Hello, This is my semi-comprehensive MID Talon Guide. This is my first guide and I'm very inexperienced with using the BBCoding, so please bear with me. P.S : I wrote this at 3 A.M.

Talon is a Mid and Solo-Top Champion that is often used to counter the opposing team's Champions. This is because Talon has an extremely potent amount of burst through all stages of the game. He is also harmed with an instant silence. If you are looking to hard-counter those nasty Mages such as LeBlanc, Kassadin, Annie, Cassiopeia, etc, then Talon is the solo-carry for you.

Here are the Pros+Cons of Talon:

Pros:
- Strong Burst
- Damage doesn't change significantly when transitioning from early game to late.
- Good farming and harassing tool
- Semi-stealth
- Instant Silence to counter Mages
- Diverse, Can solo Mid or Top, (Maybe even AD Carry Bot)

Cons:
- Melee character, that means if you are equal/losing lane at mid, you're going to get zoned.
- Even if he's an solo AD carry, his sustained damaged isn't reliable
- He has to jump into the enemy team and tends to get focused
- Stuns in team-fights destroy Talon

As you can see, the pros slightly outweigh the cons. This is why I think Talon is slightly on the stronger side of the Champion Roster but not OP. Just a bit strong and great at what he does (Mage-Counter).

Talon is an offensive burst AD Champion, as such I build 21/9 Masteries. 21 to Offense, and 9 to Defense or Utility. I get Summoner's Wrath and Insight to make my Summoner Spells stronger.

Offensive Tree:
Get everything involving AD or Attack Speed, ignore AP, Talon has no AP scaling. Brute Force , Weapon Expertise , Alacrity , Deadliness , Havoc , Lethality , Sunder , and Executioner . These all boost Talon's damage output and usefulness as an assassin type carry.

Defensive Tree (Optional):
If you want to be a little bit more tankier for the Early Game consider Resistance , Hardiness , 2 points into Durability , and 1 into Veteran Scars .

Utility Tree (Optional):
If you want more mobility and earlier revives try Good Hands , Improved Recall , and Swiftness .

Runes are a luxury but when you get into higher ELO and even in Ranked Games, they become more and more of a necessity. You don't need the best runes or even runes at all to do well, but boy, do they help.

Buying Runes:
Marks:
On any AD, Greater Mark of Desolation are probably the best, they increase more just flat ad especially in the late game. In Ranked Games, they're probably going to stack armor against you anyways. Why not have it?

Seals:
Since you have to jump into the enemy team at the cost of your safety, Greater Seal of Armor make you a tad bit beefier in the armor department. Might save you from death, and it's nice to take a little bit less damage. You might want to replace these with Magic Resistance Seals because you'll probably be going mid. Greater Seal of Attack Speed are also kind of alright, attack speed on an AD champ is decent, although it doesn't add to your burst which is your main damage.

Glyphs:
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist are #1 you can buy, they protect against those AP burst casters and are really cheap.

Quintessences:
Greater Quintessence of Desolation are an option but like Armor and Magic Resistance, the more you have, the less they do. Alternatively, you can buy Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage. These compliment your Greater Mark of Desolation and add some needed AD to the mix.

Talon Runes aren't expensive, most of them being 205 Influence Points each. If you're not investing your IP into anything special, give these a buy.

I took Summoner's Wrath and Summoner's Insight in my Mastery Page. Most Summoner Spells in these two mastery points are great and synergize well with Talon.

Great:
Flash
Teleport
Ignite
Cleanse

Flash is great on any character, a getaway and initiation skill. Once you unlock this bad boy, it'll be the Spell you use the most.

I love Teleport on Mid and Top. Teleport can be used as a cushion if you're losing lane, a means of transportation to things like Dragon or Baron Nashor , a gank to bot-lane, or lastly, backdooring. In ranked, if you can help it, ask your support at bot to place a ward in one of the two bushes. This way during a fight you can teleport in, save your teammates or cleanup some leftover kills.

Ignite is potent offensive summoner. The damage scales throughout the game, but it's still a lot less reliable during the late game. Use it to add 100-200 damage to your burst, prevent Champions like Volibear, Dr. Mundo, and Vladimir from regenerating, and finishing off Champions.

Cleanse is a 3 second immune to disables. This is useful for Ranked Games when you're going to be constantly focused, stunned, and killed. This will save your life during some situations, and help you get a kill in others.

Good:
Ghost
Exhaust

Ghost is another getaway skill and is an alternative to flash. Overall Ghost will take you further, but it won't be instantaneous. Another problem with Ghost on Talon is, you already have Shadow Assault which gives movement speed roughly equivalent to Ghost.

Exhaust can be used to decrease a Champion's damage and slow them for a temporary amount of time. It can be really useful in lot's of occasions, but I dislike taking this over Igniteor Teleport. Talon also bursts down Champions before the silence wears off, and he's armed with a slow. He doesn't need the slow or damage reduction frankly.

No, Just No:
Heal
Clarity
Clairvoyance
Promote
Surge
Smite
Revive

Heal is a spell that restore a scaling amount of health when used. You're job as an assassin is to go in undetected, kill somebody without retaining too much damage, then retreating. The heal amount isn't enough to persuade me to ditch my precious Teleport or Ignite.

Clarity is the same as Heal except it restores scaling mana instead of health. This is even worse than Heal because all of Talon's attacks beside Rake cost very little mana. You also shouldn't be spamming rake either because it pushes the lane unnecessarily.

Clairvoyance checks a designated area, and clears the fog of war in it for a couple seconds. This spell is used mostly to check the position/jungle route of their Jungler, and to scout out Baron Nashor and Dragon . Save it for support, you need Summoner's that increase damage or your mobility.

Promote powers up an allied siege minion and boosts it's stats. Frankly, I don't even know why they added this to Summoner's Rift. Don't get this on Talon... or any Champion.

Surge is a more mobile version of the past Rally. It strengthens the attack speed and ability power of you and your allies. The amount is very minuscule for a whole Summoner slot. Also Talon is an AD burst. Attack speed and Ability Power are worthless on him.

Smite deals scaling true damage to any non allied minion in the game. It is always used for Jungler's and because you're not jungling, you don't need or want it.

Revive, well, revives your character. This spell is only for people who are too impatient too wait 5-70 seconds. The ironic part is, people get this because they don't want to wait 60 or so seconds, but instead they get to wait for a whopping 9 minute CD for the spell.

Overall, Summoner Spells should be used to fit your play-style. Pick whatever you feel accustomed to but don't be scared to try new things. Just don't touch the last list.

Talon's burst relies on 1. Noxian Diplomacy, 2. Shadow Assault, and 3. Rake. First thing to do is max Noxian Diplomacy at 9. Get Rake at every other level for farming and a damage boost, and Cutthroat at level four. Finally, Shadow Assault at 6,11, and 16.

Primarily, you want to open up with Noxian Diplomacy + Cutthroat into the enemy. Then Rake and Shadow Assault + Ignite if you have them. If you're not confident, charge up Noxian Diplomacy before Cutthroating in. This will give them a bit of a heads-up but it ensures you get it. If you consider yourself a bit more skilled. Cutthroat, auto attack, and quickly Noxian Diplomacy to reset the attack timer, then follow up with the rest.

As Talon you wan't to build items that compliment your kit, AD and Survivability.

My Favorite Build is:
Trinity Force because it gives a great 2 or 3 second CD passive ability that stacks with Noxian Diplomacy. It gives stats in all areas Talon needs.

Mercury Treads or Beserker's Grieves. You want Mercury Treads because AP Mid's are all armed with magic and some form of CC. It also helps decrease the effectiveness of CC during team-fights and let's you perform your job easier. Beserker's Grieves increase Attack Speed, this can be effective because the more AD you have, and the faster you attack, the more damage you do.

Infinity Edge because it gives Critical Strike 250% + insane damage and critical chance. If all your spells are on cool downs, this item make you a beast even without spells. Adds significant more damage.

Warmog's Armor is a pure HP, tank item. It increases your overall survivability again. This way you're not a glass cannon. If you want you can get a Frozen Mallet instead. It still gives a ton of HP, adds a slow to all your auto attacks, and synergizes with your passive.

Atma's Impaler All hail the Tanky AD Meta-game!!! This converts the mass HP gain from Warmog's Armor/ Frozen Mallet into DAMAGE!. It also adds critical chance to go along with your Infinity Edge.

The Last Item should be a defensive item. Thornmail] if their team is AD heavy, Force of Nature if they're magic heavy. Guardian Angel is also a possibility.

Note that if you cannot snowball this well or farming this much is too difficult, replace the Infinity Edge with something else. Maw of Malmortius is a good, new item to counter mages too.

Because of the fact that Talon is a hard counter at the Solo-mid lane, Normal Games become extremely boring as they usually end up in a stomp. People in Normal Games mostly don't know how to deal with a counter as strong as Talon. Alternatively, people in Normal Games also don't realize Mid Talon is viable. I've been accused of trolling many times in Ranked Games because I chose Talon Mid.

In Ranked Games, during the Champion Selection Phase, you should ask one of the lower picks to trade you Talon. Talon is a counter-pick and therefore he should be picked after their mid. It also helps to notify your team that an AP Top such as Rumble, Vladimir, or Kennen should be chosen.

In game, you'll notice that people are a lot sharper than those from Normal. You're going to get stunned and focused a ton more. People are also going to swap lanes, gank, and counter-build you. Be prepared to swap lanes, place wards whether you be Mid or Top, and get armor pen. If you're constantly getting ganked and don't know whether to place a ward on the right side or left side, place it on the side they've come through the most, and stay on the other side of the lane. Lastly, remember in Ranked, it's a competitive Game Type. You're performance affects 4 other people's ELO on your team. This doesn't mean you should feel horrible if you did bad, but instead maybe to play a little more cautious, and never rage/leave.

This is the end of my first guide. I hope you've learned something new, or atleast approve of it. Don't be scared to leave constructive criticism and rate positive or negative. I don't play this game as much as I used to and I'm busy with Dota 2 as well but I'll try to update when I can. Bye~!