I have a question..

Tiamat + Gemcraft = Nummy nummy mana?

In other words, does the damage proced from Tiamat return mana? I doubt it but worth a try :0

Okay - been playing Taric alot recently. Went 10 and 0 (games won not kills lol) with him tonight - and I'm loving every second of it.

First things first - I think innervating locket is a must. It's REALLY easy to obtain - you can start the game off by getting a Mana Manipulator. From here, I normally go standard Boots to Catalyst of the Protector. Early game - Catalyst provides a hell of alot of staying power. I normally find myself at lvl 6-7 with Catalyst, and from Catalyst on up I rarely run out of mana. Once Locket is complete - this is where I'm experimenting a little.

I've been tanking every game I have been in, so I've been going Ninja Tabi. The added armor is great with Taric, making him pretty much an unstoppable beast vs melee. Problem is - now that I look at it, it looks pretty redundant. I've been finding myself targeted first alot, and because of Taric's slow speed, slows seem to hurt against him much more than any other character. I'm going to experiment with Mercury Treads instead tonight - giving him a much needed boost in the magic resist department and almost halfing all slow durations.

This is where things get real tricky though - I've tried everything from Aegis of the Legion to straight Sunfire Cape. Overall, I think Aegis is a beast on him - it brings so much more armor to the party, and it's always nice to heal through teammates who aren't so squishy due to your aura + Aegis.

So my build I'm going to be sticking to, after I get off work tonight, is going to be Locket - Mercury Treads - Aegis. After Aegis - I'm going to experiment with Thorn Mail, Warden's Mail, Banshee's Vial, and even Deathfire Grasp.

Honestly - looking at Deathfire Grasp - one of the things I had a hard time against was high hp targets due to his meesly attack rating, and depend on a teammate to do the work, with me just healing and stunning. Deathfire Grasp + Shatter and Heal could bring alot of dmg into group fights (since it sounds like Deathfire Grasp procs off of ANY spell cast.). Plus - 70 ability power and 30 magic resist is nothing to scoff at.

That seems like a hell of a build.

I've been looking at Ninja Tabi too, because assassin-type heroes love sneaking up on poor little me.

The character I have a REAL hard time with is Ashe. She destroys me all the time.

EDIT: Just got done with a game where I got Aegis (rather late, like Lv.17.) It adds a LOT of defensive power to Taric and makes team pushes great, especially when one character's a solid ganker.

Back from work - about to start an early round of games.

A little side note - my normal ability build, in this order.

Stun - Heal - Shatter - Shatter - Shatter - Ult

After lvl 6, it's all about a mix between shatter and heal. One game, with shatter on priority, I solo'd mid vs a solo Katrina. There was very little she could do - when she'd get close, I'd stun her near her creeps. I'd then walk up to her and shatter - hitting most or all of mid lane's creeps in the process. This is something you may want to practice - attempting to stun the opponent near their own creeps to set up a shatter upon as many targets as possible, maximizing the amount of damage you do per the amount of mana you spend overall. This means you aren't only farming, but as well putting pressure on the enemy AND pushing at the same time.

Also, as far as summoner abilities go - I've been going with heal/clarity for maximum group support and pushing potential. Although it's hard for me to run out of mana, clarity helps for those iffy spots where you are unable to focus on hitting to gain mana back (You may find a lane with a ranged hero who harrasses well very difficult to keep your mana up on).

My main question to you Taric players is this:

As far as runes go, what do you plan on runing for once the shop opens up? I see this as a little bit of a tougher theorycraft, as I believe Taric has more than enough HP gain/Def for tanking, and can easily sustain sufficient mana already as is. Ability power runes/ability cooldown runes, perhaps?

Tanky Tank:

Meki Pendant -> Chalice of Harmony - best early game mp5 solution. also provides you with some much needed magic resist. An absolute beast in the early game item slot. Don't worry about anything but mana in the early game because you will rarely need anything else in order to survive and thrive.

Ninja Tabi / Mercury's Treads - Obviously you want to get Tabi for the physically oriented team and mercury's for the magic oriented one. If you can't decide go for the Mercury's because most champions have some sort of slow effect that you don't want to be caught up in.

Aegis of the Legion - This is cheap and SUPER effective. If you tank, you need this item. NEED IT.

Banshee's / Sunfire Cape / Guardian Angel - Banshee's you're going to want most of the time. Sunfire is good against melee champs. Guardian Angel is good in any situation.

After that, get anything else, with health, armor, magic resist, or dodge.. just make yourself invincible.

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Support Tank (if you already have a dedicated tank):

Meki Pendant -> Chalice of Harmony - best early game mp5 solution. also provides you with some much needed magic resist. An absolute beast in the early game item slot. Don't worry about anything but mana in the early game because you will rarely need anything else in order to survive and thrive.

Berzerker's Greaves/Mercury's Treads/Ninja Tabi - this is all based on how the game is playing out. get what you need for the situation because Taric is really flexible. Berzerker's is there in case you're doing well against a balanced enemy team makeup.

Nashor's Tooth - it has everything you need in an item. it seems like this item was pretty much made for Taric. Attack speed allows you more last hits and mana regen, ability power gives you stronger heals and shatter, and cooldown reduction is amazing. I like to get Stinger first, but YMMV.

Banshee's Veil / Guardian Angel / <ANY ITEM> - almost anything can go next. this is all based on how the game is playing out. Banshee's is for anti-stun, Guardian Angel is just great. I went Stark's once because 3 of my team would benefit and it worked out well too..


I've played Taric quite often and have had the most success this way. You can get in their faces due to stuns, naturally great armor, a heal, and a devastating team-oriented ultimate so don't be afraid. You can take quite the punishment.

My favorite build in the game is Support Taric because he's just so versatile, so helpful, and so relevant to the battle. You can't ignore him because he'll keep the whole team swimming in health and he'll still be in your face giving you some damage.

there's seems to be some general agreement on nashor's tooth.

i experimented with a friend and found that stark's fervour is better off on another hero who can really benefit from the item itself. it is a perfect team item though, especially when combined with a team oriented taric.

we also found that innervating locket, nashor's tooth and aegies of the legion go very well for taric and established as my 3 main items for him.

@asvarduil:
i disagree with people saying to focus in attack speed and damage. even though it supports gemcraft it really isn't that much of a help after all. as someone pointed out in this thread, gemcraft is not much of a deal and i think a waste of money trying to improve it with items. the point is, nashor's and innervating locket are really good on taric and both provide mana reg as well. honestly, to me gemcraft is one of the worse innate passives - but i still appreciate it the very first few levels.

also, i agree with soul shroud as a very good choice for taric.

@runtime:
unless you plan to get soul shroud in combination with nashor's tooth anyway it might be a good choice to invest in -cd runes as anything helping you out with spamming heal is desirable on taric imho. and yeah, deathfire grasp is interesting for taric, i have to test it yet, though - and i will. thanks for the input.

@Necrax: Yeah, Nashor's Tooth + Taric = Win. I still prefer Chalice to Innervating Locket for speed issues, though if I can get the Locket, you better bet I will - that AoE regen every time you use a skill is just too good to completely pass up in Taric's logic. Aegis, after a game with it, I find situational because it is not cheap (around 3k gold, from scratch). Besides, I play Taric primarily as the anti-minion, and every once in a while as a ganker. (!!!)

@Lone Wolf #28: I like your ability set. Starting with Shatter is great for farming minions, but I guess my opponents have gotten wise and read this guide - I've been encountered in three games before minions have ever spawned and been fought back to my turret. Starting with Dazzle for "pre-game festivities" sounds like a heck of a plan, especially when Ashe is following me around.

@Bloodba7h: We agree on Chalice on Taric! I love you man! Banshee's Veil seems interesting - another poster mentioned that stuns are the thing that can get Taric killed most easily, and after a few games (one with a 5-12 Killeath ratio...), I'm looking for anti-stun/snare items that can be easily built into my evil Taric.

@Runtime: The runes question. I was in the beta before Runes were dropped out, but I think with Taric I'm going to put some effort into securing +Runspeed, +Cooldown Reduction, +Health. As I stated in my guide, I truly, truly feel Taric's weakness is speed, and that's the main weakness I always want to counter when I play him.

@Chillspawn: Tiamat + Gemcraft. I don't know, but a practice game, plus some mathematics, can help me find out.



Keep the discussion going, a wave of updates to the topic will be added later today (today being 10/29/2009)

I'm seeing many people not including Locket in their builds, surprisingly.

Is there a reason for this, or is it just because alot of people haven't tried it out yet? I think it brings so much to Taric, extra heals for the entire group all around + mana regen for the group.

@ Asvarduil - yeah I've played beta for a while too - even before Taric was ever released. Problem is that I haven't been playing with him seriously up until now - as before I mained Allistar/Twitch/Jax.

Taric is one of those champions who's builds aren't straight forward like those champions I listed. He has so much flexibility and adapts to whoever he is up against - it's the reason I've chosen to main Taric.