Taric Rework Suggestion! (Warning: Lots of gems and fabulousness)

Taric deserves more gems! And with Bard waiting in line for release, I've decided to share my idea for how Taric could become an amazing support with his own unique traits while sharing some of the traits of Bard as a wandering/roaming support. Taric is all about gems, and thus collecting gems to aid his allies should be part of his gameplay, and this rework does exactly that to a whole new level for him.

Taric Rework Concept

First, let's start with how Taric's new passive gives him an incentive to roam around the map, similar to Bard.

Gemcraft (Passive): The ground is buried with gemstones that reveal themselves when the dirt they’re covered in is disturbed as a result of battle. Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, and Opal occasionally appear in locations where either team’s champions take damage. Taric can collect these gems to aid his allies in battle. Each time Taric collects a gem, he gains a special buff for fifteen seconds depending on the gem collected.

Ruby: +10% maximum health Sapphire: +15% ability power Emerald: + 100 sight range Opal: +5% movement speed moving away from enemy champions

Taric's new passive is still Gemcraft! Don't be fooled, though. Although he's kept the old passive's name, its effects are nothing like before.

Taric starts the game with two of each gem: Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and Opal, all of which can be used to aid his allies or debuff his enemies. As champions take damage across the map, gems will uncover themselves in the earth near those champions. Taric can wander across the map to collect gems to keep his supply in full stock. As an added bonus, when Taric collects a gem with his new Q, Radiance, he'll give himself a neat Taric-specific buff, some of which include increased sight range so he can spot his opponents before they can see him. Roam around the map to aid your allies and reap the shiny rewards (gems and gold!).

Radiance (Q): Taric’s collected gems radiate with brilliance. Toggle this ability to change the gem that Taric is currently holding. Taric starts the game with two of each gem. Ranks in this ability decrease its cooldown, allowing Taric to shift between his gems more quickly, and increase the effect of his passive by 10% per rank. Starts on Ruby and toggles in order of Ruby>Sapphire>Emerald>Opal. Passively grants armor, bonus magic damage on-hit, and cooldown reduction to his abilities each time Taric attacks an enemy champion. Also increases Taric’s storage capacity for gems.

No Cost | Cooldown: 2.25/1.75/1.25/0.75/0.25 seconds Bonus armor: 10/15/20/25/30 Magic damage: 15/20/25/30/35% of Taric’s armor Cooldown reduction: 0.8/0.9/1.0/1.1/1.2 seconds Maximum # of each gem: 2/3/4/5/6 gems

Radiance is Taric's new Q. It passively grants Taric a bunch of different effects, and leveling it up will increase those effects and decrease its cooldown. At higher ranks, the short cooldown means Taric can constantly toggle through all of his different gems to always find the specific effect that he needs to activate at precisely the right time.

Shatter (W): Uses Taric’s currently selected gem offensively, shattering it to deal damage to enemies around Taric. Cost: 40/50/60/70/80 mana | Cooldown: 13/12/11/10/9 seconds

Ruby: Deals 40% additional magic damage Sapphire: Restores 15% missing mana if it hits at least one enemy champion Emerald: Reveals the surrounding area (600 range) for six seconds Opal: Slows the dashes of struck enemies by 40% for 2/2.5/3/3.5/4 seconds.

Magic damage: 50/75/100/125/150 + 0.4 AP

Shatter has been given four different effects depending on the gem Taric has toggled on with his Q at the time of cast. It's a neat new ability that gives Taric some of the best carry protection potential in the game, particularly against dash-dependent mobile fighters and assassins - one of the effects will slow the dashes of enemies hit for a while so that even (Riven, ahem) the best dashers in the game have trouble reaching your carries. How's *that *for a support that feels effective?

Imbue (E): Uses Taric’s currently selected gem defensively, imbuing himself or a target ally with a special effect. Cost: 90/100/110/120/130 mana | Cooldown: 15 seconds

Ruby: Heals target ally for 60/95/130/165/200 + 0.3 AP + 10% bonus health Sapphire: Restores 120% of the mana spent on this ability to the target. Emerald: Grants target ally true sight for 1.5/1.8/2.1/2.4/2.7 seconds. Opal: Grants target ally a 70/75/80/85/90% slow that decays over 1.5 seconds on their next attack.

Next, Taric's E accomplishes a similar feat to his new Shatter. Instead of being an offensive spell, it's a mostly defensive targeted spell for Taric to buff himself or his allies with. Don't take my word for it, though. Opal's slow is nothing to mess with when used offensively. Defensively, it's also useful for your carries to stop enemies in their tracks as they create some distance. With Emerald, Taric can catch stragglers trying to escape with their sneaky stealth mechanics by positioning ahead of their escape path and casting Imbue. They can't say no when they can't sneak away... ;)

Dazzle (R): Taric slams the ground with his hammer, stunning enemies within 500 range of him, increasing the closer they are to Taric. Taric and his allies then gain an aura that grants both increased damage and damage reduction for 6 seconds. Dazzle’s remaining cooldown is reduced by 15% each time Taric collects a gem or scores a kill/assist.

Cost: 100 mana | Cooldown: 110/100/90 seconds

Stun duration (minimum): 0.5 seconds Stun duration (maximum): 1.0 seconds Damage increase: 10/15/20% Damage reduction: 20/25/30% Aura range: 600 + 20 range per 10 AP

And finally, Taric's ultimate now replaces his old point and click stun in favor of an AoE interrupt-style ability. Once activated, Taric briefly stuns enemies around him before unleashing a powerful teamfighting aura that effectively makes it near impossible for your team to lose in the next six seconds. And if Taric's successful in using the powerful aura to change the course of a teamfight or gank, his ultimate will be off cooldown sooner so that he can make some more of his dazzling plays again after collecting a few gems.

"Gems? Gems are truly outrageous. They are truly, truly, truly outrageous." ..............................................................................................................................................

Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think about my concept in the comments below!