Taric Rework Concept

TLDR:

• Make Taric into a transform champion based on crystals he is near. Crystals are summoned on Q/W/E when not near crystals and his basic abilities change based on what type of crystal he is near. Crystal types are offence (red), defence (blue), and support (green). Transformation is gated by proximity to crystals which requires strategic placement by Taric and protection from enemies since crystals can be destroyed. Ultimate is another transform that gives a massive combat buff to Taric that he can give away to allies through Q/W/E. Ultimate consumes all crystals placed on the map. Taric rework: three forms all controlled by strategic placement of crystals.

Taric's Final Form

The recently announced reworks of Skarner, Darius, and Garen have all driven some small amount of narrative about the champion into gameplay. The player will now know several things about each champion without ever looking at any type of lore: Skarner protects things, Darius uses the weakest link to tear something apart, and Garen seeks judgement. Whether these reworks are good or not, I believe that it is a step in the right direction for champion gameplay. This brings me to the future Taric rework. If there is one thing that the player should know about Taric, without ever reading lore, is that Taric gains power from crystals. This gave me the idea that Taric could be a quasi-transform champion based on crystal power. However, transform champions seem to be overloaded and broken since they always have access to six different abilities, except in the case of Gnar. Gnar has some control over his transformation, but it still takes good resource management to accomplish. My thought for Taric would be that his transformation would be tied to positional management and strategic placement. This would control the amount of power Taric can access at any given time in a manner that is similar to Gnar.

The kit that I have in my head is very conceptual so there are no real abilities, just ideas for what the abilities would focus around in each "form."

Taric's basic abilities, while not around a crystal, are to summon a crystal of a certain color:

• Plain Q - Summon Red Crystal
• Plain W - Summon Blue Crystal
• Plain E - Summon Green Crystal

All of these abilities are on the same cooldown timer so Taric has to choose what type of crystal to summon. Crystals would be invulnerable for the base cooldown of the basic abilities so Taric would always have access to at least one form, but after that the crystals could be attacked and destroyed for some kind of incentive (gold, buff to enemy based on the color, vision, or any kind of balance lever that would fit!). This would make sure that Taric had to strategically place the crystals instead of throwing them out on a whim. This would also allow for Taric to synergize very well with cooldown reduction since Taric could potentially place several invulnerable crystals at once, but that could also be balanced by Riot.

Each colored crystal will destroy all other crystals that are not of the same color within its area of power (I am thinking a model of the crystal and a colored/grey circle around the crystal for its area of power). This way there will never be an instance where Taric could draw power from a Red and Green crystal.

While Taric is around a crystal his abilities will change, but the ability to summon the same color of crystal he is currently drawing power from will still summon a crystal, just in a different way or with a different effect. For example, Taric is drawing power from a Red crystal so his current Q would be to summon a crystal and use it as a skill shot to stun a target. The crystal would land at the end of its range or at the first target hit. This is just an example, so it could be anything.

Each crystal would have a "theme":

• Red - Offence
• Blue - Defence
• Green - Support

So the abilities would follow:

• Red - contribute damage, hard cc, or damage buffs
• Blue - buff defence, give soft cc, or reduce damage
• Green - give heals, shields, speedups

My dream would be that Taric could go solo lane carry with Red crystals, solo lane tank with Blue, duo lane support with Green, or a combination with a focus on all or several crystals.

All "powered" basic abilities would also share the same cool-down timer, but they are separate from the plain basic abilities. So essentially Taric has two forms so far:

• Not Powered
• Powered

I imagine that Taric could hard focus one type of crystal, or be a jack-of-all-trades. The way that Riot can balance these abilities is that they could allow for Taric outplays by putting a speedup on one Q, a slow on a different W, and a stun on another E to allow for Taric to easily catch and lockup enemy champions if he correctly lays out his crystals. This could also be viewed as toxic so these abilities could all be put on the same key, thus having the same cool-down. Riot could also balance the crystals by their area of power, making it smaller to allow for more types of crystals in a given area (lane, jungle, base) or making it larger so that only one or two types of crystal could be in a given lane or area of the jungle. Thus Taric could have access a smaller or larger range of abilities based on crystal placement and proper balance.

Finally, Taric's ultimate would unlock his, dare I say?, final form. All crystals he has placed would be removed from the map and "cover" him in an intense period of self-buff (Think Aatrox ult). Red crystals would buff damage/attack range, Blue crystals defence/damage reduction, Green crystals for self healing/area-of-effect healing. This would incentivise Taric players to protect their crystals so that they could call upon this form for a large power spike in say a dragon or baron fight. The ultimate would destroy the crystals over time, so its duration would last as long as Taric has crystals for, each status independent (so one buff could last longer than others). In this final form, Taric's basic abilities would be to consume a number of his crystals (percent or flat amount [levers for balance Riot!]) to buff (or even debuf,? up to balance of course) a specific stat for allies or heal/shield them in the case of Green. These basic abilities would be on separate cooldowns from the other forms.

So Taric ends up with three forms:

• Not Powered
• Powered
• FINAL!!!

In conclusion Taric would be the ultimate "transform" champion, but severely limited by his own strategic placement and the actions of the enemy. This would allow for skillful outplays and intense periods of avoiding Taric or his team, which Gnar already has proven to be quite exciting. Let me know what you think about this and ask any questions if I was unclear. If you see any mistakes or spelling/grammar issues that destroy your soul, let me know and I will fix them (I know I am not perfect!).

I look forward to the discussion!