Talon | |
---|---|
General Information | |
Title | The Blade's Shadow |
Real Name | Talon du Couteau |
Pronouns | He/Him |
Release Date | August 24, 2011 |
Cost | 3150 790 |
Attribute | Assassin |
Statistics | |
HP | 658 (+ 109) |
HPR | 8.5 (+ 0.75) |
MP | 400 (+ 37) |
MPR | 7.6 (+ 0.8) |
MS | 335 |
AD | 68 (+ 3.1) |
AS | 0.625 (+ 2.9%) |
RNG | 125 |
AR | 30 (+ 4.7) |
MR | 39 (+ 2.05) |
Developer Info | |
DDragon Key | Talon |
Integer Key | 91 |
External Links | |
Universe | universe.leagueoflegends.com |
Game Info Wiki | wiki.leagueoflegends.com |
Talon is a champion in League of Legends.
For the Hong Kong team playing in the PCS, see PSG Talon.
Lore[]
- For outdated and now non-canon lore entries, click here.
- Biography
- Story
Talon's earliest memories are the darkness of Noxus' underground passages and the reassuring steel of a blade. He remembers no family, warmth, or kindness. Instead, the clink of stolen gold and the security of a wall at his back are all the kinship he has ever craved. Kept alive only by his quick wits and deft thievery, Talon scraped out a living in the seedy underbelly of Noxus. His mastery of the blade quickly marked him as a threat, and Noxian guilds sent assassins to him with a demand: join their ranks or be killed. He left the bodies of his pursuers dumped in Noxus' moat as his response.
The assassination attempts grew increasingly frequent until one assailant met Talon blade-for-blade in a match of strength. To his surprise, Talon was disarmed and facing down his executioner's sword when the assassin revealed himself to be General Du Couteau. The General offered Talon the choice between death at his hand, or life as an agent of the Noxian High Command. Talon chose life, on the condition that his service was to Du Couteau alone, for the only type of orders he could respect were from one he could not defeat. Talon remained in the shadows, carrying out secret missions on Du Couteau's orders that took him from the frigid lands of the Freljord to the inner sanctums of Demacia itself. When the general vanished, Talon considered claiming his freedom, but he had gained immense respect for Du Couteau after years in his service. He became obsessed with tracking down the general's whereabouts, and scours the land in search of those responsible for Du Couteau's disappearance. | |
"The three deadliest blademasters in all of Valoran are bound to the house of Du Couteau: my father, myself, and Talon. Challenge us, if you dare." |
THE NAME OF THE BLADE
There is copper in the air. The tang of fresh blood rises up to me, my back pressed into the shadows while I study her. As she kills. She was driven here, a large chamber, decoratively appointed, two exits, but through wide halls and high arched ceilings it was easy enough for me to follow her, and do it in silence. Her pursuers did not, a charging crash of weapons and armor brought to bear against her. To the uninitiated she appears trapped, and a cornered assassin is a dead one, but I know well that her blades are but one of her weapons, and far from her keenest. I recognize the hidden patterns of her strikes, thought translating seamlessly into action. The subtle movements masked by grander gestures as she adapts to exploit every weakness presented to her. I know the teachings that inform her violence, because they were taught to me as well. Wisdom passed down to only a handful, forging a family of purpose, if not of blood. It is her birthright, while for me it was earned in darkened alleyways, and the frothing chokes of slit throats. I see her follow the principles of our teachings, and then I see her break them. Her target appears, and she allows them to see her before the strike comes. There is flourish to the killing. Noise. Arrogance. Wasted energy. Each choice exposes her more, cracking her armor wider, betraying her lineage. My upper lip constricts, desperate to twitch, but I am stone. Succumbing to such weakness would only carry me further from the Edge. I have seen such ambition before. As a child in the world beneath the empire, I watched the ambitious rise head and shoulders above their fellows, just high enough for all to see them, standing out from the masses. And then I watched the masses butcher them for it. I learned the sanctuary of shadow quickly, the shield that silence can be, and never forgetting that has kept me alive. I watch her defy them both, blundering to the precipice of failure. And it would not be the first time. I remember— —the cold of the forest, the glittering frost on the branch where I perched, watching. Waiting for her to appear. When she did, she was wreathed in the ashen smell of the battle cooling just beyond our view. It clung to her as surely as her failure. There is always a price for failure. That day, for her, I had been made that price. I planned it all perfectly. I wouldn’t allow myself anything less. The slope of the ground, the strength and direction of the wind whistling through the trees. Her bearing, her garb, her weapons, and her gait. The small, clean blade held in fingers etched with a thousand tiny scars of imperfection. It all passed through my mind, before I was free to unfold. To strike. There was no sound when I descended. My blade cut air, was interrupted, air again. Blood trailed behind its path, a sluggish bloom of darkest red uncurled into icy air. My momentum carried me past her, as I planned. I looked back, my mind calm. What trophy would be proof enough? Her blades? A lock of hair? Her eyes? I turned and saw her standing. She clutched her left eye, blood squirting between fingers, but she didn’t fall. My stomach tightened. A bead of sweat trickled down my ribs, despite the cold. She was supposed to fall after the strike. The one strike. She should not be alive. I told her so. The words did not fell her, so I said them again. I screamed them at her. She answered with the edges of her blades. We fought, or rather, she fought. She was a blur of red hair and flashing silver, her cuts and slashes propelled by pain, skill, and rage in equal measure. Anger twisted her features, keeping the wound I gave her from closing. I flowed around her, cold and colorless against her passion. Three times she came close to opening me to the bone, to emptying my lifeblood upon the frosted earth of the forest floor, but emotion betrayed the blows early enough for me to displace myself. The instinct was there, but she did not plan the engagement, and so I kept my blood within me. I glimpsed an opening, once, where I could have ended her. She would have fallen, for true this time. Nobody would have known of my mistake, nobody but me. I saw the opening, but I let it pass me by. After my failed strike I would not try a second, and should I have fallen to her, it was deserved. I was now no different than she was. She watched me as I put my blade away, and she stopped. She touched her face again, tracing a wound that would never leave her. Breath feathered out from the cold, angry slashes from her nose as she spoke. Her own failure that brought me here loomed over her, and she was resolved to set it right. To atone for it. I could not bring myself to stand in her way, not anymore. The hypocrisy would be too great. My duty was to return and face judgment, and see what price I had to pay. Before turning back toward the battlefield, leaving the way she came, she asked me who I was. She did not ask if her father sent me, that much was clear to her—all but the name of the blade he sent. I did not have an answer for her. My name had never mattered. I told her so, but saw she would not relent. I thought back, remembering the world under the empire then. Down there, in those final, blood-soaked days before I left it all behind, they called me Talon. Blood spreads out across the stones from her target, now her kill. I watch her make quick work of the soldiers who remain to challenge her. I imagine myself in the place of the last of them, seeing the openings he does not, before his head rolls from his shoulders and he joins the dead. For a handful of seconds she admires her work. She is smiling, the pale scar bisecting her left eye flexing. The smile goes cold—does she sense me?—before she disappears down the corridor like smoke. I wait a moment, two, and then I allow myself to breathe again. Muscles clamped tight for hours loosen a fraction. Only now, with her gone, do I produce the knife. My fingers are pebbled with a thousand scars, each a single tiny step on my path toward the Edge, that unattainable perfect state I strive for. I spin the knife in a quick, practiced orbit, then again. And again. The blade is clean, the blood that once graced it on that day long since crumbled away, waiting for the day I might be made the price for her failure again. I call it Katarina. |
Abilities[]
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Patch History[]
W initial damage decreased; and return damage increased.
Since our 11.10 nerfs, Talon’s settled in well—he’s about as strong as before in Elite play. We’re giving him another tap down by shifting power away from the initial part of his W and slightly lowering its overall scaling. To balance also giving a small boost to the second half of Rake, which is easier to dodge.
W - Rake
Patch 11.10
Q bonus AD damage ratio decreased.
Talon’s been raking it in as the premier mid lane roamer in Elite play. He’s able to pack a punch in lane, then dash and slash his enemies in the next lane over. We’re slowing down his roll by lowering some of his upfront burst and dialing down how much he spikes for each successful gank.
Q - Noxian Diplomacy
Patch 11.4
W cooldown now scales; bonus damage ratio increased.
Talon has been struggling to get his blades on people, so we're letting him have some more access to his tools at range.
W - Rake
R - Shadow Assault
Q - Noxian Diplomacy
Patch 10.25
W return damage increased later.
Talon's ability to roam is contingent on his ability to clear waves. And his ability to clear waves was too reliant on Tiamat. While his lethality build suffered a lot, he's starting to move out of assassin items into Goredrinker and Ravenous, so we're only giving him a small buff for now.
W - Rake
Patch 10.11
Q cost increased; heal on kill decreased early.
Talon continues to be one of the most powerful mid laners in high-elo, often with an early Q max. We're carving out some of his sustain so he can’t stall out the early lane to reach his item spikes as trivially.
Q - Noxian Diplomacy
HEAL ON KILL : | [20-71 (levels 1-18)] | |
⇒ | 10-70 (levels 1-18) |
Patch 10.6
W initial base damage decreased; return base damage decreased, damage ratio increased.
We all know Talon holds his blades close to his heart, but he's letting them go too often. We’re not taking them away from him, but he's proving to be a menace in higher skilled play, where his early game waveclear allows him to roam far more and far earlier. This patch, we’re reducing his reliance on said blades so that he stays more in line (and in lane).
W - Rake
INITIAL DAMAGE : | [50/65/80/95/110] | |
⇒ | 45/60/75/90/105 |
RETURN DAMAGE : | [70/85/100/115/130 (+0.6 bonus AD)] | |
⇒ | 45/65/85/105/125 (+0.7 bonus AD) |
One trend we've seen over the years is that new and low-MMR players pick jungle at a much lower rate than other positions—even when it's stronger than those other positions. For 10.4, we're approaching this problem by giving some popular champs at these skill levels better tools to jungle with, especially also because jungle has an arguably smaller champion pool than other positions. While players here will still have to contend with the learning curve of jungle as a position, they won't have to learn to play a new champion as well. All the changes below are to ability effectiveness against monsters to avoid accidental impacts to lane strength. As a caveat, we're investigating other solutions to help out jungle and the satisfaction of playing the role in the future too, so look forward to seeing more from us outside of these changes.
v8.14
W return damage decreased late.
W - Rake
INCOMING DAMAGE : | [70/95/120/145/170] | |
⇒ | 70/85/100/115/130 |
Bugfixin'
Q - Noxian Diplomacy
v8.6
Passive damage now continues scaling after level 11, until level 18. R ratio increased.
Passive - Blade's End
BASE DAMAGE : | [75-175 (at levels 1-11)] | |
⇒ | 75-245 (at levels 1-18) | (damage between levels 1-11 unchanged) |
R - Shadow Assault
v8.4
Base armor decreased. Base magic resistance increased.
As a melee champion who takes a lot spell damage in the laning phase, Talon suffered disproportionately from the loss of magic resist runes in the preseason.
Base Stats
Passive - Blade's End
BASE DAMAGE/CHAMPION LEVEL : | [60/70/80/90/100/110/120/130/140/150/160] | |
⇒ | 75/85/95/105/115/125/135/145/155/165/175 | at levels 1 - 11 |
Q - Noxian Diplomacy
BASE DAMAGE : | [60/85/110/135/160] | |
⇒ | 65/90/115/140/165 |
W - Rake
REEL BACK BASE DAMAGE : | [60/85/110/135/160] | |
⇒ | 70/95/120/145/170 |
v7.7
Q damage reduced at lower ranks.
Talon’s update gave Noxian Diplomacy extra potency against enemies within arm’s reach, and while that’s opened the door to a wider variety of decisions (and outcomes) against ranged enemies in midlane, the Blade’s Shadow is crushing melee matchups over in top. If you’ve gotta walk up to Talon to deal damage, you’re guaranteed to take an empowered Q to the face... but if you never start fights, you’ll never beat him in lane. We’re pulling Noxian Diplomacy’s damage down a bit to give melee opponents more opportunities for favorable lane trades.
Q - Noxian Diplomacy
v6.24
Q sustain up. Mana regeneration per level up.
Now that Talon’s update has given opponents the opportunity to fight back against his kill pattern, it’s safe for us to give Talon better fallback opportunities to recover from an unfavorable matchup. We’re giving League’s free-runner more room to interact safely with minions in situations where he’s relegated to farming under turret.
Base Stats
Passive - Blade's End
Q - Noxian Diplomacy
Part of the challenge when undertaking a class update is finding a niche for each champion to fill in an ever-expanding roster, and Talon was no exception. For once in his life, ‘More Blades’ wasn’t an acceptable answer. Instead, we decided to take our cues from the most impressive Talon players out there and really focus on amping what had become an emergent strength of his: roaming. Roaming as a concept can be somewhat evergreen (technically every champion is a roaming champion if you put your mind to it), but when we saw the staggering amount of Talons purchasing Boots of Mobility and running to sidelanes for kills, we set out to embrace the style.
Enter Talon’s newfound obsession with parkour. Thanks to the new Assassin’s Path, we’re letting Talon be the assassin that’s never too far from the fray, providing some seriously impressive gank paths to catch his prey off guard. By giving Talon more opportunities to be at the right place at the right time, we can afford to slow his burst while keeping him an ever-present threat on the map. To the rock-climbers and free-runners of the Rift, this one’s for you.
General
Passive - Blade's End
Talon’s abilities wound champions and epic monsters for a short duration, stacking up to three times. When Talon basic attacks a fully wounded target, they bleed for a large amount of physical damage over time.
Q - Noxian Diplomacy
Talon leaps to a target, dealing physical damage. If cast within melee range, Talon does not leap but instead critically strikes his target for 150%. Whenever Noxian Diplomacy kills a unit, Talon restores health and refunds 50% of its cooldown.
W - Rake
E - Assassin's Path
Talon vaults over the nearest structure or terrain in a target direction. The vault’s speed is affected by Talon’s movement speed. Talon cannot vault over the same section of terrain for a period of time.
R - Shadow Assault
v6.5
R costs more and has a higher cooldown.
Talon’s one of the most unstoppable champions when running with a lead. While some assassins might effortlessly pick off single targets in the backline, snowballing Talons kill that single target… and just about everyone else in the fight. We’re not taking away Talon’s blades (he’s very attached to them), but increasing the windows between his ‘outbursts’ so his victims can catch their breath between respawns
R - Shadow Assault
In a world without mana potions (and generally less early mana regeneration), we've identified a few champions for some emergency rations, giving early mana boosts until they can get their footing and purchase items to make up the deficit. This also means we can really understand which champions relied on mana potions as a crutch to limp through the early to mid game, and we can give additional love if necessary.
Mana
- The following champs have +50 base mana and -3 mana scaling (net -1 mana at level 18):
- "We're making readability improvements to a bunch of the champion portrait icons which were added or updated over the past few months."
- PORTRAITS : The following champion portrait icons have been updated:
- Azir, Cho'Gath, Ezreal, Gragas, Graves, Janna, Jarvan IV, Kayle, Kog'Maw, Lee Sin, Malphite, Maokai, Orianna, Renekton, Rengar, Rumble, Shyvana, Sion, Talon, Tristana, Udyr, Vayne, Veigar, Viktor, Zilean
v4.19
Splash Updates
- "As we've mentioned previously, the splash art team is engaged in a long-term effort to update our oldest base splashes. A few more are ready to go this patch!"
- SPLASH : The following champions have received updated base splashes (click the portraits for the full image!)
- "Still not renaming it. Maybe in a future patch. Foot stab? "
v4.17
Talon's E no longer silences, it just applies a high-intensity mini-slow.
- "Now that other high-burst low-counterplay assassins have been modified in some way (hello LeBlanc), Talon's one of the next dudes to step forward. Our focus with this change is not to entirely nerf Talon (although we realize this is a hit to his laning phase against certain champion matchups), rather, it's to reduce frustration when playing against him. Specifically, Talon's ability to obliterate a target of his choosing in the mid to late game without them having any say in the matter (literally) is a tough ability to balance around - especially as we've targeted other low-counterplay abilities like LeBlanc's Sigil of Silence. As an aside, this does mean that the ability name Cutthroat makes no sense from a thematic perspective, but naming it cut-ankles was less inspiring. We'll look into it. "
- Q - Noxian Diplomacy
- A METAPHOR FOR POLITICS Noxian Diplomacy's animation now plays slightly faster (so it can feel more impactful). Actual gameplay remains unchanged.
- E - Cutthroat
- REMOVED THAT'S SOME BAD AIM, TALON Cutthroat no longer silences its target
- NEW CUT-ANKLES Cutthroat now slows targets for 99% for 0.25 seconds (this is enough to sneak in one Mercy-buffed basic attack)
- R - Shadow Assault
- NEW A SHINY ESCAPE Shadow Assault now has a particle to indicate that Talon is hasted
- R - Shadow Assault
- "NEW" UTILITY: Flash no longer breaks Shadow Assault stealth
- BUGFIX: Activating Noxian Diplomacy no longer breaks Shadow Assault stealth (attacking still breaks stealth as normal)
- Noxian Diplomacy
- Bleed damage reduced to 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 from 18 / 36 / 54 / 72 / 90
- Bleed bonus attack damage ratio reduced to 1 from 1.2
- Cutthroat
- Shadow Assault
- Damage reduced at later ranks to 120 / 170 / 220 from 120 / 190 / 260
- Bonus attack damage ratio reduced to 0.75 from 0.9
- Base Movement Speed increased by 25.
- Base armor increased to 20.5 from 18.5
- Shadow Assault's allied ultimate HUD indicator will now go grey immediately after casting
- Rake mana cost increased to 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 from 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65
- Shadow Assault cooldown increased to 75 / 65 / 55 seconds from 60 / 50 / 40
- Base health regeneration reduced to 7.25 per 5 seconds from 9.5
- Base mana regeneration reduced to 6.75 per 5 seconds from 10
v1.0.0.124
Talon released
Additional Content[]
Champion Information[]
- Talon's Champion Page
- Universe of League of Legends Page
- 2017 Season Assassins Update
- Talon Mechanics Preview
- Champion Sneak Peek: Talon, The Blade's Shadow
Related Lore[]
Journal of Justice
- Institute of War Accused of Conspiracy & The Mailbag of Justice
- Swain Seizes Power in Noxus & Heywan Relivash and Ralston Farnsley Arrested
Skin Release[]
Promotional Page
Teasers
Video
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Art Spotlight
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