Updated Taric is really just the worst kind of support

Ever since Taric's update, he just feels very underwhelming. Back in the day, Taric was all about getting up in people's face and being a tank nuisance of a support, but the bulk of what has made him fun has been cut out and replaced with flashy new mechanics. Now I'm not saying "omg just revert Taric" reverting an update is never the answer, however I do believe there are some minor tweaks that could be made to make him more satisfying to play again.

First I will go over why he just feels awful. Taric is the kind of support that is most effective when your team is doing well, and least effective when things are going poorly. As a support, this really makes you feel like a fifth wheel, running around hoping your teammates carry you. Certainly, Taric is by no means useless, but everything in his kit is geared towards helping your team stay ahead, rather than get ahead. His ultimate isn't good for a "clutch" play, as it's long timer and clear give away means that it'll only serve to help you team not take damage if they surprise ambush the enemy. Usually a surprise ambush means victory anyways, rarely are you able to save a teammate because they'll just explode before the skill goes off. This is his ultimate and it just feels like a pat on the back for your team doing well already. His heals are substantially weak for anything other than a well organized engagement. It's not going to suddenly give someone a major chunk of life to turn things around most of the time, and with it's long cool downs, it feels like you're really only healing people after the fight is already over. Taric's W has horrible protection value on anyone who has not become tanky, sure the extension of your skills is a neat concept, but honestly there's only one skill you're interested in casting through other players

And this brings things to the crux of that new Taric issue, his E. Taric's E does not feel weak in any sense, in fact it is a ridiculously powerful ability, too powerful. It is so strong Taric's tank stats have to suffer so that he can't pose a constant team stunning threat. It is so powerful that literally if you have not landed that skill in a meaningful manner Taric has not contributed to the fight. It's really just a tiny Sona ult that you can cast from another player, and that's cool, but not at the expense of anything else he can do.

I don't think Taric needs to be able to stun an entire team with his stun, if you want that as a support it is incredibly more optimal to choose Sona, as the AoE is much larger and more reliable (despite the longer cooldown) Also, what's with almost every one of his abilities geared towards helping the successful succeed? The numbers might be balanced, sure (I can only assume this is true because he isn't OP) but 9 times out of 10, I don't want to heal three to five of my teammates, I want to heal the one who is taking damage now and not have to sacrifice that healing power for theoretically more allies. Sona for example has a much better heal comparatively, it heals one target majorly, and gives a secondary shield onto everyone if played right. Taric heal should follow a similar pattern if it is to remain an AoE ability, it needs to give the target you have chosen a better benefit over the other possible teammates receiving assistance, otherwise it's just helping everyone top off their health bars in a safe situation. Taric's W feels like a major downgrade as well. Pre-update the armor bonus you got on yourself felt meaningfully different before and after the use of shatter. Now it's just a wimpy shield with a fancy new mechanic attached. Reward Taric players for choosing the right player ahead of time to give the stat buffs to in a teamfight, rather than just making it an shield you throw onto someone when you want to cast through them or desperately save them. Or perhaps make casting bastion a more significant cost decision.

Here's an example for something that could create more interesting gameplay. Taric's W now passively gives Taric a shield based on his total health that remains active permanently, and will slowly regenerate out of combat. This makes me a better defended threat against the enemy if I choose to engage on them. However, when activated, in addition to giving the bastion mechanics, Taric's shield is completely transferred to the targeted ally at its current value, and will degenerate away at a similar rate that Tarics own shield will regenerate back. This means if I go in a take a bunch of damage for no reason, my ability to protect my ally has been hampered, conversely if I toss my shield over to an ally to give them more protection, I have exposed myself by dropping my defenses. Also, by using my own stats for the value of the shield, it makes me feel better about building health rather than bitter about my ally's lack of total health.

TL;DR: I think Taric's changes have gone in a positive direction, and enough time has passed for him to have been properly evaluated in the game's current meta. However, he still feels weak and unfun to play as compared to how he felt before and I believe some minor design changes could really fix that up.