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Taric Rework: How I would change Taric's kit

BoyManDog33·12/6/2014, 9:08:15 AM·1 votes·943 views

(Work in progress and open to suggestion)

Passive- Increasing Beauty With each gem shattered, Taric radiates brilliantly granting .1 armor and magic resist per gem. (Or something, I don't know lol)

Q- Gems! (Ammo count ability) Taric places a gem on an ally or enemy with varying results. Shatter activates for 75% effect, auto attacks activate for full effect . Taric's enemies may destroy the gem themself with an auto (selected like pick a card or on a set timer with autos reducing the cooldown) Ruby: Heals over time/Damages over time Sapphire: Grants increased Movespeed/Slows Emerald: Autos deal extra magic damage/ Reveals enemies Opal: Grants a shield /Stuns for a duration

W- Shatter Taric slams his hammer down, causing aoe damage and explodes any gems applying each effect. Each gem activated will increase the damage by 50% (up to 3 gems can deal damage, all effects will apply)

E- Shield Rush Taric raises his shield and deflects the first projectile thrown at him. Once the projectile is deflected, he gains increased movespeed and a short range dash that briefly disrupts enemies.

or,

E (Alt)- Shimmering Light (Dazzling Light) Taric raises his shield reflecting all light back, creating a cone of blinding light. All autos done inside the light will miss.

R- Crystalline Shard Taric summons the might of an earthen gem shard that pushes enemies in the direction it comes forth. Enemies at the tip are impaled and stunned for a short duration. Can be used to block paths or used as a wall. Grows larger with more points at each rank (Cast like Viktor E or Rumble Ult)

Basically right now, the only time I ever see Taric picked is as a joke when I'm playing with friends. We generally lose that game. He seems to no longer belong in the game, in that, as a support, he has one form of cc with even that being incredibly underwhelming. Look at Morgana who can have a 3 second root with a missile width of a bazillion so she can set up her giant radius ult which slows and then, whilst being immune to any crowd control, stuns them once more. Or, as another example, Thresh, who has utility built into every move, either through pull, knockback, slow, or even being able to save his own teammates by pulling them out of the fight with his lantern. While both of these champions exist, Taric still only has Dazzle; a 1.5 second stun that does more damage the closer he is to the target. Thus the problem lies in the kit, at least in terms of crowd control.

Now what you would immediately see from this kit is that he doesn't have just one overwhelming innate crowd control. Instead he has choices in his Q that interact with both enemy laners, himself and his ADC. There are windows of strength and vulnerability while ultimately remaining in the lane. Think of an Alistar who misses his headbutt pulverize ; all he can do now is walk away while the enemy support and ADC get a 10 second window to react and beat up on Alistar and his ADC. Taric won't have this period of uselessness but instead, a failed offensive engage could turn into a defensive disengage.

Say you engage while Sapphire is active. You apply one to the enemy ADC so they are slowed and your ADC procs it. You walk up but suddenly the enemy Thresh hooks you and flays you and your ADC back. Lucky for you, you still have Sapphire active for a few seconds. You place one on you and your ADC and Shatter, quickly escaping back to safety in your minions.

Now that's a forced and somewhat dramatic (while at the same time anti-climactic) example of the depth of one type of gem, but it's only to show the strength of having choices on the move. Looking at Thresh again, he has the ability to pull himself to a hooked target. Imagine if Blitz could pull himself into a group of 5 people and aoe silence them all. But I digress. I'd say if you want to know more (cause I know I definitely do) then ask questions and bring up concerns about the Q.

Shatter can be used without any gems active, but it would lack the damage and effects that the gems supply.

E having two separate versions is due to me not knowing which would go better with his kit.

I'll start with Shield Rush. Think Braum, with his shield blocking the first projectile, but then activating the second part of it becoming a sort of Pantheon like shield bash. This can be used to close the gap for more damage on shatter or used to dash to a minion, dodging further enemy harass. This is an aggressive move or a defensive move and has plenty of utility. The ending bash could either be a stun, knockup or knockback. Next, Shimmering Light (Dazzling Light). The name is up for grabs, either Shimmering Light to escape from the old kit, or Dazzling Light to keep a small semblance of what the move is replacing in the kit. Similar to Soraka's E silencing in an area, this ability will blind within a cone. He could either be locked in one direction or be able to walk with it similar to rumble's Q.

The ult is my favorite change to the kit. Targeted like a Viktor E, A large shard, around the size of Braum's ult, comes out of the ground. It can be used to stun up to 3 targets(at rank 3) and block the escape of fleeing enemies. It can be an aoe knockup similar to Anivia's wall or Trundle's pillar. It can be a disengage or strong engage depending on direction of emergence. Ultimately this move creates a zone of combat that cannot be escaped.

So let me know what you think about it, this is obviously without numbers and ultimately just speculation on what could be done to the kit, but any conversation about it is helpful.

2 Comments

Tis a nice day12/6/2014, 9:19:42 AM1 votes

I'm... a bit confused at the Q gems mechanic. And the W mechanic.

CalciferHowel12/6/2014, 1:43:45 PM1 votes

I mean Taric is like pre-rework sion, he either wrecks, and makes games annoying, or he is useless and should just stay in base.

So, I like the Q mechanic, stick with it more, have more interaction. Taric is an AoE based champion, focus in on that.

So, I counter propose a change to your rework.

Passive:Shatter: AoE was/is a big part of how Taric plays, So, when Taric attacks a marked target, it shatters outward, consuming the buff, applying it's affect, and dealing a small AoE damage around the target. (This effect can be triggered by Reverberation.) Ruby: Retains the Ruby's affect, while giving a small boost of Movement speed for some time. Sapphire: Retains the AR/MR given by Sapphire, while also giving a shield for a duration. Emerald: retains the granted sight, as well as blinding the target for the duration. Opal: The lost AR/MR is retained, but the target will be stunned for a duration.

The majority of play will revolve around getting the right buffs/debuffs on the right targets and triggering your passive all at once.

Q: **Divine Vigor: **Taric places a gem on an ally, if Harmonic Insight was the last skill used, the gem will be a Ruby, empowering the target's auto attacks while the gem is there. If the Last spell used was not Harmonic Insight, the gem will be a sapphire, Giving a small heal and some AR/MR. Gem buffs last only so long, when time runs out the mark is consumed.

The Q you had made Taric a jack of all trades at level 1, little too strong, so I spread the power out.

W: Reverberation: Slam the ground, doing slight AoE damage around Taric and shattering all gem buffs in the Area, this affect can be chained with Taric's passive.

Your opener, your gap closer, your escape, and even your damage, this is your bread and butter, so a low cooldown and mana cost would be necessary.

E: Harmonic Insight: Taric can't be all defense, therefore, offensive gems. Taric places an offensive Gem debuff, the gem depends on whether the last skill used was Divine Vigor, or not. In the event that Divine Vigor was the last spell cast, Taric applies Emerald to the target, giving Vision for a duration. If the last spell was not Divine Vigor, Opal is applied instead, lowering the AR/MR of the marked target for the duration.

Told you I was spreading the power out, this is for those offensive chase carries.

R: For a duration Divine Vigor and Harmonic Insight apply both gems to the target regardless of last spell cast, as well as doubling the size of Reverberation.

With the previous skills, Taric already has plenty of play making skills, so as not to make him too outrageous, a long cooldown spell steroid is a good fit, I feel.