Hello!I'm krolk88,this guide is about Taric.He can be bulit in other ways:

Full tank,
Support,

But we will focus on making him a tanky dps.

+Tanky( Imbue, Shatter)
+Immune to harras mid/late game( Imbue)
+Great 1v1-healing most dmg taken( Imbue)
+Gives auras to allies( Shatter and Radiance)
+Has good stun( Dazzle)
-Countered by CC(Stuns,Silences,Fears)
-His burst isnt the best(Still half hp from 2 spells-aoe)
-Bulid is expansive to get
-Weak escape mechanism if 2+v1,but you can take Flash

With season 3 incoming masteries changed,so all section needed to be rewrited

Link to how masteries look:

http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/mastery-tree-planner#&tree1=0-4-0-0-0-4-0-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0&tree2=0-3-4-0-1-0-0-2-1-1-1-1-3-0-0-1-1-1-1&tree3=0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0&v=2

DEFENSIVE MASTERIES
Tier 1
Durability -This is very good mastery,108hp can save a life.
Perseverance-This alone gives us enough sustain early game to stay in lane long without mana for heals.
Tier 2
Hardiness (1/3)-2 armor is always something,we dont have anything better to spend points in in this tier anyway.
Tier 3
Veteran's Scars -30hp for one point says for itself
Safeguard-This 5% early game is like 8 dmg reduction against turret hits,always smth
Relentless (1/2)-"Tenacity' limited to slows,good mastery
Unyielding -2 dmg reduction,when u can sustain like 10 or so hits it is 20hp for 2 points,better than second point in Relentless
Tier 4
Block -further anti champion mastery,very good for 1 point
Tenacious =This will REALLY help you,because 15% of 3 sec stun is almost half a sec,and it stacks with tenacity,so you will nearly always be able to heal yourself before you are dead
Tier 5
Legendary Armor (1/3)-2% more ressists
Good Hands -10% less revive timer
Reinforced Armor -good anti crit mastery
Tier 6
Honor Guard -well,only one thing to pick here,3% dmg reduction is good
OFFENSIVE MASTERIES
Tier 1
Fury -4% AS,increases our dmg output and decreases cd of Imbue
Tier 2
Blast =good AP
Tier 3
Arcane Knowledge -10% Magic pene,says for itself

Starting items:

Sapphire Crystal
Health Potion x 2

OR

Boots
Health Potion x3

Starting with Sapphire Crystal gives us 4 magic dmg/hit(or 8 against champs) due to passive Gemcraft,and large mana pool,thus providing us more sustain because of Imbue.

Starting with Boots is recommended only if you will have skillshot opponents in lane(ex nidalee).You shouldnt however mix Boots start with Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed.

1st recall:

Ninja Tabi + Health Potion(number depends on money you have,you shouldnt however buy more than 5)

Mid game:

Rod of Ages: Thats a must on Taric,because there are no other items that give both AP,health and mana.
Frozen Heart: 8 magic dmg/hit(16 against champs) , +12 armor on aura,and basic stats of item. Frozen Heart gives Taric all things he needs : damage,20 CDR,400 mana, 90 armor,12 armor aura and -AS debuff for enemies isnt something you can just ignore.

Iceborn Gauntlet: You should buy it after Frozen Heart or after Banshee's Vei; depending if enemy team has much AP champs/AP are fed/teamfights just began

Late Game:

Banshee's Veil:U dont have MR yet,so it solves this problem.
Trinity Force:More of everything
Elixir of Fortitude Elixir of Brilliance-if you're finished with bulid you must get these.

Bulid is against balanced/mostly AD team,you can change the order of items,and items if enemy team comp.isnt normal

x9 x9 x9 x3

Greater Mark of Scaling Attack Damage-Best choice for Tanky dps Taric,makes us half-carry
Greater Seal of Scaling Health-Additional Health,pretty standard seal on tanks
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist-Additional m.ress,same as above
Greater Quintessence of Armor-Some armor to counter AD carries
Alternative Runes:

Good: Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power-Your choice,more damage,or more resists.

Good: Greater Seal of Armor-Flat armor,quite good on Taric,because he have low armor
early,before he can get Shatter to lvl five

Good: Greater Quintessence of Scaling Armor-armor per level instead of flat armor.It same as Flat armor Quints on lvl 11-12 and then its better by a bit(however its only 7.74 more armor at 18,at cost of better endurance early game-with Greater Quintessence of Armor you can take around 20% more AD dmg before dying at lvl 1!)

Decent: Greater Seal of Gold-Not best option,but still viable.On 35mins(Average game length) it provides 472.5 bonus gold,which is 3.1% of total bulid cost(It may seem that it's nothing,but its quite a bit)

Decent: Greater Quintessence of Gold-If you really need so much gold...this gives you
630 bonus gold in 35 mins...
so with Greater Seal of Gold its 1102.5 bonus gold,which is 7.27% of total bulid cost. Gold received by this is equal to +/- 55 minion kills or +/- 3.67 Champion Kills,or +/- 7.35 Assists

Note: This runes provides nothing after first hour of game,because
around this time all players have full bulids.At this point,
Greater Seal of Gold and Greater Quintessence of Gold ,provides 1890 bonus gold(11.91% of total bulid cost)

Overall:Makes you more tanky and adds extra ad
Other possible choices:
Viable: Greater Seal of Mana Regeneration-More mana regen.This rune is useful only early/mid game.

Viable: Greater Quintessence of Health-Flat hp quints

Viable: Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration-This gives you 9 Armor Penetration,and 5.12 Magic Penetration.It's useful early game,but dont make a difference,if somebody has for example Thornmail or Frozen Heart,or is simply high lvl

> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >

-Passive-This Passive gives us a really nice damage that scales with mana Taric has.In my opinion its one of best passives in game(however still a lot behind this of Anivia, Zac)

-(Q)-Awesome,2 person heal,strong late game.Get it at level 3 and max it second.
Tips:
1.Scales With your ap,so use it after ultimate.
2.More attack speed-more healing(-3 seconds cd per attack),so u can use it every 3 secs and heal
most damage taken
3.Use it on Heavily wounded ally to safe him,or even on minion early to get last hitting
advantage,however dont use it when low on mana early
4.Best used on good ressistances,low health allies-heals more EHP,but anyway use it to save
carries

Priority of usage:
1.AP carry
2.AD carry
3.Tank
4.Off Tank
5.Yourself

-(W)Passive: Massive armor aura + Massive self armor Active:Aoe dmg
Get it at lvl 2,max it first.
Tips:
1.Dont use it when you're running from enemy,it lowers your armor
2.Best used in middle of teamfight,or great minion wave

-(E)-1.5sec stun,and some dmg,get it at lvl 1 and max it third
Tips:
1.Dont spam this early,lategame you can use it to harras,or save running ally by stunning
enemy,also good initiating skill.
2.Best used to stun enemy under turret.

Priority of usage:
1.Enemy AD carry
2.Enemy AP carry
3.Saving ally
4.Enemy Tank
5.Enemy Off tank


-(R)-Ultimate steroid for ap and ad(aura),and aoe dmg,
Get it on 6,11 and 16 lvls
Tips:
1.Always use it at start of TF,it boosts your,and your allies skills,and attacks.
2.When you are using it,enemies often wait,until it ends and then attacks,be sure to
Use it AFTER TF starts,not BEFORE

Basic Combo:

> > > >
Stun>Steroid and aoe dmg>
Aoe dmg>Heals damage taken

BEST:
Ignite-True dmg is always good
Flash-Short-distance teleport,good for escaping ganks,or tower diving

Other viable spells:
Exhaust-Anti carry weapon
Ghost-Something like flash,just personal preference
Clarity-Good only early game
Heal-Decent spell for everything
Surge-Gives you additional burst,however ignite is better late game

Nasus:
Difficulty pre-6:7/10
Difficulty:10/10

Nasus is one of Taric counters in general.He got an aoe that deals magic damage and shreds your armor to pieces(in early game),an overpowered strike that can deal solid damage to you despite the fact your amount of armor is very high,and finally a Wither that counters Taric bruiser style definitely...You wont attack and you cant move - you will not deal any dmg with your AA's and your CD on Imbue will not be reduced.At lvl 6 he is even more difficult because of constant health sink and overall tankiness.If Nasus is good,its probably the hardest matchup

Olaf
Difficulty pre-6: 7.5/10
Difficulty: 8/10

Playing against Olaf is hard in general as Taric.True damage counters you before you bulid Rod of Ages,his axe throw slows you and is a good harras,and his W will make him sustain most of your dmg early on.After 6 olaf becomes slightly harded to beat because of a bit of armor penetration and his immune to your stun.I wont call him a hard counter,but he is pretty hard to deal with.

Irelia
Difficulty pre-6: 6/10
Difficulty: 8/10

Its a difficult match-up and she'll wreck you if you give her even one kill.Her ult is strong against you,however once you bulid some armor she'll become a no treat at all-just bulid some armor and health against her.

Yorick
Difficulty pre-6:10/10
Difficulty:11/10

Hardest counter even in idiot's hands.He will totally make you stay under turret whole lane phase and will harras you hardly with ghouls.After 6 dont even try to pick up a fight with him.Bulid armor and health and if you have way more of those than him,try to shut him down or ask jungler for help.

Working on adding more match-ups(adding hard match-ups actually)

Its time to end this guide,if you liked it,upvote
If you dont liked it,downvote and post comment
If you're troll...hmmm
And,yeah someone trolled me with downote without comment!Nice.

Changelog:
YY/MM/DD

2012/09/07-Guide Created
2012/09/08-Many major and minor corrections,added changelog and more
2012/09/08-500 views
2012/09/09-Many minor corrections,added screenshots
2012/09/12-1000 views
2012/09/14-15-Many minor corrections.
2012/09/27-2000 views
2012/12/05-4000 views,corrections for season 3 masteries
2012/12/07-08-Major upgrades to all parts of guide,guide updated to season 3
2013/04/03-Minor changes in skills section,11000 views
2013/04/06-Guide archiwed because im making another guide.I'll update later.