Talon Build Guide by lordderick

Introduction-Ranked Talon

Welcome everyone of MOBAfire! This is my second build i have ever made. After playing Talon for over 6 months, since the day he was released, and gettin fed numerous times, including a 20-4 game that was ranked, i felt that i could make a guide for talon.

Patch Notes/Notices

2/25/12
BUILD CREATED

5/5
Sorry for not being able to update for an extremely long time, schoolwork and that stuff interfered.
So anyway, Talon has received alot of buffs to base armor and HP/MANA, including MP5. This means he is more tanky early game :3 so he can live longer!!! :D

Item chapter finished

Pros/Cons added.

Team Work added.

Farming added.

I might not update for a while. but i updated the build alot :D

Talon-The Blade's Shadow

Talon, an insanely awesome champion, who excels at taking down squishy enemy champions and harassing opponents. Not an easy champion to master, but very fun to play with. Unlike other assassins like Xin Zhao, Talon relies completely on AD, not AS or critical strikes. But a warning before using Talon. He is very easy to counter with lots of health, which is why he is a rarely seen champion when he is not free. But it doesn't matter if they get HP, as long as you can destroy the enemy carry before he even notices what happened, your fine. Just hope that the enemy does not get oracles.

Lore

Talon's earliest memories are the darkness of Noxus' underground passages and the reassuring steel of a blade. He remembers no family, warmth, or kindness. Instead, the clink of stolen gold and the security of a wall at his back are all the kinship he has ever craved. Kept alive only by his quick wits and deft thievery, Talon scraped out a living in the seedy underbelly of Noxus. His mastery of the blade quickly marked him as a threat, and Noxian guilds sent assassins to him with a demand: join their ranks or be killed. He left the bodies of his pursuers dumped in Noxus' moat as his response.

The assassination attempts grew increasingly dangerous until one assailant met Talon blade-for-blade in a match of strength. To his surprise, Talon was disarmed and facing down his executioner's sword when the assassin revealed himself to be General Du Couteau. The General offered Talon the choice between death at his hand, or life as an agent of the Noxian High Command. Talon chose life, on the condition that his service was to Du Couteau alone, for the only type of orders he could respect were from one he could not defeat. Talon remained in the shadows, carrying out secret missions on Du Couteau's orders that took him from the frigid lands of Freljord to the inner sanctums of Bandle City. When the general vanished, Talon considered reclaiming his freedom, but he had gained immense respect for Du Couteau after years in his service. He became obsessed with tracking down the general's whereabouts. Talon's suspicions led him to the doors of the Institute of War, where he joined the League of Legends in order to find those responsible for Du Couteau's disappearance.

''The three deadliest blademasters in all of Valoran are bound to the house of Du Couteau: my father, myself, and Talon. Challenge us, if you dare.'' - Katarina Du Couteau

Pros/Cons

PROS!

Sion

Tryndamere

CONS...

Talon

Ability Stats

Mercy - Talon deals 10% more damage with his basic attacks to any target that is slowed, stunned, immobilized, or suppressed.

Noxian Diplomacy - Talon's next basic attack deals an additional physical damage. If the target is a champion, they will bleed, taking additional physical damage over a period of time and revealing their location for the duration.
Talon's next basic attack deals an additional 30/60/90/120/150 (+ ) physical damage. If the target is a champion, the target will bleed for 18/36/54/72/90 (+ ) physical damage over 6 seconds, revealing their location for the duration.
Cost 40/45/50/55/60 Mana
Range 300

Rake - Talon sends out a volley of daggers that then return back to him, dealing physical damage every time it passes through an enemy. Additionally the enemy is slowed for a short duration.
Talon sends out a volley of daggers that then return back to him, dealing 30/55/80/105/130 (+ ) physical damage every time it passes through an enemy. Additionally the enemy is slowed by 20/25/30/35/40% for 2 seconds.
Cost 60/65/70/75/80 Mana
Range 750

Cutthroat - Talon instantly appears behind his target, silencing them and amplifying his damage against that target.
Talon instantly appears behind his target, silencing them for 1 second and amplifying Talon's damage against the target by 3/6/9/12/15% for 3 seconds.
Cost 35/40/45/50/55 Mana
Range 600

Shadow Assault - Talon disperses a ring of blades and enters stealth while gaining additional Movement Speed. When Talon emerges from stealth, the blades converge on his location. Every time a blade passes through an enemy, they receive physical damage.
Talon disperses a ring of blades and gains stealth for up to 2.5 seconds, gaining 40% Movement Speed. When Talon emerges from stealth, the blades converge on his location. Every time a blade passes through an enemy, they receive 120/190/260 (+ ) physical damage.
Cost 80/90/100 Mana
Range 650

Runes

I take Greater Mark of Desolation and Greater Quintessence of Desolation, because with 25 armor penetration, in early game, around level 1-6, you can farm real well, harass real well, and do true damage to some really squishy champs out there such as Twisted Fate.

I take 9 Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist so if your solo mid, you can be more resilient against a deadly burst combo from people like Veigar and survive if a random finales funkeln from Lux comes from the fog of war.

I take 9 Greater Seal of Replenishment for the mana regen, since literally right after Talon was released, they nerfed his mana regen and upped the mana costs on all of his spells. Shucks.

Masteries

I take a 21-2-7 build since Talon is a burst champion, he needs to do as much damage as possible in an instant. This mastery build should help you counter some problems you will face as talon.

21 points in offense since Talon is a burst champion. Do as much damage as possible in a short space of time and you will excel at bursting to death.

2 points in defense since your a melee champion and will likely be autoattacked once in a while when farming. This should help you be more resilient.

7 points in utility to counter the huge mana problem you will experience early game since the nerf on Talon's mana regen and spell costs.

Summoner spells

I take Ghost and Exhaust since if you use your ultimate in a bad situation and need to get away fast, just Cutthroat to a enemy and ghost away. Exhaust gives your more armor pen and makes use of your passive for the duration. it can even be used as an escape spell!

"Hey lordderick, why no Flash?
2 reasons. You already have a blink, and flash has a large nerf to its CD and range. If your in a situation where you need to flash, you cannot rely on this spell as much anymore. But you can take it, but do not use offensively.d

Don't like Ghost and Exhaust? Here are other options i consider useful.

Teleport Soloing 2v1, or just want to get back in your lane fast? Take this, as it has a pretty short cooldown.

Flash Read above.

Ignite Level 5 Noxian Diplomacy? Make them bleed, then Ignite. Huehuehue.

Heal oh man, i love this spell. If your soloing 2v1 top, and you get dived, just pop heal and watch them rageeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Cleanse Not me personally, but its very useful against a enemy team with alot of ignites, as it removes it.

Anything else not listed, dont take.

Boots

A problem is choosing the right boots to fit your situation. So here are the only viable choices i see.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity CD ftw! This is the pair that i recommend.

Ninja Tabi enemy Caitlyn keep attacking you? Nullify her damage by 10%

Mercury's Treads Too much CC on the enemy team? Get these boots and escape without a scratch. (Or without suffering an entire mage combo, at least)

Items

YOU ARE AN ASSASSIAN!!!

This means CDR and armor pen, along with massive damage output is a MUST.

You need Ionian Boots of Lucidity for that CDR, and The Brutalizer for the armor pen early game. You can definitely be doing true damage before level 6 against non tanky DPS champs or tanks, such as Twisted Fate and Ashe.

The Bloodthirster DAT LIFESTEAL+DAMAGE. Now you only lose half stacks also :3

Maw of Malmortius If the enemy carry is AP, and you must take him out to beat a team fight, even if it means your death, you must. This item extends the amount of time you have to take him out, at it cancels out 500 of that AP damage.

Trinity Force SO PRICEY, but you can hit up to 1.5k with Noxian Diplomacy, along with a chance of slowing them, to activate your passive, then you get survivability along with attack speed and move speed. Also some more damage :D

Teamwork

Usually, it is your job to kill the enemy carry before he/she can do any damage, even at the cost of your life, unless your the carry :D

Being a high risk champion, you do need to be careful and make sure you hide before a team fight.

Best thing for you is to wait in a bush a little bit away from he fight, and jump in after the chaos like Veigar stun/combo or Leona has finished her ultimate. then you jump in, and try to deal as much damage to the enemy carry and support as fast as possible, and attempt to kill them also.

Farming

Spamming Rake is necessary...since Talon needs to have lane presence and harass to succeed.

Just try your best to last hit. Or use Rake if there are more then 1 minions for you to kill.

Early game, either last hit or use Rake, making sure it hits then enemy in the lane, then wait in a bush or just in the range of exp, then last hit.

Mid game, they should be a bit wary of you and you can last hit freely. But you can now autoattack.

Late game, screw last hitting, spam the **** out of Rake and even use your Shadow Assault to farm huge minions pushing waves,