This is my take on Heimer. He can be played many ways successfully, I just want to share what has been working for me lately. I began my Heimer days following the QQ rockets build by Jun Support, and that has stood me in good stead as an introduction to Heimer. If your goal is to play Heimer well then you need to master all of his abilities, not just one or two. Rockets are tricky, but they offer an enormous harassment and burst damage potential. Master them and do not underestimate them.

This is not a beginner guide, although I believe this guide does use a selection of items that makes Heimer a little more forgiving of mistakes if you are still learning, and the durability to pull off some ballsy but rewarding maneuvers when you have gained some mastery of his abilities.

My runes are constantly changing, this is just what I am using these days. This works well with my current Heimer build. I used to run cooldown reduction glyphs but with his ult UPGRADE!!! and Frozen Heart they are absolutely unnecessary. Mana regen seals and magic penetration marks and quints are standard caster picks.

These are the masteries I run currently, but very recently I ran much tankier choices. My second Heimer build shows what I mean. In my current build I am all about maximizing the damage benefits of masteries for a late game benefit, as this build has good damage late game but still needs some help to really be a threat.

Opening with Meki Pendant and two potions is pretty standard. Following up with Sorcerer's Shoes gives you the ability to kite well as soon as possible, and kiting with Heimer is simply put the most important skill you need to learn. If the enemy gets inside your guard you have two choices: Kill them, or die. You will not be able to run away once they are already in your face at this point in the game, you are too squishy. If you have both of your summoner spells up and your point in grenade then you have a chance of getting away, but I rarely get away from this situation without at least 2 of those three escape options.

After your shoes and tear it's time to build Rod of Ages. I start with blasting rod and usually finish the rest of the rod off from scratch. This has the advantage of appearing to be a standard pure AP Heimer for a little longer into the game while still providing you with a much appreciated damage boost.

At this point in the build you have a big choice to make. If you are up against solid dangerous opponents that are matching or exceeding your skill, skip finishing Archangel's Staff and go strait for Frozen Heart and then Banshee's Veil. The damage output of archangels is meaningless if you can't stick around long enough to apply it, as is a common mentality in the current metagame. You will find this build is sort of an echo of the classic "Atmog" AD build. Instead of feeding health into damage, you are feeding mana from some very high quality full tank items into damage. If you build your tank items first then when you finish archangels you should see an enormous spike in your damage output instantly. You will go from pretty much a nuisance but a decent lane pusher to a threat they can't ignore.

Now for your final item you have some options. If you need damage output and the enemy isn't building heavy magic resists, go with Rabadon's Deathcap. If the enemy is stacking magic resist, build Void Staff. If the enemy is still outputting more damage than you can handle easily, build either Zhonya's Hourglass or Abyssal Mask respective to the enemies primary damage output.

This skill sequence I developed according to my needs and I find it scales well with the flow of the game. I find this to provide a much better sequence of damage and utility than the one provided under the QQ rocket build, but my style of play is somewhat unusual, at least that I've noticed the odd time I see another Heimer.

Opening with a turret gives you a strong lane deterrent. Against most opponents I will place it between the melee and ranged halves of the minion wave and use it as more of a deterrent to attacking me than a pushing tool.

At first level a tanky melee opponent with good harass is your greatest enemy. Olaf has been my greatest challenge so far, for example. Your turret is a deterrent, but if the enemy decides to kill you early you must choose to either abandon the lane entirely or go for the kill. The kill is difficult and chancy, but preferable. To kill your enemy you need to dance around your turret and snap off the occasional wrench while trying to dodge as many attacks of your enemy as possible. Ghost is usually needed to stay just out of arms reach. If he is focusing you (as he should be) and you have successfully kited him around your turret enough you should have a health point advantage and can stop moving and simply auto-attack him to death. If things have not gone this well it's time to flash over a wall and B home.

Don't bother casting your rockets at rank 1, they do very little damage, provide a cool down window for your enemy to attack you freely and waste your mana. By level 3 your rockets will deal much better damage, and your enemy will be in the dark about your damage output until that first hit. That sudden shock from a rank 2 rocket at level 3 usually makes people think twice about engaging you. Experienced players may still dive you at this point, and you are back to the "ring around the turret" game with the added benefit of occasional rockets adding to your chances of hp advantage. Always flee if you are unsure though.

I get grenades at 4 for a number of reasons. I am required to take something other than rockets for one, and having that blind/stun utility is absolutely important to being able to go up against usually tougher opponents. Even if you miss the stun, the blind effect can give you a couple seconds to build your HP advantage as an AD character wonders why he is suddenly not doing any damage. With this ability I can take Trynd on right up until level 6, at which point he becomes a whole new box of snakes, but those sorts of conversations need their own guide. Let it be said that grenades are amazing for their low cost and utility, and reward mastery of their use just as much as rockets do.

As always, maxing rockets is your first order of business, so another point in them and then your ult is in order. UPGRADE!!! provides another escape ability when used defensively, but the time it takes to cast on the run is difficult to judge at the best of times. casting it first then dropping a turret at a good time to slow someone chasing you or an ally is an important trick to master.

After your ult, carry on maxing out rockets and working towards 3 ranks in your turrets so you get your second turret. Now you are in a good position. You have a maxed burst damage skill, a blind/stun utility, a slowing ult with a passive cooldown reduction that is not to be underestimated, and enough turrets to have a rather impressive pushing presence. From here your job is to max out grenades to create the greatest amount of burst damage potential as early as you can. You should be able to sustain a lane push almost indefinitely depending on how your build is coming along.

Here I think it's important to note that I have won more games in the last week as Heimer simply by out-pushing the enemy team. My team has won games at the 30-50 minute mark with less than 20 (even 15) kills while still destroying the enemy nexus. The game is not won by kills, although they are a legitimate way to gain the leverage needed to win. The game is won by destroying buildings. If you can force the enemy home time and again while pounding on their towers and inhibitors, you will win. Going home breaks their ability to feed almost as much as dying, and if you do it enough then you create a similar feedback loop as frequent deaths cause.

So this build creates a Heimerdinger that endures the enemy and destroys his buildings. It works for me, and maybe it will work for you, no promises. I play a very selectively aggressive Heimer. I am constantly looking for opportunities to support my allies with turrets and grenades when they engage the enemy, and making sure they get out when they get in over their heads. I am a pretty good hand with just about every skill Heimer has, the only thing I don't make the best use of is his Ult's effect on grenades and rockets. Try the build out and let me know what you think.

I'm probably reinventing the wheel making a manamogs build, or whatever you want to call it, but I find it works really well providing good damage output while making you the most annoying target to try and pick on. Nothing is worse than a Heimer who doesn't die, his turrets keep firing, his grenades keep lobbing and his rockets keep shooting out at random.

Anyhow, give the build a try, then let me know what you think. I have rarely had a really bad game with Heimer lately but I play Heimer pretty well regardless of the build I use. Last game I played I built Tear of the Goddess, Sorcerer's Shoes, Deathfire Grasp, Moonflair Spellblade and Haunting Guise and we won that game pretty easily.