Hello!

This guide was made by a group of people, but mainly by getcanc.
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Hecarim is below 48% wr right now should I pick him up?


My opinion is YES. He's still good, the reason his win rate is so low is just look at the items people are building.

Ravenous Hydra - This item is 46% wr while being built the most as its first item. Of course win rate doesn't mean everything but when it's THIS low compared to Spear of Shojin's 52%
Another item is
Divine Sunderer - Just like ravenous people build it and it's 46% wr.
45% of Hecarim's games are sabotaged by poor first item choices
Another reason.
Most Hecarim players aren't very smart.

Why did you say Conqueror is not recommended?


Conqueror in this meta is outclassed by Phase Rush vs almost every team composition.
Phase Rush allows you to play not only more aggressively, but also helps you survive certain situations you would never with conq AND helps you keep up with enemy laners while ganking their lane. Sure Conqueror gives you early game fight potential, but it's not worth considering how hard conq gets outscaled.

The only time I would recommend Conqueror as your rune choice is vs a team composition like.

Ornn
Lee Sin
Akali
Kog'Maw
Nautilus

Of course, this team comp is only an example.

What should I do on Hecarim?


Hecarim is a Full Clear champion. It means he likes to clear the jungle camps as many times as possible to get his lead. What does it mean?

It means you should have a minimum of 7.5 cs per minute every game that you are allowed to full clear. On top of that, you should look for opportunities around the map. What I mean by that is looking for a potential Ghost gank play, Rift Herald or Dragon take. Neutrals are the most important thing in the game. If you stack dragons you have a secondary win condition of sorts.

When do I path towards bot land and when top lane?

I would say you want to path bot lane 90% of the time. Why? Because bot lane is far more important than top lane. Since you want to be playing for Dragon most your games. 20% of the time I would path top is If your bot lane is a very safe/farm-oriented lane.
And top lane matchup is very snowbally and both of the top laners have offensive summoner spells e.g Flash, Ignite or Ignite, Ghost. Like:

Riven
Irelia

Why build this item on Hecarim?

Ionian Boots of Lucidity - This one is a must for Hecarim. Gives you everything you want on Hecarim. Movement speed and Ability haste. The only time I won't have Ionians is when I am full build and I sell them for Mercury's Treads.

Spear of Shojin - This item is in one of my builds. With Serrated Dirk rush and B. F. Sword, it gives you a really nice ad spike. You'll have about 200 AD at level 9 plus 10 Lethality . It also makes your abilities cooldown super low which has a great synergy with Muramana and Black Cleaver

Manamune - Manamune is a given on Hecarim. It gives you AD, Ability haste, and an on-hit hit that deals a bunch of damage on your Q. It has an insane synergy with Spear of Shojin

Eclipse - Eclipse is a staple in my builds because it gives you a nice shield plus you build it off the Serrated Dirk you get at the beginning of the game. Also, it gives you a lot of Armor Penetration on the mythic passive. More than Divine Sunderer

Iceborn Gauntlet - This item is a new addition to the mythic item group. I overlooked it at the beginning thinking you just knock people out of its slow zone but it doesn't work like that at all. I am still experimenting with it but It feels pretty good vs AD comps. Don't build it against many AP champs.

Duskblade of Draktharr - This item used to be a staple item in season 12 alongside Umbral Glaive and Muramana, But it just doesn't feel the same in this current pre-season meta. People are too tanky unless you're versus 4 squishes I do not recommend duskblade.

Ravenous Hydra - This item was OP at the beginning of the pre-season. Now that it got nerfed a ton it's not required to build for builds to be valid. It's still a great item on Hecarim though. If you prefer it over Spear of Shojin You can still build it.

Black Cleaver - This item is REALLY good in the current meta of Dr. Mundo and Bruisers building tank items, and it gives you all the stats Hecarim would ever want AD, Ability Haste, and HP and it synergizes very well with Spear of Shojin

Death's Dance - This item is very strong like it always is. It helps you survive vs criminal champions like Prowler's Claw Udyr and It allows some illegal plays to work in your or your team's favor

Maw of Malmortius - This item is great vs AP threats like Syndra etc. It's a staple item for AP damage for Hecarim it also gives you some decent Ability haste on top of it.

Edge of Night - You only buy this item on the Duskblade of Draktharr, Muramana build, when you can get potentially point and clicked cc'd by some ability like Lulu's Whimsy a.k.a polymorph.

Why no Trinity Force or Divine Sunderer?

Both Trinity Force and Divine Sunderer get outclassed by Eclipse.
Trinity gets outscaled too easily, sure you get a nice early game spike but not for long. Divine Sunderer is a little better but after the nerfs to the Spellblade damage and Armor Penetration the item is not worth buying out side of rare CONQ setups, but I still think the builds above are better than Divine even with Conqueror.

I will type some crucial mechanics that will improve your Hecarim gameplay.

During your clear there is only one crucial mechanic to potencially save you from losing a Q stack. While you're walking from Murk Wolf to Raptor. Walk near the wall and use your W Spirit of Dread to aggro them early and clear a little bit faster.

Use your Spirit of Dread properly. Don't waste it instantly when you go in on a target unless you want to proc Phase Rush faster. If you waste it early when you don't need to use it someone might come and you're much more vulnerable without your sustain ability up.

It is possible to use your Devastating Charge over small walls. Keep that in mind for potential crazy plays that enemies likely won't expect, because they don't know you can do that.

Your Ultimate Onslaught of Shadows. You can cast W and Q during your charge and the AOE fear works only in the ult circle you can see if you pull your mouse cursor on the icon.