Tariq - A Fabulous Rework Proposal

Taric has always been one of my favorite champions, especially before his mini-"rework", but as newer champs come out his kit feels more and more outdated. He lacks interactivity and all his power comes from his auras, which doesn't feel satisfying to the player. You're essentially an armor/heal-bot with a point-and-click stun. He isn't necessarily "weak" in his current state, he's just boring and one-dimensional. I want to propose a rework that would highlight his thematic role as a Paladin/gem-knight while giving him more interactivity and meaningful choices.

Passive: Taric’s abilities socket his armor with a gem, granting small bonuses to him and his allies; these bonuses are split between all nearby allies for a percentage of the total effect. Ruby: x% health regen per 5 [or x health returned on attack/ability] Sapphire: x% mana regen per 5 Emerald: increases the AD & AP of allies by 1

• The idea: Give Taric an extra "resource" bar with 5-10 gem sockets; using an ability will grant a certain gem and that gem will grant an aura bonus to Taric and his nearby allies. This bonus will be divided equally between all nearby allies -- thus making it stronger in lane, while keeping it from being too strong in teamfights. The purpose of this passive is to maintain Taric's traditional "aurabot" feel while keeping him updated.

Q - Imbued Ruby: Taric generates an imbued ruby at the target location, immediately healing all nearby allies for X. The ruby continues to pulse waves of healing (much less than the initial) for 4-8 (?) seconds.The ruby can be destroyed by enemies. Taric may only have 3 gems on the battlefield at a time. This ability sockets 1 Ruby in Taric's armor

• The idea: Instead of a boring point-and-click heal, allow Taric a pseudo-skillshot heal that maintains the aura-thematic through pulses of healing, but also allow counterplay by letting enemies destroy it.

W - Sapphire Attunement: Passive: increase Taric's armor by X, and nearby allies gain armor equal to X% of Taric's armor total -- similar to current W Active: Raises an Empowered Sapphire at the target location, immediately damaging and slowing enemies. The sapphire will pulse magical energy, dealing damage in waves and slowing all nearby enemies. The sapphire lasts for 4-8 seconds and can be destroyed by enemies. Taric may only have 3 gems on the battlefield at a time. This ability sockets 1 Sapphire into Taric's armor

• The idea: keep the current armor bonus (though it may need to be removed for balance purposes) and give Taric more interactivity through his damage-dealing and CC. Instead of simply running beside enemies and pressing W to do a bit of damage (as it is on live), give him the option to strategically place sapphires to deal damage, zone enemies, and provide CC.

E - Righteous Hammer: Taric empowers his hammer with an Emerald and flings it in a straight line damaging and slowing all enemies struck on the initial throw and when the hammer returns to Taric (think Sivir boomerang). If Taric's hammer passes through an ally, the first ally struck will receive a mark for a short period; Taric may re-activate his E and rush to that ally's side. If the hammer strikes a gem on the battlefield it shatters it immediately, providing additional effects. This ability sockets Taric's armor with 1 emerald. Shattered Ruby: The ruby shatters, dealing damage to all nearby enemies equal to x% of total healing done by the gem. The same amount is applied as healing to nearby allies, but split equally between them. Shattered Sapphire: The sapphire shatters, dealing damage and stunning all nearby enemies for x seconds.

• The idea: This is really where Taric's kit comes together. Instead of a point-and-click stun, Taric has a skillshot that includes multiple meaningful choices. He can use it to poke in lane, apply CC for chasing/escaping, reposition himself by an ally, and manually destroy his own gems to provide engage/peel or immediate damage/healing.

R - Consecration: Taric leaps a short distance to a nearby location and smashes his hammer, shattering his socketed gems and consecrating the ground in a large area. The initial blast deals X damage. Each gem shattered provides additional effects to all targets who enter the consecrated area. Consecration also immediately shatters any gems in the vicinity and activates their effects (like his E). The consecration lasts 4-6 (?) seconds. Rubies: Each shattered ruby-socket heals allies within the circle for x per second (low amount). Sapphire: Each shattered sapphire-socket stuns enemies for 0.15 seconds. Emerald: Each shattered emerald-socket increases allies' AP or AD by 1%. (whichever is higher)

• The idea: Give Taric a more meaningful way to provide bonuses to his allies. His current ult an artificially high amount of power due to the gold-value of the stats provided, but these stats are not always useful (AP on ADCs, AD on AP mids, etc) and it doesn't feel meaningful to use his current ult. This revamp would interact with his passive, allowing him to control which bonuses he provides by socketing the appropriate gems with his abilities. It would also provide interaction with his Q&W gem mechanics by letting him leap into a cluster of gems and smash them for bonus effects.

While these changes would definitely need tuning in terms of numbers (which is why I left so many X's) I believe this revamped kit would bring Taric into line with modern champions while maintaining his thematic roles. Furthermore, I believe the changes would provide significantly more fun and meaningful choices for Taric players. Feel free to discuss or criticize!