Why use a talon?

[SVTcobra]

I don't understand why people use talon. Only thing I cAn think of is it has good dps. But damage ratings isnt very good. Can someone explain to me the purpose of using a talon?

[Darkfader]

With talon you can use wing shield. So you get armor higher and better survivability at dungeons.

[XchilangopwnX]

This has been discussed before, I believe. Talons offer better armor at the cost of less base damage. Bows offer better damage at the cost of armor. Depending on what you prefer, armor or damage, you may choose what you wish to use.

[sun light]

realy why?? lol ure not see that u actualy dmg like 30. lol os like lvl 40 haha
so yea... u servive... but u r walking like a ghost there lol
thing about that

[XchilangopwnX]

realy why?? lol ure not see that u actualy dmg like 30. lol os like lvl 40 haha
so yea... u servive... but u r walking like a ghost there lol
thing about that
Sorry I really didn't understand. What I got is that there isn't a good reason use talon sets, right? Ok, I guess you're about l level 4x because of your example. Many like to use talons in groups where you have a fail tank/mage. Pure dex birds are squishy so if you have a fail team, that will only lead to your death number rising, quite rapidly. Lol. So like I said it's up to per sd on as l preference. In Sewers I equip my sewer king set, but if I see that i'm being hit a lot, I pull out my talon set which gives me 134 armor. :)

[Tamino]

Archers damage comes from skills as much as main weapon, and skill damage is reduced by a 25-30% only by wearing a talon instead of a bow. I don't like to revert to talons, but in some cases (bad teams, soloing, maps with high threat level) it is a viable option instead of lying on the ground and yelling "Rev!" every 30 seconds.

[Moogerfooger]

Archers damage comes from skills as much as main weapon, and skill damage is reduced by a 25-30% only by wearing a talon instead of a bow. I don't like to revert to talons, but in some cases (bad teams, soloing, maps with high threat level) it is a viable option instead of lying on the ground and yelling "Rev!" every 30 seconds.

Nah, that *never* happens with fail teams, lol :D

Like the others have said, it is just a survivability issue. What some people don't realize is that your skill damage suffers pretty noticeably too on top of the base weapon damage, like Tamino said.

[wvhills]

I don't understand why people use talon. Only thing I cAn think of is it has good dps. But damage ratings isnt very good. Can someone explain to me the purpose of using a talon?

The main reason people would use talons is because they don't want to use a recurve that does a lot more damage. I guess they're just afraid of helping the group too much. Lol. :)

[friedkimchi]

The main reason people would use talons is because they don't want to use a recurve that does a lot more damage. I guess they're just afraid of helping the group too much. Lol. :)

Not true. I switch to talon when there is no tanker(bear/pally/warbird) in my group during Sewer runs. I lead the group and everything goes smoothly. I would only say that those people who use talon during boss fight are close to pointless.

Damage wise, of course talons deal less compared to recurves/xbows/guns.

I've seen too many archers using Recurves/bows dying constantly, me included. Hence I decided to make a defensive set for my archer.

[Asaciuacor]

i use an auto and drainers to tank in sewers with PUGs, i hate talons :)

[Singleteddy]

The main reason people would use talons is because they don't want to use a recurve that does a lot more damage. I guess they're just afraid of helping the group too much. Lol. :) I prefer bow but often switch to talon when there are no mages or the mages don't heal and don't have Resurrect (yes, this happens).

[drewcapu]

I used death talon as a pure bird all throughout BS to L56. I often switch to recurve set at bosses. For me, it wasn't a matter of survivability as much as it was a laziness to use mana pots. If I'm doing multiple runs with a good group I might use recurve the whole time. If there's a good bear, I'm always right behind him. Otherwise, I'm typically up front :)

[Arterra]

Talon hate is entirely misunderstood.

At some areas talons really are pointless, like crocs or places with high armor mobs. However, you have to remember that a bird has 2 very nice armor debuff skills, shattering scream for a aoe and break armor for a particularly tough target.
For my dex bear lv38 I use a shivering ice talon since my main role is to gather targets, and combo them. I get the most armor and regen I can, ranged attack for finishing off people too. Since I know the talon isn't very strong, I use rage when entering groups of mobs.
Talons are not the issue. People who don't know how to debuff and use their skills right are.

Another example: death talon set. The murder rate is high enough to be useful in places like catacombs, and having a bird that refuses to die can be essential in close encounters. If a party member dies, that is one less member to help keep the party alive in a harsh battle. I can swoop in, grab aggro with a good combo, and kill them.
I honestly think that the sentinel talon set is the best item set in the game.

[Moogerfooger]

I honestly think the Custom Recurve set is the best set in the game by far, but then again I get cramps in my finger from spazzing on the health pot button :D but well said on the rest of yer post, Art.

Death Talon may be the "best rounded" set.

[WhoIsThis]

As others have mentioned, it's purely for survivability reasons. In many levels, such as the Catacombs, keeping yourself alive with a bow, crossbow, or blaster is hard. Talon and wing is the way to go. True, there is a loss in damage, but the sheer "usefulness" of a bird (or a dex mage/bear) with a talon rather than a bow is increased.

@Arterra

Some talons do have a break armor proc that stacks, so it may actually make sense to use talons in areas with high armor opponents.

[Arterra]

Armor break talon? I was not aware. What, raid? I've no idea lol, it would actually prob be better than a bow if it helps the team with enough of a debuff.

[WhoIsThis]

Depends on how big the proc is. I can't recall. I know void talon did for sure; someone told me sentinel did; iirc all of the sewer talons have a proc. Need to test sentinel and sewer to be sure though.

[Otukura]

Depends on how big the proc is. I can't recall. I know void talon did for sure; someone told me sentinel did; iirc all of the sewer talons have a proc. Need to test sentinel and sewer to be sure though.

I couldn't find a break armor proc on any of them, 10 mummies in CTK for each one. The stars don't show under the feet and the damage doesn't change. Constantly 68-75.

[Zeubermensch]

One main reason why the talon is so good is because it counts as a ranged weapon, the dagger does not. So shield and dagger for dex tanks, is good but you can only hit things right next to you. The bow is all damage, hardly any armor bonuses. Talon and shield is damage and armor. So it's worth it when you're soloing or have a weaker team. My 2 cents. :)

[Lowlyspy]

Im an exclusive talon user, hate recurves and xbows. Love my death talon set, has helped in many many many tough situations, might not have the same damage output but im soooo much less squishy.

Rlly it is just a personal choice, if u dont want to use a talon then dont, simple as that

[Physiologic]

Here you go

http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?20356-For-Archers-How-weapon-types-damages-affect-skill-damage

[mili-fnord]

i like using daggers more than talons

[Arterra]

i like using daggers more than talons

Well ok then, but you could offer us some insight as to why ;) they don't give enough damage usually to go over the armor barrier.
Now dual daggers, I noticed they have higher damage than talons. I dont remember if it was always like that, but now I'm almost tempted to use them... Let's check skills compared to talons... And bows of course. Also wondering if they have the bleed proc too, don't remember.

[Otukura]

Well ok then, but you could offer us some insight as to why ;) they don't give enough damage usually to go over the armor barrier.
Now dual daggers, I noticed they have higher damage than talons. I dont remember if it was always like that, but now I'm almost tempted to use them... Let's check skills compared to talons... And bows of course. Also wondering if they have the bleed proc too, don't remember.

'cause daggers make you bleeed!!

In all seriousness, I do when I'm playing around, because some daggers don't show their animation. You do tons of 1s, without moving at all. Might've been fixed, haven't tried in 2-3 weeks.

[noobmigo]

I use talon because I like seeing where my talons land on mob.

Oh, HEADSHOT! IN THA EYE!

OOH! NuuuutSHOT! 500 Points!

It's fun throwing knives.

EDIT:BTW, I'm preetty daum sure, that Dual Daggers have a default of 1 DMG. Unproven though. ;)

[Otukura]

Oh, HEADSHOT! IN THA EYE!

OOH! NuuuutSHOT! 500 Points!

It's fun throwing knives.

You are talking about PL?

[noobmigo]

You are talking about PL?

Yes, you know, how the talons stay on the zombie/skeleton/bandy boy/etc./etc. for a while?

[Otukura]

Yes, you know, how the talons stay on the zombie/skeleton/bandy boy/etc./etc. for a while?

Yes.

[noobmigo]

Yes.

AND YOU KNOW HOW SOMETIMES the talon hits in the zombie/skeleton/band boy/etc./etc. eyes, nuts, hands, arms, legs, nuts, eyes, arms, legs? :o

500 points for nutshot, 1000 for eyes......?

[Arterra]

Well I was hitting 50s against a mega age set elf, but pretty darn fast. Also, we noticed no bleed. :( (death dual)

But I did notice when messig around a break armor animation O.o