Stars and joy unite!
Why are Taric and Nilah OP?
Having a good bot lane duo can really be the difference in a game. One of the latest additions to the League of Legends champion pool is the AD carry Nilah, and many are now swearing by the Nilah-Taric combo, saying it is a match made in heaven.
With enchanters being nerfed in the latest patch and a recent buff to Taric, he is now one of the strongest supports in this meta. When we add Nilah into the mix, the champion is even better. In total, Nilah and Traric together have a win rate of 54.6%, and despite the recent LEC debut of the combo from XL going South, many are still convinced. Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng even went so far as to say that Nilah is almost useless without the crystal man.
In this article, you will get an overview of why the champions work so well together, and we will provide you with some information on their build so that you can try it out on the Rift for yourselves.
Nilah's Passive: Joy Unending
Nilah's passive, Joy Unending, is essential to make their beautiful synergy a reality. Her passive strengthens all nearby allies' healing and shielding abilities, which is already a good start, but it gets better. Before looking at her passive more closely, I first want you to take a look at some of Taric's Q and W traits, as these abilities are what make Nilah's passive shine.
- Bastion (Taric's W): Taric's active W shields himself and an ally and tethers the shielded ally to himself. When the tethered ally is in range, they gain bonus Armor.
- Starlight's Touch (Taric's Q): Taric's Q heals nearby allied champions, the champion tethered to him and himself.
Now that you have a brief overview of Tarics Q and W, let's jump back to Nilah's passive. Allies that heal or shield Nilah gain bonus heal or shield for themselves + when an ally heals or shields themselves near Nilah, her passive gives Nilah a bonus heal or shield. As we already know, Taric's heal and shield on allies also already applies to himself. So, Nilah's passive will not only strengthen Taric's healing and shielding towards himself but also because he actively heals himself, Nilah's healing and shielding will also be strengthened.
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Taric and Nilah's E-Synergy
Because of his E, Taric is known for working well with melee champions. His E charges up "a beam of starlight" in front of him and his connected allied champion. This works nicely with Nilah's E, as she can dash through target enemy champions, allowing her to get close enough to them to hit them with Taric's stun. Her E also has a double charge, which can either be used to disengage, or you can use it to reposition if they manage to avoid the first dash.
Taric's Ultimate
Nilah benefits from longer team fights, and Taric's ultimate assists with precisely this. His R makes him and his nearby allies immortal for a short duration. A tip here is to use his ultimate before engaging, as it takes some time for it to charge up and will then make you and Nilah ready for when you are attacking.
Nilah & Taric: Build and Runes
No duo is complete without a perfect build. As both champions are melee champs, we want to focus on having enough sustain during the laning phase. For Nilah in particular, we want her to be able to survive for longer team fights, as this is where she thrives. We also want to enhance her Q critical strike damage scaling with some crit items. In the picture below, you can see some items for each champion that can assist you and your bot lane companion to victory.
Even though Taric is helping Nilah in the sustainability department quite a lot, sustain is so essential for the champion, and, therefore, it is suitable for Nilah to also get an Immortal Shieldbow as her mythic. Additionally, because of Nilah's Q scaling critical strike damage, she doesn't necessarily need an offensive mythic item, which is why Immortal Shieldbow is the perfect option.
For a more in-depth guide on Nilah's build, check out:
Taric can be more liberal with his mythic item choice. The two main options are Locket of the Iron Solari and Shurelya's Battlesong. Locket's active will give Taric and Nilah even more shielding, which is never a bad option. Shurelya, on the other hand, can be used either aggressively by giving the duo easier access to enemies with the item's movement speed buff or defensively by letting them escape more easily. Taric's items can change depending on which champions the enemy team plays. For example, if they have a comp that is AP heavy, exchanging Frozen Heart and Plated Steelcaps for an MR item and Mercury's Treads can be helpful.
And with your newly acquired knowledge on the champions' abilities and items, you now have some insight into why the two champions work so well together. Congratulations, you are now ready to embark on the Nilah-Taric journey on the Rift! Do you know of another bot-lane combo that works particularly well? Join our Discord and let us know!