I have a friend that normally plays as Taric. He does alright in most games as tank/support, but he has a general problem with his item build. He doesn't buy boots until about 30 minutes in. In reality, I don't think I've ever seen him get boots in a game unless someone has complained about him having it that game.

The whole idea of this thread, is for someone to properly explain to him why he should have boots by the time the laning phase ends, and for me to show him this thread, and hopefully I can continue playing with my friend.

Also if my friend or any of my friends see this thread, no hard feelings at all. If you want to keep playing stupidly thats fine, but I'm just trying to see if I can convince you.

Hell, who knows I might be wrong, and ignoring boots on Taric is pro status.

inb4 flames

Boots are pretty damn important. I usually try to grab them the first time I go back to base on any character (at least the basic Boots).

Mobility is everything! If you want to stay competitive, you need boots. Otherwise, you can't chase, you can't retreat, you can't maneuver around the battlefield as well as you normally could. Besides, boots are relatively cheap and there's a pair that benefits every champion of every build.

Yeah, I've been saying for a long time that movement speed is the #1 most important thing in this game.

Boots + speed % items are always a must for me personally

In the laning phase: If you are without any boots, you become very much more vulnerable to a second/third guy showing up and killing you before you can get back to the safety of your tower.
In the later game: If you have no boots, you won't be able to keep up with your allies, and as a support that makes you worthless.

Plus Mercury's Treads are probably the best single item in the game, allowing you to survive all kinds of stuff you should not. For only 1200, that's an absolute steal.

1. Easier to last hit
- sometimes u have little time to hit that creep that is about to die
2. Defense against ranged char
- against proper ranged players, you would be harassed so easily that your farming capabilities would further be crippled
3. Time = Gold
- When your not on the fighting scene, your not helping anyone... this sort of thing builds up over time.
for example, if you are trying to go help a team and you get there too late, its a huge loss...
Also how would you feel when you see that enemy with 5 hp slowly getting away from you?
4. Get away tool
- when you are slow and all of the opponents have boots, you will be in danger when you try to leave the safety of your tower (i.e. tower push)
5. Other benefits
- You can upgrade your boots to give you amazing stats!
as a tank,
Defense + Dodge + More speed = Win
Magic Defense + More speed = Win

Heres a great idea for Capitan Fabulous! Lets have the entire internet yell at Bluexco so that he nonconforms even harder, quits playing a support character, and ragequits from LoL to play Hordes more. He knows what boots are for, but he won't change his opinion by people peer pressuring him.

P. S. Play singed more

With usual items on both sides, Ashe can kite some characters to infinity unless you get the jump on her. Without boots, you're more likely to face the same situation against other characters too.

I've barely played as Taric, but as Twitch, I don't usually bother with boots until I've got a bloodthirster and tiamat. This irks a lot of my teammates, but to me i makes sense. I don't fight unless I expect to win (so I'm rarely fleeing), and Twitch can't chase effectively, even with boots. They don't get handy till late game when I need to backdoor/juke. I imagine this is true of certain other characters and playstyles as well. Ever considered talking to your friend about it more constructively? Maybe he's got a good reason.