[Champion] Taric

Runes:

Quints: Flat AP; Flat Armor; Movespeed - mix as desired
Marks: Flat Armor OR Flat MRes
Seals: Flat Armor
Glyphs: AP / Level OR Flat MRes OR MRes/Level

Masteries are 0/8/21 + 1, with the last point in 3/3 armor or the applicable Summoner skill.

Taric's AP scaling is strong on his Q and E, but his innate survivability is the focus of this build.

Skills:

E level 1. Past level 1, what you rank should depend on how your lane is going - if it's going well, you can take W at level 2 and attempt to set up a kill; if it's not, you should usually take Q at level 2 to heal up.

Past the opening, there are a few skilling orders that work:

W > Q > E: The old standard, Shatter first is still an option because of its very strong passive and ability to contribute to burst damage. Imbue secondary allows slightly stronger heals in lane, even without AP.

W > E > Q: Once considered a one-point wonder, Dazzle has increased in power significantly due to gameplay changes which allow Taric to open up on softer targets in the bottom lane. With this build, one point of Imbue is required, at level 3 or 4.

E > W > Q: Dazzle is the only one of Taric's abilities that doesn't scale with mana cost by level, and it has strong level and AP scaling. For a non-AP build, it's often not as useful as levelling Shatter first, but it offers the highest damage potential in lane of any of these builds, with an impressive 400 max damage at rank 5.

E > Q > W: Not recommended. If you need to level your heal early, you're probably not in a position where Dazzle's damage means anything, and you'd be better off levelling Shatter for the bonus mitigation.

Q First builds: Also not recommended. The benefit of levelling Imbue is relatively small, with Rank 3 Imbue offering .52 more health per mana than rank 1, and that involves taking points out of Shatter. If you need lane sustainability, boosting rank 1 Imbue with early AP is a better option.

On Radiance: Radiance has an unfortunate tendency to be lackluster compared to the powerful ults of other supports. Though it's worth getting the first rank, putting off ranks 2 and 3 of Radiance until your other abilities are maxed can be a good idea depending on your team's composition.

Item Builds:
Starting items:
Boots + 3 potions
Boots + 1 potion + Ward
Sapphire Crystal + 2 Potions
Doran's Ring

Early game item checklist:
- Boots 1
- At least 1 Gold/10 item (Heart of Gold, Philosopher's Stone, Kage's Lucky Pick) and/or 1-2 additional Doran's Rings
- At least 1 ward purchased every return to base, with the exception of a return with exactly enough gold to purchase an above item.
- Oracle's Elixir

Mid game item suggestions:
- Boots 2, usually Mercury's Treads, but if you have a Philosopher's Stone you can get Ninja Tabi or Ionian Boots of Lucidity instead.
- Aegis of the Legion
- Spirit Visage -or- Catalyst the Protector
- Wards

If you have a Philosopher's Stone -> Shurelya's Reverie -or- Eleisa's Miracle, depending on boots.

Late game item suggestions:

- Banshee's Veil
- Tanky aura items, such as Abyssal Scepter or Frozen Heart. Soul Shroud is bad, don't buy it.
- Spirit Visage if not purchased earlier.
- Even more wards.

Playstyle:

Level 1: This is when you are by far your weakest. Either you're lacking your heal (99%) or your stun (1%), and you don't have an armor aura. Play mostly defensively in your lane, though if you have a setup for a level 1 kill then you should initiate it since you're almost certainly the most durable person in lane.

It's worth noting that Taric is one of the best initiators of a level 1 teamfight along with Sion, so make sure your team knows you can score a quick kill in one.

Levels 2-9 (earlygame): With your early heal and Shatter's armor boost, you have some of the best defenses in the game at this point. You have enough defensive ability to initiate tower dives, though you should be mindful of CC and the enemy jungler when doing so. Similarly, you can stand in front of your tower and absorb minion waves to preserve your tower's health.

You should attempt to save Dazzle if you think the enemy jungler will gank soon (4:35~ onward), and use it to retreat to safety. Don't be afraid to hit minions to refresh your heal, as long as they're still being last hit properly.

Proper use of Shatter and Dazzle is crucial to scoring kills in this phase. Use Shatter only when you're sure that the damage dealt will be greater than the extra damage taken by an ally from losing their armor from it.

Levels 10-17 (midgame): Taking towers is Taric's greatest strength over other pure supports, and it's during this stage of the game that it's most in play. Ideally you'll be finished or almost finished with Aegis at this point, and you should be rocking a strong amount of armor. You should be using your considerable endurance to make sure that you're absorbing as much damage as possible, and starting from this point it's entirely possible for you to simply tank a turret during a teamfight.

The best way for you to be a credit to team in this stage of the game is to make sure that if a tower is hitting someone, that someone is you. Also make sure to always be hitting things (and keep Imbue on cooldown),

At this point in the game, it's important to assess which parts of the enemy team are going to be the most dangerous in the next 15-20 minutes and to build to counter them. Your R makes you a very strong pushing force, and your healing potential allows for an earlier Baron if it's possible.

Level 18 (endgame): Unless your team is losing horribly (in which case you might not have gotten to this point), you should have Aegis and between 2,000 and 4,000 gold in other items (and wards). Your role at this point in the game is diminished compared to early and midgame, but your stun remains incredibly strong on targets without a spellshield and you're tanky enough to require real effort to dislodge from a tower.

Rank 3 Radiance will cause even an AP to wreck towers at a good clip, and without ignite rolling on you, you're very difficult to kill. Keep warding and keep building toward team-specific items, because although your support 'things' are less interesting lategame than the AoE power of Janna/ Sona or Soraka, you're a full-fledged tank on top of your support.