League of Legends’ new Arena game mode officially landed on the live servers on July 20 and the community has been loving the format so far as players have quickly found the best champions and strategies to play.
One of the champions that’s made headlines in this game mode is Taric, who has incredibly high win and ban rates, according to stats site Metasrc. Thanks to his peeling kit, as well as his powerful ultimate that makes him and his ally invulnerable to all damage, crowd controls, and other effects, Taric is the perfect support for all carry champions in LoL Arena.
Even though being able to pick Taric should guarantee you a high finishing position, it’s crucial to understand which augments and items he should prioritize. With that in mind, here is the best Taric build in Arena.
Best build for Taric in League’s Arena game mode
Unlike League’s Summoner’s Rift game mode, Arena doesn’t give players the ability to set up their own runes for the champions, and the summoner spells are the same for all players in the lobby, so let’s jump right into the itemization.
The best starting item for Taric is Guardian’s Amulet, which grants all the essential stats he needs in the first rounds: a bit of ability power, ability haste, and, most importantly, the increased heals and shield power. You can also consider going for Guardian’s Horn, but only when facing strong early-game team compositions.
After the first two rounds, you will have to make your boots choice: The preferred ones are usually Plated Steelcaps since it greatly reduces enemies’ incoming damage from auto attacks. Mercury’s Treads are more effective whenever you’re playing against multiple magic-damage team compositions with CC. Regardless, remember to swap to one or the other if you have leftover gold in the final stages: This can make a difference between a lost and a won round.
I generally don’t recommend going for Ionian Boots of Lucidity since Taric’s goal is to survive as much as possible during the round to peel his partner, so getting extra resistances is far more important. And you’ll have enough ability haste coming from other items anyway, so the Ionian Boots of Lucidity feel like a bit of a waste to me.
Taric is one of the few champions with a wide variety of Mythic items to choose from since each has unique strong points that allow them to shine in different situations.
The go-to item is usually Moonstone Renewer thanks to the synergy it creates with Taric’s kit, allowing him to further increase the shields and heals he grants to his ally.
Aside from Moonstone Renewer, the other two popular choices are Locket of the Iron Solari and Evenshroud. The former provides a shield to counter enemies’ incoming burst damage, while Evenshroud amplifies the damage dealt by your team to the enemies when applying the stuns with E. And considering the small size of maps in LoL Arena, the AoE effect is quite easy to activate.
Some players have also tried Heartsteel and Shurelya’s Battlesong, but I haven’t found the same rate of success as the other three. I personally prefer focusing on empowering my ally as much as possible and having them as the big protagonist of the lobby, which is why I mostly run Moonstone Renewer.
Once you get your Mythic item, however, the following two items are always going to be the same for Taric: Knight’s Vow and Zeke’s Convergence. By linking them to your partner, you will be able to tank more damage for them while also boosting their damage whenever you immobilize an enemy.
After that, Taric needs to further boosts his resistances, picking up either armor or magic resistance items. Thornmail and Frozen Heart are the common armor items, while you can choose Abyssal Mask or Force of Nature for extra magic resistance.
On top of these, there are a lot of different items to choose from, allowing you to greatly customize Taric’s build based on the game state. Redemption and Spirit Visage are great for restoring additional health, while Randuin’s Omen is particulary effective against marksmen and auto-attack-based champions. You can also get Mikael’s Blessing if you need to cleanse incoming CC. Overall, this is also one of the reasons why Taric is so strong in this game mode: He has a strong item for almost every situation, no matter who he’s facing or playing with.
The ability maxing order for Taric is E>Q>W. Maxing E, Dazzle, is key to lower the ability’s cooldown and allow both him and his ally to stun enemies. After that, max Q, Starlight’s Touch, to get more heals. Since W provides a percentage max health shield, max it last.
Best Augments for Taric in League Arena
Aside from item builds, nailing the right augments is equally important in the Arena game mode. Below, you can find the best Augments to get on Taric, ranked by tier and in order:
Silver Augments
- Sonic Boom – Granting a buff, heal, or shield to your ally deals 40 to 160 (based on level) true damage to enemies within 450 units of them and slows targets by 30 percent for two seconds (two-second cooldown).
- First-Aid kit – Grants 20 percent heal and shield power.
- Frost Wraith – Automatically roots enemies within 450 units for one second (seven-second cooldown).
Among the silver-tier choices, Sonic Boom is the only must-have augment. Its power is comparable to the gold augments, synergizing perfectly with both Taric’s Q and W. If you can’t find it, though, choosing one between First-Aid kit and Frost Wraith is also good.
Gold Augments
- Willing Sacrifice – When your ally drops below 30 percent of their maximum health, reduce your current health by 30 percent to grant them a shield equal to that same amount for a duration.
- Rabble Rousing – Casting an ability heals you for two percent maximum health.
- Shrink Ray – Your attacks reduce an enemy’s damage by 15 percent for three seconds.
- Banner of Command – Grants your ally 15 percent bonus health, attack damage, ability power, and attack speed for 10 seconds.
- Defensive Maneuvers – Casts both Barrier and Heal on you and your ally.
- Perseverance – Grants 500 percent base health regeneration, increased to 1,000 percent while below 25 percent maximum health.
- Recursion – Grants 60 ability haste.
Taric has many strong choices among gold augments. Willing Sacrifice and Rabble Rousing are the strongest two, but any of these can be great on him. Don’t spend rerolls on them and save them for Sonic Boom or the Prismatic augments.
Prismatic Augments
- Windspeaker’s Blessing – Heals and shields also grant the target 45 to 105 (based on level) bonus armor and bonus magic resistance for three seconds.
- Spirit Link – Redirect 40 percent of the damage dealt to your ally to you, and heal yourself equal to 40 percent of the healing they receive.
- Ultimate Revolution – Casting your ultimate ability resets its cooldown immediately after it starts. This may only occur once per combat round.
While Taric doesn’t have lots of strong Prismatic Augments, these three are incredibly powerful on him. Windspeaker’s Blessing and Spirit Link are both strong at boosting his partner, while Ultimate Revolution allows Taric to use his ultimate twice in a row. And considering the cooldown starts immediately after the cast, Taric will be able to make himself and his ally invulnerable for another few seconds, making them almost invincible in any fight.
