Taric/Strategy

Skill usage

 * 's passive allows him to reduce the cooldown of his abilities by two seconds every time he attacks after using a spell as well as deal additional bonus damage. Try to weave in an autoattack after every spell in order to keep spamming your abilities quickly in succession and maximize damage.
 * If targets himself with his heal, he'll be healed for 140%. Less selfishly, healing an ally will still heal  for 100% of the amount, effectively healing for 200%.
 * You can use the active of when attempting to play an aggressive early game or to last hit multiple minions at once.


 * is also very useful in team fights. Use the area of effect on the squishy enemies so your AD carry can kill them faster due to the armor reduction.
 * Using the active on will remove the passive bonus armor it provides (but you retain the passive armor aura). Make sure not to use it when being ganked or chased, as the loss of armor will make you easier to kill.
 * can clear minion waves really fast with his and  abilities.
 * should usually the enemy carry in a team fight so that they can be quickly killed by your team.  is difficult to see, however, so if there is more than one potential target, it's up to you to determine which enemy to stun, usually by pinging them. When coupled with  or another repositioning ability, this can provide a clear advantage in a team fight.
 * Use during pushes or team fights to boost the damage of your teammates, but be careful not to activate it too early, as it is highly visible, so enemy champions may disengage and wait out the 10 seconds.
 * Pairing and another pushing hero such as  together can make a very effective pushing duo.
 * Due to his slow movement speed and lack of any real escape/chase mechanisms ( has a long cooldown and can be negated by such things as, or , , etc.),  and  are both respectable choices for Taric's summoner spells.
 * Early game, is relatively squishy. Stay clear of the enemy until you have taken  and/or purchased survivability items.
 * used before or after another guaranteed stun/knockup will maximize the CC duration, allowing for a potential kill.
 * is a great roamer with his stun allowing his team to set up ganks and stun-locking a target if your ally has a stun.
 * can zone very well with his and by letting his lane partner farm while zoning the enemy off by sitting in the bushes at bottom lane.

Build usage

 * A popular way to itemize is to stack auras, such as  and Frozen Heart, to synergize with his ability auras from  and.
 * Itemizing with  provides many buffs to his natural deficiencies.
 * As base armor is already high thanks to his,  is a good item to grab on him since his necessity to get close to use two of his abilities will often be the focus target in team fights. The magic resistance also helps him as his magic resistance is only average.
 * is great on as it increases his ability to tank while giving him cooldown reduction.
 * with Spoils of War and the health regeneration provided by give  great sustain in lane.
 * Cooldown reduction items are very useful for, because your is one of the most useful auras for your team, granting a strong AD/AP bonus to your entire team on a relatively short cooldown.
 * and  are very useful on Taric & to his team. They synergize well with his  and.
 * If the enemy team is AD heavy, or the majority of their damage turns out to be physical at mid-game (check who gets fed in the scoreboard), consider getting a or.
 * If the enemy team is AP heavy, or the majority of their damage turns out to be magical at mid-game (check who gets fed in the scoreboard), consider getting a, because they increase your self-healing of  (120% to 168% respectively) and reduces the cooldowns of all abilities by 10%. However, this item is still a good choice, regardless of the enemy team.
 * is also a great choice, as it's less selfish than . will receive the same amount of health and cooldown reduction, but will sacrifice 15 MR for himself. However, the MR aura and the AoE Shield will make up for that.
 * can also go solo top lane as an AD bruiser, focusing on building large amounts of armor, magic resistance, mana, and health. This can be an effective counter pick to AD based bruisers and assassins such as, , and to a degree.
 * If going solo top items such as, , and are all good items for dueling against melee bruisers or assassins, while  is good for mitigating magic damage and improving your self heal.

Jungling
Aside from his classic role as a support, is also a jungler. He is not very popular as a jungler and it may take your enemies(and allies) off-guard.
 * lets him keep his health high.
 * aura is useful for beginner junglers and people lacking jungle runes and its active speeds up his clear time.
 * is a great initiation for ganking followed by  and . At later ranks with some CDR its cooldown is short enough to be used a second time during a single gank.
 * Starting items:, 5 OR , 5
 * Skill progression: →  →
 * Jungle route:  →  or  →   → Gank

Countering

 * Be careful not to over-commit to early lane fights with, considering he is one of the few champions able to heal himself and stun the opponent.
 * has little resistance to long ranged harassment.
 * is naturally strong against physical damage due to his passive armor bonus, but has no magic damage protection. Use this as an advantage when possible.
 * survivability with tanky items is incredible and he can usually absorb damage over extended periods of time from multiple champions in order to bait you into overextending or pursuing him into the jungle. Don't engage him without information on his allies' positions.
 * When playing as a melee carry, targeting can usually result in your death if you run into the middle of his team or chase him through the jungle to kill him, as his armor aura and his innate ability to heal himself greatly makes him a difficult 1v1 kill. Also, when fighting him 1v1, consider that his abilities reduce the cooldown on his other abilities. It is possible for Taric to 1v1 indefinitely as long as he can out-heal your damage (usually due to having high resistances) and that he has mana to sustain his abilities. Cooldown reduction almost isn't necessary due to his new passive.
 * Never engage a with a  as a melee carry. When he is over 250 armor, basic attacks will deal more damage on you than on.