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"

Hecarim, the movement speed jungler, has come to Summoner's Rift. While most guides for him are focusing on building tanky, I have found my approach to be very successful. Building a damage Hecarim not only allows for early ganks that actually get kills, it also allows him to become a force to be feared in late game.

Warpath

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.

This is an amazing passive, and the reason for building Boots of Swiftness and using Ghost instead of Flash. In a pinch, pop Ghost for a little more Attack Damage and as an escape tool. Hecarim can already run through creep so it has no impact on that.

Rampage

Hecarim cleaves nearby enemies dealing 50 / 85 / 120 / 155 / 190 (+0.6 per bonus attack damage) physical damage. This ability deals 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.


Hecarim's spam skill. Use this everytime it's up when you are fighting an enemy champion. I max this first as it is Hecarim's main attack. Also, try to time it so that when jungling, the last hit on the last minion is done by this. If you are not switching sides of the jungle you can keep the cooldown reduction buff up.

Spirit of Dread

Hecarim deals 20 / 31.25 / 42.5 / 53.75 / 65 (+20% of ability power) magic damage to nearby enemies every second for 4 seconds, up to a maximum of 80 / 125 / 170 / 215 / 260 (+80% of ability power) magic damage. Hecarim gains health equal to 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 % of any damage those enemies suffer. Healing from damage dealt to minions is capped to 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 health.

This is Hecarim's AOE ability. It also heals him for 10% to 30% of damage done to the enemies in it. This gives great sustain to him during teamfights, especially if there are multiple hard hitting champions on your team. As this is a high dps build and not a tank build, I max this skill last.

Devastating Charge

Hecarim gains 75% movement speed for over the course of 3 seconds. His next attack knocks the target back and deals a minimum of 40 / 75 / 110 / 145 / 180 (+0.5 per bonus attack damage) and a maximum of 80 / 150 / 220 / 290 / 360 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage) additional physical damage based on the distance he has travelled since activating the ability.


Devastating Charge is a fantastic ability. When going for a gank make sure you try and position yourself so that the knockback goes into one of your teammates to try and get a kill. This skill can also be used to save a teammate, just knock the enemy away from the person they are chasing down. Since it gains damage the further you run when you use it, Ghost can be used so that you cover more distance during the charge. This is a great way to add damage to a gank.

Onslaught of Shadows

Hecarim summons spectral riders and charges forward, dealing 100 / 200 / 300 (+80% of ability power) magic damage in a line. Hecarim creates a shockwave when he finishes his charge, dealing 50 / 125 / 200 (+40% of ability power) additional magic damage to nearby enemies and causing them to flee in terror away from Hecarim for 1 second.

Currently, this ultimate seems pretty overpowered. Hecarim will launch himself in with the Ghost Cavalry, and then fears enemies on landing. Try to land this on the opposite side of the enemy from your team as to fear them closer to your allies.

My runes are not the normal for him either. When playing AD champions I like to have armor penetration quints and marks. Seals and glyphs are standard armor and magic resist. The armor penetration is very useful early game. The amount of damage that is able to be put out is very good as compared to having just a little movement speed or attack damage.

Here is where my build really starts getting completely different than the others.

Start with low boots and 3 health pots.+

You will need to go back almost as soon as you have enough for the Ruby Crystal part of heart of gold due to low health.

After a gank or two, maybe clearing more jungle, go back and get your heart of gold and boots of swiftness. Boots of swiftness are used because of Hecarims Warpath passive.
+

Another gank and jungling and get vampiric sceptor. This gives enough survivability to where you can max Q and E before focusing on W. This allows for max damage output.


Next build Sheen into Tri Force. This is probably the most important item for Hec, and once you have it he becomes pretty powerful.
+ + --->
Get the Maw to round out your build decently enough.
--->

Last two items (last spot and geting rid of heart of gold) are more situational. I like to get Frozen Heart for health and slow, then the Hextech. Hextech works really well with this champion because not only does he benefit from the lifesteal on his basic attacks, he gets spell vamp for his W.
+

Once again I differ from the pack. I like to get Q maxed first, E maxed second, and W maxed third. The reason being that since I build AD, W isn't as effective as getting more damage output with Q and E. Killing them faster is the key here, rather than surviving long. This make Hecarim have to pick his spots earlier in the game. Don't charge into their whole team, you won't live very long. Rather, initiate your fights with E, then when they are running use your ultimate to land behind them and fear them back. Teamfights can be initiated with your ultimate. Try to land on the other side of them from your team so they get feared towards your team.

Basic path for jungling is used. Get help from your teammates and get a hard leash on wolves then blue. From there go wraiths, red, golems. Try to gank somewhere at level 3 if you can.

GANKING

Start with your E. Try to cover as much distance as possible before hitting them. Ghost can be used to achieve this. The main key is to get behind them to knock them into your teammates. To do this, try and start on their side if the river, close to their tower (but not in it!). Once fight is engaged use Q and W when they are up, and between hits move to keep up with enemy champion, as they are no doubt running.

I do not claim any rights to this video. It is not mine. The reason I am putting it on here is the fact that it shows how to gank properly with Hecarim.
Play Video

As a player who jungles roughly 75% of the games I play in, I have found this champion to be probably the most fun. Built and played properly, he can swing games to favor his team.

Leave feedback on the guide as well as questions and I'll respond as quickly as possible.