Heimerdinger Build Guide by FieldArmada

Welcome!

Hello! This is my first guide, for Heimerdinger, quite possibly the most underrated AP champion. He's a fun person to play though, because of his all-around utility.

A couple notes before I begin: Don't downvote because of the cheatsheet before reading the build, and don't downvote just because you think Heimer is bad.

:)
-FieldArmada

Why play Heimer?

Why should you play Heimerdinger? Well:

spaaaaaaace

Pros + Turrets + Great poke + Passive regen + Great farm

spaceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Cons - Really squishy - Inability to focus - CC-reliant

Masteries

I run 21/0/9 because it really buffs his damage capability. Diving further into the other two gives less. Choice explanations:

Offense
Mental Force - This is not Ranged AD Carry Heimerdinger. Thus, get AP.
Sorcery - You don't need AS, and your tower killing is already pretty good.
Arcane Knowledge - Combined with MPen runes, this means you don't need a Void Staff.
Havoc - More damage is always nice.
Blast - With Archmage and Rabadon's Deathcap, you get 24 AP at level 18 with this mastery. It's better than an entire Amplifying Tome!
Archmage - Mini-Deathcap. Enough said.
Executioner - Your rockets are already amazing for sniping low health enemies. This makes them even better.

Utility
Expanded Mind - 216 Mana and 6 AP (from Archangel's Staff) at 18 for 3 points? Yes.
Good Hands - You need to get 4 points somehow.
Meditation - A lot of people get more MS standard on this level. As Heimerdinger, however, you don't need to be chasing people down, so more MP5 is nice. Combined with Meki Pendant, this means you start off regenerating 2 Mana per second.
Swiftness - Again, 4 points somehow.
Runic Affinity - Blue lasts longer. Nice.

Why is this better than 9/0/21? Because, by going further into the Offense tree, you get:

-1.5% more damage
-18 Ability Power
-5% Ability Power bonus
-6% bonus damage below 40%

For example, this allows, against enemies below 40% health, a CH-1 Concussion Grenade to deal 50 more damage, or for Hextech Micro-Rockets to deal 46 more damage, or for turrets to deal 17 more damage per shot, a significant chunk. Note that you can easily get enemies below 40% health, by spamming rockets and making them walk into turrets.

However, if you went into Utility, you would only get:

-3% Spell Vamp
-5% more experience
-6% CDR
-15% Summoner Spell CDR

This gives you 16 leech on rockets and 17 on grenade, which really isn't much compared to damage. 5% more experience is relatively useless considering that Heimerdinger wipes out waves (and thus levels) quickly and he isn't in a rush to get his ultimate. You're already at CDR cap with your ult passive, Blue Buff, and an Elixir of Brilliance, so 6% more isn't very useful. You shouldn't really be using your two spells enough to warrant better cooldown on them.

Runes

The Good

Quintessences
Greater Quintessence of Health- Since Heimerdinger is stupidly squishy early game, you want more health. This gives you it to the tune of 72 health, which can survive you an extra autoattack or spell, or maybe take an Ignite.
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power- 15 more AP can't be a bad thing. However, during early game, remember that this only gives you about 7 more damage on each spell, and 3 more damage on a turret, so it only comes into play in a "THEY GOT AWAY WITH <10 HEALTH WHAT IS THIS" situations. Of note is that it's as much AP as a Doran's Ring.

Marks
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration- Along with Sorcerer's Shoes, this gets you dealing nearly true damage to non-MR building ranged champions. It's also the only viable mark here.

Seals
Greater Seal of Armor- My personal favorite. You get a surprising amount of armor with this. It makes Heimer slightly less squishy in teamfights.
Greater Seal of Replenishment- Personally, I have enough mana with this build, but if you love spam that much, you get up to 14 MP5, which is pretty amazing.

Glyphs
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist- Counters your squishiness, especially since you're not usually building too much MR. Boost your MR to 42. Note that this quite a bit less than the per level alternative.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist- Same principle, but kick in late game. Boost your MR to 54. I love these- they alleviate the need to get an Abyssal Specter or Athene's Unholy Grail.
Greater Glyph of Ability Power- You can go for these as an alternative to Greater Quintessence of Ability Power, or, heck, get both. Individually, they give you 11 AP.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power- Late game, this becomes an Amplifying Tome and a half.

Oh My God, Do Not Get These

Flat Mana/Mana per level- First, you are getting high MP5; why do you need these? Second, you build an Archangel's Staff. Enough said.

Health Regeneration- You have Techmaturgical Repair Bots, which gives you stupid amounts of passive regen. Additionally, you're not the tank.

Cooldown Reduction- You hit CDR cap anyways.

Q, W, E, ...R?

Techmaturgical Repair Bots- This is a good ability that really ups your sustain in lane. Automatic 10HP5 means that he can trade and win. If you're duo laning, it helps your teammate too. Remember: this can repair towers too, and it's the only thing that does in the game, making Heimer a great defender. Don't rely on it though.

H-28G Evolution Turret- Yay, turrets. Your signature ability. Kill creeps with it, do damage with it, whatever. They do surprising amounts of damage late game when you have a lot of AP. I max this first, as it's your DPS, your farm, and your zoning tool. Put one in a lane late-game, and have the lane farmed for you for a while.

Some non-obvious notes:
-You can use it like a Sight Ward. If placed in the river bush in any lane, it can save you from many a gank.
-These do not stack with Magic Penetration.
-Only ranks 3 and 5 of this skill really matter. You get 2 turrets at rank 3 and splash damage at 5.
-If you get rank 5 turrets, do not place two of them on the creeps while laning. This can and will push your lane to no end if the enemies can last hit properly, making you die to ganks.
-Turrets do not transform when the ability is ranked. You must place a new one.

Hextech Micro-Rockets- Your spam. At 1000 range, it is a great poke, and can hit multiple enemies at the same time. Remember that it prioritizes by distance only, so you can only hit champions if there are no minions in the way. This is your easiest skill to use in any fight, and it has the shortest cooldown too, at least before your CH-1 Concussion Grenade is fully leveled. I max this second, because turrets are arguably better for the early game.

CH-1 Concussion Grenade- Stun, blind, damage, all in one. This will shut down anything it hits for a few seconds. It flies hilariously slow, however, comparable to Anivia's Flash Frost, so it's hard to hit anything that's not running at you or attacking your turrets. Note that this has the highest AP ratio in Heimer's kit. I max this third.

UPGRADE!!!- Frankly, this is underwhelming. For an ultimate, it makes your turrets slow, grenade fly faster, and you shoot more rockets. Early game, it is nice but not great, but you still want it to survive those ganks, because it gives you your only slow, as well as making your grenade much easier to land. Once you hit level 9, it becomes much more powerful when combined with splash on turrets. You want that slow on the turrets for ganks and surviving ganks, and especially for teamfights. This ult is built for teamfights- hit their entire team, slow their entire team, stun and blind the carries. If you see somebody, especially a squishy, near a turret, you can press R and they may as well be dead.

The passive is quite nice as well, giving you 20% CDR. This means that you can hit the CDR cap without any actual CDR items.

Summoner Spells

The Good

Exhaust is a great spell to have on Heimerdinger. Why? Turret DPS. If a champion walks into your turrets, you can stun them with a CH-1 Concussion Grenade, slow them with UPGRADE!!!, kite them around the turrets, slow them again with this, and there you have your free kill. Many AD carries don't realize that with this debuff on them, your 2 turrets are outdamaging their autoattacks. It also gives you another way to escape.

Teleport is unorthodox but works. Why? Your massive tower-defending skill means that if you teleport to a tower, it's not going down anytime soon, sometimes even if three enemy champions are trying to attack it, if you have your entire kit available. It lets your team push other lanes and forces an imbalance in pushing wars and base races. It isn't bad in lane either, as Recall - Teleport gives you effectively only a 15 second downtime, preventing outleveling, outfarming, and protects your tower.

Ignite is another good choice. It gives you more DPS, and takes care of escaping enemy champions. Standard on AP carries.

The Mediocre

Flash is something that really doesn't fit you. You want to be fighting next to your towers, so flashing in doesn't do much for you. It's great defensively and for sniping with Hextech Micro-Rockets though.

Clarity helps your early-game spam if you really cannot manage your mana, but you should be able with more than 10 MP5, and it drops off after you get Tear of the Goddess. Really falls off after the first 5 minutes.

Clairvoyance is a good choice if you don't have anybody else with it, but doesn't provide you anything for your main kit.

Everything else not listed is not really worth getting on Heimerdinger.

Shopping List

Early Game

I almost always start with a Meki Pendant and 2 Health Potions. Why? It gives you the MP5 you need to use your abilities early game. You have plenty of sustain, with 10HP5 from your passive, 10MP5 from the pendant and Meditation , plus pots if the need arises. You want a fast Tear of the Goddess so you can spam. This set works best against non-skillshot champions.


If you feel you can't dodge skillshots with the low MS, however, you can try Boots of Speed and 3 Health Potions. This means that you will have a slower core build, however, so try to avoid this start if you can.

/
On your first back, either start rushing an Archangel's Staff (get the Tear first) or get a Catalyst the Protector. If you don't get your Tear now, however, don't get it later, as it won't charge in time.

Why do you want an Archangel's Staff? Many people wonder about this item. Well, it gives you enough MP5 and 400 Mana to solve your casting woes, as well as Ability Power. In fact, this AP scales as the game goes on, as you charge the staff.

Mid Game

After you either finish Archangel's Staff or Rod of Ages, build first your boots: most of the time Sorcerer's Shoes. If you are facing massive CC, then you may want Mercury's Treads, as you can die quickly if stunned.

Then, build a Rabadon's Deathcap, starting with a Needlessly Large Rod. This should send your AP soaring.

Finish out your core by getting a Rylai's Crystal Scepter. It gives you much-needed health, and slowing spells are nice, considering that the passive has a bigger slow than your ultimate on your turrets.

Your core build is:

Last Two Items

I typically round out with a Will of the Ancients, which gives SV to myself and my team, and can never go wrong with it. I build a Zhonya's Hourglass, which packs 50 armor and an amazing defensive passive. It allows your turrets to deal damage and cooldowns to refresh while you are invincible. This gives survivability and effectively more regeneration for your spam. Other alternatives are:

Abyssal Scepter- This gives good stats, and gives your H-28G Evolution Turret effectively more damage from the aura, but the range on its passive is less than your Hextech Micro-Rockets and CH-1 Concussion Grenade, so it loses some utility there.

Void Staff- Build it if the enemy team is stacking Magic Resist. Note that you're not going to be killing the tank/offtank with your kit anyways, so it's okay if 1 or 2 get MR, but definitely get this item if the carries build something like a Banshee's Veil.

Rod of Ages- If you got an Archangel's Staff, the Mana from this is great, and the health beefs you up. However, at this late in the game, it will not get to full stacks, so be careful with that. The other reason you would choose this item is if you initially took a Catalyst the Protector.

Athene's Unholy Grail- This item gives you CDR, MR, and essentially eliminates your need for Mana. You should probably get this instead of either a Will of the Ancients or Archangel's Staff, as removing anything else eliminates flexibility or survivability.

"Bleh" Choices

Morello's Evil Tome/ Deathfire Grasp- You already hit CDR cap. Plus, you're not a burst champion.

Blue Things
Make sure you get Crest of the Ancient Golem (Blue) and an Elixir of Brilliance late game and keep them up on yourself. This is how you can stay at the CDR cap without any CDR items. Remember that Elixir of Brilliance automatically casts on yourself if you already have 6 items.

Laning

You want mid, because you're the AP Carry. I'll discuss other lanes below. Why do you want mid?

+More farm = Faster items
+More exp = Faster rank 5 H-28G Evolution Turret
+Mitigates your squishiness (1 champion is much easier than two)
+You can get a very rapid tower kill sometimes

Okay, so now you have mid. You want to start out with regular last-hitting. Note that your AA animation flies very slow, so you want to attack slightly earlier than with other champions, or you might not hit it in time.

At rank 1, your H-28G Evolution Turrets provide anti-dive cover, and you should probably be sitting behind one at all times.

Once you hit rank 3 turrets, you can place two. Make sure to keep them slightly seperated. Why? Because AoE abilities will do a lot less if they are further apart. At level 9, you should be getting rank 5 turrets. These are monsters at pushing, which isn't always a good thing. If you are going to push, then go for the fast tower when they Recall. By placing your turrets behind the tower, you can take out an entire minion wave, allowing you to take the tower with ease.

Otherwise, however, don't use the turrets very much, because they are on an ammo cooldown and push too much.

Once you get rank 2 or 3 or Hextech Micro-Rockets, it becomes a good poke. If you ever see less than 3 minions left, fire these. The 1000 range outranges most other abilities, and as such can be used for free harass.

You can typically afford to stay in lane and farm until either you kill the enemy mid laner or take down their turret. In either case, quickly recall back and, if the turret is not down, destroy it, then quickly Recall and help out another lane with your Teleport. Depending on the situation, you will either be pushing or ganking.

Pushing is simple. Throw your grenade and rockets to kill the creeps, and throw down two turret in the bush. This will get the lane pushed up, allowing you to harrass with W and E even if they are hugging the tower. While pushing is usually bad, you can take down the enemy tower rapidly with Heimer, and if that is down the lane being pushed does not matter.

Your combo for ganking is: Activate your ultimate, throw your grenade, one turret, rockets, Exhaust, then another turret as soon as the cooldown ends. The stun and DPS as they try to escape will likely kill them. You can then proceed to push to the tower.

Combo Creation

Any good ability is only good when used at the right time, at the right place, and in the right order. Here are Heimerdinger's main combos.

->

Your main harass. Throw the grenade for the stun, move up and hit them with rockets. It works even if they're hiding in the bush- the grenade grants vision for you, so you can hit them. Your grenade gives large amounts of vision into the brush, which works well in any lane. This can take out a a third to half of their health if it hits.

-> ->

Pretty cool bait. Two turrets will usually draw the enemy champion in for an attack, lest be harrased. Stun them when they get in range for free DPS. Works best against melee champions. A neat trick is to place only one turret before baiting them in- it makes it more compulsive as they carry less risk taking out one turret than two. This is fun against champions like Garen, Tryndamere, Master Yi, and the sort.

Once you get your ultimate, you get more choices.

-> -> -> -> ->

Your mega chain-CC trap. If you kite around your turrets you can often avoid being hit at all while the enemy champion is burned up by the DPSing turrets.

-> ->

The closest thing you have to burst. Also creates a nice stunned target for your team to jump onto. If you fire the rockets closely after the grenade, they hit at almost the same time.

Changelog

06/04/12- Published.
06/05/12- Added "Laning".
09/10/12- Changed around skill order, moved Grail.
12/02/12- Cleaned up a bit.

Thanks to jhoijhoi for her Making a Guide guide.

Also thanks to Vynertje for comments and suggestions. :)

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