Hecarim Build Guide by The Only Exor

Video

Some basic tips, and some interesting points.
Proof of the on hit section

Intro

Good evening ladies and gentleman, my name is The Only Exor, and this will hopefully be my first published build.

This guide will give you a simple basis for playing Hecarum hopefully a bit better, and help you to secure those kills.


If you are going to down rate this guide pls leave more than a "its bad". That will not help me improve it.

To do list ( for me)

This will not include a lane guide. I personally dont believe in lane

Hecarim and only play him in the jungle, there are a large number of better picks top lane.

Masteries

With your masteries you have 2 main choices in which you would like to you, each has its own perks and changes how you play Hecarum

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This mastery build focuses on early damage and sustainability, while also picking up some mana regen, and increasing the time your buffs last for.

It has the advantage of allowing you to start with boots and 3 pots instead of the recommended cloth armor and 5 pots, but i would only attempt it with full Quintessence of Life Steal to guarantee you have enough life steal to survive.
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This is the safer of the 2 builds, it offers better defensive attributes, and again picks up that mana regen and buff extension.

In my opinion it is the better bet for ranked games as it gives you better late game survivability with the bonus armor and resist, which Hecarum is lacking in. It gives the flexibility to build Hecarum how ever you like, and still have a good game.

Runes

The rune choice will vary between players and play styles. This guide aims to give you a few of the better options out of the many choices you have.

You have a couple of choices for your quint.

Greater Quintessence of Vampirism : Provides a total of 6% life steal. Good for base early game sustain in lane or jungle.

Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage : provides 6.75 extra damage to your attacks.

Greater Quintessence of Desolation : Provides an extra 10 armor penetration.

Greater Mark of Alacrity : provides a small boost to your attack speed, speeding up camp clear times and by extension reducing damage taken.

Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration : Providing some boosted damage to your attacks, for that early game advantage.

Greater Mark of Desolation : Provides an amount of armor penetration to help knock over those tanks.

Greater Seal of Armor : Provides a solid armor boost, reducing damage from creep camps and enemy heros.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist : provides incremental magic resist per level, to eventually read a greater total than other mr runes, stopping those casters in their tracks.

Summoner Spells

When in the jungle there are only 2 spells you can take, smite and ghost.

When in a lane, you can swap smite for ignite, flash or exhaust.

Most other spells will have little to no effect on the ease of which to get kills, but will help you to stay in lane longer in early game and sustain your team in late game.

Smite is important, because in early game it will help you to secure buff creatures, with minimum damage, and in late game will help to steal buffs form the enemy, speed up buff collection, or help to secure that baron steal or dragon kill.

Ghost combines well with your boots and devastating charge to help chase down a hero, move to different areas of the map, escape opponents, and appear out of nowhere for that gank. There was a mention that ghost will scale with Devastating Charge to increase the distance travelled, and thus the damage caused to the enemy champions, but there is a hard cap for this after you travel about half the uptime for the run speed buff, rendering this pointless, but allowing you to travel further distances while it is up.

Each of these spells in tis own right is very useful in lane.

Ignite : Can help remove that last bit of health to secure the kill, giving you an extra amount of cash and applying more pressure to that lane.

Exhaust : Can stop an enemy in any part of the game from escapeing a gank. Can be used to turn a game around by stopping the fed carry escape.

Flash: A good escape mechanism to flash over walls and to position your champion so that when you use Devastating Charge, the enemy will be pushed into a wall or into your team mates.

Abilities

Hecarim cleaves nearby enemies for 50/85/120/155/190 (+ ) physical damage. (50% damage to minions and monsters)If Hecarim damages at least one enemy with this attack he gains a stack of Rampage, reducing the base cooldown of this skill by 1 second for a short duration. This effect can stack up to 2 times.
Hecarim deals 80/125/170/215/260 (+0.8) magic damage over 4 seconds to all nearby enemies. Hecarim is healed for 10/15/20/25/30% of the damage these enemies take from any source.

Hecarim gains increasing movement speed for 4 seconds. His next attack knocks the target back dealing 40/75/110/145/180 (+ ) to 80/150/220/290/360 (+ ) physical damage based on how far Hecarim has traveled during Devastating Charge.
Hecarim summons spectral riders and charges forward, dealing 100/200/300 (+0.8) magic damage to anyone they strike.

Hecarim releases a shockwave when he finishes his charge dealing an additional 50/125/200 (+0.4) magic damage and causing neaby enemies to flee from Hecarim for 1 seconds.

Ability Sequence

Which ability you max is your personal preference, i prefer to rush lvl 5 rampage, so that spamming it causes the most damage during a gank.

Items: Ap bruiser

This is your starting set of items. It provides the best chance of an early gank when you get red buff, due to strong early jungle sustain though the pots.

There are 3 options for boots, and early you will know which ones you will need.

Mercury's treads provide a good amount magic resist and are what you will take in most games, especially if there is 2 or more ap champs on the other team.

Boots of swiftness are good if 2/3 of the lanes are dominating and you will need to get to a lane quick to pull off those ganks or save lanes.

Ninja tabi are good if the enemy team is melee heavy and you need some free early cash. These use up the cloth armor you bought at the start of the game, to give early lvl 2 boots.
Origionally i did not include this in the build, but since i learned to play Hecarum properly, I have found that it synthesizes reall well with him.

Sheen procs from every spam of your q, phage gives a small amount of survivability and a chance of a slow, which helps with your ganks.

My original argument against it was that it was cost ineffective, this argument still stands but Trinity Force gives too much of a boost to skip over it.

Yomuu's Ghostblade provides a strong attack and move speed buff for 8 seconds, which can help with burning through the enemy's tank, thanks to the extra armor penetration, and cool down reduction.

Warmog's armor provides a good chunk of health to act as a buffer when you initiate a fight.

Atma's Impaler is a strong tank item, which provides a percentage of attack damage, in relation to the champions health. It also provides more crit to go along with the amount provided by the Ghostblade.
The alst whisper provides a small damage boost, but its main perk is the 40 % armor reduction. This allows for tanks who have stacked on armor to stop you killing them to die alot faster.

I didnt put any up grade for this weapon due to the options you have with it. Each are listed below.

The Bloodthirster is a good option if u need a bit of lifesteal to boost up your sustain in a team fight, along with the 100 damage boost, its a favorite item to build on Hecarum.

The Black Cleaver is a strong item if the other team have a couple of squishies who are burning your team down, to help you with caving their head in. It adds a solid amount of armor reduction and damage, making it a effective, if situational item.

Infinity Edge provides a solid dps boost. With an extra 80 damage, 25% crit chance and increases the damage of your crits, its an awesome item to speed up the death of squishys and tanks. A recommended item if your team is not struggling to kill the enemy champions.
This section will be expanded on soon, for the moment ill offer 2 items.

The Maw Of Malmortius is a strong item to take against burst magic champions. It gives bonus damage for the amount of life you are missing, and if an attack would take you below 30% health it provides you with a small shield.
Provides a good amount of armor, and slows champions when they attack you. It can also be activated to slow any champions in an area around you, making it good for chasing other champions before they get under their tower.
The sunfire cape provides a small health boost and 50 armor. On top of that it has an aoe damage effect, which will chip away at an enemy's health. If you are in the middle of a team fight, where you are supposed to be, it can chip away at a portion of the opponents health, turning the fight around.

Items: Onhit

This is your starting set of items. It provides the best chance of an early gank when you get red buff, due to strong early jungle sustain though the pots.

There are 3 options for boots, and early you will know which ones you will need.

Mercury's Treads provide a good amount magic resist and are what you will take in most games, especially if there is 2 or more ap champs on the other team.

Boots of Swiftness are good if 2/3 of the lanes are dominating and you will need to get to a lane quick to pull off those ganks or save lanes.

Ninja Tabi are good if the enemy team is melee heavy and you need some free early cash. These use up the cloth armor you bought at the start of the game, to give early lvl 2 boots.
Origionally i did not include this in the build, but since i learned to play Hecarum properly, I have found that it synthesizes reall well with him.

Sheen procs from every spam of your q, phage gives a small amount of survivability and a chance of a slow, which helps with your ganks.

This item gives an attack speed boost and some magic resistance. When you attack an enemy champion you deal 42 magic damage, and your magic resistance increases by 5 stacking up to 4 times.
Malady gives a small ability power boost, and a strong attack speed boost. It also reduces the enemy champions magic resist and deals a small amount of magic damage to the enemy champions. The stacked magic resist reduction will increase the effectiveness of Spirit of Dread and increasing the amount of healing you receive from it.
This is your staple survivability item, although it can be changed for any other, Randuin's Omen provides health regen, a small health and armor boost. It also adds a small amount of cooldown reduction, 20% chance to slow an attacker, and apon activation an aoe slow for 3 seconds.
The alst whisper provides a small damage boost, but its main perk is the 40 % armor reduction. This allows for tanks who have stacked on armor to stop you killing them to die alot faster.
Madred's Bloodrazer provides a boost to attack speed, damage and armor, and adds bonus magic damage equal to 4% of the enemy champions health.

Jungling Basics

Jungling is where a hero, of moderate capabilities will use the neutral creep camps to level up, instead of fighting in lane. This means that your team will have 2 solo lanes, generally letting 2 of your team gain xp faster for an advantage.

A jungling hero has the ability to instigate a gank without the enemies having an idea of what is coming. This means that your team will have a longer period of time to attack said enemies and possibly secure a much needed kill for lane control.

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A gank is where 1 or more heroes will leave a lane and attack a different lane in order to secure kills or a push a tower down. What this means for a jungler is that you will appear in a lane from mid bush ( located on the river, see below picture ) and assault a lanes enemy heroes who have over extended.

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You should always look for ganks when you are near a lane. There are 3 main things to look for.

1.

How for from the tower the enemy team is. This is important because you want to make sure you have enough time to kill the enemy.

2.

How much health and mana your team mate/s in said lane have. You will need the help of Your team mates to secure the kills, no matter how little health your enemy is on. It takes only one wrong move to die, and coming out of a fight with more health allows you to push that tower down or go back into the jungle.

3.

Are your team mates being responsive. Are they listening to requests, if you tell them you are coming to gank and they push the lane way back to the enemy tower, there is no point even leaving the jungle. It costs you xp, farm and gold, and you gain nothing from it.

Jungle Route

To make the most of his jungle route follow this simple guide.
1. Get a leesh on blue golems, pop smite and one potion. Then spam q until dead.
2. Pop w, then a health potion while spamming q, to maximise health regen from this camp.
3. Do the same as above, to maximise damage and regen.
4. Smite the lizard, pop w and the first health potion, then procede to spam q until w is off cooldown or you need the next health potion ( this may mana starve you depending on how much mana wraiths left you with.
5. Procede to gank the nearest lane or kill small golems. Then recall with your 500+ gold to start building boots.

Making the Most Of the Jungle

When it comes to the jungle, there are any number of ways you can play it, but at low levels Hecarum needs the blue buff to have any effect, this is due to it constantly restoring mana, and reducing the cooldown on his moves. Specifically that spammable Q.

When entering a camp, it is more beneficial to activate Spirit of dread just as you enter a creep camp, and again when it comes off cool down. This maximizes the amount of health that will be returned to you at low levels, due to it at the start getting the damage from Devastating Charge and the first rampage, and when it comes off cooldown, the 2-3 spammed rampage's that you can fit into the small amount of time it is active for.

Dont be afraid to jump in and defend an unguarded lane. Using Rampage and Spirit of Dread, you can gain a good chunk of creep score in just the time it takes for an allie to recall and run back.

Playing in Lane (Early/Mid/Late)

Sometimes another player will want to jungle, especially if your playing in a team of 5.

Early Game (1-5)

This is pretty simple, stay back and last hit a minion at low health. At low levels it may be hard to judge if u will kill the minion or not. Just keep practicing.

Dont be scared to hit Rampage or Spirit of Dread if you know you can get some creep kills or need to push the lane back to the middle.

Playing like this should guarantee a fair amount of cs, with maybe an early kill or 2.

Hecarim doesn't have a ranged attack so it is very hard for him to harass, I would recommend playing very defensive till lvl 6.

Mid Game (6-11)

This section will mostly be played in lane until either you destroy the enemies turret, or either team forces early team fights.

When you hit lvl 6, you will have Onslaught of Shadows. Use this to dive past your opponent/s in lane, and then push them back towards your tower or teammates with devestating charge. This will give you and your teammates the maximum amount of time to damage the enemy champion.

Dont be afraid to jump and help a lane in need, or initiate a team fight with Onslaught of Shadows

late Game (12-18)

At this point your team should have downed atleast 1 tower and be starting towards team fights. if you have Trinity Force built and are well onto your next item you will be able to dive into a team fight and expect to survive the majority of it.

If a lane is undeffended and there is currently no team fight, jump into it and push it up a bit. Not only will the farm help you on your way to the next item, it will help your team by possibly gaining another turret, and seeing where enemies are when they have to push the lane back.

In a team fight, you want to use Onslaught of Shadows to get as close to their squishy carries as possible. Pop off Spirit of Dread to keep your health up, and start spamming Rampage. This should burn down their health, and if they start running, you will have Devastating Charge off cd to catch up to them and secure that kill to save your team.

Proof of Concept

Coming soon
The Only Exor

Change Notes

+ 23/4/2012 Added a section on cloth and 5 pots to items. Added images to the items section. Added images to the summoner spells section as well as other recommended spells. Added images from 3 games as evidence.
+24/4/2012 added an experimental builds section. Needs some cleaning up. Added the first video in a series I am making on this guide. Added some images, and bb code to improve the overall look of the guide
+25/4/2012 reworded some parts of the guide. Added and changed the item Build. Started working on the next video Rearranged the guide, added a new testing area. some information on masteries etc.
+26/4/2012 Shifted onhit to the viable builds section and changed the item order slightly
+28/4/2012 Re worded some parts, added a tank build and removed experimental builds. Added a section on the merits of each build detailing different aspects.

Achievements

24/4/2012 10oo views on the guide, 100 views on the video. I know not a big number but im proud of it