Talon is a champion who excels at the early to mid stages of the game thanks to his passive, Blade's End and Q, Noxian Diplomacy damage. His ultimate Shadow Assault is a multi-use ability that does deadly damage while giving Talon invisibility. In conjunction with this early-mid game power, his E, Assassin's Path allows for lightning fast roams/rotations around the map. All of these factors create a highly mobile, invisible killing machine; also known as Talon.

Incredibly high scaling and base damage Lots of mobility with Assassin's Path Invisibility on Shadow Assault has many uses

Easily countered by CC and has little CC Very squishy if not built correctly No escape unless he has ultimate or a nearby wall

Sorcery easily outmatches Fury . Talon (unless you're doing a troll Talon build) only ever auto attacks when CS-ing, or animation canceling into your Q and proc-ing your passive. Even then, Sorcery is invaluable for being able to level 2 or 3 all in your enemy laner. Attack Speed won't help you with that.

This was slightly debatable. With Fresh Blood 's bonus damage on an enemy champion, I was tempted. But then I realized that the damage was nowhere near to what a 3% increase in ally's damage could do. Moreover, since Assassin's Path allows Talon so much freedom around the map, Expose Weakness was the winner.

You know, I actually used to argue FOR Natural Talent while writing this guide. But as I was writing my argument, I realized how little AP/AD the mastery actually gives, while Vampirism 's benefits are immediately noticeable. It can still be argued that Natural Talent is worth the pickup, but with how many ranged champions are in midlane right now, Vampirism is better in my opinion.

Assassin's are bounty hunters. Easiest explanation ever... In all honesty, this was a hard choice. The 5% damage is really appealing, but the 2.5% increase was just not worth it. While Battle Trance is a good mastery, it is not that good on Talon. Being in combat for more than five seconds should rarely ever happen. What does happen often though, is you getting kills. And that's exactly what Bounty Hunter wants us to do. Five unique kills equals 7.5% damage increase. Four unique kills equals 6% damage increase with no drawback.

Talon wants to roam? He can roam pretty damn well with this mastery. 3% bonus movement speed? Count me in. This mastery allows for Talon, who already has CRAZY rotation and roam times to roam even faster! Who wants a measly +5 damage to minions compared 3% bonus movement speed?

Assassin is good. But not as good as Secret Stash . How? Here's how: While you are going to be alone for some time in the lane, 2% damage is not worth an extra 15 health and potions that last 10% longer. Runic Affinity is out of the question unless you're playing Talon jungle.

Gimme that 5% damage increase, baby! This thing is so useful for destroying squishies! Who needs that blue sh** when you've got 5% more damage! Returning to seriousness, this mastery is something I always take over Meditation . Everyone should be able to manage their mana, and meditation is for people who can't.

Okay, this is a highly debatable mastery. Greenfather's Gift is good on Talon because of his mobility, he steps in bushes often, allowing you to proc this master easily and often. Even then, it still affects minions so it lets you push a little bit faster. Bandit is out of the question. You're CS-ing alone, no reason to have this +1 gold if you miss CS. Dangerous Game is the real contender. This mastery has saved lives with its health and mana regen. In fact, it's actually a toss-up between the two. If you feel like you're going to be destroying kids so fast, you don't even need the safety of Dangerous Game , take Greenfather's Gift. If you feel like you're just gonna play nice and safe while helping the team, go ahead and take Greenfather's Gift .

This one is close too, but I chose precision because of the lethality. Sure, CDR is nice, but lethality is lethal. It could be argued that CDR is better, but eventually it comes down to preference. A highly skilled Talon won't need the +5% CDR and will take the lethality instead.

Ah yes, all kneel for our lord and savior Thunderlord's Decree . This mastery is the bane of many people's existence. But in Talon's case, it's the reason he lives. It's the reason he can level 2 all in so effectively. While this may seem like the obvious mastery, I'm going to be a Devil's Advocate and tell you that Stormraider's Surge is quite good as well. The bonus movement speed when you chunk (or kill) somebody is useful when going for multikills.

This is probably the only one that requires an explanation. While Attack Damage marks are good, they are not as good as lethality marks. Lethality marks offer a lot of penetration rather than just a little bit of raw AD. To put this in perspective, at low levels, your lethality marks are worth MORE than Youmuu's Ghostblade's lethality. Also, Duskblade of Draktharr's effect where you deal 200% of your lethality on your next auto attack if you're out of vision for one second is affected by these runes as well. You already have a guaranteed amount of lethality at low levels. But this comes down to preference and accessibility, if you don't have Greater Mark of Lethality don't worry, just stick to your AD marks, it will be okay.

B O O T S

Boots are invaluable, even more so on Talon. With his E, Assassin's Path having a little bit of scaling with boots in terms of speed. If you didn't read the Abilities Section,(shame on you) Assassin's Path's vault speed increases with your movement speed, so boots are key for Talon's roams.

Y O U M U U S

This item is mandatory for Talon. It gives him movement speed and the ability to ignore collision with the active, it gives him even more movement speed out of combat, it gives him lethality, it gives him AD, it gives him CDR! It's so good! Youmuu's Ghostblade is a must buy for Talon.

D U S K B L A D E

While this item's mini Zed ult was removed, it's been reworked into something that's arguable more broken. Draktharr has a built in oracle's lens. If you step into an enemy ward's vision, it will block ward's vision and allow you to see it. It saves you your trinket slot! Not only this, if you are out of the enemy's vision for 1 second, your next attack will deal 50 + 200% of lethality to the enemy as true damage. This is where all of that lethality in your runes comes in!

B C L E A V E R

Black Cleaver is a fantastic item. It gives some AD, some Health, and some CDR! Not to mention its two absolutely fantastic passives. The first of which, is up to 30% armor reduction. Pairing this along with your insane amount of lethality basically means you destroy most tanks that aren't building full armor. The second passive is movement speed whenever you deal physical damage to an enemy... As if Talon needed more movement speed.

D D A N C E

Death's Dance is a really good item for Talon. If you're running the Intelligence mastery, then it'll perfectly cap you on CDR. If you're not running that mastery, it's okay you're only missing out on that 5%. But that's not the important part here, what's important, is this item's first passive: Spell-Vamp on an assassin. This item is really amazing on Talon because of Noxian Diplomacy and Shadow Assault. Your Q is a single target spell, and the second part of Shadow Assault should be single target unless you're using it to get away. This is just a whole boatload of healing for you.

M S C I M I T A R

Mercurial Scimitar is a little weird to have a Talon build, I know. But it's necessary sometimes. If you feel like the enemy team has far too much CC, such as Poppy, Nautilus, Thresh, or Rek'Sai just to name a few, then this item is really necessary. There is an alternative, like Banshee's Veil, but Mercurial Scimitar is really good because of its lifesteal and AD

In the early game is where Talon shines, especially in levels 2-5. During this time, Talon's high base damage and crazy scaling comes in play. At around level 2 or 3, you want to all in your enemy laner if you can. You should be pushed into your tower, if not, let them push towards you. Once you feel confident that you can kill them at these levels, do it. Use your abilities in this order: Rake - wait for slow - Noxian Diplomacy - basic attack - Blade's End - Ignite. In the middle of that rotation, Thunderlord's Decree should proc, adding to your damage. After level 6, look to roam and find picks around the map. You're at a big powerspike after you finish Youmuu's Ghostblade and your choice of boots. Laning is simple: ward when you need to, rotate when you need to, farm well, try not to die, and keep your tower alive. But for Talon, things get a little different. You should be roaming more actively, as I stated a few sentences ago. Your burst potential is crazy high, allowing you a lot of kill pressure in lane. A lot of laners out push you, so you're going to be stuck under tower often. Try to stay alive, use that early game kill potential you got on them and push your lead.

As mid-game nears, you should be actively roaming. If you're behind, farm up and try to keep your tower alive. Go for the items that have defensive stats instead of going for straight AD; such as Maw of Malmortius, Mercurial Scimitar, Black Cleaver. Mid game is a strange time for Talon. He excels in it because of his scaling, but he's also incredibly squishy to the enemy laner. Communicate with your jungler to try and 2 man gank a lane if you have Shadow Assault up and you have a clear route with Assassin's Path. Use your two items to their maximum potential with your crazy scaling factors to attempt fights with squishy enemies. Avoid tanks unless you have assistance and a Black Cleaver.

It is time for the late game destruction train that is Talon. Your scaling factors and are so amped up, that you can easily one-shot ADCs and squishy mid laners and junglers. This, in tandem with your low cooldown Assassin's Path, allows you to quite literally run around and kill people. Teamfights are commonplace in the later stages of the game, and there will be a section for that. For the most part, you want to use your insane damage to kill the squishies that are going for farm or are out of position in a skirmish. This is Talon's time to shine, and shine bright he will.

Teamfights with Talon are simple in concept, but tricky to execute. You just have to kill their backline. But the hard part is getting there without being obvious. If you just Shadow Assault in and run at them, you're going to get CC'ed and die. You have to use the crazy mobility you have with Assassin's Path and get a good flanking angle. There's a few frames before you go invisible after using Shadow Assault. Use those frames to jump over terrain when you know there's an opportunity to go in. Here's your full combo: Shadow Assault right next to the terrain - immediately use Assassin's Path - maneuver your way to the squishy - Noxian Diplomacy - Ignite - Rake - basic attack. This is your recipe for success in teamfights. If you can't find a way in, then just help the ADC on your team. If you stand near your ADC, no one will come near them, as they will die the moment they do.

JhoiJhoi for her FABULOUS guide on how to make a guide, and her free-to-use lines. Thank you so much!

TormentedTurnip for his templates (Items, Pros and Cons), thank you buddy!

BestMinionEver for his skill explanation template. Much love and thank you!

jamespongebob for his ability leveling template which I could never do. Thank you!

If there is anyone that I missed, please tell me! I want to give credit where it is due. Also, if you anyone finds the artist who made the banner in the introduction, please comment who it is so I can add it.