Champion Guide

Talon Guide

By LoLSuggest

Jungle

Talon is a jungle assassin with insane mobility. Blade's End wounds enemies hit by his abilities and makes his next attack against a target with three wounds cause a heavy bleed, Noxian Diplomacy leaps onto a nearby target for a critical strike or throws a dagger from range, Rake sends out blades that slow enemies as they return, Assassin's Path vaults him over terrain, and Shadow Assault turns him invisible while a ring of blades flies out and returns to him. He jumps in, secures kills and escapes, which makes him a strong solo-carry pick in the right hands.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Talon build

Our recommended runes, summoner spells and items. Compare build win rates on the stats page.

Items

Starting Items

Core Items

Situational Items

Start Scorchclaw Pup for damage and a slow, Mosstomper Seedling for more survivability against many threats, or Gustwalker Hatchling for speed. Umbral Glaive is by far the best first item, then Bastionbreaker for damage, objective control and snowball, Voltaic Cyclosword third, Edge of Night fourth to one-shot without being interrupted, and Lord Dominik's Regards last. Ionian Boots of Lucidity are the best boots; take Boots of Swiftness with enough haste or against slows, Mercury's Treads against heavy crowd control and magic damage, or Plated Steelcaps against heavy physical damage. Hubris, Axiom Arc, Serpent's Fang, Youmuu's Ghostblade, Serylda's Grudge and Mortal Reminder are situational, and Guardian Angel, Death's Dance, Maw of Malmortius or Mercurial Scimitar can replace a final lethality item. Run Dark Harvest with Sudden Impact, Sixth Sense and Ultimate Hunter, plus Magical Footwear and Cosmic Insight, against squishy teams with big threats; Fleet Footwork works well with Voltaic Cyclosword into bruisers and tanks, First Strike suits late-game enemy comps, and Stormraider's Surge or Electrocute are other options. Take Flash with Smite. Max W, then Q, then E.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Skill Max Order

Strengths

Exceptional mobility and strong flanking potential.
High burst damage and an unpredictable, hit-and-run playstyle.
Excellent solo carry potential.

Weaknesses

Very squishy, with difficult jungle matchups.
Challenging teamfights.
Hard to play and scales poorly when behind in gold.

Laning Phase

Talon is not an easy champion: success depends on decision-making, timing and game knowledge. Use Assassin's Path to vault over walls for fast clears and ganks from unexpected angles, and look to stack Dark Harvest early on squishy targets. With First Strike, do not poke before an all-in or you will waste the proc. Play safe early against strong early junglers such as Rek'Sai and give your laners information; against Bel'Veth play the opposite side of the map. Against Elise, dodge her cocoon and do not waste time chasing her.

Mid & Late Game

Use your mobility to impact the map: find flanks, pick off isolated targets and escape before the enemy can respond. Bastionbreaker turns picks into towers and objectives quickly. In teamfights, wait for an opening instead of going in first, then Shadow Assault onto a priority target and use Edge of Night to avoid being interrupted. Against Mel, wait until her reflect is down before diving in.

Key Tips

Umbral Glaive first is by far the best start to your build.
Ionian Boots of Lucidity also reduce Flash's cooldown, which helps Talon's all-ins.
If you are ahead you can one-shot Hecarim; if he is ahead, avoid him.
Do not chase Elise for long; you lose precious time.

Matchups