Guide · Jungle

Talon Guide

the Blade's Shadow

Assassin

Tier B Jungle

Talon, the Blade's Shadow, is an assassin champion that is demanding to master. Across our 1117 analysed ranked games, Talon is mostly played in the Jungle (76% of its games), and more rarely in Mid (24%), with a 51.2% win rate in that role: tier B among Jungle champions (#26 of 48, ranked by win rate). Talon's damage is mostly physical (88%): armor is the best defensive answer against this champion. 12% of that damage is true damage and therefore ignores resistances. Win rate varies with game length: 52.6% in medium-length games (25 to 35 min, 462 games) versus 45.1% in long games (over 35 min).

Averages measured over 854 Jungle games played with Talon, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

Combos and how to play

Talon is a mobile assassin: his abilities wound champions and large monsters (up to 3 stacks), and an attack on a champion with 3 wounds makes them bleed for heavy damage over time. Assassin's Path lets him jump over walls, and Shadow Assault makes him invisible with a speed bonus.

The trade

W › Q › AA AA

When: An enemy is within blade range.

Rake damages on the way out and back and slows, Noxian Diplomacy stabs (critical strike in melee) and stacks, your attack triggers the bleed at 3 stacks.

The assassination

E › Q › W › AA AA › R

When: A carry is isolated behind a wall.

Assassin's Path crosses the terrain, Noxian Diplomacy leaps onto the target from range, then Shadow Assault makes you invisible and damages the enemies hit by the blades.

The escape

R › E

When: You need to get away.

Shadow Assault makes you invisible with a movement speed bonus; Assassin's Path crosses a wall to cut off the chase.

Laning phase

Stack 3 wounds with Noxian Diplomacy and Rake, then attack to trigger the bleed. Assassin's Path has a short cooldown but the terrain crossed has a long one: do not overuse it.

Common mistakes

• Attacking without the 3 wounds: the bleed depends on the stacks.
• Using Assassin's Path without thinking: the terrain crossed has a long cooldown.
• Casting the ultimate too early: the blades return to you when you become visible again.

Riot's official tips for playing Talon

• You can use Assassin's Path to get behind the enemy and set up for Noxian Diplomacy's melee attack.
• Shadow Assault is a powerful escape tool, but can also be offensively used to assault a group.
• Remember to pick your target before the fight. Focusing all of Talon's abilities on one target can be very rewarding, but splitting them up between many may leave you helpless.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Bastionbreaker, Umbral Glaive, and Voltaic Cyclosword (278 games, 56.8% win rate).

Bastionbreaker+Umbral Glaive+Voltaic Cyclosword

278 games · 56.8%

Umbral Glaive+Edge of Night+Voltaic Cyclosword

125 games · 56.0%

Bastionbreaker+Umbral Glaive+Edge of Night

116 games · 63.8%

Summoner spells

Flash + Smite51.7% · 802 games

Smite + Ignite42.3% · 52 games

Most-played runes

Fleet Footwork + Inspiration

51.1% · 552 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph100%

Legend: Alacrity95%

Coup de Grace88%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Cosmic Insight95%

Magical Footwear88%

Shards

Adaptive force100%

Adaptive force100%

Health scaling92%

First Strike + Domination

49.6% · 133 games

Primary tree · Inspiration

Cash Back97%

Triple Tonic99%

Cosmic Insight98%

Secondary tree · Domination

Sudden Impact98%

Treasure Hunter90%

Shards

Adaptive force98%

Adaptive force100%

Health scaling74%

Electrocute + Inspiration

46.7% · 90 games

Primary tree · Domination

Sudden Impact100%

Grisly Mementos62%

Ultimate Hunter70%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Cosmic Insight67%

Cash Back54%

Shards

Adaptive force99%

Adaptive force100%

Health scaling84%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Talon's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team56.9% · 241 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Umbral Glaive 60.6% ▲

Voltaic Cyclosword 61.3% ▲

Bastionbreaker 64.1% ▲

Edge of Night 62.8% ▲

Lord Dominik's Regards 62.3% ▲

Serylda's Grudge 59.6%

The item that stands out most is Umbral Glaive: 60.6% win rate, +10 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team45.0% · 231 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Umbral Glaive 41.3% ▼

Voltaic Cyclosword 46.0% ▼

Bastionbreaker 48.8% ▼

Serpent's Fang 43.7% ▼

Edge of Night 57.1%

Youmuu's Ghostblade 52.8% ▲

The item that stands out most is Youmuu's Ghostblade: 52.8% win rate, +4 points versus its usual win rate.

Balanced enemy team51.3% · 382 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Umbral Glaive 50.8%

Voltaic Cyclosword 50.0%

Bastionbreaker 55.6%

Edge of Night 58.5%

Lord Dominik's Regards 55.1%

Serpent's Fang 53.2%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Talon in the Jungle

Vi Talon: 31.2%16 games

Vi has the edge in 69% of the 16 Jungle duels against Talon. See the Vi guide.

Rengar Talon: 36.8%19 games

Rengar has the edge in 63% of the 19 Jungle duels against Talon. See the Rengar guide.

Graves Talon: 40.0%25 games

Graves has the edge in 60% of the 25 Jungle duels against Talon. See the Graves guide.

Lee Sin Talon: 48.6%37 games

Lee Sin has the edge in 51% of the 37 Jungle duels against Talon. See the Lee Sin guide.

Qiyana Talon: 54.5%22 games

Qiyana has the edge in 45% of the 22 Jungle duels against Talon. See the Qiyana guide.

Who Talon is strong against

Viego66.7% · 21 games

Kayn66.7% · 18 games

Hecarim57.9% · 19 games

Qiyana54.5% · 22 games

Lee Sin48.6% · 37 games

How to play against Talon

• Talon's attacks are all physical damage. Build armor early to counter his burst damage.
• Talon is heavily reliant on Shadow Assault to escape a fight. When it is down he's significantly more vulnerable.
• Talon has unrivaled roaming ability. Make sure to keep track of his position or force him to stay in lane by pushing aggressively.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Talon's matchups.

Abilities

PassiveBlade's End

Talon's spells Wound champions and large monsters, stacking up to 3 times. When Talon attacks a champion with 3 stacks of Wound, they bleed for heavy damage over time.

QNoxian Diplomacy

Talon stabs the target unit. If they are within melee range, this attack deals critical damage. If they are outside melee range, Talon will leap at his target before stabbing them. Talon refunds some health and cooldown if this ability kills the target.

WRake

Talon sends out a volley of daggers that then return back to him, dealing physical damage every time it passes through an enemy. The returning blades deal bonus damage and slow units hit.

EAssassin's Path

Talon vaults over any terrain or structure, up to a max distance. This ability has a low cooldown, but puts the used terrain on a long cooldown.

RShadow Assault

Talon disperses a ring of blades and becomes Invisible while gaining additional Move Speed. When Talon emerges from Invisibility, the blades converge on his location. Each time the blades move, Shadow Assault deals physical damage to enemies hit by at least one blade.

Frequently asked questions

Full Talon page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides