Previous Lore
Talon. Challenge us, if you dare." - 
Katarina Du CouteauTalon'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 dangerous 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 Bandle City. When the general vanished, Talon considered reclaiming his freedom, but he had gained immense respect from Du Couteau after years in his service. He became obsessed with tracking down the general's whereabouts. Talon's suspicions led him to the doors of the Institute of War, where he joined the League of Legends in order to find those responsible for Du Couteau's disappearance.
- Candidate
- Date
- 23 August, 21 CLE
- Observation
Talon enters the Great Hall with wary anticipation, his gaze forward. The unknowing might consider him careless, but to his perceptive observers it is apparent that Talon is infinitely aware of every detail in his surroundings.
While his focus is sharp, Talon's mind is elsewhere. He hastens towards the massive double doors at the end of the hall and regards them impassively. His purpose lies far beyond the Reflection Chamber. What lies within is a necessary distraction, but hardly an obstacle. 
Blade in hand, he enters without pause.
- Reflection
Talon was on the ground, his face pressed to the dirt-ridden cracks between black cobblestones. The world came into focus around him one piece at a time - first the stench of sewage, then the muffled cries of "stop, thief", and finally the walls of the dead-end alleyway, its corners piled high with reeking decay.
He needed nothing else to identify his location. He knew this alleyway - and the slums of Noxus - all too well.
Talon rolled onto his hands and knees. His arms and legs, gangly and darkened with dirt, stung and bled from fresh scrapes. The cries grew closer, coming for him. "Find that boy!"
Talon glanced about, quelling his panic. His eyes fell on what appeared to be a rotten plank of wood, half-covered in garbage and waste, in the shadowed corner of the alley. With what quickness he could muster, Talon scurried towards it, grabbing the rotten plank and tugging it aside. Beneath it, a small opening led under the alley wall and deep into the darkness. In a swift and painful motion, Talon twisted to drop himself down into the opening and slid the plank back into place.
He pressed his back to a muddy dirt wall as the muted sounds of confusion came from outside his hiding place. He remained perfectly still until his pursuers dispersed, their footsteps retreating and grumbled voices fading.
Talon tried to catch his breath. The wet air he gasped into his lungs reeked of rats and sewage. As the rush of adrenaline left him, he found himself stricken instead by the dull pain of hunger and, more pointedly, anger.
"Where was Kavyn", he growled to himself and looked down into the dark.
The plan had been simple. Their target had been a fruit merchant whose cart stood at the edge of the marketplace. Kavyn was to give the signal and, as Talon took what he could, Kavyn would create a distraction so that he could escape. He'd seen the signal, but moments later, as he filled his satchel with Kumungu berries, he caught the attention of half the marketplace. And worse, he'd lost the bag in his frantic escape through the slums.
With nothing gained but a painfully hungry stomach, Talon seethed with bitterness.
Talon turned and began to crawl down the passage. Before long, his fingers and knees squelched as the ground beneath him became wet and cold - he'd reached the old and unused pipe that led into Noxus - underground chambers, most of them connected to the sewer network.
It isn't the first time that Kavyn has failed me like this, Talon thought as the passage sloped downward. With the pain in his stomach and the weakness in his limbs, he couldn't help but recall instead the times he'd succeeded alone, fending for himself without dependence on anyone else.
Finally, the pipe opened over a small chamber, its space filled with makeshift furniture and garbage scraps. Far below the western edge of the chamber, where a sheer drop took the place of a wall, a foul river carried Noxian sewage out of the city. Talon twisted within the pipe's cramped space and dropped down.
"You made it back!"
Talon whirled. Kavyn stood against the wall below the pipe's mouth, lighting a match. The flickering flame revealed a boy hardly older than Talon himself and just as rough and dirty, his brown hair a matted mess on his head.
"Where were you?" Talon snarled.
"Never mind that", Kavyn dropped the lit match onto a small pile of trash beneath him, which instantly caught and cast a wavering light about the chamber. "Did you get anything?"
"A bag of Kumungu berries", Talon's voice was cold. "I dropped it-while running."
He saw a twitch of unease in Kavyn's expression, and his eyes flicked to a small and nearly-empty crate in one corner of the chamber, where they usually kept their stores of stolen food. "Oh."
"Where were you?"
The other boy held up his hands. "Just hold on", he said. "I've got something." Kavyn tugged at his tattered leather belt, revealing two sheaths at his side that Talon had never seen before. From within them, Kavyn withdrew a pair of short daggers. Their blades shone like gold in the firelight, and Talon's eyes widened.
"Listen", said Kavyn, tearing Talon's covetous gaze away. "We can sell them. It doesn't matter that you lost the food."
Talon bristled, but the comment fazed him far less than it should have. He looked back to the daggers, which Kavyn held flat in his palm as though they'd slice him open if he wiggled a finger.
"I stole them from a drunk near the market tavern", Kavyn explained. "That's where I went. I thought - well, we'll make enough to eat for a few days with these, right? And... "
He continued to explain himself, but Talon no longer heard him. He reached a hand forward for one of the blades. As he held it, Talon became immediately aware of its shoddy quality, its weight imbalance, the way the hilt splintered. It was hardly suited for cutting meat, let alone use in combat. The blade had three worn notches and Talon ran his finger gently against them, just enough to feel its sharpness - one, two, three. He was possessed by the feel of it in his hand. The blade empowered him.
Kavyn had stopped talking and turned to pull the remaining potatoes from their crate. I was nearly caught because of this foolish boy, Talon thought, the bitter, hateful fire lit again within him. He knew he'd have inevitably been killed, for such is the Noxian way.
Talon ran his fingers along the blade's notches again. The Noxian way... he'd heard that before, in whispers on the streets. The strongest find their way out of the gutter. Weapons were coveted things, weapons - even a simple pair of daggers - were the key to survival. Another whisper, one he'd heard again and again, echoed in his mind: The strong rely on no one but themselves.
Talon clenched the blade in his fist and dashed forward, reaching to put the dagger to Kavyn's throat...
...but the boy whirled around and caught Talon's wrist, blocking his attack. Talon stood shocked. This is wrong, he thought. He remembered the blood on his hands, he remembered dropping the body into the sewer - the first of many.
Kavyn spoke, but the voice was not his own: "Why do you want to join the League, Talon?"
"For General Du Couteau", Talon said. The sewer chamber began to fade to darkness around them. Talon felt the weight of his bladed cloak returning to his shoulders, the illusion shattered. "My search has led me here."
"You fight for yourself", said the summoner imitating Kavyn's form. "You have no allies. You kill to survive, yet you follow at this vanished General's heels like a dog on a leash. Why?"
Talon tried to wrench his arm away, yet he found himself paralyzed not by the summoner's physical strength but by some magical intervention. "I am in his debt. The General spared my life."
"Is your debt not paid? After you spilled the blood of the boy called Kavyn, you swore allegiance to no one. You killed without remorse, and while you killed for Du Couteau until the day he vanished, you may now have freedom if you wish it. Why do you want to join the League, Talon?"
"You misunderstand", Talon hissed. "In the slums of Noxus I killed to survive. Under Du Couteau I killed in his name, but my life was my own. Now - I am nothing, yet I still have my blades. What other purpose can my blades serve?"
"How does it feel, exposing your mind?"
The summoner released him. Talon grasped his cloak and vanished into the dark, leaving the Reflecting Chamber in utter silence. The summoner glanced back and forth, scowling, and stiffened when Talon's blade appeared at his throat.
"Unpleasant", Talon growled into his ear. "Necessary."
And he was gone.
Previous Abilities
Previous Champion Spotlight
Previous Splash Art
Patch History
Rake
- Return base damage reduced 70 / 85 / 100 / 115 / 130 from 70 / 95 / 120 / 145 / 170.
- Assassin's Path
- Bug Fix: Will now be less likely to vault him in the opposite direction than was intended.
- Noxian Diplomacy
- Bug Fix: Range increased to 575 from 500.
- Blade's End
- Base damage increased to Template:Pp18 from Error: Parameter '3' is not accepted..
- Shadow Assault
- Bonus AD ratio increased to 100% bonus AD from 80%.
- Stats
- Base magic resistance increased to 39 from 32.1.
- Base armor reduced to 30 from 32.
- Stats
- Base health regeneration reduced to 8.5 from 8.51.
- Noxian Diplomacy
- New Effect: Now draws nearby minion aggro when targeting an enemy champion.
- Stats
- Base attack damage increased to 68 from 60.
- Base armor increased to 32 from 26.88.
- Base health increased to 588 from 583.
- Health growth increased to 95 from 90.
- Blade's End
- Base damage increased to Error: Parameter '3' is not accepted. from Error: Parameter '3' is not accepted..
- Noxian Diplomacy
- Base damage increased to 65 / 90 / 115 / 140 / 165 from 60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160.
- Rake
- Base damage increased to 70 / 95 / 120 / 145 / 170 from 60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160.
- Blood Moon Talon
- Blade's End
- Bug Fix: VFX are now more visible on elevated terrain.
- Noxian Diplomacy
- Changed several interactions where it overwrotes any spell queuing commands, instead forcing the caster to immediately begin basic-attacking once the ability completed.
- Noxian Diplomacy
- Base damage reduced to 60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160 from 80 / 110 / 120 / 140 / 160.
- SSW Talon
- Rake
- Bug Fix: Blades no longer look like Talon's normal blades on the return trip for everyone else but him.
- Stats
- Mana regeneration growth increased to 0.75 from 0.5.
- Blade's End
- Slightly bumped up brightness of passive particles.
- Noxian Diplomacy
- Heal increased to Template:Pp18 from Template:Pp18.
- General
- New ability icons.
- Attack frame improved.
- Stats
- Base movement speed reduced to 335 from 350.
- Health growth increased to 90 from 85.
- Base attack damage increased to 60 from 55.
- Base attack speed reduced to 0.625 from 0.668.
- Attack speed growth increased to 2.9% from 2.7%.
- Blade's End (new innate)
- New Innate: Talon's abilities Wound enemy champions and epic monsters damaged for a 6 seconds, stacking up to 3 times. When Talon attacks a fully stacked enemy, they bleed for Template:Pp18 (+ 200% bonus AD) physical damage over the next 2 seconds. Rake and Shadow Assault will not apply multiple stacks for multiple blades, but will apply up to two stacks for the outward and inward effects.
- Noxian Diplomacy
- Revised Active: Talon strikes his target, dealing them 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 / 160 (+ 100% bonus AD) physical damage. If cast from melee range, Talon will critically strike them instead for 「 120 / 150 / 180 / 210 / 240 (+ 150% bonus AD) physical 」「 150% 」 damage. Whenever Noxian Diplomacy kills a unit, Talon restores Template:Pp18 health and refunds 50% of its cooldown.
- Cooldown increased to 8 / 7.5 / 7 / 6.5 / 6 seconds from 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 / 4.
- Mana cost reduced to 30 at all ranks from 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60.
- Range: 550 / 170
- Revised Active: Talon strikes his target, dealing them 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 / 160 (+ 100% bonus AD) physical damage. If cast from melee range, Talon will
- Rake
- Cooldown reduced to 9 seconds at all ranks from 10.
- Mana cost reduced to 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 from 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80.
- Slow increased to 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60% from 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40%.
- Slow duration reduced to 1 second from 2.
- New Effect: Slow now only applies when the blades return.
- New Effect: Now has a 0.7 seconds delay before returning to Talon.
- Range increased to 900 from 750.
- Arc reduced to 22° from 40°.
- Outgoing damage changed to 50 / 65 / 80 / 95 / 110 (+ 40% bonus AD) from 30 / 55 / 80 / 105 / 130 (+ 60% bonus AD).
- Return damage increased to 60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160 (+ 60% bonus AD) from 30 / 55 / 80 / 105 / 130 (+ 60% bonus AD).
- Total damage changed to 110 / 150 / 190 / 230 / 270 (+ 100% bonus AD) from 60 / 110 / 160 / 210 / 260 (+ 120% bonus AD).
- Assassin's Path (new E)
- Active: Talon dashes over the target structure or piece of terrain, with the dash's speed based on his own movement speed. Talon cannot cast Assassin's Path on the same piece of terrain for a set duration.
- Can vault over player-made terrain as well.
- Cooldown: 2 seconds
- Per-Target Cooldown: 160 / 135 / 110 / 85 / 60 seconds (can be reduced by cooldown reduction) A red ring will highlight used terrain to Talon.
- Shadow Assault
- Base damage per hit reduced to 80 / 120 / 160 from 120 / 170 / 220.
- AD ratio increased to 80% bonus AD from 75% bonus AD.
- New Effect: Blades now have a minimum lifetime of 0.8 seconds before returning to Talon.
- New Effect: If Talon breaks stealth with a basic attack or Noxian Diplomacy, the blades will converge on his target's location instead of his own.
- New Effect: Now has way more blades.
- Stealth reclassified as Invisibility.
- Shadow Assault
- Mana cost increased to 100 at all ranks from 80 / 90 / 100
- Cooldown increased to 100 / 80 / 60 from 75 / 65 / 55
- Stats
- Mana increased to 377.2 from 327.2
- Mana growth reduced to 37 from 40
- General
- Texture update to Classic, Crimson Elite, Dragonblade, and Renegade
- General
- New Classic artwork
- Cutthroat
- Bug Fix: Not scoring assists
- Noxian Diplomacy
- Animation speed increased (gameplay unchanged)
- Cutthroat
- Removed: Silence
- New Effect: Slows target by 99% for 0.25 seconds
- Shadow Assault
- New Effect: Haste animation for when Talon gains bonus movement speed
- Stats
- Armor increased to 21 from 17
- Shadow Assault
- Bug Fix: Stealth removed by using Flash
- Removed: Stealth removed by activating Noxian Diplomacy
- Bug Fix: Stealth removed by using
- Dominion
- Noxian Diplomacy
- Base damage reduced to 30 / 55 / 80 / 105 / 130 from 30 / 60 / 90 / 120 / 150
- Shadow Assault
- Cooldown increased to 85 / 75 / 65 seconds from 75 / 65 / 55
- Cutthroat
- Blink landing changed to slightly further behind target
- Noxian Diplomacy
- Bleed damage reduced to 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 from 18 / 36 / 54 / 72 / 90
- Bleed AD ratio reduced to (+ 100% Bonus AD) from (+ 120% Bonus AD)
- Cutthroat
- Bug Fix: Damage amplification not applying
- Bug Fix: Rake sometimes firing backwards after blinking
- Shadow Assault
- Base damage reduced to 120 / 170 / 220 from 120 / 190 / 260
- AD ratio reduced to (+ 75% Bonus AD) from (+ 90% Bonus AD)
- Stats
- Movement speed increased to 350 from 325
- Stats
- Armor increased to 20.5 from 18.5
- Shadow Assault
- New Effect: Allied-ultimate HUD indicator will go grey on-cast
- 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
- Stats
- Health regen reduced to 7.25 from 9.5
- Mana regen reduced to 6.75 from 10
- Added