Riot is taking away AP Taric. Now, I'm not going to go too far into detail on my feelings about such; I will however say that ITS ****EN BS AND ALL THEY ARE DOING IS TRYING TO KEEP PEOPLE FROM DOING ANYTHING BUT BUILD TANKY ARMOR*** JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IN THE ******* META. This is the exact same thing they did to Taric's brother Master Yi. Now, once this happens I will of course be experimenting with a new build for a time but I can't guarantee anything great. There are already plenty of guides on how to support and tank with Taric, and I will not be writing another. If there is any of Taric's inner monster still present within the new version I will likely be releasing another guide here on Mobafire. Either way, this guide will NOT be changed and will be archived so future generations can know what gems used to mean. Men, I really appreciate your support over these couple of years. The best feels to be had are getting upvotes and positive comments describing wreck and (most of all!) getting recognized in-game as the King of Tarics. Thanks so much for reading! **** Riot for hating Men!

R.I.P. Taric & Yi...True power does not last for long on the Fields of Justice

Summoners! Megaboss here, with the secrets to unlocking the hidden AP carry known as Taric. Huge burst, crazy heals, auras and debuffs and CC...oh my! All the while looking downright sexy. Are you man enough to handle this much power? Keep reading and find out.

Caution: There is humour ahead, along with patches of sarcasm and large chunks of pseudo-witty innuendo. While I love to make jokes and references, this is a serious build and playstyle that I frequently dominate with. So, before you get mad and downvote me, please try the build out or at least check the comments section to see that this is not a troll guide, it's totally for cereal. If you are wondering about the recent changes to Taric (march 2013) then check the Table of Contents.

He's a boss. You want to be a boss, don't you? While it is true that Taric is classified as a support champ, since when does Riot ever know what the hell they are talking about when it comes to League? Taric is a Red Mage; he has both damage and healing/support spells when you build up his AP. He is also an anti-carry/assassin type, since he will drop squishies instantly with his burst. I'm already a fan of Taric, so for the sake of prose I'm going to drop as nonbiased a pros/cons list as I ever did make.

Prose:
-Strong laner (mid)
-Massive heals late game
-Awesome stun that helps in teamfights, ganks, and 1v1 (and farming!)
-Insane single-target damage (with a fair bit of AOE damage as well)
-Incredibly fast burst combo with a pretty low cooldown (1 minute for a free kill combo)
-Very capable of AP carrying
-Amazing hair

Cons:
-Extremely squishy
-Absolute bunk if you can't keep up on your farm/kills...have a ****py early game and you will have a ****py late game (but that's most champs, right? except Singed)
-People think you are trolling and will often dodge queue/try to take mid from you
-****py escapes (until lich bane I guess, still your MS is nothing special...but you have a stun so who needs to be fast amirite?)
-Often does JUST ENOUGH damage to drop an enemy; if you don't do your combo right you may not kill them (and then get killed yourself)
-Used to be a black guy, then went all Michael Jackson on us

This section is important, since beast-mode Taric is a very controversial topic among summoners today due to his rarity, champion classification, fashion statements, and sexual preferences. In other words, they be hatin'. Often times during champion select, other champs will think you aren't actually man enough to handle such a such a stylish and potent force of destruction, and will proceed to pick other AP carry champs and/or try to claim mid from you. This is best countered by calling them homophobes and locking in, but make sure you have said AT LEAST ONCE that you are not going tank or support. That way, if your team loses and blames you for not tanking/supporting you can call them idiots for ignoring you and picking redundant champions. It's always good to have be prepared for trolling/countertrolling when playing Taric.

Edit: My Super-Dooper Champ Selection Strategy -
Lately I have had the worst luck in solo queue with getting butts like the ones mentioned above. That's why I went to NASA and worked with them on this clever method of calmly getting your team through champ select with no arguments or deviations in team comp.

1. Pick a squishy AP carry and call mid (I usually use Kass for some reason)
2. Right as the timer is about to go up, switch to Taric
3. Assure your team that you are still going mid and you know exactly what you are doing
4. ???
5. Profit!!!

This trick only gives your team 10 seconds to get angry or confused about things, and no chance at all to switch champions and swipe mid from you. This rarely fails at getting you into a game exactly like any other champion. Just be sure to be friendly and communicate after the switch so no one dodges. Once you are in-game, talk all the trash you want.

Skins are very important to your metagame as Taric. What you wear to Summoner's Rift has a critical effect on your gameplay, and you need to be aware of such fluxes of power.

Classic Taric: Wear this if you don't want to be noticed. The reaction upon seeing Classic Taric in the loading screen is 'oh, they have a support'. No further attention will be paid to you until you break off some gems in their bungholes. A mildly desirable effect, not one truly game-changing. Always make sure and wear this during free week.

Emerald Taric: It's exclusive, so it has hipster value. The Great and Powerful Taric from Emerald City takes guff from no one.

Armor of the Fifth Age Taric: This is possibly the most OP skin in the game. Upon starting a match, you will instantly be bombarded with people trolling themselves on your armor. They will make remarks they think are harmful/funny/original but in fact are ones you hear EVERY SINGLE GAME. This lets you come up with a variety of humorous retorts and comebacks over time to further incense your enemies. Your best bet is to be as openly and flamingly homosexual towards your persecutors as you can. Using this skin you can cause disruption in the game where without it you could not, making you a Troll Master. (this skin also is based off of the original Taric, who is a Black Man. Icing on the cake. Flaming, chocolate icing.)

Bloodstone Taric: At first, I had my doubts about this skin. I saw it when it came out, during the 'armor and darkness' phase the LoL skin releases went through. It was alright, but I didn't favor it due to already having his pink skin and thinking it more suited to his playstyle. That was before the Taric remake. Now that AP Taric has come to the fight, this skin is completely acceptable because it looks every bit as sick as he can be in combat. Wear this to let your enemies know you are for cereal.

Blight Crystal Taric: I'm a time traveler, so I already have this skin. However, due to Time Traveler's Law I can't show it to anybody. Just know that it is coming, and it's pretty slick. Want to see it within your lifetime? Raise hell about it on my post here

I usually ask top lane to leash blue for the jungler if they need it, so I can take my heal at level 1. If you feel more comfortable with the stun you can just do that instead. Grab a Doran's Bling and head mid. Just last hit and keep healing any harass off, once you get Shatter you can use that for farming as well. Taric is actually a pretty good mid farmer and can keep up with the best of them. Once you go back for your Chalice or second Doran's and boots, then it's time to start hurting people. Stun and Shatter, stun and Shatter...all day. Unless it's someone lame like Nidalee, then chances are they can't withstand this kind of harass over time. Once they get to about a little lower than half health then stun them, move in with Radiance and then Shatter, Ignite and an auto-attack or two and it's time to get paid. If you have to you can pull this off very easily by flashing into range and stunning them before they have a chance to react; but the truth is people rarely expect Taric to burst them down so they will get stupid feet and let you stun them without much hassle. Just keep an eye out for ganks and keep your CS up there, Taric likes all the expensive clothes. Your amazing sustain combined with great damage give you an edge over most mid champs, as long as you play smart and balance the two correctly.

(Edit: Tear of the Goddess is no longer in the core build. Although I no longer use Tear in my typical game, it's still very viable and useful if you find yourself craving mana.)

(Edit 2: Tear might actually be pretty sweet again. Doing more research on this now.)

In case you haven't noticed, Taric has 3 skills that he can cast for no reason: Radiance, Shatter, and Imbue (on himself). That means that once you have a Tear of the Goddess, you should be spamming these spells when you aren't using them. When walking from place to place you should always be using Shatter and Imbue. If you are in the base, recalling, or just headed somewhere far away then bust your ult as it has a short cooldown and will likely be back up by the time you need it again. You can also use Radiance + Shatter to instantly eliminate a creep wave, or you can use your auto-attacks to spam Imbue a little more. Be mindful about using your ult at the wrong time, though...you don't want to get caught unawares without this major part of your burst combo. Get blue as often as possible, and you can really start filling up that sweet-*** Tear of the Goddess.

Are you a Game Master? Can you handle doling out copious amounts of death-gravy without getting any on yourself? Get a Mejai's Soulstealer. If you aren't man enough for this most bodaciously outrageous of items, then you shouldn't be playing Taric anyways. You must use your Warrior's Instinct to determine when/if to pick this up. Do not choose wrongly.

It's pretty cool, mang. Gives Taric a reason to build Chalice, which is something I usually don't do when going AP. Get Chalice, win mid. The +80 AP late game is pretty awesome too. This actually solves a bit of a mana problem that developed with the recipe change on Brother Deathfire. So, at the end of the day, Taric ends up with more AP, mana regen per 5, cooldown reduction, and magic resist than before. It's clear that Riot loves Taric and wants him to be fabulous all day long, so I'm going to go ahead and drop the Grail in the core build for now.

Edit: Graille sucks now imo. No longer worth it. Experimenting with a replacement.

Taric's burst is very sensitive, and variable. Spell order, casting distance, and cooldowns heavily influence his effectiveness in combat.

[Dazzle+Shatter] - This is your standard harass combo: run in, lay it down, run out. It's pretty self explanatory. Usually involves the target being far away so not a whole lot of bonus damage is added from Dazzle, but occasionally you can pull off a point-blank one. You can kill low-health enemies easily with this sequence.

[Dazzle+Deathfire+Radiance+Shatter+Ignite] - This is your main killing combo, the one that lets you tag and bag people all day long. Catch them with your stun from a long distance, use Deathfire and move in close to bust your basic combo. Finish them off with Ignite (you probably will have to before late game so count on using it).

[Deathfire+Radiance+Shatter+Dazzle+Ignite] - This is the downright stankiest of your burst combos. It has the highest amount of damage, but the most risk involved. It's hard to pull off, but worth it. Get close to your enemy (really close...the ideal time for this combo is when they facecheck a bush you are waiting in; using Flash is also acceptable) and lead with Deathfire Grasp. This ensures the most possible damage since they are at full health (or, the highest they are going to be) when you use it. Then, immediately bust your ult. The AP bonus given from this will boost the damage from Dazzle (which is further boosted from close proximity to the target) and Shatter. Much of the time you will not even have to use Ignite for this one, so try to pull it off as it is the least resource intensive and can be repeated in 60 seconds!

Edit: F that. Since the rehash of the Deathfire scaling (goes off max HP now), you can TOTALLY get killshots with this thing. I mean, you SHOULD already have it busted on your target but now it doesn't matter when you use it in the combo. I would even recommend saving it until your last shot just in case you can do the job without it and have your full combo up again quicker.

Keep in mind that Lich Bane can be thrown into any of these combos as needed. Lich Bane is risky business but can have a high payoff; it's also pretty easy to land thanks to Dazzle. I wouldn't try much to space out your casting to land Lich Bane more than once or twice, Taric's burst relies on speed and does enough damage as it is. One more word about Lich though: You can self-heal to proc the passive, so don't be afraid to bust it for that extra damage. I like to bust a combo, use the Lich Bane proc while they are stunned, then back off and wait the 2 seconds for Lich bane to come off of cooldown and then Imbue* to hit them with it again for a quick kill ;3


*PROTIP: I bind my self-targeting Imbue to the 'T' button on my keyboard! That's right next to my ultimate! Clutch heals and Lich Bane procs are much easier with this easy modification!

There are a lot of opinions on when exactly the mid-game phase starts, but for the purposes of this guide we are going to say it starts when Taric gets Deathfire Grasp. More than likely there is a turret or two that is down and so some leeway is given with lane attendance. If the time is ripe, it's time to do some ganking. Roll with a partner and go gank somebody (I shouldn't have to tell you how to do this). Your stun is a great asset to making sure people don't get away. If at all possible, get someone to help you nab blue buff to help with farming and filling up your tear. You need to always be casting, always be killing, always be getting built up so that your late game comes as fast as possible. Get your boots made so that you can catch people with your stun ( Taric has a distinct advantage if he has Boots 2 whilst everyone else has Boots 1). After you get your Deathcap is when I say it is time for: End-Game Domination.

This is where everything comes together. If you have followed these instructions, and have the proper amount testicular fortitude required for the task, then you are now Beast-Mode Taric. By this point, people will have started to comment on the fact that you are melting faces with such an unlikely champion. Here are some commonly uttered phrases by the enemy team:

"taric wtf"

"how did you do so much dmg?"

"hax"

"lol taric has gone ham"

"fa**@%"

"taric soooo fed"

"i like ur build taric"

"wow."


Anyways, there is a good chance that you are now being focused by the enemy team, and should avoid roaming alone. Hang with your team, play Support-Mode Taric for casual encounters and try to KS as much as you can (if you get yelled at just say your stun causes the kill anyways). Shatter is the easiest thing in the world to KS with, so get familiar with the technique. If a full teamfight occurs, hang back and play Support-Mode Taric (stuns and heals) until you see the opportunity to strike. Move in, bust an ult and kill in any way you see fit (but make sure your timing is right, Taric isn't the squishiest but he can get wrecked pretty easily. If this is a problem you can always turn to Zhonya's to help you out...or pull the tampon from your mangina). Push a tower, placing yourself in position to stun/kill enemies that come too close while your team destroys it. By now your heal should be maxed out and your sustain should keep your team pushing at high efficiency. The rest of the game is pretty self-explanatory...just play smart, don't die, and be a huge boss. If for some reason, this is not happening, then switch...to Plan B.

Everybody has Bad Games. Well, not everybody (I am still trying to find out what the 'Defeat' screen looks like)...but most people. Here are some reasons that people have Bad Games:

-Bad Champion ("just bought/just nerfed/haven't played in a while")
-Bad Teammates (leaver/feeder/noob)
-Lag (#1 Champion Killer in Brazil)
-Mouse Glitches ("wtf i can't click anything")
-Game Glitches ("my spell no go off")
-Enemy OP ("so easy to play!")
-Wrong Runes (undisputable)
-Friend's Account ("i hate all his champs")
-****ty Computer ("at my dad's")
-Roommate Downloading Pr0n ('roommate')
-Phone Rang ("wtf i wasn't watching screen")
-Power Outage ("but i somehow didnt dc")
-Going Somewhere ("this game too long")
-'Girlfriend' Mad (lol w/e)
-Too High ("hey look at me i smoke pot and suck at this game LOLOLOL")
-Too Drunk (this one really happens)
-Too Tired (sleep is for the weak)
-'Trolling' ("IM NOT BAD IM TROLLING LOL LOOK AT ALL MY WARDS TROLOLOL UMADBRO")
-Enemy is Fed ("bot lane lose us the game")
-Enemy is Premade ("they always holding each other's hands")
-Enemy is Lucky (wish I knew how to boost Luck stat)

But the one reason that NEVER is the cause of a Bad Game is: Sucking at LoL. Nobody admits this and neither should you. So, just in case a Bad Game is happening to you, then just play Support-Mode Taric. It's the easiest thing in the world, and if it doesn't win you the game then you can still shift the blame to everyone else in the team. And if they try to mention about how you said you were going to AP carry, then just deny it in /all. Because in the end, that's what's really important: looking good to the enemy team.

Taric for Men is not intended for support purposes. But, what is support anyways? Heals, aura buffs, maybe some helpful CC to catch stragglers or disable key members in a teamfight. These things are for the weak, but they are boons easily granted by Taric to his lesser teammates as he carries them on his big crystal hammer. Once he has a decent bit of AP built up, his heals undo quite a bit of damage, plus his stun and two auras don't rely on any specific build to take effect. While actually building for support can get the job done better, AP Taric can still take the role of support when needed during a match. Just roll with your team, dole out stuns and heals, and stay alive. If you fall behind on your progress as AP Taric then you can take a bit of time as Support-Mode Taric (Support-Mode Taric is not Support Taric) to catch back up (it's easy to fill Mejai's this way to put the pep back in your step. For more information on this, see next section on Stealing Kills)

Due to the quickness and intensity of Taric's burst, it is very easy to nab kills that you did nothing to earn. While this will likely earn you the spite of your teammates, it is up to you, Taric, to use your Superior Judgement to decide whether or not that 300g (and possibly 2 Mejai's stacks) would be better off in your pocket than your teammate's. The answer to this is always, of course, yes. But at least consider it.

How to KS: Roll with your team(mates), and wait for an enemy to come along. Stun and get close to the target. When the target approaches low health, use Shatter and/or Radiance to finish them off. DO NOT USE IGNITE OR DEATHFIRE GRASP ON A FOCUSED CHAMP. Neither of these are going to get you a kill, and they have the longest cooldowns of all your abilities.

((Remember: As long as Taric gets a stun off somehow, somewhere, on someone or something during a fight, all kills are then rightfully his and are therefore not being stolen. In fact, this allows you to express your displeasure at others for stealing YOUR kills.))

How to Justify KSing to your Teammates: The first time it happens, it shouldn't be a big deal. Maybe drop a "sorry lol". If they say they don't mind, then it's game on - all the kills now belong to Taric. But if they do want those kills, and start to get mad, then just spout one of the following lines:

"f u it was an accident"

"f u i did most of the work"

"f u this is a team game"

"f u my stun caught him in the first place"

"f u im filling mejais"

"f u i have to carry this garbage team"

"f u i got billz to pay"

"qq moar"

"br?"

"f u im taric"

"this is for g*% ni##^&@ everywhere"

"stop flirting with me ;3"

"get a job you damn neckbeard"

Any of these are sure to deter any further antagonism from your teammates. However, a Real Man wouldn't be listening to anything his teammates say anyways. Securing Kills is a low-risk/high-gain maneuver to get AP Taric back on his game if you fall behind. Trust me, your team will thank you.

This one is left open as an exercise for the student. There is rarely a time when a build can be locked in stone, with no variation to adapt to the situation. What do I, Megaboss, build? If I want more damage, it's Void/Abyssal. If I'm dying to carries a lot (rare, since defense is for sissies and noobs), then I grab Zhonya's Hourglass/Banshee's Veil. Hell, sometimes I leave it open for wards. Grab what you want; if the Way of the Warrior has taken you this far then you will be able to feel the correct choice in your loins (another reason why this build will not work for women). But if you want to know what I build most often if the game lasts that long...daddy likes a Guardian Angel.

I think it's a bit pointless to try and say which champions team up well with Taric; it's pretty obvious that all of them do. However, not all of them accessorize as well. Here are the champs and skins that will win you the beauty contest portion of the match:

Classic: Crycore Brand, Frostfire Annie, Death Blossom Elise

Emerald: Bioforge Darius, Thresh, Toxic Mundo, Sion

Fifth Age: Neon Strike Vi, Heartseeker Vayne, Debonair Jayce, Tango Twisted Fate

Bloodstone: Blood Lord Vladimir, Elise, Pentakill Yorick

I know there are girls in there but Taric will take a girl out on a date just to make her feel special. Won't break her heart or get into her pants. Such an honorable knight.

Dominion is where Taric shines most. Just hop straight into late game and pick up that Deathfire 8 minutes in (I mean BLACKFIRE, 4 MINUTES IN! TY RIOT). Best thing ever. If they have all tanks, just stick with your team. If they have squishies, it's time to roam.

-That awkward early game phase ends QUICK, putting you right in the peak of your abilities from the start
-You don't have to farm much to get itenz, but with Kage's and the farming you do do (lol doodoo) your build finishes pretty fast
-People tend to play squishies in Dominion and don't give a lot of thought to team comp, so it's easy to burst some scrubs down
-Teamfights aren't as large and involved, which suits Taric kill-and-go playstyle
-Taric's stun and heal are both great assets to have while pushing and defending



Here's a screenshot of what I did today:

March 1st, 2013 - Taric now has some extra damage on his Shatter scaling off of his armor, as well as some damage added to his auto-attacks added from his maximum mana...as well as some reduced mana costs to his Shatter and Dazzle. I feel that these are great additions to Taric's kit but I do not feel that they are worth focusing around (stacking armor/mana) in a drastic way. However, I do feel like this changes the priority level of getting Sheen/Lich Bane and so I have put it right after Deathfire in both builds. With this build you get about 30 magic damage added from your passive and about 50 Shatter damage added from your armor (1 chain vest). And, because of the prioritizing of Lich Bane you also get another 300-400 damage added to your burst combos as well. This is a big effect from a small change to the Gem Warlord.

---

March 19th, 2013 - Riot finally noticed that Taric is too awesome. Took some of his damage away to 'reduce his power level' which one can only assume was over 9000. I'm not amused but it shouldn't break him. We will see.

Several hours later: Riot can nerf Taric but they can't stop him from being OP. Not as long as he clenches a single gem in his fist.

if it's about:

-Wards

-Survivability

-Ranked Games

-The fact that Taric has the word 'Support' in his champ categories (it's actually a huge typo)

-Yes, I know about Augment: Death being in the item selection

-What champs you think do the job better would like to lick Taric's b-hole

-The crisis in your home country

-The amount of calories burned while playing LoL

-My personal floral selections

-My lack of pictures, videos, coverage of spells and ability effects, discussion on runes and masteries, and other material that is nice in a guide but that you aren't going to learn anything from (I'll put this swag in later, I don't need it to fill out my character count)

-My or any of my family members' genetic heritage

-The Economy

-All this 'off-topic' information that you don't comprehend the relevance of

-Melons

-How uncool KSing is

Then I will laugh at and possibly even taunt it. And then, if you are still up for it, I will taunt you a second time you English knnnnnnnnnnniggits

Alright, so this is my first guide on the MOBAfett, and it seems to be doing pretty well. As I'm editing this paragraph, Taric for Men is the #2 guide for the Bedazzled One, which I didn't expect. I EXPECTED #1 YOU LAZY INGRATES Right in the last week, it has cruised right on up the list. And Morello pinky-promised me that if I got to #1 that he was going to change Taric's champion classification to Nukemaster Mage. Just don't say anything bad about him here or he might decide to nerf Taric Irelia instead.

Edit: And just the other day, the #1 died off and Taric for Men became the new Highlander. I seem to have gotten a lot more downvotes since then, though the comments are still mostly good. Guys, don't downvote this guide unless you've got an actual problem with the build...I may be joking around a lot but I'm completely serious with the playstyle. I try to provide as much information on all the tactics and maneuvers I know and use to get that win. MOST OF ALL, DON'T DOWNVOTE BECAUSE YOU DON'T THINK THIS IS HOW TARIC SHOULD BE PLAYED. THIS IS A CLOSE-MINDED VIEW THAT GOES AGAINST THE IDEA OF THE GAME AND SITES LIKE MOBAFIRE. Don't believe my build works? Take a look at the comments section, and see how many people vouch for it. And, Morello...let's just say I'll settle for Blight Crystal Taric.