Please note this is a Work in progress by a relatively new guide maker

Since his first sighting on the northwestern shores of Valoran, the towering, armored specter known as Hecarim struck a chilling fear into the hearts of all who laid eyes upon him. No one had ever seen anything like his titanic, ethereal form before, and the mystery of his sudden arrival was deeply unnerving. When Hecarim began to march eastwards, leaving a trail of desolate, lifeless ground behind him, the villagers of the plains fled their homes for the safety of nearby Demacia. In the city's now-overcrowded taverns, rumors about this inhuman phantom spread in hushed whispers. Some claimed that he was the vengeful shade of an ancient warrior, intent on destroying all living beings; one man insisted that they had seen him leading an entire legion of spectral cavalrymen; others still believed him to be the creation of some hateful necromancer. One Demacian commander, seeking to dispel the terror that had gripped the city, assembled a few of his finest soldiers and rode out to turn back or destroy Hecarim.

The commander led his soldiers to stand in Hecarim's path and braced for his assault. As the apparition bore down on them, an overwhelming sensation of dread gripped the warriors. The men, frozen in fear, could only scream as the ghostly titan ran them down, tearing them apart and trampling them beneath his iron hooves. Hecarim turned to the crippled, cowering commander and uttered a chilling statement: ''This is merely the beginning. No mortal army can withstand the might of the Shadow Isles.'' With that, Hecarim departed, resuming his grim march. Driven to insanity by his nightmarish experience, the commander stumbled back to Demacia, where his dire warnings were dismissed as the ravings of a madman. While Hecarim's origin and intent were still a mystery, his destination became clear when he reached the Institute of War and, in a voice both ominous and commanding, demanded entry into the League of Legends.

''You don't understand...the shadows will consume us all...'' - Former Demacian Commander

I am unsure how the rest of you feel, but when picking up Hecarim for the first time i had no idea what to build. The standardized jungler build did not seem right, but building damage or tank ignored his passive. Stacking movement speed items is tempting, but not overly effective, and also pretty expensive. So i found myself toying with alternate builds.

Hecarim is one of the fastest, if not the fastest champion available. His passive Warpath converts some of his movement speed into attack damage and allows him to ignore unit collision, this means he can walk through other units. I have found he is best suited for a solo top or Jungle role. This guid focuses on the jungle side, but will hopefully have a solo top element added later.

Ok so lets start with runes. We should all know what they are by now :P

MARKS.
I suggest a whole set of either:
Greater Mark of Attack Speed
or
Greater Mark of Armor

Either of these should significantly help your early jungle runs, however the Attack speed marks will prove more useful in early ganks.

SEALS
A whole set of Greater Seal of Armor is a must in my opinion. If you have taken armor marks these are not as important but they will increase your ability to jungle without recalling

GLYPHS
Ok so i do not actually take the glyphs mentioned above, so if you are one of the people that takes the time to read a guide then you should be ahead of the rest. I do in fact take a full set of Greater glyph or warding this helps any early ganks on those pesky AP characters.

QUINTS
Now quints are where i got a little stuck as i could not see any specific quints that suited Hecarim. The Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed are a good choice if you do not really know what to do, they give you a bit more damage because of ::Warpath:: and allow you to close gaps whilst ganking little faster. You might find your jungle run moving a bit fast, getting to creeps before they have re spawned.
Greater Quintessence of Experience Is an option too, the extra experience should keep you on par with Solo laners.

Like all Junglers Smite is your bread and butter but what should you pick as your second?

Summoner spells to consider
Ghost Give you a major speed boost, and through Warpath a damage boost to. Ghost is a little bit redundant because Hecarim already ignores unit collision and has high speed. Regardless this is my usual choice
Flash is always an awesome spell in my book. It can be used to escape a gank, jump walls, or initiate. With Flash you could jump behind enemies and use [[Devastating charge to knock them back, however Onslaught of Shadows offers the same tactic.
Teleport is not my choice but a possibility, but requires a bit of cunning. You could gank top and use it to teleport bottom for a quick second gank, even more viable if your support at bottom has the bushes warded.

Summoner spells you may want, but dont really need
Ignite and Exhaust both serve to kill fleeing opponents, with Hecarims speed, neither are really needed.
Heal serves little purpose when you have your Spirit of Dread, but it might prove useful in team fights. Heal is worth considering, but not essential.

Now items are a little tricky for Hecarim I like many have tried stacking all the items that give you movement speed. Sure having 900 movement speed is pretty damn fun, but it is not a game winning thing. When jungling i had no idea where to start. I tried a standard jungle build starting with Cloth Armor and five Health Potion building into a Wriggle's Lantern and suitable boots for the game. I quickly found the Wriggle's Lantern just did not help mid to late game. So i revised things. Having some experiences as solo top i remembered Philosopher's stone building into Shurelya's Battlesong, an items that can give a movement speed boost to chase, and because of Warpath this was also extra damage.

So i started with a Regrowth Pendant and one Health Potion building a Philosopher's stone as soon as possible. Boots are next on the agenda, start planning what you want them to build into. It may be tempting to go for Boots of Swiftness or Mobility Boots but i would advise against it. Ninja Tabi or Mercury's Treads are your likely choices.

Before upgrading your boots your going to want a Sheen the extra attack speed passive works with Devastating Charge and Onslaught of Shadows so well. Not to mention the ability to spam Rampage. After your sheen you should upgrade your boots to meet the requirements of the game. An AD heavy team would mean purchasing a Ninja Tabi whilst a CC or AP filled team would be Mercury's Treads.

Phage is next on your agenda providing you with half the parts of a trinity force. Before completing it however i recommend a Kindlegem, this will give you a slight health boost, and will be used to build your Shurelya's Battlesong. Finish your Trinity Force and watch as Hecarim suddenly becomes a little bit scarier.

Shurelya's Battlesong should come next adding a nice level of sustain, its movement steroid should give you enough speed/damage to chase down enemy champions after team fights. Spirit Visage might be your next choice. This provides more health, and a little magic resistance, but its power lies in its passive which will increase the amount your Spirit of Dread heals.

Force of Nature and Frozen Heart should be your last two items, but the order of purchase depends on the game. By this point you should have a larger amount of Magic resist so Frozen Heart might be a better choice to defend against the AD's of the enemy team. You may consider switching Frozen Heart for a Thornmail if the enemy team has a high AD output. Force of Nature will further boost your magic resist making enemy AP's little more then a nuisance, It also provides a nice level of health regeneration and a small boost to you movement speed and damage through Warpath. If the enemy team is lacking AP you might consider dropping Force of Nature for a Phantom Dancer providing a boost to damage and movement speed.

Once your have your full build dont forget to keep those Elixer's charged.

Route 1
Blue buff> Wolves> Wratihs> Golems> wraiths> wolves
Gank top if possible and recall for items
Wolves> wraiths> Red buff> Golems
Gank bottom if possible, Dragon with Bottom lanes assistance
Wraiths> Wolves> Blue buff for mid
Recall

Route 2
Wolves> Blue buff> Wraiths> Wolves> wraiths> Golems> Red buff> Wraiths> Wolves
Gank top if possible and recall
Blue Buff for mid (if respawned)> Wolves> Wraiths> golems
Gank bottom and dragon with help
Golem> Wratihs>
Gank mid if poss, Hold/recall