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Why the Taric hate?

Greeds 6 Sins·5/7/2015, 5:53:44 AM·3 votes·2,254 views

"Truly Outrageous"

A few weeks ago I remember seeing a board post discussing support champions and their viability. Being a support main I read through a bit of it and posted my opinion. One thing that caught my eye was when someone said (loosely quoted) that they'd dodge anytime they see a Taric support on their team. I've seen similar statements about players having a bad experience with Taric supports. As I want to work at being very competent at almost every traditional (and even viable non-traditional) supports, I want to understand why this user said that. Apparently nobody knows how to play Taric, but he doesn't really seem that hard to understand. I think at this time is someone everyone needs to understand to play before saying anything about a champ that has been around for a long time. No offense to any good Bards out there, it's just that not many people truly understand him at this time, myself included.

TL;DR Why is there hate for Taric? Why do Taric players get a bad rap?

Update: I just remembered this post http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/skin-champion-concepts/EABt8X1q-riotrepertoir-how-is-taric-and-the-rest-coming-along?comment=0000 Now we wait.

29 Comments

Dewey Volkov5/7/2015, 6:21:37 AM5 votes

Personally I enjoy playing Taric as a tank/fighter top lane (it can catch many people off guard), but as support, I have noticed that he is sub-par compared to many of the newer supports. He's a very old champion, with an outdated kit and visuals. He needs some tweaking. His stun is great, but he doesn't have much to follow it up with. He just kind of throws it out there for his ADC to work with.

Like "Here you go. A stunned just for you!"

Ashe "But she jumped away while your stun was traveling in the air. She's too far for me to engage safely."

Taric "I stunned her! Gems! Outrageous! Aren't I great?"

Ashe _ "You just wasted mana on a stun that did nothing of use."_

Taric _ "Dazzling, isn't it?"_

His heal is pretty standard, so there's no need to change that. His W feels virtually useless, and I believe it could be tweaked or completely changed in order to ramp him up to level with the newer supports. Perhaps an ability with a passive that increases his armor, but upon activation strengthens his basic attacks at the cost of that armor, instead of splintering to deal damage. His ult, sometimes, just feels like a beefier version of his W. I think it could use some tweaking, as well.

The fact of the matter is that Taric is outdated, and desperately needs to be buffed and possibly reworked. He also is in dire need of a VU. I mean, come on. They're working so hard on texture rebalances for champs that don't really need that much, and yet they won't put work into fixing Taric's pizza feet.

I wish they'd do something like they did with Sion, but for Taric. Hype it up in some fabulous way, and reveal a new Taric, ten times more fabulous with more gems and more sassy insults.

Adrian Blackbear5/7/2015, 6:09:05 AM3 votes

Taric is the last of the "aura supports" that are a dying breed. The only real situation where Taric thrives is when he is able to just build a crazy amount of armor to provide his passive auras to the others around him. Otherwise, Taric is generally a pretty rough choice when compared to other supports. His range is lacking, there are better heals from other supports, he lacks serious CC other than a stun, and team compositions generally call for a fair amount of lock down and CC/peel. You can't do the same thing with a 1 - 1.5 second stun compared to a 2.5 second snare, or an AoE Stasis/Stun/Knock-up. I love playing Taric, but he is "lower tier" (and obviously less desired as a support by marksmen). When his rework comes around, he may or may not be viable, but I don't expect him to keep the aura parts of his kit.

If you're feeling adventurous, Taric jungle is actually pretty interesting. I've played it a couple times and it's really fun.

MuhSpaceAids5/7/2015, 6:14:03 AM3 votes

Pretty much Braum is everything taric wishes he could be except outrageous.

He does so many things better than taric its like theres almost no reason to pick taric over braum. It sucks :(

Edit: Comparing the two: braum doesnt have a heal, but with relic and his wall he can pretty much heal up and negate dmg with burning mana. Braum doesnt have an insta stun, but he does have a slow and a zoning stun threat. They both give their allies buffs, braum just needs a move to do it. and ult wise, there is like a 99.99% difference in that braums ult will always be superior to tarics. Aoe knockup and slow.

Taric needs some love in face of fierce competition from the like of Leona, Braum, and even thresh. Not to mention the fact that if there is a morgana support against taric. the taric will never be able to stun anyone provided morg is paying even the slightest bit of attention due to slow missile speed and single target. Taric is outclassed everywhere. thats why he is unloved. Morg completely makes him irrelevant.

junglerboy165/7/2015, 2:04:55 PM2 votes

People who don't play him think he is easy, because he is targeted heal, targeted CC, free auras, etc. In reality though, he is pretty tricky to play right. He has a low skill floor, but a pretty high skill cap considering the depth of his abilities. Anybody can pick him up and do ok with him, but it takes practice to get really good with him. You need to pick up on things like his passive Rhythm and balancing spells and AAs for more spells and better AAs (just like Riven or Lee sin actually). you also need to learn when to stun, who to stun, when to heal, who to heal, when to heal yourself, when and how to use your ult, whether to keep your armor aura or to shred your enemies armor, etc. in lane phase, He is incredibly defensive, reducing damage via his armor aura and healing his lane buddy through the harass. Bad Tarics try to play super aggressive in lane when he is still rather squishy and doesn't have any real kill pressure. There is a time and place for aggression as Taric, but it is usually not early in the lane phase.

Angelofchaos16x5/7/2015, 5:06:24 PM2 votes

I love to pick Taric into Draven ( Ohhhh, would you like to get that axe ? It would be a shame if someone stuned you) and into Kalista ( Lol rend aint shit into the bonus armor I get and give, not to mention that point click stun she hates). Problem is his heal is really bad and his mana costs are INSANE. 130 mana on a rank 5 heal. My ult takes less mana

VeryGreen5/7/2015, 6:15:03 AM2 votes

Point and click stun also very tanky with an annoying heal. All they honestly have to do is fix a few of his scalings and make it so his ult gives people more than a daggers worth of ad.

ABlueQuaker5/7/2015, 11:55:18 AM2 votes

Taric summoner 11 summoner 12 item 3111 item 3143 item 3717 item 3110 item 3065 item 3075

Teridax685/7/2015, 11:49:59 AM2 votes

The problem isn't that Taric is hard to play (his mechanics are pretty simple), it's that his kit doesn't really feel as strong or impactful as the competition, namely champions like Braum , Thresh or Leona . While all of these champions tend to have very visible instances of power that make them shine (Thresh can save an ally from halfway across the lane, Leona can lock and burst down a target in tandem with their marksman, even Braum's stun feels far more impactful than Taric's despite lasting a similar amount of time), Taric has a lot of power that's harder to appreciate (his armor and ult auras, namely). He has a really diverse set of tools, all of which can be used practically to full effect on demand, but all of them feel lackluster, and too costly to use optimally on a champion with severe mana issues. Having a Taric on your team does give you a guaranteed stun, which can be useful in dealing with hyper-mobile champions, but otherwise there's always at least one champion out there that gives you what you want from Taric in better amounts.

aperson15/7/2015, 12:18:17 PM2 votes

People underestimate Taric's strength a lot it seems. A point-and-click stun, even with a slow projectile speed, is a very valuable commodity, and Taric can lower its CD super fast with his ability rotation in a teamfight.

The rest of his kit usually goes under-appreciated because it's really hard to appreciate. Taric's armor aura might have reduced 40 damage each auto from the enemy ADC, enabling you to win the fight, but there's no reasonable way for you to really calculate or even notice it besides a tiny particle at your feet. If Janna shields you for 200 damage and heals you with R for another 100, enabling you to win the fight, it's much more obvious that she played a part in your win, even though she might have mitigated less damage.

It's really hard to make an "aura support" feel good in a game where the first 40% of the time is spent exclusively with 1-2 team mates, and the other 60% is spent exclusively with 4 of them. I remember when Sona was a "pure" aura support pre-rework, and there would constantly be threads asking for buffs to her even though she had like a 55% winrate and numerous pro picks at that time.

NA Darklarik5/7/2015, 12:33:34 PM2 votes

I wouldent say hes hard or easy, his kit if pretty straight forward when were talking mechanically but what separates a good taric from a great one is decision making and experience. As Kawizz said

{quoted}

I don't think taric players get a bad rap. It's just from my opinion if I wanted say cc..I'd pick leona or thresh. If I wanted a more sustain lane I'd pick nami or sona..I'f I wanted a more poke oriented support I'd pick lulu or ap support like morg or annie.

Taric is basically a champ with a kit more suited again in my opinion for 1st time support players because he has a bit of everything but just doesn't do what other supports bring better.

(Again, it's just an opinion and someone who plays taric mainly will probably give a better answer then me) Season 4 i had an almost 90% win rate with Taric, he was my go-to support and the only games i lost where due to afks. Because Taric is just that, hes like the Lee Sin of supports, he has a bit of everything.

However, knowing what to level up in what situation is tricky, do you want to have more damage and defense? Upgrade W. Do you want more sustain? upgrade Q. More cc? upgrade E. His ult is a minature Baron buff.

Hes basicly a huge bandaid to any team comp, he brings everything. However, managing your skills, knowing what to upgrade, itemise, takes a bit of experience. Im not saying hes hard,_ but he isnt a breeze either_. He just a very rounded, fit for every situation support.

MrRazzleDazzle5/7/2015, 8:39:22 PM1 votes

I have a 100% winrate with him right now because I ONLY bust him out when the team comp needs him. He has some glaring issues like mana, mobility and long cooldowns but he is fine as a tank and he still brings a lot to the team.

The only thing he needs imo is more base movement speed (or a way to get into the fight to use his skills, maybe a range increase on those too) and a range indicator for his auras.

MuhSpaceAids5/7/2015, 6:06:30 AM1 votes

Taric is hard to play b.c everyone thinks youre garbo the second you even pick or hover over him. Try it in ranked watch what happens. I hovered leona then swapped and hovered taric. My adc was like "not taric at all".

It tough when to use things to with taric. Youve gotta be mindful about stuff. I always pick him anyways and when someone tries to say no.....they cant say no when stunned ;)

Catrian5/7/2015, 6:11:08 AM1 votes

I haven't played a huge amount of Taric in ranked since season 3,but did manage to get quite a few winning streaks with him back then.I was trying to focus on helping whatever adc I was laning with winning trades by using his W Aura to pile on whatever extra armor i could to them.Though a lot changed between then and now.I remember Morgana getting popular in season 4 as a support and she was just nightmarish(at least to me) to lane against with him.Taric's aura doesn't mitigate the magic damage she does and can easily counter his stun.

Braum was also added not long after and if I recall right lots of people started viewing him as the better Taric.He couldn't give the whole team an armor boost,but he was much more effective at protecting a single target(and unlike Taric,his W does reduce magic damage).Heck,even multiple team members could be protected with his shield wall.Braum's ultimate is also probably better than Taric's for teamfighting.

Rand0mH3r0X5/7/2015, 6:30:03 AM1 votes

Have you tried Taric Top? He's so damn annoying. I hate going against him, and I feel sorry for people I stun-whore. :p

Voluug135/7/2015, 8:02:38 AM1 votes

At this point, I prefer Taric to be reworked into a supporty top/jungler that a pure support.

His kit is either ridiculously good or horrible thanks to his generalistic nature and its overall mess of scalings. Armor, Bonus HP and AP doesnt make a good thing coupled with gigantical mana costs.

Top/Jg Taric has always been healthier that support anyways. He either outclasses or gets outclassed depending on numbers, and apparently he is oppresive for everyone not named Morgana/Sivir/Caitlyn.

Aroha Mai5/7/2015, 5:59:33 AM1 votes

I don't think taric players get a bad rap. It's just from my opinion if I wanted say cc..I'd pick leona or thresh. If I wanted a more sustain lane I'd pick nami or sona..I'f I wanted a more poke oriented support I'd pick lulu or ap support like morg or annie.

Taric is basically a champ with a kit more suited again in my opinion for 1st time support players because he has a bit of everything but just doesn't do what other supports bring better.

(Again, it's just an opinion and someone who plays taric mainly will probably give a better answer then me)