Hey guys. This is my first build on Mobafire, and I would like to thank you for checking out my guide. I will be going into detail about how I play Taric. Unlike most builds out there, mine focuses on utilizing the Triforce/Warmogs/Atma's combo which fits Taric like a glove. The natural burst Taric has with his dazzle/shatter mixes with these items to do enough damage to surprise many players(including yourself). For those players who use a more AP-ish build for Taric, I am not claiming my build is superior in every way cause it's not. This is a unique way to play Taric that uses him in a different role than AP Taric which is sometimes much more effective. This build has worked great for me, and I hope y'all give it a few tries. Trust me, it will grow on you. If you have any recommendations and questions, please post them.

Pros

Very difficult to kill because of the amount of health
Very good ganker/roamer
Will get your lane partner fed
Can deny the enemy team in lane
Can destroy turrets

Cons

Mana Hungry
Has trouble getting farmed without gold/5 items
Mana Hungry
Needs good team communication/team comp to be successful
Did i mention he is Mana Hungry???

Taric is fairly non dependent on one mastery path to be successful. I have found that I do the best with either a 0/9/21 or 9/0/21 setup, but I have tried 9/21/0 and 0/21/9 with success as well. I just prefer to have the movement speed and the decreased cool downs from 21 points in the utility tree. I would recommend starting with the 0/9/21 or 9/0/21 path for your first few games though.

I like use 3x's Greater Quintessence of Fortitude with 9x's Greater Glyph of Warding and 9x's Greater Seal of Resilience. This give Taric a very strong first few levels which is necessary for exerting your lane presence early on in the lane. As for marks, I like to use 9x's Greater Mark of Desolation for two reasons: 1)it allows Taric passive to return more mana and 2) so when you are pestering the enemy in your lane, they feel it more.

99.9% of the time you will want to grab dazzle first(your e). This allows you have a team gank on either the team's jungler or on an unsuspecting lane to pick up first blood with great success. After that your leveling will look like this R>W>Q>E. Your shatter does great early game damage, and since this is not an AP Taric, Leveling dazzle for the damage is not important. Sometimes yo will want to grab a few more points in imbue if you are having trouble in your lane, but that is not something you will have to worry about often.

Here are better descriptions of his abilities:

Gemcraft
Taric's attacks restore mana equal to 7.5% of the damage dealt.

This is a good passive for Taric because he is always hungry for mana. The most effective was to use this is to attack every creep in the wave and help your lane partner(should be an ad carry) get every last hit.

Imbue
Taric brings forth earthen energy to heal his target. As the magic flows through him he is healed for the same amount. If Taric heals only himself, the total effect will be 1.4X the base heal amount.

This is a very strong heal and will keep both you and your lane partner very healthy. It might even save his life a few times. One thing is don't be stingy with it, and if you have any doubt, heal heal heal.


Shatter
Taric is protected by a hardening aura, increasing the armor of himself and nearby allied champions. He may choose to splinter the enchanted rocks surrounding him to deal damage and decrease the armor of nearby enemies at the cost of the aura for a short time.

This is a very good ability for several reasons. First of all, It gives you a ton of armor without having rely on items for his armor needs. Second, it gives you great burst early in the lane game when combined with his stun. Finally, it can buff your allies and debuff you enemy's which can make all the difference in team fights. Needs to be maxed as quickly as possible.

Dazzle
Taric emits a brilliant ball of prismatic light from his gemmed shield, stunning and damaging his enemies.

This is a great tool for ganking, initiating, stopping channels, and most importantly saving a teammates ***. In teamfights, this needs to be used properly due to the semi-lengthy cooldown.

Radiance
Taric emits a brilliant light, healing himself and increasing physical damage for surrounding allied units.

This ultimate takes some time to get the timing correct. When used right, you and your team's damage will be significantly increased, you will mop up in teamfights. Also, a great shill for powering down some turrets. Needs to be used sparingly to conserve mana.

My Favorite spells to use are Flash and Exhaust. Flash because Taric lacks a good escape ability, and flashing over a wall to safety is still a feeling like no other. Exhaust because your when your enemies get stunned then exhausted, they tend to drop rather quicky.

Others spells that I would recommend include ghost for the escape, Ignite for the extra burst, and Teleport for the lane presence. I personally prefer flash and exhaust cause it fits who I am and my playstyle, but you will find success with any of these Summoner spells.

In this section I will explain which items I like to get on Taric. Te actual build order will be explained in more detail in the Gameplay Section.

Core Items


These boots are great for ganking and getting your carries fed. In my opinion, it is necessary to have these if you want to be able to roam and property support you team.

philosopher's stone
I like to grab two of these for several reasons. For starters, you play the role as a support off-tank, so you will be sacrificing your minion kills so your lane partner can get almost every last hit. This really hurts your gold income so gold/5 items are necessary for this playstyle. Another thing is that Taric need to keep his mana supply up and 2 of these babies will do a good job while ganking and roaming. The extra health regeneration is just icing on the cake.


This item is not normally seen on a Taric, but trust me it is wonderful on him. When this item is completed, you will be no easy kill with your shatter passive and a ton of health and health regen. While it is expensive, with the gold/5 items you will get it in no time. Just make sure you get the passive on it farmed up. An extra 450 health can make all the difference.

You always need to get these items first. After these you can go in several directions which I will cover here

Late game items

Damage


This item goes great with your warmog's and it will give you a significant increase in damage while still keeping you very tanky. Also, a little crit never hurt anybody.


All of the stats that this item gives Taric can use well. It gives a great burst when combined with shatter and and dazzle. Works especially well with Atma's cobined with your ult for a burst that is will cripple any enemy squishy.

Magic Resist

This item is great for those heavy cc teams. Being able to block one spell can change a teamfight. Also the heath, mana, and Magic resist stats are fantastic on Taric.


Works really well when combined with warmog's. Gives a ton of magic resist and health regen and the movement speed is nice too. I personally think that the veil out preforms the FoN on Taric.


while this is no an AP build, this item works well when combined with this build. Taric gets some needed magic resist, and his spells now hit for a little more damage. His heal also gets a little better too which is nice. The best part about this item though is the debuff on the enemy. 20 spell penetration can help everybody on the team. If your team lacks one, get it.

Armor


Is very useful on Taric but is expensive, and he already is stacked with armor. Let your tank get it for the active and get your self something better unless you need more health and armor. Very situational.


If the enemy is mostly or all AD this item will kill their DPS. The 500 mana is also a great bonus. A item that is great in certain situations. Not a main item.

Fun items


Gives you stats that will increase your general DPS along with your heal. It's a great item to get when the other team cant kill you and you just want to stomp them out. Great as a last item to finish off the enemy's remaining turrets.


Like the rageblade the attack speed will help your DPS. The important thing about this item is the CDR and the mana regen, both great stats or Taric.


The main reason to get this item is for the aura. If no one on you team has it, it is a great last item to have.

One thing to remember is to sell you boots of mobility. Late game you need something else. This is a personal choice.

While i have tested all of these items, my typical build against a balanced team when the game is over is this:

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Early Game: levels 1-6

I always start with boots of speed followed by 2 health pots and one mana pot. The movement speed gives me a huge advantage for ganking, and my runes make me very tanky to start. If we have a jungler, I always help hi out by scouting the brush around him to make sure he is safe. Nothing will throw your team off more than a gank in you jungle. If the other team has a jungler, it might be a good idea to gank him at their blue. If it works, your team a huge advantage 2 minutes into the game.

Now it is time to chose my lane partner. Taric works great with an AD carry to to the fact that shatter reduces the enemy armor. Although Taric can solo top, he should never be expected to do it. Other champs need the farm more than him. If your team does not have a jungler, and the enemy does, ALWAYS GO TOP WITH THE AD CARRY! I cannot stress how important that is. Taric can completely box out an enemy champion in that situation. This keeps their top solo from getting any cs and if you and your partner do a good enough job, your AD carry will out level their solo with well over a hundred cs early in the game. If your in a 2v1, all you do is wait until level 2, ad when the enemy gets to close, dazzle/shatter/smack him. Do this combo until either he has to blue pill, or y'all can get an easy kill. While you are doing that, all your partner has to do is last hit to his hearts content. You should should only last hit when your partner is not there, or they are going to miss the last hit. This is a general blueprint of how to lane early. If you need more mana, smack some minions around and your passive will help you out. Remember you can hit the minions so your partner can get the last hit. Taric is not dependent on these kills like a carry is. Remember your job is to support, not carry.

Roaming

After you get your boots of mobility, grab some pots and some ward and gank like you never have before. Your stun is so good that if you catch the enemy team off gaurd, it will surely lead to a kill for the team. But doing this, the enemy team will be in constant fear of you and wont push as hard. Also, if you have a jungler, there are 3 solo lanes at this point so your team will have a level and gold advantage over the other team. Get 2 philo stones and remember to ward all the key locations.

Meta game

It is now time for the meta game where Taric is at his best. You will be using his super high movement speed to chase down their squishes and take out their turrets. Turrets are starting to go down, and hopefully your team is winning. You should be saving up for your warmog's/triforce/atma's combo. These items are expensive so make sure you are always either farming or helping with kills. Team fight are starting so you have to be your best. Make sure your whole team knows who to focus, and you need to stun them over and over. Keep placing wards. To ensure your team victory, you have to keep an eye on the important parts of the map. My an oracle if you need to to destroy their wards.

Late game

As the game winds down, your build be be mostly complete and you would be doing a great job in your support/off-tank role. Remember to adapt to the other team so you can better help win those major teamfights. By using your abilities and auras well, your team should clean up in teamfights and you will get a lot of comments like "Pro Taric", or "Taric carry" or my personal favorite "taric OP" or "Taric Broken". At this point you know you have done a good job where all you have to say is "U Mad Bro?????"

I hope Y'all try out this build, and have great success with it. It is my go to Taric build and it does a great job. Dont for get that as Taric you want more assist than kills, and sometime you will have to die to protect your carry's killing spree. Feel free to send me screen shots of games where you played well and I would love to post them.

Thanks,
TopFisherMan