Talon · Jungle
Talon Safe Play Guide
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This guide is assembled by the site from match data and the game's own information — nobody wrote it by hand. Official and community guides appear alongside it when they exist.
Overview
This guide is about playing Talon safely and consistently. Safe jungle means full clears, counter-ganking where the enemy jungler shows up and never contesting an objective without vision or numbers. The kit brings mobility with Noxian Diplomacy.
Strengths
- Mobility: Noxian Diplomacy lets you reposition, engage or escape.
- High physical damage: Riot rates it 9/10 in attack.
- Clear job in the team: clear camps efficiently, gank the lanes that can win and control dragons, grubs and Baron.
Weaknesses
- Fragile: Riot rates it 3/10 in defense.
- Falls behind if the early ganks fail: every wasted trip is lost farm.
Build cheat sheet
Pick the build that fits what you want to do this game.
- Defensive buildDefensiveRecommendedKeeps enough damage while adding magic resist, attack damage and life steal through Mercurial Scimitar, Maw of Malmortius and Death's Dance. Choose it against dive, assassins or a lane you can't win.
- Against magic damageDefensiveSituationalFor a team that kills with abilities: magic resist boots and a magic resist item in the core.
Builds
Defensive build
When to use it
Keeps enough damage while adding magic resist, attack damage and life steal through Mercurial Scimitar, Maw of Malmortius and Death's Dance. Choose it against dive, assassins or a lane you can't win.
Where it's played
Picked before the game: the main lane first, then the alternatives.
1100%- JungleMain100% of matches
Jungle priorities
StartRed buff
Objectives by priority
- 1Voidgrubs
- 2Gank mid
- 3Rift Herald
- 4Scuttle Crab
- 5Dragons
- 6Baron Nashor
- 7Atakhan
Guideline, not a measurement: an early skirmisher starting red side. Take the void grubs and look for ganks while your early damage is ahead, then Herald and dragons.
Starting items
Core items
- 1Mercurial Scimitar
- 2Maw of Malmortius
- 3Death's Dance
Boots
Situational
Runes
Primary· Precision
Secondary· Resolve
Shards
Summoner spells
Flash
Smite
Against magic damage
When to use it
For a team that kills with abilities: magic resist boots and a magic resist item in the core.
Where it's played
Picked before the game: the main lane first, then the alternatives.
1100%- JungleMain100% of matches
Jungle priorities
StartRed buff
Objectives by priority
- 1Voidgrubs
- 2Gank mid
- 3Rift Herald
- 4Scuttle Crab
- 5Dragons
- 6Baron Nashor
- 7Atakhan
Guideline, not a measurement: an early skirmisher starting red side. Take the void grubs and look for ganks while your early damage is ahead, then Herald and dragons.
Starting items
Core items
- 1Bastionbreaker
- 2Black Cleaver
- 3Mercurial Scimitar
Boots
Situational
Runes
Primary· Precision
Secondary· Resolve
Shards
Summoner spells
- Flash
- Smite
Abilities
Blade's EndPassiveTalon'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 Diplomacy8/7.5/7/6.5/6s40 mpTalon 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.- Cooldown
- 8·7.5·7·6.5·6
- Cost
- 40
- Range
- 575
WRake9/8.5/8/7.5/7s50/55/60/65/70 mpTalon 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.- Cooldown
- 9·8.5·8·7.5·7
- Cost
- 50·55·60·65·70
- Range
- 650
EAssassin's PathTalon 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.- Range
- 725
RShadow AssaultUltimate100/80/60s100 mpTalon 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.- Cooldown
- 100·80·60
- Cost
- 100
- Range
- 550
Strategy
1Safe laning
Safe jungle means full clears, counter-ganking where the enemy jungler shows up and never contesting an objective without vision or numbers. A gank works when the lane is pushed towards the enemy tower and the enemy has used Flash or their escape: pick those moments instead of forcing a bad one.
2Surviving fights
In fights, enter after the enemy uses their key crowd control and go for whoever your team can reach with you. Your way out is Noxian Diplomacy: if it's on cooldown, stay further back.
3Positioning and peel
Stand where the enemy has to go through your team to reach you, and protect whoever the enemy focuses.
4Playing from behind
When the game goes badly, farm what's safe, defend with your team and wait for the enemy to make a mistake: a single won fight can turn it around.
Tips
- Keep Noxian Diplomacy for escaping, not for chasing.
- Go back when your key abilities are down: a reset costs less than a death.
- Never be the first to show on the map in the late game.
- If enemies are missing from the map, back off before they appear.
Matchups
Changelog
- Guide created for patch 16.19.1.
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