While Taric is typically a solo-bottom 0 CS support, he has all the things necessary to excel at solo-top. Taric shines against the most common solo-top picks because his kit essentially makes him the prototypical bruiser. While he may not completely dominate ever opponent laner, he certainly can hold his own and will almost never be dominated by any other champion.

I've found that Taric needs to be Tanky against most top lane's, so he benefits the most from a mastery setup of 9/21/0, as it gives him the durability to brawl with anyone, and really lets him get his heal proc's up. You will also want to switch up the armor/mr masteries depending on who you are laning against.




These masteries can help with getting that kill at level 1, and can help you snowball into mid/late game. However, if it backfires and you get killed, it can make it much harder to catch up to your opponent, allowing them to snowball.

I generally run flat AD marks/quintessences to make last hitting easier, and to add extra punch to your early game skirmishes against the enemy. You can switch the quintessences out for anything you might want, such as movement speed quints. You typically want the flat armor seals, as they have great synergy with the armor bonus gained from to make Taric have very high armor at lower levels. I almost always take the magic resist per level glyphs, unless I know that i'm going against an AP solo-top, such as , and the extra early game magic resist might give you a fair advantage, and could possibly help net a kill.

I take for the true damage/healing reduction, and for the extra AD/AP you gain with the Summoner's Wrath mastery in the offensive talent tree.


is a fairly obvious choice. It can help you initiate with a flash into , or it can help you escape a gank from the enemy team.


Other acceptable spells:

- This can be useful in place of for the reduction to speed and all around damage. Useful when your opponent is pushed to your turret and you are getting a gank, particularly the slow, or it can be useful as a secondary means of escape to go along with

- While it does not have as much utility as , it is still an incredibly useful summoner spell, especially when chasing. Coupled with item's like and you can almost permanently stick onto an opponent.

- You can take this for the extra heal in case you need it, but because of you should never really need this for just yourself. Useful if no one else on your team has it because it will heal your entire team.

- On most champions, taking surge will just be nothing more than a reason for your teammates to complain, however, Taric synergizes very well with the added attack speed, as it will make you regain more mana with , and it will lower the cooldown of if you have already used it.

- Can be useful, but I personally prefer the added benefits that and bring to the table. Typically, if a team is focusing their CC on you, will be enough to last you a fight.

- Useful for getting to your lane after a buy or teleporting to an ally ward for a gank. Not much use outside those area's.

- An alright spell, useful for pushing a turret down. Usually you don't want to be pushing your lane.



DO NOT GET:

- Extremely long cooldown. Generally not a good pick. While it has some uses, the negative's outweigh the benefits.

- While it has it's uses, between and managing your mana, you should never need to use this.

- There is absolutely nothing wrong with this spell, however, this is a guide for solo-top Taric, and not Jungle Taric. Potential pick if team is lacking a jungler, and you have two people in top lane.

- Nothing wrong with this spell, either. However, with proper team warding, this spell is not as valuable as some of the other options.

A typical build will focus on a split of Health, defenses, and damage.


Starting with a , you can build into a to give you a double aura bonus for your teammates, or you can turn it into a .


If you start with a and the enemy is heavy on magic damage, you can build into a as well as . This will leave you with a decent amount of MR, some tenacity, and some bonus attack damage.


Typically, after boots, you'll want to start working towards a . You will usually want to build a first, for the added attack damage and health, and then a , for the added AP and mana, with being built last because it offers the least amount for Taric.



Typical Item Build -


Vs Heavy Magic Damage -


Vs Heavy AD -


If you want a more typical solo-top build:



Also buy . Lots and lots of them.

Taric loves to socket magical gems into all of his weapons, resulting in his melee attacks replenishing his mana for 7.5% of damage dealt.



This is a fairly useful passive for laning. Whenever last-hitting, or attacking an enemy champion in a skirmish, you will gain mana back.




Taric brings forth earthen energy to heal a nearby ally and himself for 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 / 300 (+60% of ability power). If Taric heals only himself, the heal will be 40% more effective. Basic attacks reduce Imbue's cooldown by 1 second, but the reduction increases to 3 seconds when attacking an enemy champion

Cooldown 20/19/18/17/16 seconds
Cost 70 / 85 / 100 / 115 / 130 mana
Range 750



This is a very useful spell in general, which is why you see Taric in bottom lane, but in solo-top it really maximizes it's potential with the passive cool-down reduction. Works very well with in duels at top. Usually maxed first or second, depending on your need against the lane opponent.




Passive: Taric's gains 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 bonus armor and provides an aura that increases the armor of himself and nearby allies by 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30.

Active: Taric deals 60/105/150/195/240 (+60% of ability power) magic damage to nearby enemies and decreases their armor by 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 for 4 seconds. The passive portion is not in effect during the cooldown.

Cooldown 10 seconds

Cost 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 mana

Range 400




An amazing skill with an aura to effect teammates. This spell is another reason why Taric is usually sent bottom, as the bonus armor can help your teammate trade hit's with the enemy and win the exchange, but again it really shines when Taric is in top lane. Not only does he get passive armor, but the aura grants him more armor. He can activate this spell to deal damage and reduce the armor of enemy champions, in exchange for losing the aura bonus. Maxed first or second, depending on the needs of the lane.




Taric fires a sphere of prismatic light at an enemy, dealing 40/70/100/130/160 (+40% of ability power) to 80/140/200/260/320 (+80% of ability power) magic damage (lower damage the further the target is), and stunning them for 1.5 seconds.

Cooldown 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 seconds
Cost 95 mana
Range 625



A fairly useful spell, mainly for the utility of it. Maxed last.




Taric slams the ground dealing 150/250/350 (+70% of ability power) magic damage to nearby enemies. For the next 10 seconds, Taric gains 30/50/70 Attack Damage and Ability Power and grants nearby allies half the bonuses.

Cooldown 60 seconds




A fairly decent nuke spell that grants a nice amount of AD and AP. Make's Taric's damage output and healing output go up noticeably, and can help net kills in single fights. As with most ultimates, level at 6, 11, and 16.

Taric is one of those champions that don't have a skilling order set in stone. In certain cases, leveling might be necessary to keep you in lane longer, or have a better chance of survival. Usually maxed first if you are finding it hard to avoid/exchange harass.


Leveling up first will usually happen if you are winning or tied in your lane matchup. Grants a bonus too damage output and survival.


will be your last skill maxed. The utility is the most useful part of it for solo-top Taric, and you get the utility of it by leaving one point in it.

Taric's early game is pretty passive until you get to level 3. His innate tankiness let's him fight at early levels, and because he is not a common choice for solo-top, many people may underestimate his damage output potential at early levels, with can net you a kill.


Taric's attack animation is fairly quick, and it is quite easy to last hit minions with, so in between fighting, you are going to want to be last hitting as much as possible, more-so than if you were on a typical champion because Taric's kit for solo-top revolves around his basic attacks.


You will generally want to start either + or + . If you know you are going to be laning against an AP, feel free to start with + .

In teamfights, you'll usually want to open up with a , followed up by a . You want to keep up for about half the fight, to get the maximum bonus from the armor aura, and after activating to hopefully take full advantage of the armor debuff.

Always be on the lookout for someone losing health quickly to give them a quick heal with .


Try and glue yourself to a squishier target who is caught out of position, and then switch into more of a protector role.

While he might not be the most popular choice, I find Taric to do extremely well against most opponents in top lane. Proper use of his spells can give you an amazing advantage against almost anyone you are laning against.


I personally believe that Taric has the potential to be an acceptable pick for top-lane, all he needs is the right exposure.