Welcome to another addition to to my collection of guides, this time featuring; Talon, The Blade's Shadow

Talon is no way shape or form related to Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad of Assassin's Creed I.
I named this guide Nightmare of Blades because this build makes it so you can spam your blade abilities, essentially, blades are everywhere.

In this guide I will show you my playstyle for Talon as well as tips, tricks, and other info necessary for playing this amazing assassin.

Read on fellow summoner, and may this guide help you along the way of mastering Talon.

Here's some music to listen to while you read ^_^ Play Video
Disturbed- Old Friend
The lyrics of the song made me think of Talon in combat

spaaaaaaaaaaaaaace

Pros + Massive damage output + Low cooldowns + Guaranteed a kill to squishies at 3/4 health + High mobility + Excellent Chaser + Incredible farmer

Mercy Cutthroat

space

Cons - Squishy - Needs to farm alone - Very Item dependent - No self sustain - Focused down in team fights - Heavily reliant on Shadow Assault

Under Construction

I take standard Armor pen Marks as well as Quints giving Talon enough to do some hefty damage at his early levels.

Cooldown reduction on Talon is ungodly powerful. His ultimate is a lot like Lux's in the sense of spamming it. So naturally I chose to get CDR Glyphs

Talon is a little on the squishy side in order to make up for his powerhouse kit. Seeing that his starting armor was ridiculously low, I went with Armor Seals.

These are the two choices I strongly suggest. Since they can be use both offensively as well as a defense mechanism, makes them in invaluable choice on Talon.
Sure Talon's ultimate, Shadow Assault makes him a hard champion to chase, but why not have back up? Ghost and Flash are what work best for me, but you are free to take other choices such as:

Ignite:: Great last hit dealer on enemy champs, almost insuring a kill.

Teleport:: If an ally as a ward, you can go mia really fast, and gank like a Kassadin on steroids.

Cleanse:: Cleanse is very unpopular, but is an incredible spell. It's like a Quicksilver Sash, with some Tenacity for a few seconds.

Mercy

Mercy:

Talon deals 10% additional damage with his auto attacks to any target that is slowed, stunned, immobilized or suppressed.

Noxian Diplomacy:

Talon's next autoattack deals additional physical damage. If the target is a champion, they will bleed, taking additional physical damage each second for 6 seconds and revealing their location for the duration.

Cost: 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 mana

Cooldown: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 seconds

Additional Physical Damage: 30 / 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 (+0.3 per bonus attack damage)

Physical Damage Per Second: 3 / 6 / 9 / 12 / 15 (+0.2 per bonus attack damage)

Rake:

Talon sends out a volley of daggers that then quickly return back to him, dealing physical damage every time it passes through an enemy. This means that each enemy can be damaged up to two times. Additionally the enemy is slowed for 2 seconds.

Cooldown: 10 seconds

Range: 750

Cost: 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 mana

Physical Damage: 30 / 55 / 80 / 105 / 130 (+0.6 per bonus attack damage)

Slow: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 %


Cutthroat

Cutthroat:

Talon instantly appears behind his target, silencing them for 1 second and amplifying his damage against that target for 3 seconds.

Range: 700

Cost: 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 mana

Cooldown: 18 / 16 / 14 / 12 / 10 seconds

Damage Amplification: 3 / 6 / 9 / 12 / 15 %

Shadow Assault:

Talon disperses a ring of blades and gains stealth for up to 2.5 seconds while gaining 40% movement speed. When Talon emerges from stealth, the blades converge on his location. Each time a blade passes through an enemy, they receive physical damage. Each enemy can only be damaged once at the start of the ability and once at the end.

Range: 1000

Cost: 80 / 90 / 100 mana

Cooldown: 60 / 50 / 40 seconds

Physical Damage: 150 / 225 / 300 (+0.9 per bonus attack damage)

I choose to max Rake first because of how much damage it does, and the fact that it slows enemies as well, works really well with his passiveMercy

I max Noxian Diplomacy second because of how it deals extra damage to buildings as well as being an incredibly damaging DoT ability. Plus the fact that it allows you to see chase your enemies is unbelievably powerful. With an ability to see your opponent for a little longer, it could allow an ally Nocturne to catch them with his ultimate, Paranoia.

Since the length of the Silence of Cutthroat doesn't increase per level, and nor does it deal any damage, but simply increases the amount of damage you deal, I choose to level it up last.

Talon's ultimate Shadow Assault is a make it or break it if you use it as an escape. Be sure to have something like Flash ready when you use it for this reason. Since the blades pursue to your direction shortly after activating the ultimate, enemies can see the blades and chase you as well. Simply juke to the brush after activating your ulti, then continue to run. After the blades remake contact with you, Flash over a wall to ensure your escape.
When using this offensively, I suggest using it like this: Activate Shadow Assault move towards your target, and initiate in with an auto attack, quickly followed by Noxian Diplomacy, then use Rake to prevent them from running too far, and if they do manage to get a bit ahead of you, simply jump to them with Cutthroat and reuse Rake.

Core:

My core for Talon is the following:



With these few items, Talon is already a nearly unstoppable force. They grant him a great amount of CDR, AS, MS, and enough damage for his AA, and spell spamming.

Against Heavy AP teams:

I've had to play a game where an enemy group had a fairly balanced amount of fed champions, making it hard for me to decide what items to get to counter them. Simply think, "what kind of damage do they do more of?" and with that in mind, consider replacing a few items in your build in order to overcome them. Hexdrinker is an incredibly underused item when an entire team has almost all AP burst type champions. A 300 hp shield has saved my butt so many times, especially since people are using Karthus these days, this item becomes a must have on AD champs like Talon. When facing a Mordekaiser, GRAB Quicksilver Sash FOR F'S SAKE, I BEG YOU. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT, I PROMISE. Guardian Angel is... well... Guardian Angel. Nuff said.

Against Heavy AD teams:

What's an AD champion like Master Yi to do when you dodge almost half of his attacks with Ninja Tabi, and you're still bursting him down? Or slowing the attack speed of a Xin Zhao with Randuin's Omen? Or weakening them even more with the extra damage they receive from Thornmail? All this is possible when facing fed enemies like these when you make room for key counter items like this. Make use of what you have in order to counter even fed opponents, so that you can become even more fed.

Against Heavy Tank teams:

Ripping through a Tank is much easier than you think. Simply arrange an item or two from this list, and it will be like fighting a squishy. If an enemy tank can't do their job AS a tank, because you keep shredding him down to near nothing anytime he gets close, then you have done well to keep them from initiating.
Madred's Bloodrazor is a great tool to use when your opponents are stacking a lot of health. If they decide to skip health, go for a quick Last Whisper to crush through their "armor" like a hot blade through butter... Hot blade pun intended. Black Cleaver is another great item for this, since the armor reduction stacks can be far greater than actual Armor Pen. Get Zeke's Harbinger only if you are having troubles with money, since it's cheaper and has an incredible armor reduction passive, makes it easier on you.

Talon is very viable in ranked. In fact, he's a great counter to the AP mid due to his high mobility, and Cutthroat to avoid annoying skill shots that a Brand for example dishes out.

You have to keep in mind he is an assassin, and you need to be able to think like one if you intend to play one.
Assassins need to have a get in/get out path in mind when going for a kill. In team fights, you stay on the outside of them, dealing damage, and nabbing kills.
There's no such thing as a "Kill steal", this is a team game, so stop QQ'ing if it happens.

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Laning:

Do not spam your Rake in hopes to kill the creep waves. You will lose mana, and be forced to go back often. Last hit, and since you have boots, don't be afraid to get a little close to achieve the minion, but not too close so you get harassed to near death.

Once you get to level 2, you can do some harassing if your enemy is poking at you a lot. HOWEVER, don't make it your priority to do so. Your primary objective is to outfarm them, so you can out itemize them. With that in mind, STAY IN LANE AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. If you are low hp, play safer, and don't allow yourself to become harassed. Continue to last hit until you have enough for 2 Long Swords and Ionian Boots of Lucidity. *This should be your first time back* If you stayed longer than the minimum requirements here, this is good. You can finish your The Brutalizer or grab some consumables like Sight Wards, Health Potions, and even an Elixir of Fortitude.

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Post Laning:

After some time in lane, as the teams' assassin, you must gank.
Sometimes, you may come across someone alone. *Be wary, they may not be alone, think of Dude Potential*
In order to snag a lonely enemy in a lane, let them be aware of your presence by farming... This way, they think it's going to be a 1v1. Allow some poking, but POKE BACK with Rake.
Once they get to about 2/3 health, if you have your ultimate, you should be able to burst them down instantly.

When they go for a poke, jump onto them with Cutthroat so they do no skill damage(since they're silenced) and immediately smack them with Noxian Diplomacy, and hit Rake immediately after that. Here's the tricky part; after landing all those skills, then you must use your Shadow Assault where it will damage them when the blades expel from you, and then they receive damage from pulling them back in, essentially resulting in a kill.
Continue to pick off enemies by doing this, but be safe. If you see 2-3 enemies, run away, because chances are they brought reinforcements somewhere.

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Skilling:

You may be wondering, "why max Cutthroat before Noxian Diplomacy?". The answer lies in the text of Cutthroat. That % damage amplification is much more powerful than having a little extra damage on your Noxian Diplomacy. Especially since that amplifier applies to both Rake AND Shadow Assault. Also, it's cooldown is reduced per level, and having this maxed soon, allows a lot more chasability.

That's all for my guide on Talon, The Blade's Shadow

For the time being anyway...

Expect updates as well as new info. Comments are very helpful, so please only leave useful ones.
Troll comments as well as votes are frowned upon, so please downvote reasonably. If there's something you find wrong with this guide, leave a comment, and I will contact you through there to explain any questions you may have. I'm all about helping players understand things, so help me, To help you ^_^

Thanks
Sincerely, Blakhart

~Oct. 21, 2011~
Added a secondary build for ranked games along with information on that build.