Taric wields a rainbow of different skills which makes him a very flexible character to play. That being said i find that most players play him either as a full ap healer or as a stuning tank, neglecting his other abilities like the passive gemcraft, armor reducing shatter, an auto attack cooldown reduced heal and a ult that gives both AP and AD in respective quantities. These strange and almost treated as side effect skills is what made me wanna try something different. This guide is the culmination of hours of item testing trying to find taric's hidden potential. Now lets see what I found:)

First things first, Runes. In my opinion Runes arent really that important. As long as they're benefical to the character you play (dont go magic pen on riven for instance:P) the importance of exactly the right runes is by far dwarfed by good play. The runes I use suit me and feel free to play with whatever you feel like. My selection gives me tankiness and a fairly balanced penetration for my skills through out the game.

As with runes the wrong masteries aren't the end of the world. Here however i would not recommend that you stray too far from the suggested. Going 21-9-0 is necessary to get the damage we want out of him. Taric benefits a great deal form both "weapon expertise" and "arcane knowledge" as well as from the required 4% attack speed and cooldown. Continuing down the tree you will see that i have opted for "Archmage", it is possible to take "sunder" instead but from experience you benefit from having the hybrid build lean towards Ability Power. This helps your teammates as well as your heal is the key to your power.

Mercury Threads is a must on Taric. They give him early magic resist that combined with Shatter's armor makes you tanky right of the bat. The tenacity later becomes a must as well as you need to be in constant action, more on that later. Pots are great for that first scuffle for the top and buying mana pots until mid-late game isn't a bad idea as he is mana hungry early on.

Nashor's Tooth is the core item this build id built around. For Taric this item has no dead weight stats. Ability Power, Attack Speed, mana regen and cooldown reduction are all essential stats in this build and as this is reflected in the next items lets go into detail. AP gives every skill damage and increases the heal amount of Imbue. Attack speed reduces the cooldown of Imbue and increases the damage you deal with auto attacks which in turn gives you mana. Cooldown reduction is important to keep those heals a coming, stun all the time and you can use your burst combo of shatter and radiance more often. The mana regen helps with his early game mana dependency, as he late game becomes capable of fueling his skills through auto attacks.

Guinsoo's Rageblade is not the most popular item for any champion because it requires people to stand still to use it to the full, but for hybrid taric it gives him the right stats and here's a fun fact. People don't fear taric, they will very often think that he's a damage less pushover and engage him 1v1 to their regret. By the time they realize you're winning the duel it's too late. You have a fully stacked rageblade and a stun for keeping them there in addition to the slow of phage later in the build:) As seen above I next recommend a ruby crystal, this can be picked up before the rageblade if you are in the base and don't have enough cash for pickaxe or blasting wand.

Trinity Force is a great item for Taric as it further gives him hybrid power and an array of other damage supporting stats. Furthermore Taric has the highest base damage on auto attacks at lvl 1 and the 4. highest at lvl 18 in the game making him a fit wielder of Trinity Force. In building i prefer to get sheen first even when I have already bought the ruby crystal. An exception to this would be if they are slippery preys and always seem to get away. In that case get phage first.

After building trinity force the game ends. This is true 90% of the time. The game isn't long enough to support more items unless it's one of those rare even games. If you're done and still have gold and time I prefer to go defensive. Your damage at this point should be ample and you gain more by living longer in team fights and healing your teammates. If the opposing team is mostly AD or have a strong as carry go thornmail, if they got AP in buckets go for wit's end wich further increases damage awhile giving you a nice amount of resistance. Building items after this is so rare i have never seen it happen but if it does go nut and buy a black cleaver or something:)

Taric starts out rather weak for the first half of the game so your role will be support in those first minutes. Take one of each skill as they have all long cooldowns and none of the gives any great edge at lvl 2. Then max out shatter first. This gives your teammates valubale early armor and you get a decent nuke and armor reducer. Leveling heal first is a bad idea as it will only drain your mana in the early game where the heal is weak anyway, max it second after shatter. Dazzle stuns for 1.5 seconds on any rank, the cooldown reduction for leveling the skill is low and the AP scaling not so great so max it last. Ult should of course be taken as soon as available on 6, 11 and 16.

Summoner spells are a matter of personal choice so go for whatever floats your boat but i choose ghost and revive in every game on almost every champion, why? Because dominion is all about mobility, being there when needed. Revive makes it possible to resurrect when bot i threatened or when only you are dead you can resurrect to make the top fight 4v4 rather than 3v4. Furthermore with a mastery point in "Summoner's Resolve" you get a speed boost that really comes in handy for getting around, see for your self. And let's not forget the health bonus from revive that works great on a champion like Taric with high resistances.

If you haven't guessed by now this is a hybrid build. Don't let that put you of though until you have tried it. Keeping that in mind I don't play as a carry and neither should you, Tarics power lies in his ability to keep his teammates at the advantage. always look for a teammate to heal or an enemy to stun. Play smart and victory comes easier. The damage he deals isn't much on the total score you will never be the top damage dealer as his power lies in heavy burst damage. What you will top on the other hand is the healing done statistic. Even with this damage build i always end up with 15k-20k healed in a full game. That's enough to save several lives:)

-Always use radiance before shatter as the extra Ap goes into shatter
-When defending top always stay hidden(unless you have a wounded teammate with you) as you can engage with stun and get of your burst combo while the target still stands under the tower.
-Never initiate with stun from bush(situational), let them come to you and stun them when they try to run.
-Whenever you can hit minions for mana and cooldown reduction on Imbue.
-In team fights dont chase targets long distances, pick the closest target and hit them to reset cooldown of heal and help your teammates.
-Remember that when you have Trinity force in the build you can kill any melee in the game 1v1 including: Akali, Darius, Fiora, Irelia, Jax, Jayce, Kha'Zix, Lee sin, Master Yi, Olaf, Phanteon, Poppy, Renekton, Rengar, Riven, Sion, Skarner, Talon, Other Tarics:P, Trundle, Tryndamere, Udyr, Volibear, Warwick, Wukong and Xin Zhao.

+ Decent Damage
+ Good Heal
+ Strong Support
+ Surprises Enemy
+ Strong 1v1
+ Strong against squishy targets

- Only as good as his teammates
- Weak 2v1
- Sensitive to cc
- Weak against Tanks

So That's Taric in all his utilitarian glory. As flexible on the battlefield as any champion can be. This is my first guide and i will be polishing it up over time therefore i appreciate any constructive feedback you might have.

P.S.
This build should work nicely in twisted treeline as well:)