Hey all this is my guide to heimerdinger the awesome little dude.
Make sure you read the guide (and any other guide) to get a better idea how to play with this unique and fun champion.


This is an early version of the guide.
It will be improved through your comments, tips, and any possible changes you want to see.
Any help in comments is welcome.

24/12/11: rushed update to masteries. still got no much time to play :(
26/07/12: just got back from the army but the time to play is not enough atm.
13/08/12: new items, some changes to masteries to kite harder.

Pros:
Fun champ to play with
great and funny voice
great pusher and defender
heals turrets
heals teammates
heals while doing nothing
excellent kiting
his rockets are ******ed
incoming remake to heimer (he needs more love)

Cons:
takes practice to learn his skills and WHEN to use them
40% cdr and still long cds
his turrets AI is(still) bugged
his non-ulti grenade is so slow that ezreal players might want to pull their eyes out
his rockets are still ******ed

9 marks of insight (mpen, you know what they do and why you want them)
9 seals of clarity (heimer is mana hungry almost always so these give him a good boost)
9 glyphs of force (2 ap per lvl is a good way to stay put)
3 quints of potency (a good start at dmg)

Other runes that are useful:

Glyphs of clarity: for extra mana reg (i used them but heimer stays mana hungry until Athene's unholy grail so i just put them for a small help in laning).

Quints of fortitude/vigor: these are either to withstand burst dmg or defensive lane game, make your pick)

Quints of insight: my build doesn't include a lot of mpen so these can be useful.

9-0-21
Standard utility caster taking what can make heimer better.

Sorcery and Archaic Knowledge from offense are both a must.

The most useful masteries from utility tree are taken.

Improved recall!! at last a talent that makes that single moment "don't dON'T COME TO THE BUSH FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU" almost disappear.

Swiftness... 4 points for 2% looks bad to me but nothing better to put there. No huge changes to kiting but it's still a small buff.

Strength of spirit: These 2 points will give you nice early game hp regen/5 along with your passive.

Mastermind: To have flash almost always active. (press D to dance)

Start with meki pendant or doran's ring. Make sure every time you get to base buy ward and potions.
Also you can buy an early game Philosopher's Stone in case you get harassed a lot.
Build chalice of harmony and boots.
Get Giants Belt whenever possible. These two items will give you good lane sustain.
Stuck a fiendish codex around here.
Buy a needlessly large rod or blasting wand.

Time to choose:
Rabadon's Deathcap if you own your lane.
Rylai's if you need a kite machine.
Athene's unholy grail if you stll have problems with mana.
Abyssal Scepter if ap is fed and gonna gank you a lot.
Zhonya's Hourglass if ad is fed and gonna gank you a lot.
Finish what you need the most at each time.

Finish boots around lvls 7-11 or if you get a lot of teamfights early cause they greatly improve your dmg early.
I usually finish boots when i do well with the items i got and wanna get a lot better.

IMPORTANT: If you have a teammate that needs Blue Buff more than you let him have it.
That's because you don't need the CDR of the buff but the mana regen. Which means your teammate will get more from having it.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter: At last it became a good choice instead of RoA.
The cause is the arrival of Athene's unholy grail which broke my old combo RoA + Archangel.
Now we don't need Archangels, Rylai is back to the game to improve your kiting.

Athene's Unholy Grail This item is something we've been expecting for a long time.
AND IT'S BETTER THAN I THOUGH.
All that heimer needs in a single item.
Not as powerful as Archangels but less managrind now (heimer was bad at that)

Will of the Ancients: Simply put No. Yet so many guides have it.
Why?
I have no idea why would someone take spell vamp to a mage who has 2 AoE attack spells with long CD in his arsenal.
It doesn't even give 25% spell vamp to heimer, the correct number is 8,25% from each target you hit. Again it doesn't proc from turrets.
Zhonya's Hourglass which gives 50 armor 100 Ap and 2 sec of invulnerability is a ton better.

That is again something you got to decide.
Rush lvl 3 turrets and always UPGRADE!!!.
Then it's up to you to decide which is gonna affect you the most.

Rockets hit hard 3-5 champions but they are so random that sometimes you are gonna see an enemy run away with 1 bar hp while your rockets hit the creeps around him. That or you'll be oom :P

Grenade requires you to be close to the enemy or get it in front him.
That makes them "i require skill yet i reward greatly". Practice with them a lot and get used to them. Also heimer's best farming ability, clears waves with a single shot.
AD carries hate them cause they stun/blind making them useless.

UPGRADE!!! IS your favorite spell :) Its like heimer on cocaine. a passive 20% CDR with turrets that slow, faster grenade throw (tip: "you have to practice grenades again :P") and 5 rockets that halve the enemies hp bar.

Flash all the way.
No other of the summoner spells saves heimer better. It also makes him kite effectively.

Teleport gives heimer the mobility that he needs. I'm here i go there

Other summoner spells:
Exhaust: yeah it's the same old good exhaust. Cast it and see the enemies die while you run around. very useful.

Clarity: for people that want to unleash the powah and need to spam rockets every time they are off cd. Need a refill?

Ghost: not that good alone but a combo of ghost flash/exhaust grenade and UPGRADE!!! turrets make him a kitting machine for melee champs.

Try to play supportive to your team.
If a teammate is in danger run close (yet in safe distance) open ulti, throw a grenade and a turret and if you save him you'll might get a kill or assist.

Always throw your grenade to the most dangerous AD. The stun is good if it procs but the blind is making sure that he'll be useless autoattacker for a few seconds.

Place your turrets in a good distance from each other and always have one for emergency.
You might have to throw it down to start kiting.

Throw grenades in bushes to check. Their range is good to check but beware of The Blitz.

Akali, Talon and most burst assassins are your enemies. Tell your team to focus them!!! Their dead assassin will probably win you the fight.

Never stop buying wards. Heimer is alone weak being ganked. A ward will inform you and your jungler that there are enemies nearby.

Kiting:
(turret here)|---- you running around ----|(turret here)

This is done by the use of UPGRADE!!! slow.
A slowed enemy will try to attack your turrets so then it's time to throw grenade.
as soon as you see him come to you flash, kite again and wait to throw grenade.
Don't forget to use Zhonya's Hourglass when you have it.

For ranged: use UPGRADE!!! flash in throw grenade and rockets and put a turret behind him.
See where he is going and continue to throw rockets. He must be dead now.

Don't overextend, heimer relies on flash to either attack or escape. If you use it to attack you won't be able to escape easily. You might be dead now.

When you run away from the enemy base place turrets in bushes as extra wards and/or for possible slow to increase yours and your teammates chances to escape.

A small tip while laning: if minions are outside your turrets range try to auto attack an enemy champion and pull them close to your turret (I don't recommend to do it against champions that are tanky +and+ can close gaps fast like Xin and Irelia).

That's most of the things i got in my head now.
More info will come around so be here to check them out.

Try the guide and come back to tell me your tale.



Have fun... and always kite HARD.