Hello guys, my name is Coldsong and thank you so much for reading this Talon guide I made. I have been maining him since season 8, and I would say that I have a decent amount of knowledge on him. I will update it with every patch, and in these next few chapters I will explain different things about Talon, such as combos and laning phase.

PROS

Low skill floor
Insane early game
Very fun to play
High carry potential
Decent matchups


CONS

High skill ceiling
Bad when behind
Poor late game


Talon is a very fun champion to main, as there is plenty of stuff to learn and master on the champion. He has a low skill floor but a high skill ceiling, and while he has insane carry potential and a great early game, his late game is lackluster and he is very annoying to play when behind.

Talon has pleny of combos, and here are a few essential ones to note

AA + Noxian Diplomacy + AA
Auto Q auto is Talon's basic trading combo. It is fantastic into champions that walk into your melee range, since the auto attack reset from Noxian Diplomacy can easily proc Electrocute if that is your rune of choice. This combo is especially deadly against aggressive melee champions who want to look for quick burst trades.

Noxian Diplomacy + Flash
This combo requires you to be a little outside of your maximum Q range. If you press Q on the enemy you want to jump to, then immediately flash, you will cancel your Q animation and immediately jump on them with little reaction time.

Rake + Noxian Diplomacy + Shadow Assault + Blade's End
This combo is known as the "flower combo" and it is the best oneshot combo for Talon. You W, then immediately Q on to them while your W is midflight, then you R while you are leaping at them, then immediately basic attack. This will instantly proc your passive and will destroy most squishies.

Noxian Diplomacy + Assassin's Path
This combo also requires you to be a little outside of your maximum Q range, but instead of using Flash, you instead jump over a wall and immediately jump at them. This combo cancels your parkour landing animation, and can surprise enemies on the other side of terrain.

Rake + Assassin's Path + Shadow Assault + AA + Noxian Diplomacy + Blade's End
This combo uses Assassin's Path to utilize the increased damage on the return of Rake. Throw out your W behind yourself, then E over a wall and use your R to get behind the target so that the second W cast hits. Finish with auto Q auto to apply your passive. This combo is good against unsuspecting sidelaners, as the second part of W does more damage and applies a slow.

Youmuu's Ghostblade + Shadow Assault + AA + Noxian Diplomacy + Blade's End
This is a good chase combo, and you can easily proc your passive with both waves of Shadow Assault and your Q. With the removal of Prowler's Claw dash, Youmuu's Ghostblade is the best way to assure your target cannot get away easily.

Rake + Flash + Noxian Diplomacy
You want to use this combo if the second wave of your W Rake will not hit, and you know the enemy is low enough to die to your passive. Flash to the side so that you can guarantee the second W will hit, then Q onto them and activate Blade's End.

LEVEL ONE
Talon is not bad level one, as you have safety with your W range and slow. Make sure to only use your W on the wave if you think you can also hit your laner, otherwise last hitting minions is more important in order to save up mana.

LEVEL TWO
Talon has probably one of the best, if not THE best, level two in all of League. Your W and Q plus passive can deal 50% of an enemy's HP if they are not careful, and adding Ignite to this can easily get you first blood. However, if you Q onto an enemy you are vulnerable to them hitting skillshots, so only do it if you know their abilities are down. Also beware of them having Exhaust or Barrier.

LEVEL THREE/FOUR/FIVE
Talon has an easier time helping out his team once he gets a point into Assassin's Path, so levels three, four, and five should be about looking around the map. Otherwise keep pressuring your laner or give them respect if they are an aggressive matchup like a LeBlanc.

LEVEL SIX+
After level six, you really want to look for roams around the map with your E and even picks with your R. This is around when laning phase is not that important to Talon, and also make sure to look for wards in order to surprise the enemy bot and top laners so that they do not see you early. Also, look for free turret plating in your lane or even other lanes.

There are many little surprises and fun mechanics that Talon has to offer! One of them is that your Q Noxian Diplomacy follows flashes, so if you time it right, you can kill a squishy AND waste their Flash. Also, your E is easily interrupted by hard crowd control, and will force you to your starting location AND put the terrain on a long cooldown, so use it when you know an enemy cannot hit you with an ability like Steadfast Presence or Vault.

Another tip is that your ultimate Shadow Assault is a great escape tool. Do not be afraid to use it in sticky situations! The invisibility plus movement speed is good to run away from enemies, and even juke them in different directions. Also, your E Assassin's Path causes your R to end, so make sure to use Shadow Assault AFTER you E over a wall unless you are desperate to escape.

Talon's Assassin's Path and also Youmuu's Ghostblade are both really good ways to redirect your W return and R return. If an enemy is just out of reach from the return part of one of these abilities, you can E over nearby terrain and even use Youmuu's Ghostblade for the movement speed to allow it to hit, which grants an easy Blade's End. This can be tricky at first, and you need to make sure you position yourself in a way that puts the desired enemy between your ability and your character model.

This one is more obvious, but just always remember to weave in basic attacks with Noxian Diplomacy since it's an auto reset.

Thank you once again for checking out my Talon guide! It would mean a lot to me if you let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions. I will make sure to update this guide with each patch and also change around certain matchups and runes depending on how the meta shifts for Talon. Something I would recommend is to watch some Talon streamers on Twitch, as there are plenty that give good tips and tricks to help improve your gameplay. All of them are good so it is mostly up to preference which one you want to watch the most.

One last thing, here is my personal Talon skin tier list: