Following The Ascent and a peek of Taric's new splash art, today we have a full reveal of the Taric champion update including his new in-game look, gameplay, and more!
From the official release announcement - "Champion Update: Taric, the Shield of Valoran":
TARIC THE SHIELD OF VALORAN
"Taric hit the Rift just a few months after League’s release, and while a bunch of the OG champs have gone through the champion update team’s brush up, the champion formerly known as the Gem Knight had to wait his turn. Until Now. We’re about to send the stunning Aspect back out to the PBE replete with a whole new story (check out his comic and new bio!), kit, look—including the most glorious hair the Rift has ever seen—and audio. Read on for the details.
ABILITIES
PASSIVE: BRAVADO
Taric infuses his next two basic attacks whenever he casts an ability. He swings faster with these two attacks, which deal increased damage and reduce his cooldowns.
Q: STARLIGHT’S TOUCH
Taric heals himself and all nearby allies based on the number of Starlight's Touch charges he’s stored. Taric generates up to three charges over time.
W: BASTION
All of Taric’s abilities are simultaneously cast from both Taric and his linked ally.
Passive: Bastion increases Taric’s armor.
Active: Taric links with an ally, shielding them from damage. Bastion remains on Taric’s ally until he recasts it onto another ally, or the two move far enough apart to break their link.
E: DAZZLE
After a brief delay, Taric fires out a short wave of celestial energy in a target direction that stuns all enemies struck.
R: COSMIC RADIANCE
Taric calls on the stars themselves for protection. After a moderate delay, he and all nearby allies become invulnerable for a few seconds.
LANING
“Once Taric unlocks Bastion, the Shield of Valoran’s utility, options and threat ramp up significantly...”
Taric’s one hell of an eye-catching character in lane, and not just because of that magnificent mane. Clever aim with Dazzle will land his trademark stun and gift Taric the chance to walk up and weave in a couple of basic attacks. Bravado gives those attacks an extra kick, of course, but also significantly lower his cooldowns, offering him the chance to get back to stunning all the sooner. And after he’s smacked his opponent a couple of times, he can head back to safety before healing up with Starlight’s Touch.
But don’t mistake Taric for a one-trick pony, because once he unlocks Bastion, the Shield of Valoran’s utility, options and threat ramp up significantly. By linking up with his ally, Taric can essentially double down on his abilities in intensely creative and intelligent ways. The twin heal on Starlight’s Touch means he no longer needs to hang out beside his
lane pal all the time, while smart positioning and aim with Dazzle can utterly wreck even the most determined ganks or tower dives. What’s more, Bastion isn’t an ability solely reserved for Taric’s marksman. He can recast the ability on a friendly jungler as they approach to give them a quick damage-soaking shield, then start doing Taric things as the gank begins. Smart Dazzle casts will again stun multiple enemies, while Starlight’s Touch will help sustain Taric’s jungling pal as they dive deep to finish off their kill. Speaking of the heal, it’s often an ability that Taric will want to play around. Even though the Shield of Valoran can cast it pretty frequently, he’s usually better off saving Starlight’s Touch until he’s stacked all three charges. The mana cost doesn’t change, and by enacting a gank or other proactive call when Taric’s fully loaded his Q, he’s all the more likely to keep his team ticking.
SKIRMISHING
“With smart timing, Cosmic Radiance can pull a whole bunch of would-be suicide missions into the realm of smart, realistic plays.”
Taric boasts a whole box of tools around neutral objectives thanks to his inherent tankiness and powerful teamfighting abilities. He can fend off enemy teams around dragon, for example, absorbing enemy poke with well-timed Bastion shields and his burgeoning health pool. Enemy junglers looking to chance a smite steal have to deal with Dazzle, too, which—if landed—pretty much gifts Taric’s team an easy kill alongside a guaranteed dragon stack. If, on the other hand, Taric’s team is running late and looking to stop the enemy from securing dragon, Taric can charge in with his jungler, using Starlight’s Touch to keep them both alive while Bastion and Dazzle work together to spew out twin lines of AoE stuns.
Taric and his allies can claim and defend objectives even harder while basking in the azure invulnerability glow of his ultimate, Cosmic Radiance. In last-minute dragon contests, he can cast Bastion on his jungler, providing them the perfect window to brazenly contest their winged bounty. Similarly, he can cast Bastion on an allied assassin before ulting to give them the perfect window for otherwise desperate tower dives. Either way, with smart timing, Cosmic Radiance can pull a whole bunch of would-be suicide missions into the realm of smart, realistic plays.
TEAMFIGHTS
Taric gets to choose from a few different approaches once the two teams decide to rumble together. The first is the backline peeling role that other supports typically play. This sees Taric sticking by his marksman and protecting them with his self-targeted abilities, while using Bastion to project his efforts from an allied frontliner. Alternatively, he can take up a spot at the front of his team’s formation before casting Bastion on a backline ally. Either way, Taric ends up with boatloads of utility options and presence on both ends of his team’s formation, although he’ll have to keep an eye on all the actionall the time, and will often be forced into some hard decisions. He can save allies with Starlight’s Touch or cast Cosmic Radiance, for example, but if he chooses to save his dying assassin, he’ll lose his heal for his nearby marksman whenthey run into trouble. Similarly, he can Dazzle to stun the enemy assassin about to turn his backline bro into mincemeat, but doing so might rob him of the chance to help kill the wounded squishy fleeing from Taric’s Bastion buddy. Ultimately, Taric has a huge impact in teamfights however he plays, but the choices he makes from moment to moment will often dictate who lives and who dies.
“Taric has a huge impact in teamfights however he plays, but the choices he makes from moment to moment will often dictate who lives and who dies.”
SYNERGY
WORKS WELL WITH:
Graves - the Outlaw
Graves and Taric pair up pretty comfortably, and thrive when they get aggro. Graves’ short range means he pretty much has to get real close to the things he wants to shoots holes out of, at which point Taric has a much easier time landing Dazzle on his Bastion buddy. What’s more, while other marksmen might die before Dazzle and Cosmic Radiance kick in (remember they both have delays in their cast time), Graves is usually tanky enough to survive a few seconds of punishment.
Vi - the Piltover Enforcer
There’s no two champ wrecking crew quite like Vi and Taric. The pink-haired punching machine always looks to go in hard on her engages, but she can go so much harder while she Taric’s Bastioned ally. Dazzle complements Assault and Battery perfectly, stunning Vi’s target as she lets loose with her very own fists of fury, while Cosmic Radiance and Starlight’s Touch protect her from whatever enemy attention comes her way. Taric’s safety net might just encourage Vi to build more damage than usual, too, letting her knock out her targets in record time.
Diana - the Scorn of the Moon
Similar to Vi, Diana loves diving squishy enemy targets, but lacks the hard crowd control she needs to secure her kills. Not with Taric on her side, who can cast Bastion on League’s grumpiest mid laner before Dazzling her target as she lands Crescent Strike and Lunar Rushes in. And while Diana lacks the traditional escape tools other assassins have, she’ll be able to lean on Cosmic Radiance alongside her natural tankiness to keep her ticking as she makes her way to safety.
STRUGGLES AGAINST:
Zyra - Rise of the Thorns
Zyra’s a real headache for Taric, particularly during laning. Not only does she have plenty of slows and snares to punish the Shield of Valoran’s lack of mobility, but she can effectively counter his hard Dazzle engages with Grasping Roots and Stranglethorns, too. What’s more, Taric’s generally pretty vulnerable to poke, which Zyra has in spades. And yes - that is a gardening reference.
LeBlanc - the Deceiver
Area of effect heals and invulnerability is cool ‘n all, but it’s all a bit pointless when an enemy assassin’s able to dart in and blow up Taric’s ally before Cosmic Radiance actually kicks in. The ult takes a couple of seconds to arm - more than enough time for a nimble-fingered and opportunistic LeBlanc player to unleash her combo and blow up whoever Taric’s trying to save.
Corki - the Daring Bombardier
Taric’s generally a pretty tanky chap, but if there’s one chink in his glorious armor, it’s magic damage. The permanent armor boost on Bastion, for example, won’t do a thing to slow down the magic damage pain train. Enter Corki, the most magical of marksmen who also happens to come equipped with plenty of abilities that handily expose Taric’s other weakness: poke.
That’s it for now—we’ll be back soon with news on how we went about updating Taric!
Be sure to check out THE ASCENT comic !
[UPDATE: Taric's champion update is on the PBE as of the 4/5 PBE update!]
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