Talon Mechanics Preview

Greetings, Summoners!

Today we wanted to bring you a peek into the mechanics behind Talon, the Blade's Shadow, the new assassin that's joining the League!

Talon, the Blade's Shadow, is a physical damage assassin who specializes in high-mobility, high-risk, high-reward gameplay. Our goal with Talon was to create a powerful but fragile melee character with specialized tools to make him both deadly and evasive. As a result, what Talon lacks in durability and sustain, he dishes out in mobility and power. 

The driving force behind Talon's gameplay is the way that he engages and disengages from combat using his four abilities: 

• Cutthroat: An ability that allows Talon to catch his enemies by surprise. Talon leaps behind his target and silences them for a short duration, amplifying the damage of any of his follow up attacks and abilities.
• Noxian Diplomacy: Talon viciously stabs his enemy, dealing heavy physical damage and causing them to leave a blood trail that Talon can use to track them.
• Rake: Talon fans out three blades in front of him that quickly return to him, dealing damage and slowing any target hit in either direction.
• Shadow Assault (Ultimate): Talon enters stealth for a short duration, gaining a movement speed boost and sending blades that deal damage to all enemies in their path flying in every direction. Once the blades reach a certain distance, they pause and form a circle. When Talon reappears from stealth, the blades return to him, once again dealing damage to any opponent they pass through.
• Mercy (Passive): Talon's auto-attacks deal additional damage to a target that is under the influence of any crowd control effect.

Playing Talon effectively is all about reading the situation and reacting strategically to your target. Shadow Assault can be either your saving grace or your deadliest advance. Using it to disappear can sting your target and leave them chasing ghosts. But if it's a fight you want, using it to initiate in conjuction with Cutthroat, Noxian Diplomacy, and Mercy can deal significant burst damage. 

To sum up, Talon's a mean, shadowy, vicious assassin... and we're excited to see him join the League soon. And as a side note, his mobility and elusiveness makes him a very good pick on Dominion!