This guide is a work in progress and should be treated as such for the time being. I will be constantly updating this guide until I feel it meets my standards at which time I will remove this section.

Taric is a melee support tank with several unique features. His presence late game will make your entire team tanker and harder to kill. I focus on cooldown reduction with my build as I feel it makes the best use of Tarics kit by allowing you to heal often, have Shatter back from cooldown soon after use, and it allows you to use your ultimate, Radiance, whenever its needed.

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Pros + Has a heal + Has a stun + Has a built in aura to increase allies armor + Radiance can change teamfights + Is the manliest champion in the League of Legends

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Cons - Heal is weak early game and sub-par late - Radiance has a long cooldown early game - Very mana hungry early game - Talks about gems too much

I play with 0/9/21 focusing on mana regen and cooldown reduction. 0/21/9 is also viable if you plan on being the teams tank.

• Greater Quintessence of Armor: This helps reduce the damage from those inevitable pokes early game.
  
• Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: There aren't very many good choices for marks for Taric in my opinion so take magic penetration for that little extra damage.
  
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: Helps late game as Taric's Shatter only gives armor
  
• greater seal of replenishment: Taric's early game is extremely mana hungry so that little bit of mana regen goes a long way.

Clairvoyance: Almost a must have for playing support. Acts as a 6 second ward for use when your teammates didn't ward or the ward was cleared. Also works very well with Nocturne's Paranoia to finish off those pesky getaways.

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Flash: Almost a must have for any champion. Flash over a wall to escape a fight gone sour. Flash towards your target to surprise them with a stun. Flash towards a teammate to land a heal on them so they aren't killed by that last tick of Ignite.

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Heal: Good early game if you are laning against someone with a long ranged poke (ex. Caitlyn, Varus). It can also save yours and your carry's life from Blitzcrank's Rocket Grab.

• Gemcraft: Not the most useful passive. When laning you wont be taking advantage of it unless you are pushing your lane.
  
• Imbue (Q): Taric's heal. It is fairly weak unless leveled first and should be maxed second unless your lane is getting poked too often for the armor from Shatter to be effective.
  
• Shatter (W): Shatter grants an aura to any allies near you including yourself, effectively doubling the effect on yourself. Should be maxed first to reduce damage from minion aggro and poke damage from the enemy AD carry. Stand in between the creeps and use Shatter when pushing a tower to reduce their armor and allow your carry to kill them easily.
  
• Dazzle (E): Taric's stun. Has a decent range but is too mana hungry to spam early. Get a point in it at level 1 and max it last. Until you get your Mana Manipulator only use it for defensive reasons or to initiate when you know you can secure a kill.
  
• Radiance (R): The ability that in my opinion makes Taric one of the best supports in the game. Early game it has a 1 minute cooldown and should be used along side Dazzle to initiate. This ability will be on a very short cooldown late game and should be used whenever an opportunity arises. Going for dragon? Press R. Going for Baron? Press R. Pushing a tower? Press R. Large minion wave at your tower/inhibitor? Stand between the melee creeps and the ranged creeps then press R followed by W to clear it fast.

• : In my opinion the most important item in Taric's build. Gives health and cooldown reduction as well as good regeneration and a nice active.
  
• : Gives you a mana regen aura as well as more cooldown reduction, whats not to love?
  
• : This item's active is very underrated and can be used on any occasion. Use it at the beginning of teamfights and when starting Baron.
  
• : Gives a great aura and is a standard item for any support. Don't build this if someone else on your team already has it.
  
• : I almost always get this as my last item. It gives you AP, making your heals better, and reduces the magic resist of nearby enemies which will make your AP carry happy. Don't build this if someone else on your team already has it.
  
• Zeke's herald: If you have an AD heavy team or someone else already has Aegis of the Legion get this.
  
• : Get this if the enemy's AD carry or bruiser is too fed.
  
• : You could also get this for shutting down the enemies AD.
  
• : If your AP carry doesn't have this get it in place of the Abyssal Mask.
  
• : Get this whenever you have 400 spare gold. If you don't have a good reason to use it right after you buy it, don't. Its better to use it before going after an objective and getting the objective than to use it right after recalling and getting killed in a teamfight before you go for the objective.

During the lane phase try to stay as far forward in the brush as possible unless facing an enemy Blitzcrank in which case stay behind your minion waves and stun him whenever you think he may be moving in for a grab on you or your carry. When pushing a tower stand in the middle of the wave and use Shatter to reduce the minions armor. Once at the tower use Radiance to increase your AD and AP as well as any allies near you.



Taric's role in teamfights is to tank and save low health allies with Imbue. When initiating a teamfight stun either their AP or AD carry, whichever is doing the most damage (will usually be the AP carry due to your Shatter), and then use Radiance followed up by Shatter. Don't forget to use your item actives! Shurelya's Battlesong to initiate or to escape. Locket of the Iron Solari when initiating or when initiated on. Randuin's Omen in the middle of the enemy team to shutdown their AD DPS.

Ashe: My personal favorite laning partner. You can get an easy first blood by standing in the brush and using Dazzle combined with Ashe's passive Focus if the enemy facechecks (Don't do this in ranked games). No enemy will be able to escape you if paired with a good Ashe as she can use her Enchanted Crystal Arrow to stun them which can be followed up with your Dazzle to close the distance.

Caitlyn: I pity the person who steps in one of her Yordle Snap Traps when Taric is by her side as you can Dazzle them and she can lay another trap right under them for a whopping 4.5 seconds of CC.

Corki: I have yet to lane with a good Corki but I will fill this in as soon as possible.

Draven: Laning with a Draven who can consistently catch his Spinning Axe will make a very easy lane. You can easily push down the first turret and no one will escape you when Draven uses Blood Rush to close the distance followed by Stand Aside and your Dazzle. If someone, say Master Yi escapes just use Clairvoyance to help Draven land Whirling Death.

Ezreal: A good Ezreal can easly dispatch anyone you Dazzle late game. Just keep him safe early and he will snowball fairly effortlessly. Make sure to use Radiance when he uses Trueshot Barrage so you can get an assist!

Graves: Graves is much better off laning with Soraka for her Infuse. But if you must lane with him as Taric Quickdraw followed by Smoke Screen to close the distance for your Dazzle can still get kills fairly easily.

Kog'Maw: I have yet to lane with a good Kog'Maw but as soon as I do I will update this.

Miss Fortune: Not much to this lane. Just keep her alive and make sure she lets you know when she is going to use Bullet Time so you can Dazzle the enemy in the middle of it.

Sivir: This is a more difficult lane. If your Sivir can sustain her mana with Spell Shield then you can use Dazzle to allow her to land both hits of Boomerang Blade.

Tristana: A fairly straightforward lane. Just allow her to farm and when going for a kill the best method early game is for her to Rocket Jump behind them and Buster Shot them into the turret followed up by your Dazzle.

Varus: I haven't played with Varus enough to write this yet. I will get back to it.

Vayne: Vayne shouldn't be supported by Taric unless Soraka, Janna, and Nunu & Willump are out of the question. If you must, the lane can be won by landing the stun from Vayne's Condemn followed up by your Dazzle.

This is my first guide here on MOBAfire. I would love any criticism, whether positive or negative, that could help me improve my guide on my favorite support, Taric.

Please feel free to add me in game. My name is Wild Ditto on the NA server and Herpin Mah Derp on PBE. I also invite anyone who wants to come chat to join my teams RaidCall channel, name: "Deceptibots Troll Out" ID: 4830458

Thank you for reading my guide!

Credits to jhoijhoi for the template, which you can find here.

Q: Does Black Shield prevent the effect from Shatter?
A: No, it prevents the damage but the armor reduction will still take effect.

Q: Is Dazzle blocked by Spell Shield, Shroud of Darkness, Black Shield, and Banshee's Veil?
A: Yes, both the stun and the damage will be completely negated by any of the above.

7/2/2012: Guide published.