Hecarim Build Guide by Lurael

Introduction

Hey everyone, Lurael here, bringing you my very first guide! Let me give you a quick rundown on myself:
[*] I am not a professional player.
[*] I started ranked when I was still fairly new at LoL, so my ELO SUCKS!
[*] My first champ, and my main is Nocturne.
[*] I enjoy Jungling, Solo-top'ing, and bot'ing, but the champs I use in these positions may not be agreed upon by other players.
I know for-a-fact that not everyone will agree with my ideas, and I'm fine with that. Please remember though, just because you don't agree with me, doesn't mean you should downvote this guide. This guide is purely HOW I PLAY Hecarim and if you don't like it, just stop reading it. Also, while reading this guide, I may come off as being brutally straight-forward. It's just the way I am. Deal with it or merely don't read this guide. It's just that simple.

So! Without further adieu, here we go!

A little about this guide

First off, this guide is not complete, and probably will never be complete, due to the pure nature of the game. Things are ALWAY changing, and because of this, I will always be adding more information to this guide and any other guides I make in the future. Second, this build IS NOT FLASHY! I am not making this guide for the purpose of entertainment. If I wanted to do so, I would make a line of youtube videos instead. On the contrary, this guide IS loaded with useful information, including but not limited to mastery page(s), rune page(s), item build(s), skill order(s) and a constantly changing tips/tricks section.

This is how I prefer to play Hecarim. Sure, many people will tell you that he is best suited for jungle, or even solo-top, but I don't agree with this thinking. He starts as a slow jungler, and as good as his ganks are, the enemy team has to be lined up perfectly and not expecting his EXTREMELY predictable gank route. As far as solo top is concerned, sure, he fairs OK, BUT, compared to the most likely matchups being Garen, Riven, Kennen, Vladimir, Mordekaiser, Rumble and Olaf, Hecarim just doesn't cut it. This is why I prefer playing him bot.

Hecarim has great sustainability in lane IF you know what you're doing (if not, you should probably play a few more bot matches until you get to this point...). Spirit of Dread allows for massive life gain if left unchecked, Rampage makes clearing creep waves a breeze, and Devastating Charge allows for great zoning potential by knocking the enemy team away from the creeps, and to get the enemies into a "sweet spot" for your jungler to gank.

"Ok, so we're going bot, like your dumbass told us to do. Who are we going bot with???"

Well, the answer is simple. You are effectively allowing whoever the hell wants to go bot with you, to go bot with you. From my personal experience, support Blitzcrank is insane, Teemo is gross, Alistar is crazy, and Leona is quite a beast as well. Hecarim provides SO MANY opportunities for a bot lane comp. He is tanky enough to allow a ranged carry to lane with you, yet he puts out enough damage for a tank or a support to lane with you and just crush the enemy's bot.

Pros / Cons

spaaaaaaace

Pros + great initiator + looks badass + decent sustainability + decent CC + looks AMAZING + does the Richard Simmon's "pony dance"

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Cons - squishy early-game - can have mana problems depending on play-style - not much sustained damage - tail has some seriously screwed up particles

Hecarim's Abilities

This section was copied from http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Hecarim_the_Shadow_of_War and I take no credit for the information provided.

• WARPATH (Passive): Hecarim ignores unit collision and gains attack damage equal to 10 / 12.5 / 15 / 17.5 / 20 / 22.5 / 25% of his bonus movement speed.
  
  ***For those who like numbers and don't think this ability adds very much AD, by the end of this build, this passive ALONE gives you 41.31 extra AD. Sure, it's not some massive amount, but if you're one saying that it is a meaningless amount of damage, you must also think that masteries are completely useless because the amount of stats they add are also low numbers...
• RAMPAGE (Q): Hecarim cleaves nearby enemies, dealing physical damage. (50% damage to minions and monsters)
  If Hecarim damages at least one enemy unit 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.
  Cost: 25 mana
  Cooldown: 4 seconds
  Physical Damage: 50 / 85 / 120 / 155 / 190 (+0.6 per bonus attack damage)
  
• SPIRIT OF DREAD (W): Hecarim surrounds himself with the spirit of dread for 4 seconds, dealing magic damage per second to all enemies within its reach. Additionally, Hecarim is healed for a percentage of the damage enemies within the area take from any source. Healing from damage dealt to minions is capped per cast.
  Cooldown: 14 seconds
  Cost: 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 mana
  Magic Damage Per Second: 20 / 31.25 / 42.5 / 53.75 / 65 (+0.2 per ability power)
  
  Maximum Magic Damage: 80 / 125 / 170 / 215 / 260 (+0.8 per ability power)
  
  Damage to Heal Ratio: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30%
  
  Minions Healing Cap: 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180
  
• DEVASTATING CHARGE (E): Hecarim gains 75% movement speed over the course of three seconds, ending one second afterward. His next attack knocks the target back, dealing physical damage based on how far Hecarim has traveled during Devastating Charge's duration.
  Cost: 60 mana
  Cooldown: 24 / 22 / 20 / 18 / 16 seconds
  Minimum Damage: 40 / 75 / 110 / 145 / 180 (+0.5 per bonus attack damage)
  
  Maximum Damage: 80 / 150 / 220 / 290 / 360 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage)
  
  
• ONSLAUGHT OF SHADOWS (R): Hecarim summons spectral riders and charges forward, dealing magic damage to anyone they strike.
  Hecarim releases a shockwave when he finishes his charge, dealing additional magic damage and causing nearby enemies to flee in terror away from Hecarim for 1 second.
  Cost: 100 mana
  Cooldown: 140 / 120 / 100 seconds
  Initial Magic Damage: 100 / 200 / 300 (+0.8 per ability power)
  
  Shockwave Damage: 50 / 125 / 200 (+0.4 per ability power)

Summoner Spells

I personally take Ignite and Ghost

I take these two spells in particular because Ignite allows you to avoid those "Man! I almost had him!" situations, plus it allows you counter other champs with extreme amounts of hp regeneration (eg: Olaf, Sion, Dr. Mundo, Master Yi, etc...) Because Hecarim has a TON of initial burst damage upon initiation, he does not have much sustainable damage. With a champ like this, you want to avoid situations where you jump in there, burst them down to nothing, just to have them run away and heal up while they're doing so.

Ghost is a very debated spell for Hecarim due to his passive: Warpath. This passive gives you a decent damage boost depending on Hecarim's bonus movement speed. Ghost gives him a HUGE speed boost, meaning a TON of extra damage. The debate of this spell comes from the fact that he already has a passive "prevents unit collision" effect, making half of Ghost useless. To those who say the previous argument, have you ever seen a Hecarim rush down lane with 487 movement speed + ghost + devestating charge, aiming to knock your unsuspecting *** into a wall and back towards his team???!!! When you do, let me know your reaction. I guarantee you **** your anti- Ghost pants!

Flash is an AMAZING spell, don't get me wrong. I just don't feel that it really has a home on Hecarim. The thing about Flash is that it really rewards you for sloppy play. Sure, it can save you from certain death, and those inevitable situations where you find yourself on the wrong side of that particular tree when the enemy team ganks from your blue, but seriously, if they are clever enough to get you in that situation, and you didn't expect it, that's your own damn fault. You deserve to spend a few seconds on a grey screen. That experience will teach you to buy Sight Wards or run Clairvoyance. I AM NOT SAYING FLASH IS BAD!!! Flash is great if you're running an AP carry like Fiddlesticks or Malzahar who need to get in and out of fights before their squishy ***es melt, but for a champ like Hecarim who is meant to initiate, CC, run out and come back in with a Onslaught of Shadows, leading the enemy right into your team, why the hell would you need Flash? I just feel that you're allowing way too much damage and mobility go to waste by running this spell.

Exhaust is a decent spell on Hecarim if you don't like Ignite. If your lane partner has no CC and deals a ton of burst, go ahead and run this over Ignite. I prefer Ignite because I choose to lane with champs with boat-loads of CC, but hey! It's your preference of lane-mate. Have some fun! It is just a game. Also, Exhaust allows you to mitigate quite a bit of damage from the enemy carry, so if you're playing a tank role, or are just fearful of your life, run it.

Teleport is alright, ONLY if you're soloing top, and run it instead of Ignite or Exhaust. While I don't recommend solo-top on Hecarim, it is viable, and you will NEED this spell. I'm not going into this spell for this guide, merely because this is not a solo-top guide for my-little-pony here, but in the future, I may add a section on solo, where I will include this spell.

DO NOT USE ANY OTHER SPELLS ON Hecarim! Leave Heal for your AD carry, Clairvoyance for your support, etc... These spells are the only potentially decent spells on this champ. You can mix-and-match which ones you wish to use, but seriously, don't "experiment" with a spell other than these unless you're playing a bot match, or you really just feel like trolling (which I am not advocating because like I said, "This is a game and is meant to be fun." Trolls make the game not fun, and if you are a troll, just leave this guide because I know damn well you're going to comment on this guide and troll it as well. Seriously...leave.

Masteries

Ok, let me explain my mastery choices:
Summoner's Wrath - Gives you EVEN MORE movement speed AND a nice damage boost from Ignite? Sounds good to me!

Resistance / Hardiness - You're running into the enemy team like a fool! Don't you want to be a little more sturdy?

Durability / Veteran's Scars / Indomitable / Honor Guard - Same as above.

Siege Commander - Hecarim isn't the best pusher, but he can get to towers in order to help your allies bust some **** up. This allows just that. You're not using Demolitionist because you're not the pusher. Siege Commander allows you to drop their turrets like MAD merely by dropping it's armor down a bit.

Initiator - REALLY?? Do I even need to explain this? Let's hope not.

Juggernaut - Some built-in tenacity+ some extra health? You want to live don't you? You're already 20 points into the defense tree, right?? Why wouldn't you take this???

Good Hands - You're initiating. You're not guaranteed to get out of a fight alive. The less time spent dead=the more time you are capable of helping your team win. Enough said.

Improved Recall - If you really need to leave, whether it be a lane or trying to escape from a sticky chase situation, 1 second really does go a long way.

Swiftness - If I have to explain this to you, along with Initiator , just stop playing Hecarim and uninstall your game client. Have I taught you NOTHING???!!!

Runes

greater mark of desolation x9- You are still an AD carry/offtank. You want damage, and these bad boys will give you the most bang-for-your-buck when you need it.

Greater Seal of Armor x9- 13 extra armor = 11.5% damage reduction from physical damage. We don't want to be a big-ol' piece of tissue paper, now do we?

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist x3- These aren't listed in Mobafire's rune choices. No clue why, so I'm just putting them down here. These 3 flat MR resist runes will allow you to have an extra 4 MR at lvl 1. These, combined with your 6 flat MR from Resistance will basically eliminate the enemy AP carry's Spell Pen marks, while still giving you an extra 1.5 MR to add to your base 30 MR. 31.5 MR = 23.9% damage reduction from spells.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist x6- At lvl 18, 6 of these will give you 16 extra MR. This bumps your totals (without items) up to 47.5 MR = 32.2% damage reduction from spells. Enough said.

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed x3- 4.5% movement speed. Just like with Initiator and Swiftness , if you don't understand this selection, please, do all self-respecting Hecarim players a favor and just stop reading this guide. It's obviously not helping you or teaching you anything AT ALL!!

Items

Time for the item explanation:

Start the game with Boots of Speed and 3x Health Potion. This gives you 405 starting movement speed, a nice damage boost via Warpath, the ability to easily dodge enemy harass, get in and out of early scuffles and have the ability to stay in lane FOREVER!!!...ok, not quite forever, but alongside Spirit of Dread, the Health Potions let you stay in lane for a long time.
[*] If you want, you can choose to get 2x Health Potions and 1x Mana Potion instead. This allows you to avoid any potential mana issues early game if you like spamming moves.

Your first recall should allow you to buy a Vampiric Scepter and upgrade your boots into Boots of Swiftness. The scepter will give you a nice survivability option during the duration of the laning phase.
[*] Ok, the boot choice. I know damn well I'm going to catch flak for this one. Most other guides out there tell you to get either mercury treads or Ninja Tabi on Hecarim, but with the rest of this build, plus the setup I have for the runes/masteries, you should have plenty of survivability to be successful. If you REALLY need it, I guess you can go with one of these other options, but remember, the movement speed 3 that Boots of Swiftness give you allow for some killer damage and the ability to get anywhere extremely quickly. The reason I didn't chose Boots of Mobility for Hecarim is actually for 2 reasons. The first reason is that even though Boots of Mobility give you movement speed 5, once you get in combat, you drop back down to movement 2, which is a significant damage decrease. Second, this build doesn't build a Frozen Mallet, so you only have a 25% chance of slowing your enemy off of basic attacks. This makes chasing awkward at times. Boots of Swiftness allows you to easily out-pace the enemy you are chasing, even if it is another horsey, mainly because they're probably using a set of defensive boots.

Wriggle's Lantern is a must on almost any AD champ. The bonus armor it gives, along with the damage boost, the lifesteal, the ability to auto-clear most minions, and get dragon/baron at alarming speed makes this item insane! The ward it gives makes it so you don't have to burn an item slot on a ward, nor do you have to spend the extra $$$ on that ward.

Aegis of the Legion is probably one of, if not THE most cost-efficient item in the game. The defensive stats that it gives are ridiculous, and the fact that it gives your allies half of these makes team fights sway in your favor considerably. Get this fairly early and just hold onto it. Even late game, the bonus armor it's giving to your team will help your local meat-shield tank that last nexus turret, leading to your team's victory.

Phage allows you some extra mid-game survivability, plus it gives you a little damage boost and the ability to start chasing down those straggling enemies after a team fight.

Hexdrinker rounds out your defensive stats with some more MR, allowing you to easily crush their AP carries UNDER HOOF without taking too much damage from their silly combos.

From here, finish off your Trinity Force, giving you every stat you could ever want. The movement speed buff is great, the Phage on-hit continues to be useful, the Sheen on-hit pumps out some insane damage post-initiation, and the attack speed is always nice for adding an edge to your damage.

Maw of Malmortius is my new favorite item after Riot ditched Stark's Fervor. Zeke's Herald is NOT the same. I'll leave my rant at that. The maw is just a nice item towards the end of a build. It gives you more of a MR boost, some nice AD, even more AD if you're low, which you most likely will be since you're initiating most fights... just a well-rounded item. The shield can also save your *** until your Spirit of Dread kicks in and you can regain some much-needed Hp.

Go ahead and finish your build off with a Frozen Heart. Not my favorite item, but a great item on this champ. The armor gives you a nice defensive boost, the mana makes it so you can go into multiple team fights without having to recall for mana, or take the late-game blue buff instead of giving it to your AP carry. The CDR allows your key feature ( Onslaught of Shadows) to be up more often, and you can gain more life via Spirit of Dread because you can just spam the **** out of it. The slow is also nice because upon your initiation, the more CC you deal out, the better off your team will be.

IF the game lasts much longer than this, it means that either the opposing team is making a comeback, OR you're the team making the comeback. In either case, you may be wondering: "what do I do with all this extra gold?" To that I say, sell your Wriggle's Lantern and replace it with the Force of Nature. This purchase gives you extra health regen, even more movement speed, AND a nice evening-out of your armor/MR amounts. I would not recommend this item anywhere else chronologically in your build, but if the situation above does occur, this item will allow you to surely lead your team to victory!

Tips/Tricks

Under Construction

Sorry for the inconvenience!