Talon Build Guide by RCIX

learn armor Penetration

Last Whisper and Brutalizer is already in there, and I list the arpen runes as alternatives to use at your preference...

No votes? My guide can't be that obscure... =/

good build

When I get a bit of time, I'll redo a few sections. Cover more specifics on initiating, do a bit more on matchups and when to go top vs mid, etc. And of course the juking section!

Good and very in-depth Talon guide. A lot of valuable information with good explanations for everything. There's a couple of things in your item and mastery build that are a bit confusing though.

• You make some fair points about why you start with Regrowth Pendant into Philosopher's Stone and you listed some alternatives so that's fine. I haven't actually tried it before so I'm not going to bash it. The Mana Potion however seems a bit weird. Especially on a rather squishy champion like Talon, I don't think Regrowth Pendant as your only form of sustain early on is going to cut it. I'd definitely get Health Potion over Mana Potion and just be a bit more careful on mana usage.
• Soul Shroud? I really don't think Talon would ever need that. If you really want the CDR/regen, ask your support to get it, if you want the health you could get a Frozen Mallet instead.
• While cooldown reduction is definitely a good stat on Talon, I doubt it's worth dumping 21 points into Utility for it. Talon gets so much more out of offense. You do have a better setup as an alternative, but I think that one should be the main mastery tree.
• Small note in your mastery tree section: Deadliness no longer gives critical chance but now gives AD/level. Maybe it's worth picking up now?

Overall I do have to say I like the guide and I really think it has potential. With a few tweaks I think this can be one of the best Talon guides. Definitely deserves more credit than it's currently getting. Awaiting your response to decide wether I'm voting or not.

Well, the thing is, unless you're versus a really annoying spammy harass champ (say, Karthus or Gangplank), harass is limited outside of trades. A Regrowth Pendant works quite well in that situation (i myself have been surprised how much damage I can absorb with it). And if you ARE, then specific defense builds like a Cloth Armor and health potions are much smarter to buy.

That said, he is a very weak laner as far as zoning goes, so in like 50+% of my matchups I end up shoved to my tower spamming rake just to hold the waves back (as much as I'd like to preserve my mana). I'll add a more explicit note about swapping up the pots depending on how mana hungry vs the harass you take though.


I agree, it's an unusual choice. I picked it because:

• You end up with 45 or so MP5 in combo with Shurelya's and base mana regen. It may not seem like a ton, but it supports more skill usage in teamfights and standoff situations, which is highly valuable and keeps Talon in the field basically as long as he wants to be (especially after he gets lifesteal).
• It works with the Shurelya's and runes/masteries to put him at 40% CDR. The only other items which get you CDR without sending him over 40% are Elixir of Brilliance, Stinger, and Spirit Visage, none of which are a good choice on him.
• It gets you 500 health for ~2k cost. Frozen mallet is about 1k more for 200 or so health, AD, and a slow passive. IMO, the extra cost isn't worth what you get for it :P
• If you get it, you always have the Mp5/CDR and don't have to itemize based on sometimes having the aura and sometimes not (and your support can be freed to get other useful stuff)

That said, I haven't really been building it much on Talon so I'll pull it out of the cheat sheet (though I do think it works quite well for him).


My logic is he's an ad caster, so you don't wanna setup just for moar damage :). Cooldowns are very important on him, and combined with the runes he ends up at 15% base CDR. If he went just Offense (grabbing the cdr over ASPD), then I feel like I might end up skipping more useful boots choices to grab Ionian Boots of Lucidity so I'd have that CDR to hit 40% easier.

As far as a full offense mastery setup, I just feel like there are too many misses to make it a smart pick. Things like Alacrity , Lethality , and Vampirism don't benefit Talon enough really. That leaves him relying pretty heavily on 3 or 4 mid-tier offense masteries and still has to pick at least one non-ideal one.



You're right, I should fix that. In fact, I'll rework my whole masteries section since I recommend a somewhat... meh 21/9/0 setup right now.

Thanks so much for the feedback! :)

Well like I said, I like the guide and I think it deserves more credit. +1

Eh just no.
Starting with that item as Talon is just wrong. Other Talon's will outgrow you like bosses, and let's not talk about a Brand or Kassadin mid. Shurelya's another no go. 3 seconds of movement speed is a waste of time and item. The CD it gives you could be gotten by the good boots, Ionian's. Exhaust IS needed, since you will be facing many strong AD's you'd like to counter, and trust me, with only silence you won't be able. Tryndamere, Lee Sin, Yorick .. They'll kill you as if nothing happened. And yeah ? That's the only point of using Talon ? Going into teamfights and coming back out ? Your teammates won't agree with that, trust me.

IMO, too squishy build, excesively.

Any character you face is going to harass. You _need_ sustain to survive, and a Regrowth gets you sustain. A brand (or any skillshot AP mid) I'd recommend boots+pots for start.


Till you cutthroat to someone, Noxian Diplomacy, but watch them pop ghost and just escape your reach when a small speed boost could have caught you back up. Belive me, I wouldn't recommend it if it didn't work.


You can't just flat go for CDR boots; most of the time you need either tenacity or anti-AD boots.


Look at talon's kit. Now back at me. Now back at his kit. Now back at me again. Exhaust is a tool to disable an enemy while you lay into them with heavy sustained damage; Talon has next to none. He's an assassin, not a bruiser, and playing him like one throws away his potential.


These shouldn't be your targets. You want to hit A: the squishy AD carries or B: the AP carries. Bruisers can survive your burst, so why bother (tryn is an exception; he can be counted as a bruiser thanks to his ult)? BTW, you shouldn't be laning top generally. The champs there will just out sustain and poke you till you die.


Yeah, they kind of will. Just think of yourself as an AD LeBlanc, but capable of farming and being useful past early game. :P