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In General

Preparations

In Game

Gameplay

Introduction

Summoner Spells

Ability Sequence

Matchups

Pros & Cons

Runes

Ability Explanation

Synergies

Word of Thanks

Masteries

Items

Laning Phase

FAQ

Mid / Late Game

Warding

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Hello fellow MOBAfire readers! My summoner name is Pallis123, and I am a Silver level support / Katarina main on the EU West server. I absolutely deserve to be silver - my mechanics at most parts of the game are horrible compared to higher ELO players, but I play support fairly well and have grown very strong with Taric. If you want to get a better idea of my recent game scores, feel free to have a look at my Lolking profile.

Before going on to this guide, there is something very important you need to know first; the first step to becoming a good support, is having a proper mindset. You need to be willing to sacrifice yourself for the team, and must help them whenever you can. Even at the cost of your own life, if that proves necessary!
Taric is very good at helping his team. His kit is awesome (heal, stun, damage boost), and having heaps of armor and health allows him to be a good front line. He also deals quite high damage and can have a good impact on the game, making him a very solid champion for soloqueue. I would definitely recommend picking him up if you are looking for a good, cheap support to help you climb the ladders!

Taric is almost always a safe pick, because he works well with most AD and carries does not have many (hard-)counters. He does however synergize better with some things than others. For example, a Taric / Graves botlane will wreck most other lanes because of their innate tankiness and burst, but for example Ashe has no notable synergy with Taric, while they still work well together.
However you can not actually counter Taric, you can make him less useful by picking more magic damage. Taric is mostly a good pick against (and with) physical damage heavy teams, so when up against a lot of magic damage he loses a lot of his utility.


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Positive Pros + Easy to land stun + Armor buff and debuff through one skill + Can improve all team's damage + Rather strong heal + Easy to learn Taric is considered the jack of all trades among the supports. He has a little bit of everything; an easy to land stun, a skill revolving around armor for trading in lane, and a heal that is one of the strongest in the game early (however the mana cost and cooldown are quite high). Finally, his ultimate, Radiance, improves the damage of his entire team, which can have a lot of impact on the game - both early and later on. Because of all this requiring not all too hard mechanics, Taric is very easy to pick up and a good way to start learning the support role.

Critical Cons - Melee - Vulnerable to poke - Quite mana hungry - Hard to master space Taric, of course, also has his weaknesses. His laning phase is rather weak compared to some other supports, because of a few reasons. First of all, he is a melee character, making trading with ranged champions very hard. You can practically only trade if Dazzle is up. However Taric can not trade well himself, he can get poked very hard. He can sustain through it with his heal, but that way he will go out of mana very fast. And however Taric is easy to pick up, he requires quite some time to really master.

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Flash is mandatory for almost every champion in the game, and Taric is no exception. He has no instant gapcloser, and Flash --> Dazzle can make for some unexpected pick offs. Flash also has its defensive uses, for example hopping over a wall when you are being chased. It is essentially a get-out-of-jail-free-card.

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For the second summoner spell, there is a little more leeway. I will list the three most viable spells for a support, but that does not mean other spells are all necessarily bad - some of them are just out of favor, or outclassed by others.
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Exhaust is considered the standard-spell for supports right now, as it can be incredibly useful for your team by giving that last bit of crowd control in a gank, or shutting down an assassin or hypercarry late game. Most of the times, you will want to take this as your second summoner spell.

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In some cases, Ignite will be better than Exhaust. When you are for example paired with a bursty AD carry like Graves, Ignite might just add that tad bit to your kill potential to let you snowball the lane. Also, if the enemy has a healing dependent like Dr. Mundo] or Soraka, this can seriously reduce their effectiveness.

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However not often seen on supports, Heal can in some cases be a good option. If your AD carry does not take Heal (he takes Cleanse because the enemy has a lot of crowd control, Ghost for the added kiting potential), you should absolutely take it. Right now it is just too strong to pass by in a duo lane.

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If you are not level 12 yet, and thus do not have access to Flash, you can still play support Taric! You just have to adjust your summoner spells a little.
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Ghost + Heal is the best combination. Ghost makes up for the mobility you miss by not having Flash. In the end it even lets you cover a bigger distance, it just is not instant, and can not get you over walls. Heal gives you even more movement speed and a small health boost.

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You will mainly want runes that farther amplify your tankiness - especially armor. This makes Taric more durable in lane, while also improving his damage. The best runes are listed below.
Note: if you are not yet level 20, refrain from buying runes!
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Armor quintessences are what most supports run right now, especially Taric. Not only do they give him the added tankiness that 14 armor gives, they also improve his damage and armor buff through Shatter. If you however are a little bit old-fashioned and still have the rune page from season 3, where health quintessences were the standard choice, feel free to use them. They work fine as well.

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Armor marks right now almost gives as much armor as armor seals do, I take armor here, freeing up the use of seals for something else. If you do not want to use armor marks because they are not first tier, you should consider magic penetration marks. You would actually be surprised how much damage Taric does with them.

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Health seals were recently buffed, making them the best seals for almost every champion in the game. We also need to back up all the resistances we get through quintessences, marks and glyphs with health, making this the best option.

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However Taric is mainly focused on armor, you will also want magic resist because most supports (and even AD carries!) right now deal some magic damage. I normally go with a mix of flat and scaling, depending on the game. The more magic damage their botlane has, the more flat ones you take. The more magic damage late game, the more scaling ones you take.

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The best mastery trees for Taric are no doubt defense and utility. Defense assist him in becoming the great tank he is and gives him a strong early game, while utility allows for a little more sustain and cooldown reduction, and if you decide to run the second mastery page even some gold income.
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space 0/21/9 gives great defensive stats, and makes Taric an insane beast when it comes to trading in lane. If you take this setup, you must abuse your early tankiness and fight with the enemy a bot lane a lot! Due to good early game masteries like Block, Reocvery and Unyielding, you will always come out ahead. Legendary Guardian, Perseverance and Tenacious, are great masteries for amplifying your late game.

space If you feel like you do not need the extra trading potential and tankiness from Legendary Guardian and Tenacious, you can go with 0/16/14 for more gold income. Summoner Spell cooldown and extra mana regeneration are always nice to have. Greed and Scavenger both passively grant you more money and therefore make you scale faster, while Greed allows you to buy one more potion at the start of the game or one less potion and a Stealth Ward.

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Imbue

Shatter

Dazzle

Radiance

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Generally, you will want to start with Dazzle because it is your crowd control move and thus the best for invades / early safety. You can take either Imbue or Shatter second, depending on if you want stronger trading potential or a stronger heal first. Just make sure you have all your abilities available by level 3. From there on, max Shatter, simply because it scales the best with level. Second, max Imbue. The heal / mana ratio goes up quite a lot, and maxing Dazzle does not give you much more than a 0.1 increased stun duration. Of course take a point in Radiance whenever you can.
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Imbue

Shatter

Dazzle

Radiance

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Another ability sequence you could use, is maxing Imbue first instead of Shatter. However I do not recommend this, because it really gives you a lot weaker trading potential and you will run out of mana very fast because Imbue's cost goes up with levels, it can be a good option in case your AD carry is not so good and you need to erase as much of his mistakes as possible by stronger healing. If you go this way, chances are you might also want to rush Targon's Brace over Sightstone because the more procs heal your AD carry as well and you will be pushed to your turret anyway.
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Taric has an interesting skill set, with subtle nuances that - when mastered - can really make the difference between being a good Taric, or a superb Taric. Really try to keep the tips and notes in mind when playing!
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Gemcraft (Passive) Gemcraft is often overlooked, but is what actually makes Taric so strong late game and possible also in trades if you can get up in melee range of the enemy. After every spell you cast, your next auto-attack will deal bonus damage - scaling off your armor. This is actually very strong, and the scaling is rather high. space Tips / Notes Useful tips Weaving auto-attacks in between abilities is very useful for Taric, due to this passive The more armor you buy, the more damage you deal. As soon as you have your Iceborn Gauntlet, should always proc Gemcraft in teamfights - you will become a force to be reckoned with With enough cooldown reduction, you can constantly keep rotating your spells if you proc Gemcraft Gemcraft is considered an on-hit effect, and can crit Things to note Gemcraft does not work on turrets Taking too much extra damage just because you wanted to proc Gemcraft is bad - only walk up to the enemy if you are sure you will deal more damage than they will. Gemcraft does not trigger upon usage of activated items

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Imbue (Q) Because of Imbue, a lot of people classify Taric as a sustain support. It is actually something different than the heals from for example Sona. This heal is not a very strong sustained heal, it is more a burst heal, which gives your carry a lot of health all at once, and the skill goes on a rather long cooldown afterwards. space Tips / Notes Useful tips The heal is quite strong, but costs a lot of mana and has a high cooldown - use it wisely The heal is stronger if only used on yourself. If you are half health and your AD carry is around three quarters, just heal yourself Imbue scales with your own health, making items with health very valuable. This makes purchases like Randuin's Omen and Spirit Visage even stronger Late game, use Imbue for a bursty heal to save your carry, and to keep your abilities rolling because of Gemcraft Things to note Imbue can heal allied minions. Try not to miss-click, or you will waste a lot of mana If you are low on mana and need to decide between using Imbue or Dazzle in an attempt to save your carry, choose for Dazzle. The stun most of the time does more than the heal

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Shatter (W) Shatter is Taric's trademark ability. It is quite a complex skill, with multiple parts. The first one is the passive, which increases your and your allies' armor - the main reason why Taric is such a strong pick against physical damage heavy teams. The second part is the active, which is the most important skill for Taric's trading potential. It deals a considerable amount of damage in a little circle around you, scaling off your armor just like Gemcraft. space Tips / Notes Useful tips The armor scaling on Shatter makes it very beneficial for Taric to buy some early armor (either through Glacial Shroud or Ninja Tabi) Generally, you will want to use Shatter at the beginning of trades. The armor debuff for the enemy improves your AD carry's damage. If possible, try to sneak up to your enemy and even use it before Dazzle Try to stay as close to your team as possible, to grant them the armor buff. It can really make a difference in fights and skirmishes Things to note However you normally want to start trades with Shatter, you should not Always do that. If you think you will take more damage than your AD carry will deal, save it for the end of the trade because you lose the armor buff upon activation The range on Shatter is not that big - take some time to get used to it

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Dazzle (E) People often call Dazzle a noob stun, and they are actually right in doing so. This ability requires little to no skill to use, but it is very effective nonetheless and Taric's crowd control ability. It has multiple different uses and is very versatile. space Tips / Notes Useful tips Dazzle is a point-'n-click stun, putting it on smartcast allows you to get it off faster Be as close as possible to your enemy when using Dazzle, so it deals more damage In teamfights, use Dazzle mainly if your team caught an enemy off guard or to peel for your carries Things to note The damage on Dazzle is very low. Do not chase a low-health enemy with the idea you can kill him with Dazzle, because most of the time you will die in the process and the enemy will survive either way Dazzle has a rather high cooldown, so the same that goes for Imbue also goes for Dazzle - use it wisely

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Radiance (R) Radiance is Taric's other damage ability, and the reason why he is so good with bursty AD carries like Graves and Corki. It is a rather high burst of damage, which amplifies nearby allied champions' attack damage and ability power. It gives Taric very strong level 6 potential, and works wonders combined with a jungler gank and Dazzle-initiation. space Tips / Notes Useful tips Radiance has a low cooldown, so feel free to use it for skirmishes or pushing turrets The range on Radiance is exactly the same as on Shatter. Using the two in rapid succession often makes them both hit Feel free to use Radiance even when no enemies are close. However early game it deals quite a lot of damage, late game it is mainly used for the attack damage / ability power boost to your teammates Things to note Radiance's damage is calculated before its own bonus stats are taken into account. So people saying the bonus ability power from Radiance amplifies its own damage are not right However the damage is strong for skirmishes, do not use Radiance in 1v1's unless you can secure a kill or force the enemy to back

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Relic Shield is the best gold income item for Taric. It gives him early tankiness and adds to his already high health regeneration. The Spoils of War passive helps with sustaining your AD carry as well as pushing the lane and getting more gold.

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If you have bought your Relic Shield, you will still have some gold (either 110 or 150) left, that you can spend on potions and wards. I normally start with three biscuits because I do not often find myself out of mana, but if you are not good at managing your mana feel free to get one or two mana potions.

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In case the enemy has a strong early ganking jungler (Lee Sin), or you think you need more bush control (Blitzcrank, Thresh), you should consider getting two less biscuits and starting with a Stealth Ward. Just keep in mind that you can trade a little less.

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Going with Ancient Coin and its upgrades instead of Relic Shield is a fine choice as well. It gives you more cooldown reduction and mana regeneration with a strong active, at the cost of 500 health and a shield for your AD carry. But as Relic Shield is by far the superior laning item, and the health really is important for Taric, I prefer Relic Shield.

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If you are planning on playing hyper-agressive in lane (for example, you are Taric / Graves against Janna / Ashe), getting Doran's Shield might be a good idea because it gives the best combat stats out of all options and is the best suited for long-term, often trading.

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You can start with Ruby Crystal if you want to rush a fast Sightstone. This way you will only need 400 gold on your first back, which you should nearly always have. Do note that apart from the health, this item gives no sustain. It is therefore often a good idea to pair this start with two or three biscuits and no Stealth Ward.

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Sightstone is your first and foremost item that you should always purchase on your first back. It gives you some tankiness, while providing you with necessary vision to keep you safe from ganks and give you bush control. It is essentially also a gold income item, as every ward you do not have to buy saves you 75 gold.

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When you buy your Sightstone, you should also swap your Warding Totem with a Sweeping Lens. You will already have more than enough wards, and denying vision to the enemy will become more and more important by now, because of upcoming ganks and dragon fights. Somewhere in between getting your core items, you should also get the upgrade, as Oracle's Lens is a really solid item.

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Getting second tier boots (Ninja Tabi, in most of the cases) early is for Taric more important than it is for most other champions. His biggest weakness is kiting and not being able to get in range for Dazzle, meaning more movement speed is very important. Besides, the 25 armor and passive it gives are very good stats and also help with becoming a bigger tank.

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face of the mountain

Face of the Mountain is the final version of your Relic Shield, and gives you a lot of good stats. First of all, the health. 500 is a lot, and increases your heal, as well as your own tankiness. Second, the health regeneration. If you purchase this item early, it will also help you with sustaining in lane a little. The active is very good at helping with defending your carries. And on top of that, your gold income stays!

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The last item you need before you have finished your core, is Glacial Shroud. It gives good stats that all benefit Taric, and you will always want at least one of its upgrades every game. It is just a very solid, cost-effective item in general.

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Because of aforementioned vision battles, you should always carry a Vision Ward with you. They only cost 100 gold, and can really help your team a lot if you use them wisely. More on this in the Warding section.

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If you are behind, it is often the best idea to upgrade your Glacial Shroud into a Frozen Heart. It is the most supportive item of the two, and the best option when you can not itemize for damage. 100 armor and 20% cooldown reduction is so much that it is almost hilarious, and the passive and mana are nice as well.

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The other possible upgrade, is Iceborn Gauntlet. If you are ahead and have won your lane rather hard, you should always pick this up. It has very strong synergy with Gemcraft, and really makes you a force to be reckoned with. The base stats it gives are a little less than Frozen Heart, but the passive more than makes up for that.

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If the enemy team has a lot of physical damage dealers (or just one, who is doing very well), you should purchase more armor. The following items are the best choices, and generally the only armor items you would want to purchase. Note: you can get both Frozen Heart and Iceborn Gauntlet, as they have no overlapping unique passive or something.
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Frozen Heart is an insanely good item for Taric. It gives 20% cooldown reduction and a lot of mana - as soon as you buy this item you can keep using your spells over and over again without any worries. 100 armor is just absurd, and the passive is good to have against heavy auto-attackers.

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Iceborn Gauntlet has long been Taric's signature item (it even was confirmed that on the original artwork, the gauntlet he wore was an Iceborn Gauntlet), and for good reason. It gives armor, cooldown reduction and mana, all of which are good stats for Taric. The ability power is not that good, but helps a little as well. But the passive is what makes this item so strong; it is essentially an upgrade to Gemcraft.

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The other Warden's Mail upgrade that is very good for Taric. It also has some notable synergies with his kit, by giving him a bigger heal and a stronger Shatter. This is the armor item you would want to buy against mixed teams, because the health also helps against magic damage. The active is very good, and gives you more ways of peeling. The passive is not that good, in my opinion Riot should not have removed the movement speed slow.

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Another good option, that is seen a little less often. The base stats are generally the same as Randuin's Omen's, just a little weaker. This is a good pick-up if you are very far ahead of the enemy team, as the aura will help you to deal more damage in teamfights and decide the game faster. Otherwise, just stick with Randuin's Omen or Frozen Heart.

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If it is magic damage that you worry about instead of physical damage, it is imperative that you pick up some magic resist. Listed below are the four best options.
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A little selfish magic resist item that is nonetheless very good. It gives a rather high amount of health and magic resist, and the spell bubble is very useful for negating some of the enemy's poke, or, more important, denying an important ability such as a Blitzcrank hook. It also allows you to really body-block enemies and be a meat shield for your team.

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A more supportive item that is very good when you find yourself teamfighting a lot or if the enemy has a lot area of effect (magic) damage. The components are rather cheap, making it easy to buy. You can just get other items, and if you have some spare gold, pick up parts of this.

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This item, if you still had mana problems, solves them all. It also gives you a good amount of magic resist. However, the main point to buying this item is the active. It gives you another way to save your carries. Pick this up if your carries are doing very well and the enemy has a lot of crowd control.

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The other Spectre's Cowl upgrade. Gives about the same amount of health and magic resist as Banshee's Veil, but gives you improved self-healing and 10% cooldown reduction instead of a spell bubble. I do not often find myself to get this item, but it can work in theory.

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In some cases, if you are already tanky enough to fulfill your team's needs, you might consider picking up one of the two items listed below. Do note: going full tank still often is the best way.
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Twin Shadows is considered a good item for mage supports, but can also work for Taric. It gives a rather high amount of 80 ability power, and some cooldown reduction. The active provides your team some extra peel through the slow, and also grants temporary vision.

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However you would rather ask your midlaner to pick this up over Athene's Unholy Grail, getting Morellonomicon can help a lot against heavy healers like Dr. Mundo or Soraka. The components of this item are cheap and it is very cost effective - it just does not give any defensive stats.

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You should by now have six items and a trinket, your build is almost ready! Time to put the icing on the cake and finish the last few things.
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There are four viable enchantments for Taric. I normally find myself to get Homeguard or Captain. The first if the base is getting destroyed, the second if I am the one initiating fights and I want my teammates to follow up faster. Alacrity is good for everyone, as it just gives you more movement speed. Distortion is only good if you rely on Flash-engages.

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If you have some spare gold somewhere in between getting your items, you should upgrade your Sightstone to a Ruby Sightstone. However this was not necessary in the early game, it will become now - having one more ward is always useful and the extra health helps a little with becoming a bigger tank.

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Congratulations, you have now finished your build! If you have followed everything in this chapter according to your specific game, your build should look something like this:
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Keep in mind that you should always try to have 40% cooldown reduction in your full build! Having less means using less abilities, while having more means wasted gold. Also, every game is different and requires a different approach - no build is ever set in stone!
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talisman of ascension

If you think you will have a hard lane and will get severely punished for going up to the minions and using Relic Shield, you can get Ancient Coin in addition to your Doran's Shield for the passive gold income. However Talisman of Ascension does not make you as tanky as Face of the Mountain, it offers a better active and increased mana regeneration. I would not use this, but it is a viable alternative.

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Boots of Mobility are a good alternative to Ninja Tabi if the enemy does not have so much physical damage, and you find yourself to roam or go back to base a lot. The movement speed you get when out of combat, is rather insane.

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If the enemy team has a lot of magic damage and crowd control, you should consider getting Mercury Treads. An example would be if the enemy team had Kennen top, Leblanc mid, Amumu jungle and Morgana support.

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If the enemy team has some form of true damage and you really are scared of it (Irelia, Olaf, Cho'Gath, to name a few), Warmog's Armor is a good purchase. It gives a big amount of health, along with very high health regeneration. On top of all that, it also makes your heals stronger.

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Thornmail is an okay item that can work in some cases and also gives a ridiculous amount of armor, but it is very, very niche. I would only get it if the enemy had three fed auto-attackers, and then get it on top of Frozen Heart, because otherwise it just gets outclassed by all other possibilities.

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Alistar is a tanky champion with good peel and a weak, but spammable heal for his AD carry. He is normally picked as a counter to kill-heavy botlanes, because he can just knock them back. Taric has a way of peeling and healing as well - you get it? This is gonna be a farm lane and getting kills is only possible with the help of a jungler or if one the supports does not defend his AD carry properly. It is probably a good idea to ask for a champion who just needs to farm safely early game for a good late game - such as Vayne, or Ashe.

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Annie is without doubt the hardest support to play against as Taric. She has everything Taric hates seeing. A range that is longer than Dazzle's, non-skillshots high magic damage skills and insane all-in potential at level 6. If she is any good, she will just whittle you down with auto-attacks and Disintegrates, while occasionally stunning both you and your AD carry with Incinerate. She can stun you with Tibbers before you can Dazzle, and erase your AD carry without any retaliation. And as she deals magic damage, your Shatter will be pretty much useless here. Consider maxing Imbue.

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However Blitzcrank is not always an easy lane for Taric, it is a hard one for Blitzcrank. You can just constantly stand in front of your AD carry, and if Blitzcrank grabs you just Dazzle and Shatter their AD carry. If executed properly, your AD carry should take little to no damage and you will win trade. Feel free to start with a Doran's Shield and 0/21/9 masteries to sustain through all the damage and get away with being a meatshield easier.

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I have not had this matchup that often lately (which is funny, considering Braum is picked rather often nowadays), but I will try to give some advice on this one based on theorycrafting. For getting kills in lane, Braum is reliant on landing Winter's Bite. You can just bodyblock it, stun their AD carry and run away, meaning everybody just ends up using a lot of mana for little to no damage. As for his shield, it is rather annoying and can stop your Dazzle, so try to bait it out or make sure he misspositions it. Come late game, avoid grouping up or fighting in narrow jungle paths. Not too hard, but sure not an easy lane either.

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Janna is one of the easiest possible lanes when playing Taric support. She is insanely squishy, has a skillshot that can easily be dodged and a range that is lower than Dazzle's. At level 6 just (Flash +) Dazzle in her face and pull off your burst combo - together with your AD carry this should almost always result in a kill. She also has little to no poke, and you can most of the time get away with 0/16/14 in this lane.

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The difficulty of this matchup depends on how good you are at dodging skillshots (or how good Karma is at hitting them). If you manage to dodge most of her Inner Flames, you will be fine. If you get hit by a lot of them, you will have a hard time because they hurt and you will probably have to heal a lot. Try to force trades when her Inner Flame is on cooldown, because otherwise you might not reach to the enemy because she just slows you. It is probably a good idea to let the enemy push the lane here, as Karma is rather squishy and an easy prey for junglers.

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Taric is one of the best champions when it comes to denying Leona and her AD carry kills. If she jumps on you, you will take some damage, but that is no problem. With your cookies and Imbue you can sustain through it. If she is smarter though, and decides to jump on your AD carry, just simply stun their AD carry, use Shatter and walk away. Leona alone does not deal that much damage, and if you just keep their AD carry out of the fight their bot lane will not often get kills unless they get help from a jungler.

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Lulu is also a rather annoying lane. Her Glitterlance has a far higher range than Dazzle, and if you try to walk up close she will just slow you and put a speed buff on either her or her AD carry and walk away. She will win most trades and is also rather good at setting up ganks. Your best bet is to let the enemy push, and have your AD carry farm under your turret. The only good thing to this is that Lulu is both mana heavy and squishy, meaning if she spams her skills a little too often one simple gank can put you ahead.

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Morgana is right behind Annie the worst matchup for Taric. She also has high magic damage, has a far higher range than your Dazzle, and can even render you useless in lane due to Black Shield and all your damage being magic. Try to avoid this matchup if you can, but otherwise try to make the best out of it by playing safe, dodging as many Dark Bindings as possible and never Dazzling a target who is Black Shielded.

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This is hugely a skill-matchup, depending mainly on how good the Nami is. If she knows how to land her Aqua Prisons and poke you from afar, you are going to have a tough time. She has poke, sustain, strong level 6 all-in potential and is good at setting up jungler ganks. Bush control is key here. It might be a good idea to start with a Vision Ward or two Stealth Wards and a red trinket here, considering that makes it a lot harder for her to land Aqua Prisons and poke, because she can not see you and her other abilities are targeted.

3 / 5

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Sona, when played well, is in my opinion the single best support in the game. She has great poke, good sustain, a mini Talisman of Ascension and a very strong ultimate - everything a support needs. You really will have a hard time if the enemy Sona is a good one, and also manages her power chords correctly and such. The point is, you will not often see that good Sonas in solo-queue (at least not before you reach the point of Platinum / Diamond I suppose), and she is very squishy, meaning that if you can sneak up to her and use Dazzle she is often an easy kill. Try to deny her vision and have your jungler gank before she turns level 6, because that is when she will become really strong.

3 / 5

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This is going to be a hell of a boring lane. Soraka has little to no poke, and can deny all yours simply by using Infuse. She also has strong heals that can easily erase all your harass, and your stun does not last long enough to prevent her from using her ultimate at level 6. This will probably just be a farm lane, so tell your AD carry to pick a hyper-carryish champion such as Tristana or Vayne. Taking Ignite to this lane also is a must, to cut Sorakas heals in half.

2 / 5

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For Thresh goes the same as for Blitzcrank and Leona, however this matchup is a little harder. If he jumps on your AD carry, stun theirs and try to hit them both with Shatter. Then you should just back off and heal your AD carry with Imbue if necessary. If he decides to jump on you, your AD carry should focus their AD carry and you will often win the trade. Watch out for his Flay-infused auto-attacks and unexpected ganks with Dark Passage, and you should be fine. The problem is that his early damage is rather high, and he is very tanky.

4 / 5

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I have never played this matchup before, but I suppose it is a hard one for the same reason that Morgana and Annie are hard. She has good poke - more than you can heal with Imbue without going out of mana - and her snare prevents you from walking up to their AD carry to stun him. She also has very strong level 6 potential, and her plants really hurt. The best thing to do here is just sit in the bush, defending your AD carry as good as you can. Also try to step on seeds as soon as Zyra places them, to deny the enemy team vision.

4 / 5

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Ashe is a somewhat okay partner. Taric provides Ashe the early safety she needs when farming, and if Ashe is competent at landing her Enchanted Crystal Arrows, they can together stunlock the enemy for quite a long time. But that's it. There is no more notable synergy between these two.

3 / 5

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Caitlyn and Taric together have an incredibly safe, sustained laning phase, with both decent poke and the potential to lock down the enemy. If Caitlyn manages to put a trap right under an enemy that has just been Dazzled by Taric, he can be held in place for about 2.5 seconds, and Taric makes it incredibly easy for Caitlyn to hit her Piltover Peacemakers. If you are looking for a strong laning phase which can shut down the enemy, Caitlyn is a good partner.

4 / 5

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Another good partner for Taric. Corki has high burst potential, which synergizes very well with Taric's kit. Also, landing Phosphorus Bombs on a Dazzled enemy is a breeze. Corki also benefits from both the attack damage and ability power from Radiance. All in all a very good partner for Taric.

4 / 5

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We all know the famous "gay bot lane", being Taric and Ezreal. But apart from both being feminine male champions, they also have some good synergy. Dazzle --> Shatter --> Mystic Shot --> Arcane Flux is a very strong short trade, which will almost always end up in your favor. He also benefits from both the attack damage and ability power from Radiance.

4 / 5

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This is, hands down, one of the best botlane combinations in the entire game. Taric and Graves synergize in almost every single way and winning lane should not be that hard. True Grit and Shatter make them both very bulky, and the burst potential at level 6 is insane. I can go on for hours here, but he is just the best partner there possibly is!

6 / 5

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This lane is a lot like Taric / Caitlyn, in the way that they also have a very safe laning phase, and good lockdown potential. And just the same as with Piltover Peacemaker - Zapping a Dazzled enemy is very easy. The trading potential in this lane is very long, and you will often have enough damage for Jinx to execute both enemies with a good Super Mega Death Rocket at level 6.

4 / 5

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This is one of the lesser synergies for Taric. Kog'Maw has an abysmal laning phase and has almost no trading potential. He also does not have the burst to delete the enemy AD carry combined with Radiance and Shatter at level 6. He does use both attack damage and ability power, but that's all. You should avoid this partner, if you can.

2 / 5

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Miss Fortune is one those AD carries that works well with most supports in the game (not saying she does not have supports that she works better with than others, but still). Taric is no exception to this. Taric and Miss Fortune have a rather safe laning phase, but there is no further notable synergy. Dazzle is not that good at setting up good Bullet Times because it is single target, and Miss Fortune does not really benefit from ability power.

3 / 5

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You will not often see a Quinn nowadays, which is why a lot of people do not know her kit and what she can do. She is, however, a rather good lane partner for Taric. Pre-6 this is nothing special, but once Valor gets on the battlefield, the fun will begin. Both Taric and Valor are very adept at close range fighting, making them a very strong combination. Radiance --> Dazzle --> Shatter --> Vault --> Blinding Assault is enough to kill almost every squishy, and in case they still have some health left, Quinn also has a giant execute with Skystrike. There is no excuse not to go on the agressive side at level 6.

4 / 5

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Sivir and Taric also are a rather strong combination. Dazzle makes for easy boomerangs, which makes for a lot of damage on the enemy. Radiance and On the Hunt synergize extremely well, considering a boost to both attack damage and attack speed together so early in the game is very strong. If you play together with Sivir, you should be playing agressive from the get-go.

4 / 5

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An okay combination. Tristana and Taric have no special synergy, but they do have a pretty good laning phase and Taric is good at peeling for Tristana late game. The potential at level 6 is also pretty high because both have good burst, but that's it. Nothing special that only works between Taric and Tristana.

3 / 5

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Twitch is one of the other top-tier partners for Taric. If Twitch stealths and Taric surprise stuns the enemy, it is very likely they will suffer a lot because of Twitch getting four or five passive stacks, combined with Contaminate. At level 6, Taric ensures Twitch can land a good ult. The potential here is enormous, I really like it.

5 / 5

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Varus is in theory a very good partner for Taric because he benefits from both attack damage and ability power, and has a good level 6, but from experience I can tell this lane is not that great. I do not know the exact reason, but I just feel like there are a lot of stronger options out there.

3 / 5

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Vayne is also a very good option, because of two reasons. If an enemy is Dazzled near a wall, it is guaranteed that he will be stunned for a second or three. This gives Vayne quite a lot of time to proc her Silver Bolts. At level 6, both steroids give Vayne insane duelling potential and she can handle almost anyone 1v1.

4 / 5

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Laning Phasespace

Taric has a mediocre laning phase, it is neither good nor bad. His main assets to the laning phase are his sustain for his carry, his short-trade potential and his good all-ins.

The best way to trade as Taric is as follows: Dazzle --> Auto-attack --> Shatter --> Auto-attack, then backing off. This assures that you hit your Shatter, as well as dealing quite some damage with Gemcraft. If you took any damage when executing this, you could heal it up with Imbue. Be careful with not doing this too often though, as you will run out of mana soon. For example, you should not heal your carry if he lost around 200 health in a trade, because he has life steal from Doran's Blade and probably even runes, so he will heal it back up anyway.

At level 6, Taric becomes really scary combined with a laner with strong burst or good initiation. Dazzle --> Radiance --> Shatter combined with for example Buckshot --> Smokescreen --> Collateral Damage will erase almost every squishy from the map.

You should use your Warding Totem to gain bush control during the laning phase, or vision in the river if you are pushed towards the enemy's side of the lane. Camping the bushes is often a very good idea as Taric, because it makes it harder for the enemy to hit you with both skillshots and targeted abilities, and allows you to hit your Dazzle easier. Communicate well with your AD carry who uses his Warding Totem where and when, as to not waste two wards at the same place.

If the enemy botlane / jungler is dead, it might be a good idea to do a call for Dragon. Taking it down with 3 should be rather easy, and with your Dazzle you can keep enemies who want to steal the Dragon at bay. It gives a pretty big bunch of gold (especially early on), so this part is very important.

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Mid / Late Game

Come mid / late game, Taric will increase in power. You should start to look for teamfights and skirmishes around Dragon / Baron, as that is something Taric is very good at.

Radiance and Shatter together (with maybe Iceborn Gauntlet) provide strong area of effect damage and crowd control, whereas Dazzle helps you with peeling for your AD carry or picking off theirs. And that are exactly the two most important things you have to do during a teamfight: peeling and picking. If your carries are doing well, your job is to defend them by stunning and fighting everyone who jumps on them. While doing so do not forget about things like Exhaust and Mikael's Crucible.

If the enemy carries, however, are more a threat to your team than the other way round, your main focus should be stunning them so your team can take them out. If you ping the enemy you want to use Dazzle on beforehand, your team will know what you are planning on doing and follow up better and faster. Taric is really good at making picks, and making picks is really good at winning you the game.

Something else Taric is very good at and he should be doing situationally, is splitpushing. Shatter gives good waveclear and Radiance enables you to take down turrets rather fast. Only do this if you are sure no teamfight will occur soon though.

Also, grant your team vision, while denying the enemy's. You should always use Ruby Sightstone if you have charges left and not placed 3 wards yet, as well as buying Vision Wards if you have a slot left in your items. If you have Oracle's Lens, also do not forget to scout for wards with the free Oracle's Elixir you get afterwards.space spacespace
One of the major jobs of a support, is warding. However Riot tried to make a change to it, supports still are the ones responsible for most of a team's vision, so you will need a basic grasp of where and when to ward.

• Good points for Warding Totem

• Good points for Stealth Wards

• Good points for Vision Wards

You should mainly use your Warding Totem for the lane bushes. They are perfect for giving you a short period of vision, and that is exactly what you need, considering you will not constantly be at the same place in lane. It is also perfectly fine to ward other bushes with your Warding Totem for temporary vision, but you should always use a Stealth or Vision Ward there if you have them available.

The places marked with green dots, are perfect for a Stealth Ward. It is often beneficial to have vision on them for a longer time, considering junglers can always pass that ways. The wards in river and tribush are rather standard, and the ward at the enemy blue buff will make sure you see the jungler coming far from before, giving you enough time to back off.

I actually really like the changes made to Vision Wards at the beginning of season 4. As long as no enemy sees your Vision Ward, it will last forever. Therefore, it is good to place one in bushes enemies do not often look in, while they still provide useful information. The Vision Wards in the middle of the river and the bush behind red buff give vital information about the enemy jungler. You can also place a Vision Ward in the wall of the Dragon pit. Chances are the enemy will pass by it without seeing it, and it gives you vision in the entire pit. You can also consider pink warding the tribush and river bush, as enemies will often ward there as well, allowing you to clear out their wards. Do note that these wards generally do not survive that long.space
After the laning phase, you still have to carry on warding! On the image above, you can see good places to ward in either your jungle or the enemy's jungle, and how to effectively gain vision over Baron Nashor.

• Good points for Stealth Wards

• Good points for Vision Wards

Generally spoken, if you constantly use your Sightstone and Vision Wards, you're doing it well. Every bit of vision is is important, and you need to think a little bit ahead with using wards, such as already having in mind where vision will be important the next few minutes, and what places grant you sight on a lot of different paths.

I will not go into detail on every single ward, but the same rule as for the laning phase still goes now. Vision Wards are important in places where they can survive long and still give a lot of vision, but they now also become important for denying the enemy vision. Good places are the bush behind the enemy's red buff, the bushes halfway the river and in the Baron pit. Stealth Wards can be used anywhere, but you will most of the time want to place them in a bush because they also grant you vision in that bush, which they would otherwise not.space spacespace
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There are a few people who deserve a special mentioning for contributing to my guide in a useful way;

• Emikadon for making the wonderful banner and headers. She came up with idea of adding Talisman of Ascension, Boots of Mobility and Mercury Treads to the guide as well. I also "stole" quite some ideas of my formatting from her guide. :3
• Vynertje, for allowing me to use some kind of the same template as his Nami guide as well as the dividers. Also, he gave an in-depth review which really helped me to improve this guide a lot!
• Janitsu, because he made the aforementioned dividers
• DarkAkumaLord for coming up with the suggestion of Warmog's Armor, which indeed can be a very niche purchase.

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If you have any questions about something in this guide, feel free to ask! If I consider your question useful, I will list it here with an answer.
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