Hecarim Build Guide by Poptart

Lore

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

Masteries

I got with the 21/9/0 as playing Hec like I do I see him as more of an assassin. I tried a 9/21/0 and just wasn't able to do anything. The only thing that I try to concentrate is damage. So with the extra face beat that you get from going full 21 in the damage tree really helps out with your kill potential. Getting all the health and sustain plus the defenses from your items means that you really don't have to go to far in the defense tree to make your sustain high. If you find that you need more defenses, then you can shift some items around for build order, but you want to focus on doing mega damage as soon as possible cause other wise your ganks will be useless.

Skill Sequence

Rampage
This is your main source of damage. Start with it early and max it first. You will spam this a lot and as long as you hit someone with it your cool down will get shorter.
Spirit of Dread
This skill will help you stay in a fight a little longer and help out when they are all bunched up. It doesn't do tons of damage,but it causes a lot of disruption.
Devastating Charge
This is your main gap closer. Max it last. It can also be a great get away. The best thing about this skill, is that it deals damage with how far you have moved, and it combos well with the ultimate.
Onslaught of Shadows
Great ult here from the jungle. Its all about positioning how ever. One thing that I use it for is ganking from BEHIND the tower. I like to call it a reverse dive as it gives you escape AWAY from the tower.

Runes

Marks-
I go with the Greater Mark of Magic Penetration to help Spirit of Dread do more damage and add in more disruption to team fights. The only other thing that would go well here would be armor pen marks, but with the over all build I think that these work better. Just add in some surprise damage.
Seals-
I go with Greater Seal of Armor for jungle survivability as well as protection when I gank. This should provide you with enough early armor to survive most things and enough late game armor to take tons of damage
Glyphs-
I go with Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist as most jungle camps don't to magic damage. So this scales you for protection late game, along with what ever boots you need.
Quints-
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed just makes him more OP, plus it helps you get through the jungle faster, and to be able to escape from counter ganks, or counter jungling.

Summoner Spells

For jungling there is really only two spells that make Hec work.
Smite
Smite of course for dropping those objective camps and for taking down dragon or baron.
Ghost
Ghost makes his E hurt A LOT! so I always go with this, it allows his to also chase down those low lifers really fast, or to save a turret.
Flash
You could go with flash but honestly I find this to me supremely useless on him, he already has two great escapes in the Spirit of Dread and if you really need it in Onslaught of Shadows
Ignore all of the other spells they are pretty much useless.

Items

Wriggle's Lantern
This is the first complete item that I build. It gives you a free ward that you can drop, it also gives you great jungle speed and sustain in fights.
Tiamat
Generally this is the third item that i fully build, it gives you mega clearing potential in getting through jungle faster, and clearing lanes. It also provides HUGE disruption in team fights as your damage is going EVERYWHERE! This is also all of the mana regen that you should ever need also.
Trinity Force
AKA Tons of Damage. Second complete item that I build, and yes it gives you tons of damage. Speed, health, damage, speed, damage, did i say damage? Its just tons of damage. Period.
Maw of Malmortius
This is where the bulk of my MR comes from. It also gives you that hidden increase of damage when you start to die. It really is a great item as you can get low and through Wriggles Wriggle's Lantern and Zeke's Herald sustain that level of low and increased damage. Tiamat Also helps out with its health regen in it.
Zeke's Herald
More health, more sustain, more attack speed, helps out your team. I have it here because I have found that it works well with Tiamat to increase the damage that I do as I attack FASTER, which with the AOE of the damage.
Boots-
I didn't list last boots on here only because I always find that its better to get the boots that you need. So if there is a lot of magic Mercury's Treads or if there is a lot of AD Ninja Tabi

Alternate late game items-
You could trade out the Wriggle's Lantern for a The Bloodthirster I find that you really don't need this, but if you want to really shred out this may help your sustain more.

To help you get to late game you can sacrifice some time and get things like Heart of Gold Kage's Lucky Pick Philosopher's Stone

Creeping / Jungling

For jungling path I always start at wolves and with a bit of a leash on these you can hit blue at 1:55. From there go wraiths, back to wolves, double golems and red. You can now either go back, or you can go to wraiths and wolves. If you stay out for the other two camps you can finish mini madreds.

Team Work

Top or bot lane ganks-
The best thing for Hec to do when coming out of the jungle is to either come from behind them if possible, or to ram them into the wall. If you rush in with Devastating Charge which will knock them in the opposite direction that you are going and gives a very brief stun. Follow up right away with Spirit of Dread and then mash Rampage. If the lane you are ganking is paying attention its in most cases a guaranteed kill.

The hardest lane for Hec to gank is mid. I have found that for me the best thing is the reverse dive or ganking from behind to tower. I get into this position after taking either top or bottom jungle in counter jungling. Not only is it a big surprise to the person that you are ganking, which can cause them to panic and not know how to react, but it is just insanely funny to do.

Pros / Cons

Pros to this build:

1. You will be super fast. Means that you will be able to get into and out of trouble easily.
2. You will deal tons of damage. With all of your speed in your items, and the way that it goes out you will just wreck face.
3. You will be difficult to kill. Your sustain is insane. It rivals many people.

1. You are reliant on successful ganks to get going. If you fall behind you will be behind for a while, but you can catch up.
2. You can KS real easy, which some people won't mind, but you will be robbing some people of much needed gold.
3. This build is technical. You have almost no room for error, but it is easy to master. The items in it make it forgivable if you do make a mistake, so don't be afraid to try that 2v1 or 3v1 late game.

Summary

Of all the junglers out there, I find Hec right now to be one of the strongest. He us a little under played because of his insane need for the right positioning. But the fact that he can be where you need him to be as fast, if not faster, than Jayce gives him great team utility. With practice and patience you will crush your foes under your hooves, and carry on towards victory. And remember, you are the herald of the Shadow Isles. Make sure that you strike that fear in your foes!