scream "AVALANCHE!!!"
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Matchups

Veigar- 1/10. Veigar cannot perform against AD champions, he cannot farm effectively and his ult has a basing off of enemy AP. Talon will pretty much just snowball the whole game.

Kassadin- 1/10. Kassadin is an easy matchup for Talon. Kassadin will be out-traded by level 4, and the snowball will commence. Kassadin is a sitting duck, trying to use Null Sphere to poke and farm. Talon's Rake is way superior for the job.

Viktor- 2/10. This matchup is also easy because of champion farm problems. Viktor is I n no way productive at farming. His Death Ray ends up not being as mana-effective as Talon's Rake and he's high AP so Talon out-scales him. I see a pattern emerging with most of his counters...

Lux- 2/10. Lux is as much of a sitting duck as Veigar when it comes to going against Talon, for the very same reasons, but Lux has more potential to assist by CCing Talon, and an ultimate that might land on him. Not much difference.

Ezreal- 3/10. Ezreal versus Talon is a skill matchup. A good Ezreal can whoop, but 99% can't. Ez has the advantage Pre-9. Just play a little safe, until you get a gank, and then CC him to death there.

Vel'Koz- 3/10. Vel'Koz is not as horrible against Talon as one may think. But still a fairly easy match for Talon. He's like a more effective Lux against Talon that would just need a little more map awareness.

Zed- 4/10. Just as Ezreal does, Zed has the advantage versus Talon pre-9. But Talon will likely prevail under safe play early game. Talon avalanches, plus Talon has a slightly quicker-killing burst by mid-game. By the time you build Ravenous Hydra, the game will be in your favor.

Brand- 4/10. Brand is a champion that will be way harder to kill than you'd think early on. His passive gives him the ability to hurt you really bad when using his abilities. Wait until 9. Then strike full force. CS a good bit. You will still come out on top.

Syndra and Xerath- 5/10. VERY MUCH SKILL MATCHUPS. If a Xerath knows how to use his ult like a true master of the art of Xerath, he will likely win. Otherwise, you will have the advantage. Same applies to Syndra. They are both higher skillcap champions.

Jayce and Riven- 6/10. Jayce and Riven are both AD champs that carry well mid-late. Against either of these, Talon should try to see if lane ganks are available. Play safe before 3/4. Do not play aggressively, is the gist. That's, however, mainly because Talon can't deal much damage before getting the essential Ravenous Hydra.

Fizz- 7/10. Fizz will be weaker in lane than Talon. Try to remain in your lane as much as possible to obtain a farm advantage over the Fizz. Late game however, Fizz is generally stronger. Fizz can burst you for fairly bonkers damage. Line up a kill whenever you can make one, and stay away if you can't.

Anivia- 7/10. Anivia's passive for Talon is extremely annoying. She can turn into an egg, and then respawn on that spot with the amount of health the egg has remaining. This passive makes her nearly impossible to burst and kill by yourself. And her hard CC may block farm occasionally.

Akali- 8/10. Akali is an overpowered champion in general because of the sustained burst potential, but also fairly annoying to most Talons because of her escape mechanism. Try to survive to late game and then perform a takeout.

Diana- 8/10. Diana is really annoying because of her high damage poke. Diana can poke you out and make playing safe a near impossibility. Try to endure lane, because she will fall if you do. But doing that is MUCH easier said then done.

Kayle- 9/10. Kayle is not who she seems. Sure she's AP, with an item-based carry, but she can wipe out most Talons early in the game using her range. Try to gank other lanes and let her push. Then later game it becomes less of an issue.

Lee Sin- 9/10. Lee Sin is pretty much a harder version of the Talon versus Jayce/Riven matchup. You may never get anywhere by being in lane the whole time. All there is left here is baits and maybe a gank or two because you need to keep up with Lee Sin.

Swain- 10/10. YOU HAVE BEEN SWAIN! You're done. His ultimate will not allow you to try to burst him without punishment in the most severe form of "HOW THE F*** DID HE EVEN DO THAT C***?!?!?!."

Mordekaiser- 10/10. I should not have to explain this one. You've been wrecked. Likely a surrender at 20. I AM NOT EVEN JOKING.
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Gameplay style

Talon is a late game carry assassin, whose specialty is pushing out minion lines super fast with a Rake and a basic attack with his Tiamat's passive cleaving. But he doesn't start out particularly powerful. But also can quickly dispatch enemy champions with one powerful burst.

Talon starts out as a champion whose farming capabilities are... Well, not so good, and can't easily keep up with most any midlane champions. Then he gets Tiamat. He can outfarm most midlaners at this point in the game, getting his essential edge. Then he builds up his core. He's extremely deadly, nearing the mark of legendary at this point if snowballed quick enough. Talon stumbles across a couple of other items that help his situation even more. By this point, you should have about 400 AD, and possibly max CD reduction.

This story ends happily ever after, as Talon proves that everyone on the enemy team is a feeder tier summoner. Or at least if he takes advantage of his snowballing potential...
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How do Tiamat and Talon Combo?

Good Question.

Talon can take advantage of Tiamat's passive to hit multiple minions, and then clear the ENTIRE WAVE with one use of Rake. Also, Crescent is a decent addition to a burst that could be the difference between a kill and a near kill.

When upgraded to Ravenous Hydra, Talon becomes slightly tankier, due to doubled health regeneration and 12% Lifesteal. But Talon will still need to be tankier, most definitely. Getting Black Cleaver will alleviate this problem, likely.
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Three Important Tips

1. Do NOT be overaggresive early game. Doing this may prevent you from carrying. Of course, unless it's against a champion with a weak spot for counter-carries, like Veigar, Ezreal, or Viktor. Then that may actually help out.

2. Always build up Ravenous Hydra FIRST, so your farm counter-carry is enabled as early as possible. It is absolutely essential. All the other items in core are just to help your initial carrying ability become insane later.

3. When their jungler ganks, LEAVE. ASAP. It is normally not safe for Talon. Unless you have the angle, then go for that double kill. You will have it if all of your abilities are off-cooldown, they are at low health, and you are at least level 6. If this isn't the case, just leave, and as previously stated, QUICKLY.
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