This brief section is made for beginners who might not understand some of the LoL terms. It's spoiled since it's not necessary for the guide's readability. If you already understand LoL terms, skip this section

When playing Taric in the top-lane you will play him as a bruiser. He has very strong CC with Dazzle, an armor buff/debuff with Shatter, sustain with Imbue and high teamfight presence with Radiance; all of this makes Taric an impressive character to play in the top lane. He is very tanky and scales massively well with mana, armor and attack speed. I called this build the "Sapphire" Build because all the items in this build are blue. Hope you can have fun with the manliest Mana-Hybrid bruiser: Taric

• Has a targeted stun: G.E.M.S. (Great Emerald Master Stun)
• Very Strong Armor aura + Ultimate Auras
• Tanky with high physical and magic damage
• Deals high damage with his Autoattacks
• Very good sustain and burst damage
• Incredibly Manly

• Melee Ranged
• Item Dependent
• Weak early game
• People will think you're trolling

• greater mark of hybrid penetration are taken to increase our damage, since Taric deals both magic and physical damage you need the two penetrations for your damage to be effective
• Greater Seal of Armor is taken in almost any build, it greatly decreases the damage you take from enemy champions and minions in the early game, also contributes to your Shatter
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist gives you MR when you need it the most, mid/late game, you can also take flat MR runes if against an AP top-laner
• Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed is awesome, it helps you the whole game to be more mobile and hit easier Dazzles.
• When trying this build one of my friends said Greater Quintessence of Ability Power was good since it increased his early heals and also contributed with damage, i've never tried it, but these can also work

Flash is a must-have, there is no better summoner spell for chasing or escaping. The ability to go through walls is also very important. You can also use this to dodge crucial skillshots, such as Sonic Wave or Charm; Also for hitting that important Flash + Dazzle. Helps both agressive and defensive playstyle.

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Ignite is a very common choice for the top-lane, both for getting early kills, killing escaping enemies or countering healers and lifestealers, this summoner spell is very strong

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Some who saw this as a summoner icon might have though this was a support build, but it is not. This spell is very viable in the top-lane, it will give you the upper hand in a duel because it severely drops the enemmy's DPS, it can also be used to escape, chase or to destroy a carry in the late game

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Ghost is not a bad summoner spell, but it is outshone by flash, the possibily to Flash+ Dazzle for an initiation is just too good to pass. You can take Ghost if you like or are low level

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Teleport is interesting, you can make some flashy plays by appearing in the other side of the map to join a teamfight and show them your gems, it can also be used for splitpushing and protecting your own turret. A good summoner spell, if you know how to use it.

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Revive is is considered a troll summoner spell nowadays. Even though it can be useful on some champions like Karthus or Twisted Fate when paired with Teleport, it shouldnt be taken on Taric

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Clarity is one of the weakest summoner spells in the game, and also, we will never run out of mana after our Tear of the Goddess

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Clairvoyance is not bad, but we are not playing as a support here.

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- Gemcraft (Passive) - A portion of your maximum mana is dealt as bonus magic damage every autoattack, this damage is doubled against champions

This passive is what makes top-lane Taric a viable choice, similar to Muramana's active, a portion of our mana is dealt as an on-hit effect, this damage is magical.

Skill Tips :

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- Imbue (Q) - Single target heal that can be used on an allied champion, stronger when self-healing. Cooldown is decreased with autoattacks.

Good for lane sustain and consistent heals, this skill scales off AP, but can still be very beneficial when playing as AD Top-lane Taric.


Skill Tips:

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- Shatter (W) - Passively gives bonus armor to allied champions around you. It's active shreds the armor of enemies around.

This skill is very strong, it's damage scales from armor and it shreds the enemy's armor too. It can be used as a source of burst damage

Skill Tips :

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- Dazzle (E) - Single-target stun that deals more damage the closer you are to the target

A very strong ranged targeted stun, this is one of the reasons Taric is a force to be feared. With enough cooldown reduction you can use this every 6 seconds.

Skill Tips :

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- Radiance (R - Ultimate) - Hits the ground dealing magic damage, also gains bonus AD and AP for 10 seconds, allies around you get half the bonus

Our short-cooldown gem-slam, it is a very strong ultimate, specially in teamfights, where it will buff your entire team.

Skill Tips :

Starting Options:


The first items you go to lane with are very important and will influence the whole outcome of the laning phase. So, choosing them wisely is a MUST.


#1 Option: "Crystalline Flask" x1 sight ward x1


This is the start i use the most, this will let you be very safe in lane, with both health and mana to survive our early game.


#2 Option: "Tear Rush #1" x5 x1 sight ward x1

Start this way to get your Tear of the Goddess ASAP, the ward will give you safety and you will have mana sustain and many health potions.

#3 Option: "Tear Rush #2" x2

Another start possible for getting an early tear is a SAPPHIRE CRYSTAL, it's made of sapphire, so you must get it; JK. Start with this if you are not afraid of your opponent and want your tear fast; the pots also help with sustain.


#4 Option: "Cloth5" x5

This is a very common start for top-laners and Taric is known for working well with armor, so this start is very strong. You will have 5 Health Potions for maximum sustain and will take reduced physical damage. This also works well with Shatter.

#5 Option: "Boots & Pots" x4


Boots of speed and three potions used to be the "universal start" in season 2, but then lost it's effectiveness in season three with the nerf to boots. The recent price reduction on BoS made this viable again, if you wish some extra movespeed against enemies with skillshots or simply want some more mobility for getting in range for an easy Dazzle, go this way.


#6 Option: "Doran's" x1

Doran's Shield became much more viable since it's price reduction and the possibility to take a potion alongside it. It brings everything we would want in the early game such as health and regen, while still giving a passive with great synergy with Block , helping a lot against champions that keep harrassing with AAs in the laning phase, such as Kennen, Nidalee or even Gangplank, since the damage reduction applies on Parrrley.

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The Sapphire Build

This top-lane build is centered around your passive Gemcraft, that makes our AAs scale off mana. Getting an early Manamune is EXTREMELY important, so you can start stacking it right away.

Manamune will be the first item you will complete, this will let you stack it with autoattacks. If you don't upgrade your tear fast it will take ages to stack because of your huge cooldowns. Muramana is incredibly powerful on Taric, making his damage scale massively with his mana

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Mercury's Treads are the boots of choice because of the tenacity. The magic resistance and the extra movement speed are also welcome.

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Iceborn Gauntlet is an amazing item, it will apply Sheen in an area around your attack and will also slow all the enemies nearby. This also gives armor for Shatter and some nice CDR

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Even more armor, Cooldown reduction and an amazing aura that slows the attack speed of all enemies nearby, a very strong item

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This item is amazing, AS, AD, lifesteal and DAT ACTIVE. This will make you strong even against tanky enemies.

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We complete the build with a Wit's End, this amazing item will deal magic damage as an on-hit effect, give even more AS and also shred the enemies magic resist while raising yours, simply too good. Great synergy with Gemcraft.

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Thanks to jhoijhoi and PsiGuard for the template which you can find here

• To Riot Games for creating League of Legends and Taric
• To Mobafire for giving me the opportunity to share this guide
• To jhoijhoi for her awesome Guide for making guides and also her other amazing guides
• To all the other Taric guide authors here on mobafire who helped me improve my Garen gameplay.

Next Guides:

- DeOnde's guide to Tristana
- There is no escaping Karma
- Gangplank(need to think on a name)


This guide will be constantly updating, if you have any impressions about this guide or wish to help improve it through good criticism, your opinion would be greatly appreciated. Please comment and don't downvote for no reason (as said before, if you have any ideas on how to make this guide better they will gladly be accepted).


Changelog:

Guide released