I originally fell in love with Taric because of just how funny of a champ he is. I soon realized he's very powerful. I am writing this guide because I feel that since the remake of Taric's ult and the sustain nerfs, people are still playing him the old way and overlooking his main strengths.

This guide covers 4 builds for Taric. The two on the top left are the Shred-Knight builds. This is how I feel Taric should be played in his current state. The Shred-Knight is a battle Taric which focuses on DPS, CC, and debuffing the opposing team. The first Shred-Knight is a 3v3 build while the second is for jungling 5v5.

The two builds on the top right are support Taric builds. Taric is still viable as a support, though the sustain nerfs hurt him harder than most supports. The first build is a pure support while the second is an AP support/nuker.

I understand some of the information gets repeated in different builds, but I don't want someone to read just one build and miss a lot of information, so just gloss over the repeated parts.

Two builds that I have seen but not included are the AP carry and tank. I don't feel these are viable simply because other champs do these roles better. There is no reason to try to go AP mid Taric when you can pick a mage who will have more damage and lower cooldowns.

As a tank, Taric has gotten MUCH worse since his ult stopped healing him. You can still build him pure tank, but then he won't really do much besides stun, shatter (which reduces his armor!), and stand around auto attacking people for no damage. Champions who are meant to tank will survive longer and have a better kit for sustained harass in a team fight than Taric.

Gemcraft
This helps a lot on the Shred-Knight Taric builds since he deals a lot of physical damage. Support Taric really doesn't utilize this.

Imbue
This is Taric's healing spell. It scales pretty well off AP, but has a very high cooldown. The cooldown will lower by 1 second each time you hit a creep, or by 3 seconds for hitting an enemy champion. As a support, you won't be melee attacking much, but as a Shred-Knight you utilize this CDR a lot. Also take note that healing an ally also heals you equally, but healing yourself only adds 40% to the heal. Basically you get 200% total heal on an ally and 140% total heal on yourself. Only heal yourself if nobody is around or you are the one being focused.

Shatter
This is an awesome ability that can be used defensively or offensively. It has great passive armor to get you through early game. The aura for allies is quite small (not much larger than a melee attack range), so it doesn't add much to your team. One way to use the aura is when the enemy is attacking a teammate and they are fleeing, you should heal and run right next to them to help them survive.
The active is a great harass and debuff tool. It does solid damage AoE, and shreds armor for your team. Be careful though, as running into multiple enemies and shattering often leaves you very vulnerable since you lose your armor passive and have no escape method. Also wonderful for farming minions.

Dazzle
Possibly Taric's strongest ability. You should never level this up first, however, since
the stun duration doesn't get better. This is amazing for ganks and chasing down opponents. The classic Taric combo is to Dazzle-Shatter someone as harass. Dazzle is strongest with teammates nearby, especially those who can CC after the stun wears off.

Radiance
Simply amazing. This has a nice AoE nuke, but the best part is the aura it produces when you use it. 70 AD and AP to Taric and 35 to teammates. That's almost a baron buff on its own. Even better, this ability is decently spammable since its cooldown without any reduction gets to 80 seconds, but it will usually be under a minute if you use my builds. Don't be afraid to use this frequently. It is great for pushing turrets.

If you Dazzle - Radiance - Shatter someone, you will be AMAZED at how much burst Taric has.

Since his ult remake, Taric has become a MONSTER in 3v3. This is where this build is strongest.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

-Buffs your team's AD and AP
-Huge debuffs to enemies that lower their defenses
-Huge initial burst and strong sustained DPS
-Very strong CC
-Great pusher
-Great at punishing over extenders

Cons:

-Not overly tanky, but must get close in battle
-Weaker heal than support Taric
-Must ration mana wisely
-Sometimes teammates rage if you don't play the style they think you should (support)

Spells, Runes, and Masteries

Spells

The two best spells I feel for Taric on 3v3 are:
Exhaust - You want to build AS and damage early game, and this allows you to get a lot more hits in when you catch someone with Dazzle. Late game this will help you greatly in team fights and 1v1s. Use just as stun wears off.

Ghost - I prefer this over flash because Taric often finds himself chasing someone to get off an extra stun or finish someone off with melee attacks. Flash can surprise someone for a stun, but ghosting and running at them usually works anyway. Also flash will only net you 1 or 2 extra melee hits tops on a chase while ghost can get you more.

Other usable spells:
Flash - See above for why I prefer ghost. Still, this isn't bad, it's just not as good as ghost. Can be used over walls though which can catch someone off guard for a gank.

Surge - Since Taric utilizes AD and AP, this can be useful. Just make sure you will be able to land those hits since without additional CC you are getting 1 auto usually after a Dazzle before they start running away.

Ignite - Certainly usable, but I feel other spells will net more damage since they allow you to hit the enemy more (and that's the goal when you are building AD).

Heal - This isn't as good in 3v3, but it can still shock your enemies in a team fight when you Imbue their target then Heal and suddenly most of their HP is back.

Runes

Marks -
Greater Mark of Attack Damage - helps for early game damage and last hitting
Greater Mark of Attack Speed - attack speed is certainly a goal for the Shred-Knight as it works well for both Imbue and AD damage output
Greater Mark of Desolation - helps for late game damage output, but I don't prefer these since you are already going to be building armor shred

Seals -
Greater Seal of Armor - helps for early game sustain, especially when combined with Shatter
Greater Seal of Defense - if you aren't worried about early game since you have Shatter, this will be better for late game
Greater Seal of Health or Greater Seal of Vitality - HP will keep you alive combined with Shatter for some mitigation
Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration - will help if you find yourself having mana issues, but it is pretty easy to return to base in 3v3 so I wouldn't advise in these

Glyphs -
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist - usually MR isn't as much of a problem early game, so I would go with these for late game
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist - if you are going up against a mage in lane, these will help a ton
Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction or Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction - these help some, but you don't really need them as much as MR usually

Quints -
Greater Quintessence of Health - great for early game survivability
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed - helps a lot for catching people to land that Dazzle
Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed or Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage - both add to damage output, but I prefer the above quints

Masteries

21/0/9 - Nothing too complicated here. You want to do lots of AD damage, but you aren't building crit. I find the Demolitionist is very worth it since you are going to have a lot of AS and with Radiance you can really tear through turrets. As tempting as it is to get Meditation , Swiftness helps you way more.

21/9/0 - This is an alternate option that will help you survive, but I prefer to have Good Hands , Improved Recall , and Swiftness over defense.

Skill Sequence

Level 1 I always go Dazzle since it is so strong everywhere and often wins us the battle at bottom bush when combined with Exhaust. Level 2 I go Shatter usually to get the e-w combo going early for lane harass. Occasionally I will go Imbue at level 2 if my lane partner or I have taken a lot of damage early. Levels 3 and 4 I go Imbue since I feel there is a noticeable difference in its effectiveness getting a second point in it.

After that its just R > W > Q > E.

W is so good for all its uses, so you want to get it leveled up first. Q is a great utility and since you won't be building much (if any) AP, leveling it up next makes it more useful for base heal. E is amazing, but leveling it up only increases damage and lowers its cooldown, so get it last.

Items

Start with a and .
This may seem a strange choice since you have Imbue and mana trouble. Most people go with a Faerie Charm and pots to start, but I like Regrowth Pendant since it gets you closer to an early Philosopher's Stone. Also, all of your spells are very expensive, so I prefer to not have to cast Imbue much at all early game. This allows you to focus on harassing and getting early kills. Get your Philosopher's Stone first trip back.

Next you want damage. If you can afford a B. F. Sword on your trip back, get it. If not, get your Boots and a Dagger or 2, working towards and . Stinger is a great item because it helps with your long cooldowns and AS works well with Imbue.

As early as you can, get your . This item adds so much for Taric's damage, as well as helping your teammates by shredding their armor. Combine this with Shatter and you can lower someone's armor by 45 after just 1 auto attack, and 75 after 3.

Next you want to work towards your . This item is amazing for Taric. After a Dazzle you are almost guaranteed an auto attack on the enemy. Now suddenly you can hit them as much as you want when you have this item without even worrying about your summoner spells. Also, the HP helps survivability. You usually want Black Cleaver before this, but if you are dying early, I would recommend getting Frozen Mallet first so you can live longer.

At this point you should always have these essential items for the Shred-Knight:
Philosopher's Stone, , , ,

To finish off your build, get the following items usually in the order you need them (sell the Philosopher's Stone at some point):
- Magic resist helps a lot, AP adds to your damage output and heal, and the aura helps if you have an AP carry on your team. We don't just shred armor!!

- Gives you even more AS, some lifesteal (which helps a lot since your heal isn't overly powerful), and an amazing aura for all of your AD allies. Now your armor shred hits an AoE -40 with Shatter and a maximum of -85 against 1 target!

- Completion of Stinger and adds AP, MP/5, AS, and CDR

Alternate Items

You certainly don't want the same build every game. Here are some other options:

Berserker's Greaves - AS helps, but you are already building a lot of it. Mercury's Treads are better since you will be right in the line of fire a lot.

Boots of Swiftness - Can help with catching opponents for the Dazzle. Usable if there's not much CC on the other team and you don't need MR.

Banshee's Veil - Always good. Solid replacement for Zeke's Harbinger or Abyssal Mask if you don't need the debuffs as much.

Force of Nature - Better MR than Banshee's Veil and adds movement speed.

Trinity Force - You may have wondered why I didn't include this as a core item. I won't deny that Sheen fits Taric's kit very well, but I do think Frozen Mallet is better. You only get 1 hit after Dazzle usually before they run. The 100% slow proc is just too good in this case compared to the 25% slow proc of Phage. You will find you usually have enough damage with this build where the slow is more important to land than it is to get a Sheen proc. Trinity Force is still a good item for battle Taric, so feel free to try it out.

Malady - Get this instead of Zeke's Harbinger if your team has mostly magic damage and Shred away.

Shurelya's Battlesong - An easy upgrade off of Philosopher's Stone. This is a nice alternative to selling the stone late game. The movement speed it amazing for chasing for Dazzle.

Hextech Gunblade - If you are fed, this will just add to your domination. Hybrid stats work well on Taric, and he will become pretty indestructible.

Frozen Heart - If you need more armor and don't want to worry about dying after you use Shatter, this is a great option. CDR and mana both help Taric a lot as well. You also get another debuffing aura.

Randuin's Omen - This works fine, but I do like Frozen Heart better.

Thornmail - Always an option if squishy AD are giving you trouble.

Guardian Angel - Adds to both defenses and let's you live again!

Aegis of the Legion - Great buff for team and solid defenses. Even better in 5v5.

Gameplay

Early Game

You are weak alone, but very powerful with allies. Dazzle - Shatter destroys enemies when you have an AD partner with you. You are best in bottom lane with a teammate, but can handle solo top. Don't let your team force you into a pure babysitter role just because you are Taric. You are not support, you are damage and can easily carry. There is nothing wrong with giving your teammate most of the creeps if they need them, but you should take some, too, and make sure to upgrade to that Philosopher's Stone quickly.

Do not be afraid to get aggressive when you have your summoner spells up. I often use Exhaust and Ghost together to maximize my attacks and get early kills when a teammate is with me.

Also, you want to be warding a lot, especially the mid by the lizard and top by the dragon. I prefer to put a Vision Ward by the lizard for my first one, and if I see the other team wards there too, I destroy it and keep pink warding to try to control the vision.

Mid and Late Game

Your mid and late game are pretty much the same. You become a complete monster once you have your Frozen Mallet completed. Do not be afraid to Radiance often when you catch someone in Dazzle. At this point you should be able to solo 1v1 nearly any non-fed champ.

In a 1v1 battle, Dazzle as often as possible, utilize Radiance and Imbue often (which you can since you are hitting a champion. If they are AP, use Shatter whenever it's up. If they are AD, leave Shatter up for its passive until you are sure you will kill them, then hit them with it.

In a team fight, you want to target their main damage output, of course. Dazzle then and mess them up bad with that Frozen Mallet and they will be pretty helpless. Since this is 3v3, you can be pretty liberal with using Shatter in team fights, but if you are usually the first target I would keep it up.

Late game you need to adjust your play based on who is and isn't fed. If you are fed you should keep getting items to boost your damage or survivability. If your teammate is fed, get auras to help aid them.

Team Comps

Your best team comp is actually 3 AD. Even though the enemy might stack armor, you will be reducing it a lot, and they will be sacrificing damage to get armor. If you have 3 AD, try to rush Zeke's Harbinger. As far as individual champs go, Tryndamere is by far your best ally.

If you have a mixed team, build in the order I listed above.

If you have 2 AP allies, rush Malady ahead of Stinger and Abyssal Mask ahead of Black Cleaver.

Since the new jungle remake, Taric is now a very strong jungler in 5v5. The Shred-Knight can play solo top, but there are generally better options since he is pretty weak 1v1 early game. Don't bother trying to go duo bot lane with the Shred-Knight because your team is going to want a babysitter for the ranged carry there. You cannot afford to babysit because you will be too poor and will die right away in team fights. Bot lane is for a support Taric. Thus, jungle is his niche.

I will gloss over some areas in this section since this builds very similar to the 3v3 Shred-Knight.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

-Extremely strong gank ability, including a lvl 2 red buff gank on bot lane
-Your passive and heal both work well with jungle sustain
-Buffs your team's AD and AP
-Huge debuffs to enemies that lower their defenses
-Huge initial burst and strong sustained DPS
-Very strong CC
-Great pusher
-Great at punishing over extenders

Cons:

-Clears jungle slower than elite junglers (but still clears it fine)
-Not overly tanky, but must get close in battle
-Weaker heal than support Taric
-Must ration mana wisely
-Sometimes teammates rage when they see you go Taric jungle, thinking you are trolling

Spells, Runes, and Masteries

Spells

The two best spells I feel for Jungle Taric are:
Smite - He's a jungler, always use.

Ghost - I prefer this over flash because Taric often finds himself chasing someone to get off an extra stun or finish someone off with melee attacks. Flash can surprise someone for a stun, but ghosting and running at them usually works anyway. Also flash will only net you 1 or 2 extra melee hits tops on a chase while ghost can get you more.

Other usable spells:
Exhaust - You want to build AS and damage early game, and this allows you to get a lot more hits in when you catch someone with Dazzle. Late game this will help you greatly in team fights and 1v1s. Use just as stun wears off. I use ghost instead of this usually because in a 5v5 setting he needs an escape move more, plus he can move through the map quicker to get to team fights. Also, with 4 teammates you don't need the CC of exhaust as much. Still a great spell.

Flash - See above for why I prefer ghost. Still, this isn't bad, it's just not as good as ghost. Can be used over walls though which can catch someone off guard for a gank.

Surge - Since Taric utilizes AD and AP, this can be useful. Just make sure you will be able to land those hits since without additional CC you are getting 1 auto usually after a Dazzle before they start running away.

Ignite - Certainly usable, but I feel other spells will net more damage since they allow you to hit the enemy more (and that's the goal when you are building AD).

Heal - This is a solid choice for team fights, but you do already have Imbue

Teleport - I actually like this spell a lot on the Shred-Knight. You can use it to backdoor since he's great at pushing with Radiance. You can also use it to quickly get to team fights where your presence makes a huge difference.

Clairvoyance - You aren't support, and you already have one spell used up with smite. Don't let your team convince you to use it.

Clarity - Yes, mana can be an issue. No, you shouldn't take this. Learn to manage your mana. Your Dazzle is most important and all you really need to make a huge contribution.

Runes

Same as 3v3 Shred-Knight.

Masteries

21/9/0 - You want lots of damage, and you want all of your jungler masteries. Ignore crit.

3/21/6 - Very viable in 5v5. You can die very quickly if you aren't careful and get out of position. This will help you stay alive. Get all of your jungler masteries. I go Good Hands , Improved Recall , and Swiftness in the utility.

FYI the critical jungler masteries mentioned above are Butcher , Tough Skin , and Bladed Armor . I also use Indomitable on the 3/21/6 mastery tree.

Skill Sequence

Level 1 I go Shatter since it gives me armor for the jungle and AoE damage. After killing red I am level 2 and I take Dazzle for the early OP gank. Then 2 levels to Imbue, and the rest of the way I skill up the same as the 3v3 Shred-Knight (reasoning explained there).

R > W > E > Q

Items

I start with a and . The dagger helps me kill the jungle faster, and helps with Imbue.

The basic end build is the same as in 3v3, but the build order changes. You are going to skip Philosopher's Stone since you get enough money from the jungle and ganks. You also want to rush Mercury's Treads to help get around the map faster. Also, you should get Frozen Mallet BEFORE Black Cleaver. This is because survivability is way more needed in 5v5. Also, the slow helps SO much for your ganks. Get Stinger somewhere along the way. Your build order should look something like this:



Alternate items are described in the 3v3 section. One additional item that becomes viable is Wriggle's Lanturn. All of your AS makes the proc useful and jugnling faster. The ward is really nice, too. I still don't get it, but it can be a useful item for any AD jungler.

Gameplay

Early Game and Jungle Route

Start at red buff and have someone leash it for you. You will easily kill it with smite, but pop your potion now. You are now level 2, and bot lane is still level one. They usually don't have the bush warded yet, so Ghost in and Dazzle - Shatter one of them for an easy first blood with help from your teammates.

After the gank just jungle some more. You can really go wherever you please, so work your way through to blue buff (save smite for it). Gank often when you jungle and make them fear leaving their turret. If you don't gank often, don't jungle Taric. You are not picking jungle Taric for his fast clearing ability. It is his E-W gank combo that makes him such a beast jungler.

The beauty of Jungling as the Shred-Knight is you negate his biggest weakness. He struggles against enemy champions alone early game, so if you gank you always have a teammate with you to fight.

Mid and Late Game

Taric's mid and late game are still pretty similar. Once you get that Frozen Mallet you will be a terror to your enemies. The main difference in 5v5 compared to 3v3 is you must be much more careful when you charge in and Shatter. Sometimes you have to just Dazzle and stand back and let your team do the rest. Sometimes you have use your Radiance where it doesn't hit the enemy, but just buffs your team. It is important to have Radiance going during a team fight, so don't be afraid to use it just because you won't hit your nuke.

You must be the judge of how much you can get away with. If the enemy ignores you, by all means charge in and start beating people down with your Frozen Mallet. If the enemy kills you first, but your team seams to clean house afterwards since you are decently tanky, don't be afraid to sacrifice yourself and land a shatter just before you die.

Also, if you do find yourself 1v1, you will be amazed how strong you are with your Dazzle and very low CD on Imbue.

Team Comps

You should usually have a pretty balanced team, but adjust your build according to where your main damage comes from. If someone is hard carrying with an AP champ, get Abyssal Mask and Malady. Likewise if you have mostly AD damage go with Black Cleaver and Zeke's Harbinger

Support Taric got hit hard by the sustain nerf, since his heal's biggest strength was lowing its cooldown off creeps. Now you only get 1 second lowered instead of 2 and you really will irritate your carry if you beat down on creeps all day just for a heal. Even still, your Dazzle - Shatter harass is monstrous and you can easily babysit and get someone fed.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

-Doesn't need many items to be useful to team
-His ult is game changing in a team fight
-His stun can make enemy carries miserable
-Strong ganker
-Support is usually teamed with a ranged AD, and Shatter lowers enemy Armor
-Great at punishing over extenders

Cons:

-Huge cooldown on heal
-Heal isn't too powerful without much AP
-Pretty squishy without items, so difficult to land Shatter in team fights without dying

Spells, Runes, and Masteries

Spells

The two spells I prefer to run are:
Heal - This is very powerful since season 2 and will help keep your team alive while Imbue is stuck on cooldown.

Ghost - Helps you move around map well, and better than Flash for chasing down enemies to land a Dazzle.

Other usable spells:
Clairvoyance - Your team will often request this, and if they seem like ragers you can just go with it over Heal. I really don't feel this spell is as useful in season 2, and the way you should play a pure support should give you plenty of map vision with just wards. Still, it's a fine spell if you prefer this on supports.

Flash - I like ghost better. Can use flash to surprise Dazzle someone. It's a fine spell.

Exhaust - I feel the mobility of ghost is more useful, but this can certainly get your carry fed if you link it with Dazzle or save someone's life.

Teleport - Decent option, but you should get Mobility Boots which will get you around the map pretty quick.

Clarity - If you have lots of mana problems you can go with this, but it will limit your mobility not having another spell like Ghost or Teleport. Learn to manage your mana.

Runes

Marks -
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration - Probably your best option, though still not great. You will do a little more damage with your spells.
Greater Mark of Ability Power or Greater Mark of Scaling Ability Power - If you want some AP to make your spells a little stronger these options will work. I would prefer the AP/level marks because they will help you more when you need it mid and late game.

Seals -
Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration - You have mana issues all game, so go with these over the flat ones.
Any of the Armor or HP seals can work, but MP/5 seems most important to me.

Glyphs -
Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction - This will give you almost 6% CDR with 9 of them. You masteries are set up to give you 4% CDR. Pretend you have 10% to start the game, and don't go over the 40% cap.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist - Usually MR isn't as much of a problem early game, so I would go with these for late game.
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist - If you are going up against a mage in lane, these will help a ton.

Quints -
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power - Solid AP gain will help your spells heal or do more damage.
Greater Quintessence of Health - Great for early game survivability.
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed - Helps a lot for catching people to land that Dazzle.

Masteries

1/7/22 - You want improved ghost if you are running that, if not you can throw the point somewhere else. You don't need any offense because you won't be attacking much. The defense will help keep you alive to support your team longer. The utility choices give you the most gold and experience for passive play so you can keep buying wards and such.

Skill Sequence

Level 1 should always be Dazzle since it's awesome. Level 2 I usually go Shatter because I don't need to heal yet and it helps a lot with harass.

Then I start putting levels into Imbue and Shatter, keeping them pretty even. If we are getting hit a lot, I put more in Imbue. If we are dominating, I put more in Shatter. Generally the skill order looks like R > Q > W > E.

Items

I start with a and Sight Ward. I can afford this because of the masteries. As soon as I hit enough gold, I Recall and get a Philosopher's Stone.

Then I get a and as soon as possible, buying wards all the way. Try to get a Vision Ward for the bottom bush if you can as it will help your jungler gank a lot by keeping the enemy wards destroyed.

Once you have your boots and GP/5 items, you want to focus on getting tons of wards above all else. Grab an Oracle's Elixir as soon as you can afford it also to destroy their wards. Map control will help your team SO MUCH.

When you have spare change, work towards completing the rest of the build shown above. The standard build should include:

Sight Ward

Save the last spot for wards. Alternate item choices could be many. Some good ones would be:

Banshee's Veil - As a replacement for Abyssal Mask usually if CC is a concern. If you don't get Eleisa's Miracle Banshee's becomes even more important.

Shurelya's Battlesong - Great alternative for Eleisa's Miracle if you aren't concerned about tenacity. The active can really help your team clean up.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity - Excellent boots if you need CDR. You lose some mobility though.

Mercury's Treads - If you need tenacity go for it. Do not get this AND Eleisa's Miracle though since tenacity doesn't stack.

Morello's Evil Tome - Good CDR and AP for your heal to be stronger. The MP/5 helps a lot too.

All of the armor items listed in the 3v3 are viable, too if you need them. Those would be:
Frozen Heart, Randuin's Omen and Thornmail. You should try to stay out of combat mostly, though.

Gameplay

Early Game

Babysit your AD carry in bot lane. Don't mess with his creeps, let him manage them how he wants. Heal when needed, and try to get some kills for the carry with your Dazzle - Shatter combo. Keep the bush warded, preferably with a Vision Ward.

Do not avoid attacking out of fear of a KS unless it is PLAINLY obvious the kill is secured. The last thing you want to do is blow a kill because you kept yourself from landing the last hit. An assist still gives the carry gold.

Mid Game

Ward everywhere. If you are even, keep the river and its bushes warded. If they are winning, ward your own jungle. If you are winning, ward their jungle. Grab Oracle's Elixir and destroy their wards.

Beyond that, when you have your Mobility Boots, feel free to roam a bit and gank some lanes since your Dazzle is amazing for ganks.

Late Game

Have I mentioned warding??? Did you just die? Buy ANOTHER Oracle's Elixir Don't worry if you don't have much gear. Your job is to ward the map and stun people so your teammates can thrive.

In team fights, try to stay alive and get your Radiance going while combat ensues. Do not forget it's almost a baron buff to your team. Dazzle the carry so your team can pick them off. Imbue your carry. If an enemy gets caught out of position, Dazzle and Shatter them. Don't run into the middle of the fight and Shatter unless you know they won't target you.

Also, feel free to use Radiance when killing neutral mobs like dragon or baron, or when pushing towers.

Good Lane Partners

Due to the armor shred of Shatter, most AD carries are good lane partners for you. Caitlyn and Graves seem to stand out to me as two of the better ones. If you have a melee partner, let's hope its a Tryndamere since he's your best friend. Hopefully you don't end up with an AP partner, but if you do, your Dazzle is still very effective.

I am not going to write a full guide for this one since it plays very similar to the Pure support. The main difference is that AP support heals harder and actually does some damage. The main tradeoff is survivability for spell power. You will do a lot more damage and heal for more. I am not a huge fan of this build since you need survivability to get close enough to do damage with anything other than your stun. Still, the heal is great, so if you stand back stunning and healing, this can be usable.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

-Doesn't need many items to be useful to team
-You heal for a lot of health
-Your stun, shatter, and ult hit harder
-Strong ganker
-His ult is game changing in team fight
-His stun can make enemy carries miserable
-Support is usually teamed with a ranged AD, and Shatter lowers enemy Armor
-Great at punishing over extenders

Cons:

-Huge cooldown on heal
-Very squishy, so Shatter becomes somewhat unusable in team fights
-Spending money on AP items decreases the amount of wards you get

Spells, Runes, and Masteries

Spells

I have the same preferences for spells at Pure Support Taric, except now that Imbue is stronger, I would go with Clairvoyance over Heal usually. This also allows me to put in the 9 points in offense required for Arcane Knowledge since I don't need improved Heal.

Runes

Marks -
same as Pure Support

Seals -
same as Pure Support

Glyphs -
Greater Glyph of Ability Power - I prefer this since Taric uses AP all game and this is stronger late game.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power - Good option for early game power.
Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction or Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction - You probably won't hit 40% CDR with this build, so CDR/level becomes and option if you go for that sort of thing.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist - Usually MR isn't as much of a problem early game, so I would go with these for late game.
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist - If you are going up against a mage in lane, these will help a ton.

Quints -
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power - Solid AP gain will help your spells heal or do more damage.
Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration - Good for late game damage, but lacks the additional heal power.
Greater Quintessence of Health - Great for early game survivability.
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed - Helps a lot for catching people to land that Dazzle.

Masteries

9/0/21 - Gives passive gold and increased exp. Also the magic pen of Arcane Knowledge on the offense tree. If you run Heal you will need to drop a point or so from offense to improve it in the defensive tree.

Skill Sequence

Same as Pure Support.

Items

I start with a and Sight Ward. I can afford this because of the masteries. As soon as I hit enough gold, I Recall and get a Philosopher's Stone.

Then I get a Kage's Lucky Pick and as soon as possible, buying wards all the way. Try to get a Vision Ward for the bottom bush if you can as it will help your jungler gank a lot by keeping the enemy wards destroyed.

You still want to buy lot's of wards, but not as much as the Pure Support. Just keep the key places warded as you build up your AP. Grab an Oracle's Elixir when you can, or at least try to put Vision Ward up at the dragon and baron.

The standard build should look like this:
Sight Ward

Save the last spot for wards. Alternate item choices could be many. Some good ones are listed in the Pure Support section.

Also, Zhonya's Hourglass is a great choice if you need armor and the active is a great followup to a shatter in a team fight.

Gameplay

Early Game

Same as Pure Support

Mid Game

Same as Pure Support, but you don't need to be as aggressive with warding since you are running CV. Also, your ganks are even stronger, so roam a lot.

Late Game

Now you want to grab tons of wards and Oracle's Elixir. Control that map.

In team fights, stay pretty far away, dipping in to Imbue and Dazzle when your cooldowns are up. Don't run into the middle of the fight and Shatter unless you know they won't target you. If the enemy is ignoring you, you can try to venture near and try a Shatter, but be careful. Always get that Radiance aura up on your team. Do not forget it's almost a baron buff to your team.

Also, feel free to use Radiance when killing neutral mobs like dragon or baron, or when pushing towers.

Good Lane Partners

Due to the armor shred of Shatter, most AD carries are good lane partners for you. Caitlyn and Graves seem to stand out to me as two of the better ones. If you have a melee partner, let's hope its a Tryndamere since he's your best friend. Hopefully you don't end up with an AP partner, but if you do, your Dazzle is still very effective.

Taric is pretty awesome. I prefer the Shred-Knight, but Support is viable. Remember, if you are already an experienced Taric player, it may take some getting used to to try the Shred-Knight playstyle. Give these builds an honest try, and tell me what you think. This is my first guide in any video game, so I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any advice, let me know.