Taric Build Guide by Carrot

Intro:

HEY

I love Taric
I have used many builds
Made for support
This is my first guide
So read

along

Runes:

Runes are not too important to ME, though I am max level, but if any, I highly recommend cool down reduction marks and magic resistance glyphs, armor seals, and Swiftness Quintessences.
I chose these because for Taric since cool downs mean more heals, and stuns, which is VERY important for Taric, and since he is tanky, why not give a boost to them in armor and magic resist. The Quintessences are there so just in case you cant escape, or can't kill a champion with your stun, you are more likely to get away or pick up the kill.

Masteries:

Well, I don't really care too much about this either, but I did 8/11/11, ending with the cool down on offense, indomitable on defense, and spell vamp on Utility. Just as I have said, Cool down is very important, and the AP boost before it is also useful to increase the level of heal you have. Indomitable is very useful starting the game, since you will take a lot less damage. Though, primarily, Taric is a lot more utility. Prioritize that first, then Defense, then offense. Remember, many champs can be tanks, but you are special, you are Taric.

Summoner Spells:

This will explain which spells to use, and which to not use.
Great
Good
Meh
Not really :/
STAY AWAY

Flash- If you are getting ganked, this allows for easy getaway and makes CC useless. This is a must have. This is Taric's best spell to escape with.

Clairvoyance- This skill is pretty much a 5 second ward wherever. This is useful if you don't want to buy a ward(though you probably should), if you need to check undetected areas, and to get the opposing teams item information so you know what they are building(use this at the beginning of the game on their spawn). At first I couldn't see the use of his skill until I used it every opportunity I could, and then it was very useful, for enemies in the brush would always be found, and they would get ganked!

Heal- This is good for mostly having squishy laning partners, and it can make a large difference especially if you don't have enough mana to cast your regular heal. This also can win team fights, so I recommend it.

Teleport- Well as Taric you should be in as many team fights you can, and this maximizes the chance you will be in one. Therefore, it is a good skill.

Cleanse- This is good against playing ranked games with high CC. It will serve more better than flash, but this is only to be used if you can see on the other team that they have high CC.\

Rally- I have won many teamfights with this ability, so I recommend trying it out, many people don't like this, but I think it is very good for team fights.

Surge- This is a good skill to supercharge your laning partner, use mostly for AS champions or AP casters. Yet again, many people do not like this, but using this in a team fight really makes a difference. Use it MOSTLY for long range AS champs.

Promote- So imagine this, you are about to have a team fight 5v5, so you promote a minion, and go off to help. When the enemy team is (hopefully)dead, they will have 2 turrets destroyed! That is why this skill is good. Even if they win the team fight, 2 turrets were just knocked down, which will be a weak spot in the future, possibly even winning the game!

Exhaust- This is not very recommended, but I can see why you would use it. If that first stun doesn't kill them, then the Exhaust will! It is useful, but possibly not necessary, so use it when you think you are going against ranked teams, so you know that Ex. Mundo always gets away and he is on the other team. So does Master Yi and Shaco and they are on the other team too.
Knowing this will mean you might as well get Exhaust so your partner will guaranteed pick up the kill.

Ghost- High CC teams will have a ball with you.

Revive- I could see why you would pick this(to be in all team fights) however Teleport does so better, and Revives cool down is quite low, AND sometimes you won't even get there in time, so it is very bad.

Clarity- With this skill you get a lot of mana back, and so does your laning partner, so you might want to get this if you have an AP caster in your lane. Though you can get mana by hitting minions(which is what you should do) your partner usually can't. HOWEVER, your item build should be geared toward
giving your partner what you can. This is only useful in team fights when no one has mana. HOWEVER people have plenty of mana mid and late game, so it is only useful for beginning game when there are relatively NO TEAM FIGHTS.

Ignite- Ignite makes sure you pick up the kill... I don't reccomend this. You are trying to make your laning partner OVER 9000 and you should be getting assists. Using this usually means your partner won't get the kill, and besides, most carries (champs you will mostly lane with) HAVE Ignite, so why 2?

Items:

SO there are many beginning items you can buy, but it all depends, and I mean

ALL

depends on your laning partner,your team, and the opposing team.

So this is how I organized it. FIRSTLY, establish with your partner what they are going to build, and possibly remind them to base it off the other team. Yes you are trying to defeat the other team, but it is more important to do what you can to fit into your laner's role and help him or her as much as possible. SO find out, then this what I build for THE FIRST ITEMS and here they are:

AD/Tanky: If they fit into this category, go for an It gives Taric a tankiness and really helps your team out overall. I highly recommend it.

Vamp/AS: If they fit into this, go for a This fits very well with Taric, for it has cool down reduction.

AP: Go for a which gives Taric AP and really is useful to your partner.

Mana Regen/cool down: Go for a that gives you a good amount of hp and helps your partner keep up in mana costs.

Squishy: This depends more on your team, not your partner. If your whole team is squishy, get the but if it just your partner, don't waste your money, get an The Solari gives a very useful shield t your team, and makes large differences in the game, where the Emblem of Valor simply helps your teammate. OR buy a . Shurelya's is VERY useful for your WHOLE team. Im not sure If Iron or Shurelya's is better, there actives are both VERY GOOD.

To explain this section further more, choose the item best suited for your partner, and pretty much your starting items will be based off of it. I.E. My laning partner is Garen. He tells me he is going AD tanky (which is assumable I guess). I will then build for an because he fits into the role that the Aegis should be used for, and our team is balanced, so it will help our team. So my starting Items will be CLOTH ARMOR, 2 hp pots, and a ward. The formula used for your starting item is to buy a very cheap item, and buy wards coinciding with hp pots. If you have Clairvoyance it is not as bad to NOT buy wards, however you MUST buy them still, because, yes Clairvoyance has a small cool down, but anything can happen in a minutes time. If anything, try to keep the number of hp pots and wards close to each other. Of course, later you won't be buying as many potions, and you will be focusing more on buying wards.

AGAIN this will determine your first buys and what to build for. As shoes go, here they are:
Other team got CC?
They got high hp champs with high dmg?
They got low hp champs with high dmg?
They got NOTHING ON YOU?

MID-GAME

So now you got those helpful buys, now its time to think how you can use the power of gems to nullify the opponent's power or how to screw them in any aspect. Also, try to think about what to buy that will increase survivability, since you don't want to die, or AP, since your heal and shatter scale off it.
For the first I have these items:

This is a great item countering any heavy AD teams, and slows them down, so your team can omnomnom them right up.

This reduces magic resist of enemies and gives you more heal power. Good for AP teams.

This. Is. FABULOUS! It shows those silly AP casters to really think about who you call gay.

This is also quite fabulous. The detailed gems in it really bring out my eye.... wait oh yeah another counter to AP's.

this is one of my favorite items, because it makes me tanky, makes there AS worse, and increases cooldown by 20%!!! That's 1 more heal every minute, and one more stun!!!

A way of telling Master Yi to shut up.

For the second, I chose these:

Gives you Hp,AP, AND slows enemies every time they take SPELL DMG. SO. Every time you stun, you can position your self to where they are escaping, use your Shatter afterward, and SLOW THEM, this is VERY useful for you.

This is your teammates get away cart. VERY useful. That's why it is listed twice. Though this is great to help teamates escape, they already have a flash usually, so I don't really use it that much. HOWEVER, it is good for escaping, HOWEVER good players will escape HOWEVER.... you know what just buy it if your team is squishy K?

I am very sure this is a match made in heaven. Just look at how perfect it goes with his gems. The skin radiates off with the Ult he uses, creating a purple blue harmony made only to show off the curves of Taric's body ever more.......
Yeah it's pretty awesome, I know. Mainly cool down ap, mana......And Dat passive... Rawr

This is pretty much a better item than Deathfire grasp... unless you are going with hp, buy this instead.

I'm not sure about AD with Taric, however my choices for those would be the Hexdrinker, and Guinsoo's Rageblade, or a Manamune if YOU think it's neccessary, doing so you shoould not focus to much on mana regen or mana, but more on AP and AD, since Taric's Passive will go along with your AD output.

For cheap alternatives, if you have very low cash, buy a Moonflair Spellblade for its tenacity and AP, or a Fiendish Codex and build torwards another item. You would probably buy the Fiendish anyway, but I like the Spellblade against high cc teams.

As snowball items go, Leviathan is good for getting a lot of assists, and Atma's Impaler if you have a high amount of hp, and want more use out of that passive and more AD overall. This goes with the AD argument above, where mana regen is based off of it, so it is only useful with very high hp.

Now...ENDGAME

SO you think you are fabulous? Well here are the items for the different situations:

YOU are very fast and can easily land a hit>

I have so much hp o_o>

I have so much Team fights(many supports usually have many assists(that I know of)and more deaths, this item causes there to be less deaths, so you can do what you have to without fear of dying!) O_O> HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I WANT AP TO HEAL AND KILL MUAHAHA>

AD/AP plz? This is better than a Trinity force.>

Everything else, just have a slot open for constant Wards and Potions. K?

Skill Sequence:

Put your first point into Dazzle, and leave it there, because the duration does not increase, leave it for the end. I chose it first because it is the most useful ans can help get first blood. Next pick either Shatter or imbue. Under most circumstances where your partner gets NO DMG (relatively) Just pick Shatter, then Imbue, or visa-versa if your partner is heavily damaged and squishy. Then pick Imbue, then Shatter, And alternate between the two until Dazzle. This prioritises utility and support the best I have found, and goes with the item builds well.

Teamwork:

This is quite simple. Every time there is a team fight, BE THERE!
You are Taric, shouldn't you be utilizing all of your utility spells? I respect human intelligence and with the information on this guide, I am sure you will do what is necessary in a team fight.

Farming CARROTS:

Let your partner farm mostly, only farm a lot if he is dead or gone,LAST HIT while laning with your partner. Always push when you can to utilize your passive. You may use your , however if you can speculate possible fights, do not waste mana.

Using Carrotaric Well:

Alright so lets get basic

Gemcraft

This ability lets Taric have much mana. Use it as much as possible so you will have as much mana as you can, mainly used on minions.

Imbue

This is used to heal others, use it wisely. The only thing I can say is, again, hitting minions will cause the cool down to be reduced by much, which is very good to heal a lot, however it uses a lot of mana, so use it when you NEED it, yes it costs less than Dazzle but the cost increases to be more over time.

Shatter

If any skill, try to use this to harass, if you know you can't, don't waste your Shatter, just make sure your partner is all good. This is a good harassment tool, for it deals the highest damage(besides your ult)
and lowers the opponents armor AND has the highest cooldown rate. However, try not to over do it, because in using it, you must wait a while before the aura of armor comes back, in that time if they hit you it will deal more damage! After using this I like using Dazzle, or visa- versa if they are out of reach.

Dazzle

This spells out the death for many.You must use this carefully. If any order of priority, in team fights, go with Assassins, AD carries, since many have dashes, then AP casters, since they usually cant get away, then supports, then tanks. Usually you will get an assist from using this correctly, however, your teammates will have to use the most out of it, otherwise you will not get many.

ULTIMATE

It has a pretty good cool down so use it frequently, and use it in team fights as soon as possible to give your teammates that boost it has(at max, 35 AD and AP to allies). Yeah :P

Besides that make sure your lane is always warded, to call M I A's, to make sure your item build is helping your team, or negating the other, use your A LOT, always be in team fights, know your jungle times(Usually you should know this for ranked, and even so, many do not need this information, so ranked only plz!), and use your spells efficiently!

Your Team:

I VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY much recommend that you get friends to play with you, and to have a good one lane with you. This means, nine times out of ten, if you use your Dazzle well, you will get a kill. It is as simple as that.

Why Not Tank:

FIRST OF ALL, Taric is a good tank, but there are better champs that can tank. Secondly, look at Sona, then look at Taric, then look at Karma, then look at Taric, then look at Zilean, then look at Taric, then look..Teemo... OK I think you understand. Do those people build tanky? NO! NONE OF THEM SHOULD! Of course I'm taking into the fact that Taric is not(are not....his essence....HE IS A DIFF CHAMP!) those champs, but supports should be barely Tanky, more utility RIGHT!? If you see the pattern from champ to champ that is a support, I am sure utility is their purpose.(I.E. Zilean's speed/slow revive and quick cooldown, Sona's heal and stun, Karma's heal, slow/speed, Teemo's slow/speed invisible and blind! If this isn't proof as to what a support should be I WILL MAKE A HUGE SECTION!(quite unlikely). So, the common trait is utility, not tank, so don't yell and scream when you see I didn't put Randuin's Omen at the item build at the top, or Banshee's, that build is for MOST situations, not counter. I put these items in my guide, so they are not useless, but in a normal game, the item build I posted should be fine. Leave tanking to the tank, not the support.

Carrotsummary:

This is my build, hope you enjoyed reading it, and thanks for any helpful comments on making this build better. This is a work in PROGRESS, I am planning to add more over time, for now use this information for your benefit.
By the way I will be adding guide update notes, since I update quite frequently.

3/3/12-Removed Trinity Force, it is not as useful as a Frozen Mallet, and is far too expensive., added No Tank Section.

3/8/12-Working on a "Which champion to lane with" section, and possibly a ward placement section. Bumped up Ghost and Clarity after some heavy review. I WILL CHANGE THEIR TEXT ASAP