Taric Build Guide by FakeMesiah

Lore

Taric

There is a form of magic unknown to many Runeterrans and discredited by the few who are even aware of its existence. It is the magic of the earth, drawing power from the resonance of crystals and gems. Taric, the Gem Knight, is Runeterra's sole practitioner of this form of magic, having been erratically summoned to Runeterra from a faraway world. Back home, Taric's father was a distinguished healer in their home city. Taric was always interested in his father's pursuits, even from a young age. Despite his burgeoning understanding of herbs, plants, and animal medicines, it was the power of gems that most fascinated the growing boy. It wasn't long before Taric had exhausted his father's coveted library and set out on a path of his own. He wanted to help the people, but not by simply salving their wounds and curing their woes. He wasn't to be a healer, but a defender - one who used the power of earth to preserve and protect.

Taric became a wandering knight, renowned across his homeland as a guardian of the just until the day a spell of summoning grabbed him from his home and deposited him on Runeterra. Though disoriented and confused at first, he now feels that the continent of Valoran is in need of someone like him. Despite missing his homeland, Taric is happy to fight in the League, serving as a protector for all who seek one. His neat and stylish appearance combined with his shiny bejeweled armor and weapons have rapidly made him a celebrity champion of the League of Legends. Valoran's media, for some reason, has taken great interested in his personal life. While open about his life as a champion and gracious in all things, Taric is tight-lipped about his life outside the League and prefers his privacy.

As Taric's father taught him, every stone has its meaning. For Taric's enemies, they all mean trouble.

Quick Note

Hey guys Fake here; with another quick on the go guide.
As usual I would like to say:
THIS IS NOT AN IN-DEPTH GUIDE & IN NO WAY WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO BE PRO WITH THIS CHAMP.
Now with that being said lets get on with it.

Team 2 Build only differs in the Masteries witch give you a little more survivability in early game; just if you're that extra careful kind of player. (Edit: There's now a different item build for more survivability.)

There is a form of magic unknown to many Runeterrans and discredited by the few who are even aware of its existence. It is the magic of the earth, drawing power from the resonance of crystals and gems. Taric, the Gem Knight.

Introduction

Now Taric your support-tank healer has had a rework done an all his abilities in the latest patches slowly changing him to what he is now.
My idea now is to take those changes into consideration and fully exploit them. Now with that being said you'll have to imitatively understand that the roles would and have changed. And this is why people on the other team will just say:
"BUT WTF ISN'T HE A FU**** SUPPORT"and to that we say....
"NOT ANYMORE MY FRIEND!"(Insert LOL here)

Runes

Runes are standard AP in most builds and are as follows:

Note: these runes are intended for maximum AP damage early game.

Masteries

Standard build for most AP champs with mana:

Now if you want a little more survivability you can try this build, it works just a s well as the first one:

Please note that in the second build you will lose your improved Flash by removing 1 point in Blink of an Eye . But you'll get some defense in Resistance , Hardiness and Harden Skin . So the choice is ON YOU!

Summoner Spells

As always you can get the spells of your liking; mine are:

&

These are a great combination of damage anti-heal and escape or catching up to someone.

Other useful combinations might be.(Depending on Build and Masteries)

& or

& and/or

&

Skill Sequence

Alright so lets see our Skill order and why:

First things First, our Skills:

Taric's passive. I personally don't have problems with mana. Even though Taric is encouraged to auto-attack you wont be doing much of that mid-late game since you almost insta-nuke people with your Dazle, Shatter combo.

A basic heal that if cast on an ally will heal Taric for the same amount. If cast on self will heal for more and cooldown goes down with melee atacks.

Grants armor on Taric and allies. Can be activated to deal damage and lower oponets armor for a short period.

Stun that augments or decreases in damage the closer or further away Taric's target is.

Ultimate. Deals AoE damage and grants Taric some extra AP and AD damage. Half of that to allied champions.

Now skill order I'll make it simple:

So the reason we want this order is because you will be a filling the role of a "nuker"(or try to at least); though not in the capabilities of a LeBlanc but still a fair and almost unbelievable amount of damage.

Your basic combo will be Dazzle, Shatter & new and improved Ulti Radiance. This alone is a kill at early levels' guaranteed. Even against a tank though levels 6-10. (of course if hes not fed or you have been denied the whole early game, factors that need consideration). Also Try to work your sill order to benefit your laning partner. But I wont go into that here, this is not a learn to play LoL guide.

Items

For starters:

Buy, , and head to lane. Do your thing try to farm and harass even go for some kill if you think you can pull them of with your partner. (Once you get use to him try him in solo lane, he's even great against 2 v 1).

Once you have some gold or you need to go back and get: you want your Tear of the Goddess to start building your mana pool for Archangel's Staff in combination with your Rabadon's Deathcap and Rod of Ages, witch we all know its awesome. (Note that you may want to get Mercury's Treads for heavy cc teams).

Mid-game & Core Items:

Now if everything is working out fine you should be working your way to a Archangel's Staff and Rod of Ages; should look something like this Next step is it will add a great bonus to your and some AP; not to mention the extra bonus you will get with .

Late-game & Luxury Items:

So late game should look like this if the game progresses to the point that it will actually let you get your complete build or if your doing extremely good: At this point your AP will be considerably high witch will let you nuke almost anyone;(excluding a well farmed tank) but with a little help of your team getting kills should not be a problem at all. Also your heal from Imbue will be strong hence the support in the title(lol). Not to mention you will be incredibly "tanky" from the bonuses of Rylai's Crystal Scepter, Rod of Ages and Soul Shroud.

Summary

So there it is. Another on the go guide that is sure to please anyone trying out new things.
Gain let me remind you that this is just a guide and solely my opinion; therefore you can play Taric however you wish. Items, Runes and Masteries are there to guide you if you wish to try this Champion this specific way. Then again I'm open to all opinions and forms of constructive criticism. Its my understanding that these guides are made to help us all improve at this great game; and grow as a community taking advise and learning from each other.

FAQ; Ask and You Shall Recieve

Q: But isn't Taric a support?
A: Yes. Riot marks him as one...but this is just one of the way you can play him. Enjoy.

Q:Why did you do this, that; and the other?
A: Be specific; and will gladly respond with my "justified" answer as soon as I can.

Change Log

9/22/11

Added a more "tankish" build to Team 2.
Also added some extra combinations of summoner spells.
Corrected some grammatical errors as well.

9/24/11

After a lot of P.M.'S i decided to "re-do" Team 2 Runes to along with his build.
Added a Q & A page that will (or try to) answer specific questions about this build.
Also been playing a lot of "Normal Draft" and making this build-guide more consistence. Thanks to DeathGod Archael (Pro Jarvan IV); buttsKramer (Pro Karthus) & Omega Dansen (Pro Tryndamere).

I'm nothing without you guys. This is for you; Thank You