Hey guys, I am Challenger #1 Taric on Oceania server, this is my build for 8.10 so consideration of nerfs to resolve, targons, tear etc have been considered in this guide.
Ths build is good for utilising and enhancing your carries while still not being a caster support Taric, I was able to climb from diamond 5 to challenger with pretty much this build except I did use tear but no longer due to its nerf in 8.9

Since 8.10 is the Patch of the Scuttle, ask your jungler to start top side and you and your ADC shove the first wave, use your E and Relic shield to enhance the clear then move up the river and take the Scuttle, if you have pushed fast enough then you will make it back to lane missing 0 and 1 minion but for the XP and Gold bonus for your adc its worth it, the enemy bot lane will also push the at this point and by 3-3:30 the lane will be pushed close to your tower and due to your Jungler starting top side they should be in their botside jungle by 3-3:30 and will be able to gank your lane with ease.

Summoner Spells:
The summoner spells are pretty standard, ignite is currently stronger than exhaust but with that in mind into some comps such as talon and burst champs that can kill your carry before your ult can go off makes exhaust a viable option but overall ignite is better especially with bot lane meta being soraka, lulu and rakkan that it applies a heavy kill pressure and grevious wounds debuff.

Runes:
Resolve + Inspiration: I choose these 2 for the bonus HP scaling, without taking inspiration in secondary it halves the HP bonus from resolve, I use to go resolve + precision before the resolve HP nerfs but with how squishy Taric is at level 1 this is now a need with the poking support caster meta atm, this allows taric to be able to all in better in lane stage and be able to not be poked out of lane stage incredibly fast.


Guardian is a must, the fact that it procs off your W is always very useful in neglecting damage in lane especially into poking champs such as ezreal and soraka, the range that it can be utilised at makes it good for also saving junglers in fighting especially in 8.10 with scuttle meta. The haste bonus it gives allows taric to get in range and land a more accurate E most of the time, the haste bonus is unexpected for the enemy and it is really easy to engage when their not expecting it.

Bone Plating is still very good even with the nerf, especially with Tarics fairly weak lane stage against the poking supports right now it helps protect and neglect damage for him to scale into the game.

Chrysalis is still a good option even with its nerf aswell for the same point as bone plating, his lane stage is quite squishy and weak and this just allows him to with stand lane stage just a tad better.

Revitalize is just good for the obvious reason that Taric heals and shields, the 10% buff on lower health targets is also good as it allows him to increase heals when your ally is low in taric R so they can come out with a beefy amount of HP when its over.

Magic Footwear is a good pick due to the fact that I prefer to rush ardent as soon as possible and this increases the building speed by 300g, the bonus movement speed is also good for engaging and roaming on the map.

Cosmic insight is just overall a very good rune and can all the 5% cool downs can be utilised on Taric as he builds several active items and allows just a little shorter summoner spell cooldowns for faster ignite timer.

My guide shows that maxing E first is the best, I personally feel it is the strongest to max due to its damage potential being so insane and with his weak mana pool maxing Q is not as effective as you fall out of mana incredibly fast until later in the game and you have more mana regen items, maxing E allows a more kill pressure lane and is effective into the squisher caster supports to kill as you can usually kill them with one E engage aslong as they have summoner spells.

I further than max Q as the healing buff on it is strong especially with the build I run, the ardent censer 10% heal and shield buff with the AP bonus falls well into Taric AP ratio on his Q and E so he utilises every part of Ardent Censer also with redemption this buffs his Q heal again making it the reason why I max it second.

Max his W shield last and it is not very affective, you can max it 2nd into a full ad comp but overall max it last.

Take ultimate at 6 11 and 16 as usual.

Relic Shield or Coin?
Positves: Relic shield in my opinion the stronger than coin for the bonus 50 hp, with resolve + guardian, chrysalis and relic shield it brings taric to 705HP which is good enough to engage in lane and not make him too squishy to be poked out of lane or not be able to trade in melee match ups.

Negatives: This makes Tarics mana ridiculously low and you cannot spam q in lane and trades but with only 1 or 2 point in it during lane stage it is not very effective anyway as its only good for the bonus AA speed and damage and to reset his other basic cooldowns.

Magical Footwear from inspiration is a very good cost saver as it allows you to finish your boots later and not have to buy the basic footwear early on

Ardent Censer is my core item every single game, with magical footwear you can build it a lot faster and it can be utilised with every single aspect of the item, the bonus 60 AP work with Tarics AP ratio on Q and E for better damage and healing, the cooldown reduction is good for his extremely long R and E timers which helps with your mana pool as you aren't needing to spam Q as much to reduce and cool down and on his E, the bonus 10% shield and heal is good for his Q and E, the mana regen isn't much but its still something to help with his bad mana pool. The bonus 8% movement speed helps with building boots later and of course the passive buff for your ADC is the best of ardent censer, with the Jungle champions such as Xin, Graves, Warwick and Top meta being Irelia, Fiora etc makes your ardent censer viable for more than just your ADC and it utilised so much more than building Redemption first.

Rest of build is pretty standard for a support, going redemption over locket first I feel is better due to your HP still isn't very high and locket nerfs have made it less effective.

Zekes last is optional, its a good tanky item but the item is situational on the enemies comp, if you feel you should go tankier their is several other options.

Take red trinket once you finish your sight stone quest.

The best match ups for Taric are the squisher supports with no escape these include:
Fiddlesticks, he is an up and coming #1 support and will fall into meta in every elo very shortly, Taric destroys his immobile aggressive playstyle and counters his ult pretty well aslong as you can keep vision on him, you can also outdps his drain especially with ignite.

Sona, very squishy and can be killed with off one E engage, try to focus on not being poked out of lane with her and hard engage when she slips up once and it becomes a very one sided lane once you kill her once or twice as you have so much kill pressure.

Nami + Zilean, a bit trickier but still easy to kill due to immobile and squishy focus on the same points as sona, once you dodge their CC abilities play aggressive and you will win the trades.

Lulu, usually find this match up to be even or sided in Taris direction, her dps and shielding makes trades harder for Taric as she can minimise damage and still deal a good amount of damage, if she wastes her shield then apply lane pressure, she will usually polymorph your ADC underestimating your DPS which allows you to burst her or her ADC

Soraka, very strong atm due to her heavy poke and sustain, try to focus on jungler to gank and shut her down early, taric struggles in this match up but she will be nerfed shortly and will not be as much of a problem, dodge her Q's and then engage just be careful of their summoner spells as most Sorakas run Barrier flash with their adc taking Heal.

Alistar, he can out dps, out engage, out tank and out CC you, he is a difficult match up and taking Taric into him is risky, blow his summoners and then look to play aggressive prior to level 6, if he goes to QW combo your adc apply your E to hit Alistar from your adc's tether and focus your E on their adc, if you can successfully land both stuns you can win the trade.

Rakan, very hard to land a E on due to how slippery of a champion he is, can also out sustain and poke you with his Q, best is to E as soon as he W's and to stun him before he can E back out, he can also interrupt you from using your R from a long time with his R and W CC making it difficult to survive from jungle ganks after level 6.

Morgana, I recommend banning every single game as Taric, is just a straight out insane counter, can lock you in place with Q denying you from being able to AA and reduce your basic cooldowns, can block your E stun with ease and you need to wait to use it and she can use hers instantly.

The best ADCs to lane with are:
- Ezreal, you can land your E very easily with his E as he can E infront of them instantly.
- Jhin, high dps and a very aggressive kill lane, can also lock his E in after your E making a good chain CC
- Kog'maw, very high DPS hyper carry, this is a very late game combo but your lane stage is not very strong and can be abused easily
- Varus, very high DPS hyper carry, late game but stronger than kog'maw combo, also has good synergy with Varus R and your E
- Xayah, a strong ADC atm and is able to get her E off after your E stun due to its duration.
- Kai'sa, strong ADC with a powerful lane stage if you can get ahead and scales very well into the game, short range is her weakness but with Taric R allows her to ult in and dps with ease.

Average ADCs to lane with:
- Twitch, a good hyper carry ADC but he is very weak in bot lane atm and you will struggle to withstand lane stage and make it out in a good position
- Vayne, same reasons as twitch, weak lane stage.
- Caitlyn, you can't utilise your E with her and she doesn't really fit well with Taric but is a good ADC atm, can also trap under your E and will proc the trap 100% of the time.

Bad ADCs to lane with:
These ADCs are currently not very strong and have 0 synergy with Taric
- Sivir
- Quinn
- Corki
- Miss Fortune

Taric is the best champion to play to save your team when they make mistakes, this champion reduces the amount of unnecessary losses from your team mates making stupid plays and throwing the game, with the pace of league atm its very end early and easy to abuse your lead after one throw, Taric reduces this and is a very good consistent climber. Takes time to perfect but you got all season to climb so why not learn him. Better to always use R too early than too late. Try to perfect W'ing a frontline in a team fight and sitting on your ADC but if you have a hard carry team mate then always W link and R them if they can have the biggest impact in Taric ultimate.