Hecarim Build Guide by Matanzah

Introduction

Hi, this is my first guide on mobafire. This is not the "best" way to play Hecarim, it is the way I feel like playing him. I'm sure as people play him and do some theory crafting better items will be found. I'm not saying I'm a pro at Hecarim, or a pro at LoL in general. Also, this is a guide, you don't have to follow this exactly. In different games you'll need to buy different items. Keeping that in mind, lets move on to how I build him normally.

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

Pros / Cons

Runes

The reason I use AS speed runes on Hecarim is because for some reason when I play Hecarim wriggles really likes to proc alot. I actually use AS speed runes on him because in my build I don't build any AS, and I feel it works well on him. I tried using Armor pen marks on him, and those work fine too, but I feel I clear faster with AS runes.

Masteries

I use 22/8/0 when I jungle Hecarim, I'm sure pretty much any mastery tree will work though, Hecarim is not hard to to jungle as. I go into the offensive tree on the AD side, grabbing everything except lethality and havoc, with 2 points in butcher, then I go into the defensive tree and grab improved smite, magic resist, armor, and reduced minion damage. I don't get lethality because I don't build any crit until late game, and then not much.

You could also go 9/21/0 if you wanted more defense, but since I build alot of health and some armor, I feel the points are better spent in offense.

Summoner Spells

Items

-I start with Cloth and 5 pots so I have some sustain in jungle, and a large amount of armor. You can probably also start with Vamp scepter, or Boots and 3, but cloth armor is probably the safest start. -On my first back I like to try to buy Madreds and boots. Madreds helps you clear the camps really fast, and Hecarim is actually really slow after his E is over, so boots are important for ganking. -After that I get Wriggles Lantern, and Merc treads. You could also get Ninja tabi if their team is more auto attack based/AD. I haven't done the math, but I think boots of swiftness aren't that great on Hecarim, they won't give him much bonus AD on his passive, and the defensive stats on Ninja Tabi and Merc treads are too good to pass up. -I build a Phage next for the slow and for a bit of tankiness. Later I build this into a Frozen mallet or a Trinity force. -After Phage, I get a Brutalizer for a bit more DPS, and also because I build it into a Youmuus lategame, which I feel is really good for Hecarim, it gives him insane chasing power. Now, you can either go into your Warmogs, or if you feel you need more DPS, you can also build Sheen. If I build Sheen here, I'll get a Trinity force instead of Frozen Mallet.
After Warmogs I grab Atmas, then Frozen Mallet if I didn't get a Sheen. If I did get a Sheen I build my Trinity Force after Atmas. Lastly I build my Youmuus. Once you get your Youmuus you'll have insane chasing power, with it, your E, and your Ulti. Also you'll have the slow from your Frozen Mallet/Trinity Force. After you are done with your full build, I've been toying with the idea to sell my Wriggles for a DPS item, maybe Phantom Dancer, or Blood Thirster, but for the most part my games haven't gone long enough for me to test this.

Skill Sequence

When I first started jungling Hecarim, I started with Q>W>Q>E then maxed R>Q>W>E.
I've tried starting with a point in W first, which I think might be better, because you start to get some fairly good sustain from it after you put a few ranks in.

This is your passive it lets you walk through minions and Champions.
The Bonus AD you get from Movement speed isn't that much. It isn't worth stacking MS on Hecarim.
Like Skarners Q, I spam this when I jungle. It only does 50% damage to minions, so it isn't that much damage, but it is still damage, and it doesn't cost much mana, so it's easy to spam. Note that when you use it the cooldown gets shorter, stacking 2 times. To keep the stacks up, you should try to kill the last minion in a camp with this so that you can keep the stacks when you get to the next camp.
This is the ability I've been maxing first when I jungle now. It gives you sustain in jungle, but only 60 at first rank.
*Note* The damage done doesn't have to be Hecarims damage, it can be damage from your whole team, making it really strong in Team fights.
When you use this ability, it doesn't give you all the movement speed at once, it increases over the 3 seconds. Try to pop this before you go into the lane, so you'll have the full movement speed bonus when you go into the lane. It requires fairly good timing though, so make sure you'll have time to get to the person you are ganking. Remember, it knocks the person you hit with it back, so you should use that to knock them away from their tower.
This combined with Youmuus, Frozen mallet/Trin force, and ghost make you a god at chasing.
This is your only CC if you don't count the knock back from your E. When you use this ability, the riders will go the full distance, only how far Hecarimcharges changes.
Unlike other fears, The people caught in Hecarims fear, will run directly away from him. use this to your advantage when chasing, and use it so you'll end up ahead of your target, this will make them run away from you, and farther from safety.

Creeping / Jungling

Start with a point in W and Cloth + 5 pots
Use pots as needed in the route.
Route 1
-I start at blue, You don't need a leash, but I'd recommend one so you clear faster with more health. I use smite at blue. Use W after a hit from the golem so you don't waste the life steal.

-When you hit 2, take a point in Q, and move on to wolves. Use W again and Spam Q.

-Go to wraiths, and make sure you kill the last wraith with Q, so you keep the stacks

-Head over to Red and hit Q right away so you don't lose the stacks. Don't smite here.

-Finally, go to Golems and use smite on the big one.

-Instead of Golems you can also gank, but you won't be level 4 yet.

-After Golems, go clear Wolves>Wraiths>Golems until 1k Gold

-Counter Jungling - Hecarim is decent at counter jungling, since he has his E to get away if he gets caught.

Route 2
Use this route if you want to gank a lane quickly. Be careful of spamming your abilities though, you'll run out of mana quickly.

-Start at wraiths, get help with them so you can start red as soon as it spawns.

- Go to red, get a leash so you dont' take much damage

-Golems (start conserving mana)

-Wraiths

-Wolves

-Blue

-Jungle until 1k gold or until you need to go back.

*NOTE*
When I say, do red now, that doesn't mean you have to do red, if you think you are going to die for some reason, don't risk it. Also if one of your lane somehow already really needs a gank, go gank that lane. You can also get your E at level 3 if you need to to gank. When jungling I am always watching out for lanes that are pushed, pushing, or really low so I can tower dive them. When you gank a lane make sure you ping, and tell the person. You probably shouldn't have to do that, and they should probably have more map awareness, but it's better to be on the safe side. Also, don't waste your time sitting at a lane, if you think it's warded, just leave, it isn't worth your time to sit in a lane for 3 minutes if you aren't even going to get a kill.

Team Fights

In team fights as Hecarim I like to initiate with my E, and go after one of their carries. Once I get close enough I use my ultimates fear to push my target back towards my team. I then stick to my target, and use my W and spam my Q. I use a auto attack inbetween each Q to help maximize dps. If I have to I use ghost to help stick onto my target.
*note* If you can't get your target, go after another one, you also do alot of aoe damage, so if you can, stay in the middle of a team fight.

Summary

Overall I think Hecarim is a strong jungler, with semi fast clear times, good ganks, and is good in team fights. He has great initiate. I enjoy jungling as him, and he is fun. Also, if you rate my guide badly, please include some tips, or reasons why you didn't like it, this is my first guide, so obviously I have a lot to work on, but I won't know what unless I get feedback. Again, don't bother commenting unless you've READ THE GUIDE
Also a Thank you to jhoijhoi for help with BBcoding and whatnot.