Talisman league

"Talismans are infused with the power of the First Ones, the primeval gods of the ancient Ezomytes. The creatures of Wraeclast are instinctively drawn to these relics and the feral vigour they impart."

- Description on the official Path of Exile website

The Talisman leagues were a pair of challenge leagues, one standard and the other hardcore. In these leagues, monsters are possessed by ancient Ezomyte Talismans. These monsters are indicated by green Talisman symbols over their heads. The Talismans grant them additional strength and properties in battle. Killing one of these monsters allows the player to claim its Talisman for himself.

The standard and hardcore versions have the same core mechanics but slightly different items available.

The leagues started on December 11, 2015 along with the release of Version 2.1.0 and ended March 4, 2016. Characters that died in standard Talisman league respawned in the standard Talisman league, while those that died in hardcore Talisman league respawned in Standard league. At the end of the Talisman leagues, all characters and stashes were moved to Standard league and Hardcore league.

Modifier
All areas had:

Talismans
Talismans are a type of amulet. All talismans are corrupted when dropped, so they cannot be modified. They have special implicit modifiers more powerful than ordinary amulets and can be normal, magic, rare, or unique. For the full list of talismans possession effects and other related information, see Talisman.

Shared between HC and SC
These base items were exclusive to the standard and hardcore Talisman leagues:

After the league end, magic and rare Talisman can be acquired from other game mechanics, read Talisman article for details.

Standard league-exclusive
These base items were exclusive to the standard Talisman league:

After the league end, magic and rare Talisman can be acquired from other game mechanics, read Talisman article for details.

Hardcore league-exclusive
These base items were exclusive to the hardcore Talisman league:

After the league end, magic and rare Talisman can be acquired from other game mechanics, read Talisman article for details.

Unique talismans
This unique talisman are exclusive to the standard and hardcore Talisman leagues:

There are additional ways to acquire league-specific item, however.

This unique talisman are exclusive to the standard Talisman league:

There are additional ways to acquire league-specific item, however.

This unique talisman are exclusive to the hardcore Talisman league:

There are additional ways to acquire league-specific item, however.

Unique items
These unique items are exclusive to the Talisman league. Note that unique Talismans exclusive to this league are listed in above section.

There are additional ways to acquire league-specific item, however.

These unique items are exclusive to Rigwald, the Wolven King, the boss of the Talisman league. There are additional ways to acquire Rigwald's unique item, however. Read the articles of the unique items for details.

Unique Bosses
After sacrificing Tier 2 talismans, one of the following unique bosses spawns, possessed by a random Tier 3 talisman:
 * Great Webmother: spider similar to Weaver that spawns spiderlings and casts chaos projectiles.
 * The Scourge of the Wilds: Plummeting Ursa that uses and.
 * Sire of the Falling Skies: Birdman with the projectile effect of.
 * Legion of Lost Souls: Maelström that shoots a cold version of Ball Lightning and splits into two when killed. (?)
 * Primordius: Beast that has effect similar to and uses  and.
 * Death Blossom: Noisome Ophidian
 * Ululat, Maggot-Bearer