This is not my guide, this is a friend of mine's who had a guide setup outside of mobafire. I took the liberty to create this guide to make things a little easier to reference for those of us looking to try it out. I really don't care how this gets voted. Comments if constructive will be taken in stride. This is also a Work in Progress. To be finished at a later date.

as such, the skill buildup is a little off, and the item build is not complete. TBC

Quints: 2x Armor Pen; 1x Attack speed
Reds: 9x Armor pen
Yellows: 9x Armor per level
Blues: 9x Magic Resist per level

My first item is a Mekis and 2 blue pots.

I don't follow a strict build list of items, getting things that allow me to help the team in support or tanking.

Must Haves:
Manamune (Damage. Used for passive to keep Ult and Heal Spam going)
Nashor's Tooth (Core AP, Attackspeed and CDR item)

Boots:
Berserk Greaves (for attackspeed)
-Alternatively.
Ionian Boots (CDR to have stun ready vs. dangerous ults like Kat or Nunu)

Good to Haves:
Malady (For AP heavy teams. I carry this in, whack on the focus and drop their magic resist like a boss)
Brutalizer (For towers mostly)
Aegis (If people keep dying like cowards)

Situational:
Thornmail (vs. crit champs like GP or Tryn)
Deathfire Grasp (Health Stackers)
Starks (If the DPS for some reason didn't get it. Armor pen and attack speed ftw!)


I prefer to lane with characters who have large burst damage, or characters with CC.
(In my experience, Gangplanks with crit runes, Sion, Evelynn , Ryze, Morgana or Fiddlesticks work very well.)

The first order of business is to rush bush, and wait for someone to face check or get to close.
Face gets raped and often we see first blood if the Gangplank gets lucky or if I have a Sion along.

From there, proceed to be a Taric. Sit on minions whacking or last hitting (depending on if you are being pushed or have the enemy zoned.) I try to make my self as tempting as possible for harassment, keeping my self topped off with the heal. If they try to go for minions or me its a stun and hammer to the face.

At 950 gold, I go back for boots and my Tear of the Goddess.
I don't rush Manamune until I have most of my Malady done and Boots.

I get the 740 M.res Cape when I can if there is alot of AP casters on the enemy team.

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So why Attack Speed and Attack Damage?

Tarics got two passives that rely on attack speed, and one on attack damage.

His Champ Passive gives 7.5% of his auto attack damage back as mana.
The faster you hit, the faster you regen.
The harder you hit, the more you regen.

His Q's passive (his Heal) has its cool down reduced by 2 seconds on every attack.

In a fight, I am able to pick someone and just start beating on his face. With enough attack speed, I do not stop spamming heals, and I can keep his ultimate running for a very long time.

Pros:
Decent DPS.
Tanks towers early on, enables tower dives very early in.
Lanes like a beast against most lane comps.
Heal Spams
Often Targeted first because he doesn't look "tanky" due to his items until later. This builds a bad habit where the enemy often focuses me first.
Works well as an off tank if a true tank is in the group.

Cons:
CC shuts him down if no tank items are built.
Less AP than a straight build. (Good at much, master of none)
If the team does not fight with the Taric, he can be worn down.
Can't counter enemy tower pushes solo.