I AM VERY MUCH AWARE THAT THIS ISN'T THE MOST DAMAGE ORIENTED BUILD. I DON'T BELIEVE A HEAVY DAMAGE DEALER IS HECARIM'S STRONGEST ROLE IN A TEAMFIGHT, BUT RATHER A SUSTAINED BRUISER.

Welcome to my Hecarim guide ^^. Now, yes, I'll start off right by saying now: Rushing a sunfire!? Yep, i have been flamed countless times for rushing sunfire on Hecarim, but I hope you will at least sit and read my idea of how to play Hecarim!

I play Hecarim a Solo Top. His early game, because of his weak damage, is definitely his weakest, and hence you make get slightly zoned in the beginning of the game when trying to fight. HOWEVER, this build Hecarim shines when Hecarim builds his Sunfire (Especially if the Top Laner is Physical Damage) From this point, you may call yourself Never-Die-Hecarim, or Singed 2.0. With Hecarim's insane pushing skills, and you're tankiness (3k HP at 20 minutes), you're capable of pushing lanes, forcing people to cover, and even if you get ganked, you have you're ultimate, you have Devastating Charge, and moreover Ghost/Flash!

Enjoy, and leave any feedback on my build!

My Preferred build is the first, Tanky and Sustained.

Marks

For Marks on Hecarim, I run Armor Pen Reds Greater Mark of Desolation. With Armor Pen Reds, you're simple capable of just dealing outright more damage. In your top lane, you'll expect to see a few from time to time build some armor against you, especially if you're winning. Regardless now, with the Armor pen, you should do fine, although your trading may be slightly difficult.

For Seals, I run Flat Armor Yellows . Simple enough, most of you're top laners are going to be AD, and naturally the AD carry will be too, you might as well get the armor for the extra defenses.

For Gylphs, I run Flat Magic Resist Blues . Once more, like the seals, you would get the Magic resist for AP, and overall tankiness in resistances.

Lastly, for Quintessences, I run flat HP quints . This is just to help your weak early game in lane. You need sustain and Health early game to survive the laning phase, and this is exactly what this quint is best for. You should be at almost 700 HP at level 1, if following the build exactly as is.

With this Rune Page, your tankiness should be extremely high, with a little bit a damage given with the armor pen, for possible trades in fights at Top.

For Masteries, I run 9/21/0, Going down into Armor Penetration in Offense, and More tankiness for teamfight survivability in the Defense Tree.

Important Masteries to Keep in mindto Keep in Mind

This moderately important, as you get the bonus for your ignite, but more important your summer Ghost . From wrath, your ghost gives the 35% bonus movement speed, which is all round useful in every way for Hecarim.

Siege Commander, found in the Defense Tree may sound really stupid to emphasize, but reading further into the guide will help you understand it's role. As Tank Hecarim, your main goal is to push till no in your lane. Getting this mastery will greatly help your pushing, IF you do get the chance to push down past the first tower!


In All, 9/21/0 brings straight out tankiness to the table, and really helping out your main role as Hecarim.

My Usual End Game Hecarim Build will end up being - Shurelia's, Randuins, Trinity, Merc Treads, Maw/FoN/GA and Sunfire Cape.

Items to Build on Hecarim:

Philosopher's Stone Always rush a Philo Stone on Hecarim. Rushing Philo stone will Hecarim strong sustain immediately, like most top laners. You're not completely mana hungry unless you REALLY want to spam for trades, but the health regen will keep you in survivable manner in lane for some time.

Heart of Gold is always an exceptional choice for Hecarim, just further build up your tankiness while getting the extra gold in the proess!

Mercury Treads Tenacity, Magic Resist, and the same old Movement Speed. Nothing wrong here for getting through CC.

Build this when going against those heavy AD damage dealers at top that are giving you trouble. Extra Armor will always help out for you to survive your laning phase.

Get this early for just plain extra tankiness, plus that slow, that could really help out a time as Hecarim would be strong if he was capable of keeping that constant dps when going for a kill.

THIS IS PROBABLY (Next to Trinity) THE MOST IMPORTANT ITEM IN EARLY-MID GAME. Sunfire Cape is the item that gives the health, the armor and more over strong pushing power. Hecarim's capabilities of Pushing is enormous with Sunfire.

At this point, you can basically use Q and W, along with sunfire to push and pick up all the minions, while ignoring most incoming (Physical) Damage! You should be at (or almost) 3,000 HP at this point!


Trinity Force is probably going to be your main Damage Output Item. Trinity is all round the best item for Hecarim: AD, AP, Health, Mana, Attack Speed, the Sheen Proc AND last but not least the movement speed. Getting Trinity and running into Mid game fights will show your true dominance and power.

. Well, Shurelia's is perfect for Hecarim once more. Health Regen for tankiness, the Health itself, and it's beautiful active, the bonus movespeed that will work perfectly with his passive.

Once more, Armor for resistances AND the bonus health. The great thing about randuins is that with this item you can just go jump on their AD carry, like malphite, and with your tankiness make a far stronger trade, probably shutting down that AD carry.

*LAST ITEM IS OPTIONAL, SO HERE ARE THE POSSIBLE ITEMS YOU COULD BUILD ON HECARIM*

Q - Rampage

Hecarim cleaves nearby enemies dealing physical damage.
Hecarim cleaves nearby enemies for 50/85/120/155/190 (+) physical damage. (66% damage to minions and monsters)

If Hecarim damages at least one enemy with this attack he gains a stack of Rampage, reducing the base cooldown of this skill by 1 second for a short duration. This effect can stack up to 2 times.

So Rampage is the move you max out for a few reasons: Low cool down and helps with your CSing. Hecarim's dueling is strong due to the Rampage's stacks which'll just lower the cooldown of rampage, making you deal more dps than your enemy usually expects from you.

The downside to this is that his damage on that Q is extremely lackluster, contributing to his weak early game.

W - Spirit of Dread


Hecarim deals magic damage to nearby enemies for a short duration. Hecarim gains health equal to a percentage of any damage those enemies suffer.
Hecarim deals 80/125/170/215/260 (+0.8) magic damage over 4 seconds to all nearby enemies. Hecarim is healed for 10/15/20/25/30% of the damage these enemies take from any source.


What. A. Godly. Ability. Everything about this makes a tanky Hecarim so strong! First of all, it's a nice AoE, and contributes extremely well with Q to clear waves IMMEDIATELY! By rank 5 (LEVEL 13), you're healing 30% of ANY damage the enemy takes. Popping that in the middle of a teamfight will make your health regeneration AMAZING. Once more, increasing your health regen in a duel makes Hecarim even more capable of better trades.

E - Devastating Charge

Hecarim gains increasing movement speed for a short duration. His next attack knocks the target back and deals additional physical damage based on the distance he has traveled since activating the ability.
Hecarim gains increasing movement speed for 4 seconds. His next attack knocks the target back dealing 40/75/110/145/180 (+) to 80/150/220/290/360 (+) physical damage based on how far Hecarim has traveled during Devastating Charge.


Well, I'll be honest, it's definitely Hecarim's weakest point. You'll max Charge last, naturally. The biggest problem with Devastating Charge is it's Cooldown! That is an amazing long cooldown, and so it should be saved for the most proper time. Other than that, you can use this ability to knock enemies into your team, but best of all, use it as your main method of escape as Never-Die-Hecarim.


R - Onslaught of Shadows


Hecarim summons spectral riders and charges forward, dealing 100/200/300 (+0.8) magic damage to anyone they strike.

Hecarim releases a shockwave when he finishes his charge dealing an additional 50/125/200 (+0.4) magic damage and causing nearby enemies to flee from Hecarim for 1 seconds.

Hecarim himself will only move to the targeted location. The riders will always move the full distance.

Haha~ My favourite move to use on Hecarim! Well, there's so much to say. Perfect to set up ganks, with that strong fear. Always an amazing initiation onto their carries, having your team follow up, and always a monstrous move to chase AND, (for Never-Die-Hecarim) To Escape!


Hecarim's kit is extremely strong in late-game teamfights. Your tankiness, along with your Spirit of Dread will make you unkillable, and during that, you can focus down carries easily, and even if they may survive, they will surely be out of the fight!

I usually take ignite because i don't really trust that i can take the kill with the lackluster damage that Hecarim actually delivers early game. For that, I'd usually ignite around the same time as my ult, usually when their around 25% health, because i know i can dps them down from there.

Im usually half/half with Flash, with this summoner.Ghost is strong for many reasons, such as his Passive, Warpath, with the bonus damage with speed. It also helps with your escape, AND initiation in fights!

The usual great for escape, especially if your top lane enemy is a slow heavy champion. Flash would be the safer choice in this case.

Another valid choice in replace of Ignite, at times this may be the stronger picks, especially if you;re planning to stick onto AD carries into late game.

I wouldn't recommend it, but if you're really in dire need to note get killed...

I guess teleport would be fine, for lane ganks, or even just go back to pushing your lane once more.

THIS IS HECARIM'S WEAKEST POINT OF THE ENTIRE GAME.

Definitely the hardest part for Hecarim. In top lane, you have to play smart and definitely safe. This is one of the major reasons why Philo's and HoG is that useful. Your ability to trade in duels are very weak mainly because your'e not tanky enough yet, but your damage is very weak early game too. Double GP5's give you the sustain to last in lane regardless of poor trades.

During this phase of the game, try your best to CS cautiously, and harass if you know your trading is better than the enemies. Try not to burn too much mana right away in early duels, you'll find yourself in a harsh situation if you cant rely on Q to farm while playing cautious.

When pushing the turrets (with no one defending it), you have two choices: Push down the tower with your own AA's, or go past the tower and start farming the next wave. I usually go for the next wave. If I'm winning my lane hard enough that I'm GETTING enough time to actually farm behind their tower, then i'd prefer to keep their tower alive in the early stages of the game.

CSing is moderately important early game, because you'd want to snowball off that CS to your Sunfire Cape, in which you're all set to go from there on out.

Some top laners off the top of my head that make your early game harder than it has to be are:









^ Most of these however are taken care of as soon as you reach your Sunfire Cape. For Mordekaiser/Cho'Gath, usually rushing MR keeps you alive, along with your Sunfire.

This is Where Never-Die-Hecarim Shines! You're the ultimate Pushing Machine~ A singed 2.0, that can always escape and tank the damage you bring to him!

This you're time to shine. Now, with Rampage, Spirit of Dread and Sunfire Cape, Hecarim rips through minions waves immediately! Continue to return to your lane, unless of course there's a dragon or such. You're main goal in Mid game is to pressure other lanes to help your other lanes in their pushing and pressure! You want to attract ganks, and make the other lanes have an easier time!

Never-Die-Hecarim comes in with his Devastating Charge speed, his ultimate, Ghost/Flash, Trinity Speed and most of all his super tankiness (3k HP!) Your pushing will always outpush someone else's, and it should be guaranteed a high CS during the Mid Game to Late Game transition.

The most important part of Super Push Hecarim : WARDS WARDS WARDS!

If you want to push freely like this, you must always have vision of where you're pushing! A lot of the times, if you're caught by ganks you weren't expecting, a simple bait will get you get killed, regardless of any stupid "Never-Die-Hecarim/Singed 2.0" names you wanna call yourself! You need to ward and have vision to know whether your pushing will be safe to pull or not! Giving you the early vision will allow you to get you a head start on that Devastating Charge to get that larger distance to safety!

Remember, you're main purpose is to split push to no end!
Keep in mind however, if your team seems to begin losing in the 4v4's (as you're causing someone to cover the lane you were pushing), it would be a smart idea to help them out before someone gets too fed beyond your late game hands can handle!

(As a non-competitive player, I aim to get AT LEAST 200 farm before you get into late game "stay with the team" phase.)

Last but not least ~ The Late Game Dominance of Tank Hecarim! This is your pseudo Malphite/Basic Tank role of the game!

Late game teamfights are extremely important, and this can very well seperate the difference between a terribad or carry Hecarim. You have two paths to take, and it's very weel dependant on the enemy team.


Path 1- Pseudo Malphite: Well, it can very well be either the AD or AP carry, but in this path, your main goal is to hunt down and get that carry out of the fight! You see that carry Draven over there? Well guess what, the beginning of the teamfight, Ult as many people as possible, and make sure Draven is caught in that. Immediately after, Devastating charge his *** as for away as possible from the team, and keep your constant DPS + Rampage stacks on him the entire time. The more pressure you put on him, the more he'll get pushed away from the fight. Make the teamfight as easy as possible by tanking and erasing the main damage dealer in the whole ****load of ults happening everywhere on the Rift!

Path 2 - Absolute Tank: Your role in this path is to protect your carries from enemies who are trying to act like the Pseudo Malphite of their team. Once more, make sure you can ult as many people as possible: The more disruption the better! Right after, get your W on and fight and disrupt anyone who tries to get in your carries way. This means you have to rely on your carry not to run miles away from the center of the fight, or else you'll be getting baited out of the fight as well. If you can't avoid this, stay in the middle of the fight, tank as much as damage as possible, and with Trinity on you, and possible PD/IE/HG/Maw, return all that damage you're tanking!

Either way, your main goal, whether you start the fight or not, is that you ALWAYS fear the carries no matter what. This can work exceptionally well to initiate if your team knows how to follow up with CC and such to shut down their carries.

In the same sense, ulting in the middle of a teamfight, when their carries are possibly slighty lower can definitely bring a teamfight-changing disruption that can pull you forward as you transition from Ultimate Tank to Pseudo Malphite paths.
No one said you couldn't you do both seperately in one fight!

Basically Anyone with strong AoE











All of these champions have strong AoE's that mixed in with that fear will create chaos for any carries that have to face against this kind of Comp!

Once more, in all, I find that Hecarim's power and dominance comes from Tankiness, especially thanks to Spirit of Dread! You need to have survivability early game, through double GP5's, and make sure you get that SUNFIRE CAPE! That Sunfire Cape (3k Hp checkpoint) is the point where you reach Never-Die-Hecarim, a true godly monster of a ghost!

Remember, your goal is to stick in the enemy's faces with your strong CC ult, and keep at either protecting your carries, disrupiting the middle of teamfights OR hunting down and scaring those carries away from the fight!

The most important thing to remember of Never-Die-Hecarim is to WARD. WARD WARD WARD. There's no such thing as Never-Die-Hecarim unless you have a good sense of your enemies movements at all times!

Here are a couple of my most recent Hecarim games, you'll see one of my builds as well.


Thanks for reading, and please leave comments on this Hecarim build ^^