Building a Better Taric: A Rework Proposal @RiotRepertoir

This is my vision for a Taric rework. Be aware, as it is highly subjective, rather radical, and doesn't have many damage numbers, as I am possibly the least qualified person to theorycraft them. However, it attempts to maintain and enhance the interactive playstyle pushed out by Preseason 4.

Many people feel as if Taric is nothing but a walking stat stick, with little to no interactivity or even a character niche. I would argue otherwise. With Taric's preseason 4 rework, he was suddenly shifted into a support role that had not yet been filled: the fighter. The new Taric excels at long engagement, bolstered by the fact that his spells can (almost) continuously cycle while engaged in close range combat. This, in my opinion, is what Taric is all about. Someone who engages the enemy and continues to fight them in order to further the goals of his teammates.

The first issue faced is how smooth Taric feels. Right now, his kit embraces a style of play emphasizing combinations of spells and auto attacks, augmented by the fact that every aa after a spell cools down his spells by a set amount. The goal here is to create a Taric that, without attack speed or cdr, can consistently combo as smoothly as possible. The issue? Variable spell cooldowns. So long as his primary spells have different cooldowns, one cannot optimize his base numbers around them. So, here comes the radical part.

Taric's spells do not gain cooldown when leveled up, nor are affected by Cooldown Reduction. Rather, their cooldown is directly based upon his attack speed.

So, here is how this would look. Taric's bread and butter skill is his w, the armor shatter that debuffs both the enemy and himself. Therefore, in order to place an emphasis on its role as the primary component of any combo, it has exactly half the cooldown as his other two skills.

Taric's Heal and Stun have a much higher strategic value, rather than simply being a nice source of damage. As such, they have exactly the same cooldown. The point of all this is so that, if executed properly, the combo consisting of W-aa-Secondary Spell-aa-W-aa-Other Secondary Spell-aa-W can infinitely loop if allowed to. 

Therefore, while the cooldown of W may approach 4 seconds with the current passive, and the cooldowns of Q and E may approach 8 seconds, they may never pass this mark in order to maintain smooth combo and excessive Q's and E's.

However, the problem with this is that it assume that autoattacks are instantaneous. This is obviously not the case. The actual time an autoattack takes is determined by the inverse of attack speed, or 1/AS. Betwen W's, there are 2 autoattacks, and between Q/E there are 4. So we start to get a basic structure for Cooldown times looking like this:

Q (Imbue): CD = 8+(4/AS)

W (Shatter): CD = 4+(2/AS)

E (Dazzle): CD = 8+(2/AS)

Suddenly, you have a champion whose stats can effectively be governed by his base attack speed and his attack speed per level gains. Having a champion whose cooldown times are governed by this mechanic would be both unique and interesting.

“But Mr Wombat,” you cry, “Wouldn't his just encourage Taric to build attack speed if his cooldowns were directly linked to it?” The answer is yes. Because CDR does not affect these basic abilities, the only way to increase DPS from them in terms of shorter cooldowns is to build attack speed. This is a double-edged sword, however, as suddenly Taric has to weave spells and autoattacks extremely efficiently in order to not miss a combo, and potential dps.

The next part is to revamp several of Taric's skills in order to make them more focused on the direction of properly incentivising him to stay in protracted engagements. Please note that these are listed in the kit conclusion at the end. Needless to say, they all got passive components focused around Gemcraft procs, while attempting to maintain the identity of the spell.

So, if you are still reading by this point, now comes the fun part. The last part of Taric's kit that could be changed is his ult. To be perfectly honest, that would be quite difficult to put into the combo, seeing as if it were to have any significant effect whatsoever, it has to be on a long cooldown. So instead, let's use it to augment Taric's other abilities, encouraging him to stay in the fray and combo for as long as possible.

R: Radiance CD: Passive: For every time Taric procs gemcraft (Passive) within (2*ln(x+1)) seconds, he gains a stack of radiance giving him a bonus (1,2,3) ability power and attack damage. Half of this is distributed in an aura around him to his allies. (Note: In the function for time, x is the number of passive stacks)

Active: Taric consumes all stacks of Radiance, smashing the ground and dealing damage equal to (Radiance bonus attack speed + Radiance ability power+.5AP)*(1+CDR) and granting his allies the full bonus as a buff for (x) seconds.

This ultimate ability serves as an outlet for extra CDR, as well as offering bonuses for Taric's long-term involvement in engagements, something that should be encouraged if the niche proposed is to be filled, while providing a release valve for excess CDR so as not to have it wasted.

In conclusion, here is the shortened kit:

Passive: Unchanged

**Q: Imbue – ** (Passive) Every proc of Gemcraft (Passive) heals allies around Taric for 1,2,3,4,5% of their missing health. (Active – 8+4/AS s) Unchanged

**W: Shatter – ** (Passive - ) Every proc of Gemcraft (Passive) gives nearby allies an armor buff equivalent to 1,1.5,2,.25,3% of his armor, stackable up to 6 times. Taric innately reinforces his armor, gaining 10/15/20/25/30. (Active – 4+2/AS s) Unchanged

**E: Dazzle – ** (Passive) Every proc of Gemcraft (Passive) debuffs enemies with Brilliance. Can stack up to 4 times. ** (Active – 8+4/AS s) **Taric consumes all stacks of Brilliance dealing damaged equal to (Brilliance Stacks * 40/50/60/70/80), and slowing enemies by (Brilliance Stacks*10%), or stunning them for 1.2,1.3,1.4,1.5,1.6 seconds if 4 stacks are consumed.

**R: Radiance – ** (Passive) For every time Taric procs gemcraft (Passive) within (2*ln(x+1)) seconds, he gains a stack of radiance giving him a bonus (1,2,3) ability power and attack damage. Half of this is distributed in an aura around him to his allies. (Note: In the function for time, x is the number of passive stacks)

**(Active - 75s)** Taric consumes all stacks of Radiance, smashing the ground and dealing damage 	equal to (Radiance bonus attack speed + Radiance ability power+.5AP)*(1+CDR) and 	granting his allies the full bonus as a buff for (x) seconds

Please, tear it to sheds! Cheers!