Greetings! This page is a dedicated guide on how to build and play Talon in season 11 of LoL! Here we will review the best items, runes, and strategies for this champion. And by the end of this guide, you will learn how to increase your win rate on Talon. Let’s start!
On the most recent patch of League of Legends – patch 11.11, Talon holds the number 1 place in the mid lane. His win ratio is currently 51.8% across all servers, and his pick rate is also high – 8.61%. It goes without saying, but Talon is at the moment the best mid lane pick for solo queue in League of Legends!
If you’re wondering why this is the case, consider this. The recent mythic item changes brought a lot of burst damage on the Summoner’s Rift, particularly the AD ones. The mid meta heavily shifted from control mages to assassins, with Zed, Yasuo, Yone, and Talon being the strongest ones. But what makes Talon the greatest in solo queue is his natural ability to thrive in chaos.
Talon is a champion that favors ganking and fighting skirmishes outside of mid lane. Thanks to his E, he can quickly move around the map and be a menace to every other lane. And with this build, Talon can challenge almost any champion in LoL 1v1 and win the duel. This allows him to create advantages all around and snowball them into a victory later.
No matter if you’re a beginner or a veteran Talon player, you can still get a lot of value from this guide. Let’s check the runes you should be running first, and then the items too!
LoL Season 11 Talon Build – Runes
Runes in order:
- Electrocute
- Taste of Blood
- Eyeball Collection
- Relentless Hunter
- Nimbus Cloak
- Absolute Focus
Electrocute
Electrocute is our go-to keystone on Talon. It is the strongest pick by far and we recommend you to have it in most games. Now, this rune helps you with your primary task and that is eliminating players from the game. It triggers after you strike them with three consecutive attacks, counting both spells and AAs. This is a very easy thing to do on Talon, especially after level 6. During the laning phase, you can abuse its low cooldown to get favorable trades and secure small leads. After that, the rune is simply a damage booster that doesn’t change your playstyle much.
Taste of Blood
From the second row of the Domination tree, we pick up Taste of Blood. This is a fantastic self-healing source, especially early on. Taste of Blood heals you for a portion of your damage dealt, so the more AD you have the more you will heal. But the best part about this rune is that it only has an 80-seconds cooldown. And you can abuse during the laning phase!
Eyeball Collection
On the third row, however, we have Eyeball Collection. This is the easiest choice among the three, simply because you don’t have to do anything to get its benefits. It grants bonus Attack Damage as you slay champions, so it’s a nice reward overall.
But that doesn’t mean that you can’t play with Ghost Poro or Zombie Ward. Both of these options are excellent on Talon. They offer bonus vision all over the Rift and they can be very useful against certain champions. Don’t be afraid to shake things up here in this LoL Talon build!
Relentless Hunter
And Relentless Hunter fits Talon’s gameplay in an ideal way. It boosts his out-of-combat movement speed for a significant amount. And this comes in handy whenever you clear your mid lane wave or exit your base. Being able to quickly roam around the map is Talon’s strongest characteristic, so any improvement here is welcomed.
Nimbus Cloak
Nimbus Cloak is one of the most underrated runes in the game. It is also one of the most powerful ones, especially on champions like Talon. It offers a burst of movement speed after you use a Summoner’s Spell and allows you to move through units. The way you utilize it is by igniting your target first before you even unleash your full combo.
Nimbus Cloak is really one of the key runes in this Talon LoL build, so make sure to always pick it up!
Absolute Focus
And Absolute Focus is a fantastic idea in itself – you get bonus AD whenever you are above 70% Health. As an assassin, Talon should always keep a healthy percentage of HP, so Absolute Focus should be always up. It makes your initial all-ins much stronger throughout the game, so don’t miss out on it!
This is the strongest rune build for Talon in LoL currently. It’s based on data provided by the most successful Talon players in the world, including Faker! If you want to learn how to play Talon like Faker, we strongly recommend you to watch this video!
Now let’s check the best item build for Talon in season 11 of LoL!
LoL Season 11 Talon Build – Items
Items in order:
- Prowler’s Claw
- Serpent’s Fang
- Manamune
- Serylda’s Grudge
- Edge of Night
- Ionian Boots of Lucidity
Prowler’s Claw
Without a doubt, Prowler’s Claw is by far the best mythic item for Talon. It is very powerful and very flexible tool that you can use to outplay your opponents. Prowler’s Claw offers Attack Damage, Lethality, and Ability Haste, as well as an active effect. This is a dash that goes through the target and gives you 15% increased damage against them for 3 seconds.
The way you utilize Prowler’s Claw is by using it before your big burst. This is usually when you enter stealth from your ultimate or even before you press your Q or W. Note that some players like to run Goredrinker on Talon for the increased self-healing. However, if you execute your combos right, Prowler’s Claw is the superior choice in most situations.
Serpent’s Fang
Season 11 is full of healing and shielding. And Serpent’s Fang is one of the best choices to counter the defensiveness of your enemies as an assassin. The biggest reason why we build Fang as a second item on Talon in LoL is because of all the extra Lethality. It makes your all-ins much more cleaner and gives you better chances at eliminating opponents, no matter if they have their shields up or not.
Manamune
Now, Manamune on Talon is a trademark of Faker and other similar players. And if you’re wondering why, let us remind you of what this item actually does. Manamune increases your Attack Damage based on your maximum mana. The idea here is to rise your mana simultaneously with your AD. Naturally, you’ll want to buy Tear of the Goddess early on and upgrade it later.
Keep in mind that you don’t have to wait for the item to reach full stacks. Manamune now converts your mana into Attack Damage, regardless of how many stacks you have.
Serylda’s Grudge
If there is one stat that we prioritize in this LoL Talon build the most, then that is Lethality/Armor Penetration. The assassin’s job in League is to remove one target from the equation and Lethality is the surest way for Talon to do so. Well, Serylda’s Grudge is packed with tons of Armor Penetration, enough to even one-shot a tank. On top of it, the item will make your abilities slow your enemies, making it way easier to hit them.
Edge of Night
Talon doesn’t have any protective spells and no way of surviving crowd control. The Edge of Night item is a fantastic purchase, useful both in the early and the late game. It works the same way as Banshee’s Veil, which grants you a shield that absorbs the next incoming ability. And this usually gives you a “free pass” to the enemy backline.
Remember that this version of Edge of Night is much better than its previous iterations. AoE spells and indirect abilities usually don’t break the shield. Only projectiles meant to hit you will do so if not evaded.
Ionian Boots of Lucidity
And finally, we have Ionian Boots of Lucidity. Currently, these are the best boots for almost all champions in the game, and that includes Talon. The 20 Ability Haste is simply too valuable to pass on for the price of 950 gold. These boots can be purchased on your first return to base or whenever you need them.
Learning Cassiopeia? Check out the build Caps uses on this champion!
Situational Items
The LoL build showcased above will be your “bread and butter” build on Talon in most games. However, you can still change a couple of things depending on the situation at hand.
For example, if you’re facing someone like Vladimir or Yummi, then Chempunk Chainsword should be among your first purchases. Similarly, against a heavy AP team, Maw of Malmortius can save you a number of times.
And lastly, you can opt for Guardian Angel at the end of every game. It is a very valuable item that besides its defensive intent offers a very offensive playstyle. So don’t be afraid to mix things up.
LoL Season 11 Talon Build – Summoner’s Spells
The Summoner’s Spell options for Talon can be summarized like this. Flash and Ignite is what you’ll be primarily running, no matter what you face. This gives you the most pressure in lane and the biggest outplay potential throughout the game. However, Teleport, Exhaust, and Cleanse can all serve a good purpose in the right moments.
Flash + Ignite =
the best combination in most matchups.
Ignite + Teleport =
only in certain games when you don’t need your Flash.
Flash + Cleanse =
against CC that is difficult to dodge, such as Twisted Fate‘s W.
Talon’s Skill Order and Ability Combos
Skill Order
Since the assassin reworks a couple of years back, Talon has had a pretty standard skill order. You want to max your W first because it’s the only ranged ability you’ve got. It helps when trading or farming minions in the laning phase. Second, you want to go for Q since it can critically strike for much damage. And in the last place comes E and R.
W > Q > E > R
or Q> W > E > R in some cases.
Master Jhin with Huanfeng’s build!
Ability Combos
Right out of the bat, Talon has many ability combos. He isn’t the most difficult champions to master, but the way you combine his abilities is quite unique. If you take a look at the list below, you’ll notice that you have more than one way of dealing damage. And with the addition of Prowler’s Claw, the opportunities have risen higher than ever. We recommend you to practice at least these combos before playing Talon in ranked matches!
W > Q > P > =
regular combo for trading in lane.
W> Q > R > P =
reliable level 6 all-in.
R > R > W > P =
assassinating an enemy from invisibility.
R > PC > Q > W =
going stealth then using Prowler’s Claw for extra damage.
PC > Q > W > R =
closing in with Prowler’s Claw and boosting your regular combo.
LoL Talon Build for ARAM in Season 11
Runes
Runes in order:
- Electrocute
- Sudden Impact
- Eyeball Collection
- Ultimate Hunter
- Triumph
- Coup de Grace
Items
Items in order:
- Duskblade of Draktharr
- The Collector
- Edge of Night
- Serylda’s Grudge
- Serpent’s Fang
- Ionian Boots of Lucidity
Additonal Info
If Talon is one of your favorite champions to play in ARAM, we can’t blame you. This is perhaps the most fun assassin in such chaotic situations. The only downside here is the absence of walls to use when escaping or engaging.
The LoL ARAM build for Talon that you can see here is a bit different. It prioritizes items like Duskblade of Drakthar and The Collector over the others, simply because you’ll be scoring more kills and assists than usual. The rest can stay the same, with Armor Penetration being your most important stat to go for.