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In-Depth Analysis: Taric, the Gem Knight

Gusicles·12/4/2015, 11:11:44 PM·15 votes·1,688 views
http://static.lolskill.net/img/skins/1215/taric_0.jpg

Hello ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce myself. I am Gusicles. I am a Taric main since Season 3. You may be wondering, "Why? Isn't Taric a useless/subpar/uninteresting/boring champion?"

Well, no. I don't think he is. And that's what I'm here to discuss! Many people disregard Taric because they don't know his strengths or are not interested in his design. But let me explain what Taric is, or at least to me.

> Design --- ** Stylish/ Guardian/ Gems?**

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Taric's design seems to have multiple things going on. It's a bit hard to sort them all out, but let me list some things:

  • Gems This is the most readily apparent aspect of Taric's design. He is some sort of geomancer, his lore stating that he practices "... the magic of the earth, drawing power from the resonance of crystals and gems." Immortalized of course, in his most famous quote: "Gems? Gems are truly outrageous. They are truly, truly, truly outrageous." Now, I find this pretty interesting. I think it's rare to have a character that draws power from gems and crystals like this (sorry homeopathy people). It's unclear how much power Taric can draw from gems, as he is clearly no mage. He is further described in his lore as not "... a healer, but a defender - one who used the power of earth to preserve and protect." Now, this gets me to the second aspect of Taric's design.

  • Guardian / Knight Errant Now, this is my favorite aspect about Taric. He is without a doubt, a white knight, or paladin. He is "... a wandering knight, renowned across his homeland as a guardian," and "... a protector for all who seek one." Taric is an experienced knight, a wandering paladin that comes to the aid of those in need. What I wish would be explained however, is what influenced him to become so. Many people think that Taric is a silly champion, and I agree he has silliness to him, but behind that is a gravitas that cannot be matched. There is a certain serenity to his voice, even in the middle of a heated conflict. Although Taric's lore doesn't explain much about his past, Taric really seems to be a tragic character. With quotes like "I will weep for you..." and "Magic has ruined this land..." you really have to think, damn, what's happened to this guy? My personal hypothesis is that Taric is similar to Vayne... He's lost something/someone important to him to violence/magic and took up arms. However, instead of hunting "black magic", he takes a more peaceful approach, and seeks to protect others from it. But although he is no violent warrior, he isn't weak. He also warns those he is against, "You are nothing more than glass, waiting to be smashed."

  • **Stylish ** As I said before however, Taric is not always a somber guy. He does have his silliness to him. He seems to be well humored, and his lore states that "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." Lore changes aside, this is pretty hilarious. Taric is essentially like a reality TV star. Although, he may not enjoy the paparazzi, "... Taric is tight-lipped about his life outside the League and prefers his privacy." What could he be secretive about? It's a mystery!!!

> Gameplay --- Support/ Fighter?

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Taric's role is listed as Support and Fighter. And I agree with this. Notice how it does not say Support and Tank. It makes sense thematically, for the reasons listed above. Not only this, but his kit is geared towards both supporting and fighting. Another aspect of Taric is his reliability. He's a very reliable champion, and this is integral to him. I'll explain his kit the way I see it:

  • **Passive: ** Gemcraft After using an ability, Taric's next basic attack deals 20% armor bonus magic damage and reduces his abilities' cooldowns by 2 seconds.

This is an amazing passive. The extra damage that comes with it is great for trades and meshes well with the rest of Taric's kit. But what truly makes this outrageous is the reduced cooldown. This essentially lets Taric "juggle" his abilities, as after each ability the cooldown of the others will be reduced. It's a nice mechanic and doesn't feel gimmicky like other passives. I would hope Riot preserves this passive or something similar to it in Taric's rework.

  • Q: Imbue ACTIVE: Taric heals the target ally or himself. If he targets an ally, he heals himself for the same amount, and if he targets himself, the heal is increased by 40%.

An great ability overall. Not only does it heal the target, but it heals Taric as well! It helps Taric's laning phase tremendously. If I had to pick however, this is Taric's weakest ability. (It does help his reliability, though). The mana cost isn't too bad but could be a bit better, and the scaling on this is wonky. I think the scaling should be changed to be purely based on health. Taric needs SOME kind of heal, but I would be ok with this being changed to something else.

  • W: Shatter AURA: Taric and nearby allies gain bonus armor equal to 12% of Taric's armor. PASSIVE: While Shatter is not on cooldown, Taric gains bonus armor. BONUS ARMOR: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 armor ACTIVE: Taric shatters his gemstones, dealing magic damage to all nearby enemies and reducing their armor for 4 seconds.

Oh man, I love this ability so much. Taric's best ability. Taric's extra armor is obviously helpful in-game and it also goes well with his passive. No one expects the burst this ability brings out, it's seriously unappreciated. This helps you as both solo lane Taric and support Taric to harass or go all-in on your opponents. You go E -> AA -> W -> AA, and they will feel the pain. Probably the best thing about this is that it shares armor to your entire team. Great ability against AD-heavy teams. Also scales with armor, so you're not irrelevant late game. A+ Riot, keep this basically intact please.

  • E: Dazzle ACTIVE: Taric fires a prismatic sphere at the target enemy which Stun icon stuns them and deals them magic damage, which increases with the target's proximity to him.

Easily Taric's most... controversial ability. This is a targeted, ranged stun. Nowadays there aren't many targeted stuns in the game anymore, which is disappointing because of the mobility creep. But that's another thread entirely. The ability itself however, is absolutely dazzling! Without this, Taric wouldn't be half as good. The mistake I see people make is using this ability purely to engage. Of course, if you can engage with it, do it, but this is a slow ability, which can be bad. No, use it mostly to counter your opponent's engage and lock them down. Then you can wail on them with your other abilities. I would want Riot to keep this SO much but since they have a crusade against reliability in kits I won't bother.

  • R: Radiance ACTIVE: Taric slams the ground with his hammer, dealing magic damage to all nearby enemies. For the next 10 seconds, he also gains bonus attack damage and ability power, while also generating an aura that grants half of those bonuses to nearby allied champions.

Many people believe this to be Taric's weakest ability, but I disagree. This grants him a quick burst of damage and a nice buff after that. The extra damage he gets helps both his Q and W get stronger, as well as his team. Use this after you've locked someone down with E. Not much to say about this one, since it's pretty straightforward. Riot should change this, but his new ultimate should still deal some burst and share damage in some way.

> Final Thoughts?

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Taric is a good champion. Sure, he's way outdated for League's current art, and can be an outclassed pick in some situations, nevertheless he is one of League's most iconic champions. I sincerely hope he's treated with care and respect for his following rework, and I trust Riot will not disappoint us. This may be a large wall of text, and you may be too lazy to read it, but that's just how much I love this character. I'm sure you have a character that you love as much as this too. That's why I want everyone who reads this to remember this post and either protest against the new Taric if he changes who he is, or inversely, praise Riot and feel good that they treated this champion with esteem and regards towards those who enjoy him. Thank you.

~ Gusicles.

19 Comments

ModKnightsKemplar12/5/2015, 1:00:17 AM3 votes

Curious to see your opinion. I started as a Taric main in Season 2, and I stopped playing as much support because I starting duoing with a support main.

Having said that, I have been playing solo a lot for this preseason and find Taric to be a godsend against a lot of the AD-focused comps. Most curiously, I love his Q. I even max it first sometimes, especially when my adc is particularly bad at dodging poke. You seem to not like it much, but I find that with windspeaker's blessing, it's quite potent. Could you comment on what masteries you're running on him (Keystone, mainly)?

I will work on weaving autos with my AAs. I thought, as of earlier today, that his passive was largely wasted. I will open my mind up a bit and try to do better with it in my next few Taric games. Thanks for the tip!

EDIT: I am only playing him support. Never been brave enough to take him elsewhere.

Lazypeon10012/5/2015, 8:28:38 PM2 votes

I love playing Taric for fun sometimes in normals. I started in S2 and duo'd with someone who played him while i played sivir. We used the auras to gain an advantage in team fights and used his lock down to help get me ahead.

That was a long time ago though now. Before the season 3 update to supports, maxing W was what I usually did when I played him. Now a days, I max E because it increases the stun duration. People seriously underestimate it for the peel potential. If they go hard on your adc and you are near them, simply stun for some turn and burn action! The lock down mixed with his burst potential and the damage of your adc can often get you a kill / summoner spells.

I personally hope they maintain some of the community's views on his personality in the rework. He is supposed to be serious and silly as you said, and I think the age old joke (EZ x Taric) is both hilarious and says quite a lot about how the community views him.

FurretHasAGlock12/6/2015, 3:18:02 AM2 votes

I love just playing taric support. Go into lane, and while u walk around, just hit his joke. Its a beautiful laning tactic. They fear you. FEAR THE TARIC.

SociopathFriend12/5/2015, 4:37:56 AM2 votes

Good thread and a good read, I have to say Taric is one of my favorite champions LoL has to offer (recently surpassed Morde since rework, making him one of the top 5).

And I have to say- he does not feel useless- if you see the enemy team picking more than two AD-based champions, pick Taric into that and watch them cry. If you're cocky, go top or mid- Taric actually does fairly well in some mid and top match-ups. Any decent mage will make your life hell- but targeted CC is the bane of assassins and you'll only get stronger and stronger against an AD top like say Riven.

Transgressor12/5/2015, 6:43:13 PM2 votes

What a post.

I generally do this Taric summoner 12 summoner 4 . And stack armor untill hell freezes over(or the game ends).

Dominick Destine12/5/2015, 7:09:18 PM2 votes

Outrageous!

Malcha12/21/2015, 12:57:24 AM1 votes

Pretty solid guide but I actually feel as though his heal is one of his strongest abilities. I think it's the only thing that's holding him with-in the confines of playability.

In combination with the new masteries and a spirit visage, you're looking at a self heal of almost 700 late game. It's only about 150-200 on allies, unless they have heal mastery or sv, then you can get almost 400 out of it. Taking into account his passive cooldown mechanic and you have an almost unstoppable monster.

In an environment where thornmail is incredible strong and he scales well with health and armor, this heal is a little over the top.

To be honest, though it's necessary, I feel as though his stun is actually his weakest ability. Not because it's a bad ability(it's fantistic for what it is, but relative to him it feels rather limited) but because it's functionality is so much weaker than it should be relative to the rest of his kit. It's the only part that isn't interactive with allies, and absolutely has to be maxed last even though it's base time feels low and scales per level to an unsatisfactory extent. Especially considering how much you have to rely on it in lane.

Saphixia12/5/2015, 4:17:02 AM1 votes

Ive played with a taric main before that did shit tons of damage, because he didnt build tank. He said that people are really surprised by the amount of damage that he does.

Beldair12/4/2015, 11:43:43 PM1 votes

I love Taric. He can be so tanky and still be strong in damage. I do a 50/50 with dazzle, i'll use it to engage as well as to counter the enemies engage. Now my bro has done Taric jungle, which he said was insane. With the tankiness and dazzle, he is easily a strong jungler that people would have to watch out for.