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Hecarim Build Guide by Riealone

Jungle [BUILDING IS OUTDATED] Expert Hecarim guide by Riealone

Jungle [BUILDING IS OUTDATED] Expert Hecarim guide by Riealone

Updated on November 2, 2023
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Riealone Build Guide By Riealone 815 66 2,168,324 Views 59 Comments
815 66 2,168,324 Views 59 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Riealone Hecarim Build Guide By Riealone Updated on November 2, 2023
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Runes: Conqueror

Precision
Conqueror
Triumph
Legend: Alacrity
Coup de Grace

Domination
Eyeball Collection
Ingenious Hunter
Bonus:

+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+65 Base Health

Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Ghost

Ghost

LoL Summoner Spell: Gustwalker Smite

Gustwalker Smite

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Champion Build Guide

[BUILDING IS OUTDATED] Expert Hecarim guide by Riealone

By Riealone
I'VE STARTED COACHING AGAIN
Good news, I have started coaching again! Mainly Hecarim, Volibear and Nocturne, but also a lot of my other mains and jungle in general for any champion. If you are interested, you can contact me in Discord riealone
ABOUT ME
Hello everyone!
My name is Alex, I'm 26 years old. Playing League since season 5 and main Hecarim from the same time. Feel free to add me in Discord and ask about anything - will gladly help you. Here is my OP.GG:
https://www.op.gg/summoners/euw/Riealone

I make educational Hecarim streams with full commentary about what I do and why (with saved Vods, so you can just watch and learn any time if you miss live). Want to teach as many people as I can to play my favorite champion. You can find it here:
https://www.twitch.tv/riealone

Ok, lets start now! I'm going to share everything I know about this champion
PETS
Gustwalker Hatchling vs Mosstomper Seedling vs Scorchclaw Pup
Well, all 3 are quite good and fun. Personally for Hecarim and Volibear I always take Gustwalker Hatchling for exodia combo with Ghost and Celerity, it is just superior in any case. Mosstomper Seedling is also nice, but not needed. Scorchclaw Pup feels underperforming and working the best on the really specific champions who can't utilize other 2 pets and would like to get extra burst - like Nocturne or Karthus
CONQUEROR AND PHASE RUSH
Conqueror and Phase Rush are equally good atm in my opinion. Both work good with both mythics Divine Sunderer and Trinity Force. There is a main pattern - Conqueror into melee and beef, Phase Rush into ranged, squishy and high mobile
BEST CORE BUILD
Divine Sunderer/ Trinity Force + Plated Steelcaps/ Mercury's Treads + Muramana + Black Cleaver + Death's Dance + Spirit Visage

Muramana is not always necessary, especially when playing from behind. Just build situationally and mix these core items with highly specialized items for the best possible outcome. This core build is just an ideal pure base, which you work with every time. Even items order can vary from game to game

This build is the best currently in my opinion. Gives a lot of AD, Ability Haste and survivability. Add healing reduction or more defensive options when needed, close out with more resists or other useful options. Into AD heavy / AP heavy enemy setups buy more Armor / MR items like combo of Death's Dance + Randuin's Omen and Spirit Visage + Maw of Malmortius
HECARIM PROS AND CONS
Pros:
1. Hecarim is easy to learn, doesn't have skillshots and has simple mechanics
2. Champion is strong in current meta and overall, especially in elo below D2. If you learn how to play him, some macro and game knowledge - he is for sure a really good champion to climb with
3. Fun to play
4. Good ganks and teamfights
5. Can hard snowball in early and midgame
6. Engager / Initiator gameplay - you take the game in your hands by making a good call, pick and initiation. Which requires good macro and game knowledge, yes

Cons:
1. Vulnerable to pre-6 invades
2. Struggles vs current meta-junglers. You can see it in my mathups section - favorable ones mostly are out of meta
WHO TO BAN
Right now I prefer banning Nidalee or Kindred
BUILDS EXPLANATION
Ingenious Hunter is the new secondary option after huge Resolve nerfs. It gives Haste for Sheen and it is massive. Even at 0 stacks 20 Haste = 16.67% CDR. At 5 stacks 50 Haste = 33.33% CDR which reduces Sheen CD from 1.5s to 1s. And you can proc it all the time thanks to of low CD on Rampage which noticeably increaces overall DPS. Also it will lower CD of Silvermere Dawn, Randuin's Omen and Maw of Malmortius - our specialized items. Eyeball Collection just gives AD - the main stat for Hecarim which is always useful

1. Divine Sunderer/ Trinity Force + Conqueror + Triumph + Legend: Alacrity/ Legend: Tenacity + Coup de Grace + Ingenious Hunter + Eyeball Collection. These runes give you the best value and synergy with bruiser playstyle build and items into melee and beef enemy comps

2. Divine Sunderer/ Trinity Force + Phase Rush + Nimbus Cloak + Celerity + Gathering Storm + Eyeball Collection + Ingenious Hunter OR Triumph + Legend: Tenacity when needed. This is the build into ranged, squishy and high mobile enemy comps. I take Gathering Storm over Waterwalking because I value free stats so much and extra mobility in river for my playstyle is like meh, can live without it, I better get some extra AD since it is by far the best stat for Hecarim. But I think Waterwalking is still really good

3. Duskblade of Draktharr + Phase Rush + Nimbus Cloak + Celerity + Gathering Storm + Eyeball Collection + Ingenious Hunter OR Triumph + Legend: Tenacity when needed. Assassin build into squishes

I was testing different builds a lot, and this one is my main and favorite - high damage bruiser. You can duel, win any skirmishes and live in teamfight for really long while providing insane amounts of damage. You can decide what to do in game. Peel your teammates, deal with enemy tanks, bruisers and assassins, dive and destroy backline, reduce enemy healings, splitpush - this build is the most flexible as it possible can be and allows you to successfully do actually everything
SMART ITEMIZATION
Hecarim is an AD melee caster with bruiser-initiator gameplay. So, in general, we need to engage, deal damage, survive the burst, keep living and being useful. Based on this best stats for us are: AD, HP, Armor and MR, Ability Haste. MS is also good, but we simply get more than enough of it from Ghost, so it's not really worth to take items with that stat on purpose (especially after Warpath nerf). Hecarim is an engager, so he needs resists and HP unlike assassins, for example Kha'Zix and Blue Kayn

Be careful building shield items ( Gargoyle Stoneplate and Sterak's Gage) into assassins - they can simply counter you with cheap Serpent's Fang. Anyway, both items are not that great to build atm

About mythic items:
* Divine Sunderer - works the best into beefy enemy champions with a lot of HP

* Trinity Force - just has everything useful in the kit

* Duskblade of Draktharr - assassin option into squishy comps

About core items:
* Black Cleaver - multiply buffed and all stats are extremely useful on Hecarim. Armor reduction is always good, even into full squishy enemy team

* Death's Dance - main aggressive Armor item with extra sustain for me at this moment which also negates both AD and AP bursts quite effectively

* Spirit Visage - main MR item with heals and shields boost, especially when enemy team doesnt't build Anti-heal or when you have an enchanter

* Spear of Shojin - just a nice item with useful stats

* Sterak's Gage - good item for bruisers and divers against burst, but more likely in the late game as a build closer

About Boots, Anti-heal items, Elixirs and smites read in detail in "Possible questions" section down below

When to build highly specialized items:
* Anathema's Chains - perfect item to deal with one specific fed enemy or champions like Kha'Zix, Rengar, Shaco, Elise. Also when enemy has 4 AD/AP champions and just 1 AP/AD - it is better to buy Anathema instead of resist item just for 1 champion. Keep in mind this item does not work against True Damage like Vayne and Fiora

* Silvermere Dawn - into HEAVY CC setups and against Mordekaiser etc

* Serpent's Fang - mostly into double support botlane who just have limitless shields ( Lux, Seraphine, Sona, Lulu, Janna). Or when enemy has Ivern jungle, shielding support, Immortal Shieldbow etc

* Serylda's Grudge - the ideal scenario for this item is mobile enemy comp with Armor. Lets just compare it with Black Cleaver - AOE slow vs HP, MS and armor reduction for your team. I think this item is just a second option for Hecarim to deal with armor and it possibly can shine in some situations. Black Cleaver is just superior at any stage of the game, when Serylda's Grudge is more like for mid-late game option - HP is the only and biggest matter here. Serylda's Grudge is also a great item to counter high mobility champions like Kalista, Kindred or other mobile comps even if you don't need Armor Penetration. If we compare Black Cleaver is 116.67% gold efficient and Serylda's Grudge is 104.95% gold efficient. I find HP better than AOE slow. We don't really need that AOE slow since we can just activate Ghost, but it is an option

* Blade of the Ruined King - sometimes enemy team has like 4 bruiseres/tanks, and this can be an angle for a combo of this item and Divine Sunderer

* Ravenous Hydra - aggressive option for some cases

* Guardian Angel - late game 1-use option when needed

* Maw of Malmortius - aggressive MR option

* Wit's End - even more aggressive MR option, I can see it as a second MR item in the build against AP heavy comps

* Force of Nature - optional defensive MR item with the biggest MR defense in the game

* Abyssal Mask - best option when you need MR and have a lot of AP damage in your own team

* Randuin's Omen - main defensive Armor item which works even better into crits

* Dead Man's Plate - good situational defensive Armor option with extra MS

* Frozen Heart - good Armor option when you need to lower enemy AS

* Gargoyle Stoneplate - Ability Haste, shield and +60/60 resists. Always good to take as a build closer. But currently item is not really strong

* Muramana - high risk / high reward glass-cannon item which you can buy when ahead, when need to solo carry or into easy jungle matchups like Rammus, Sejuani etc. BUT this item requires a lot of macro knowledge and Hecarim experience, it is hard to play. I have a feeling that it is way harder to perform this item with Trinity Force, too squishy. Healing from Divine Sunderer helps a lot
It is not necessary to buy Tear of the Goddess as fast as possible and before completing Divine Sunderer/ Trinity Force - the mythic spike is too big to delay it with 400g sometimes. I always take Ingenious Hunter, so I can afford myself to buy the Tear whenever I want
Muramana is not necessary. Sometimes I just need Armor, MR or HP asap and I go for Death's Dance, Spirit Visage or Black Cleaver instead, it is complytely fine and optional

All these items have sweet and useful stats for Hecarim, so now it's way easier and more rewarding to build them than before

P.S. Also you can just mix items from the guide however you want - it will work good anyway. Maybe you will find another secret build :)
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
1. Legend: Tenacity is always good. Legend: Alacrity is for really no CC games or for people who need some extra DPS and can dodge most of CC (mostly for advanced players). It just makes you more vulnerable to mistakes. I go Alacrity when enemy team doesn't have a lot of CC. For beginners I would recommend to go Tenacity and then try Alacrity when you are more confident with Hecarim. I have Alacrity in my rune page by default and then I change it to Tenacity when needed. Also Alacrity helps to get some attack speed when we build Divine Sunderer

2. Hecarim has 2 best boots options - Plated Steelcaps and Mercury's Treads. Choice here is always in defensive stats which he needs really hard - never buy Mercury's Treads for only extra tenacity since you can just take it with Legend: Tenacity. Ionian Boots of Lucidity is also a viable option. They give you 20 Ability Haste which is huge, but often we can get enough of it with other items. Boots of Swiftness are possible into heavy slows like Nasus or Zilean

There is a pattern about boots and tenacity:
Look at enemy team and decide which type of damage will be dominant - physical or magical

*If enemy has mostly physical damage and none/a bit cc - go Plated Steelcaps + Legend: Alacrity
*If enemy has mostly physical damage and medium/huge amount of cc - go Plated Steelcaps + Legend: Tenacity
For example Morgana support doesn't count as huge amount of magical damage

*If enemy has mostly magical damage and none/a bit cc - go Legend: Alacrity + Mercury's Treads
*If enemy has mostly magical damage and medium/huge amount of cc - go Legend: Tenacity + Mercury's Treads. This is the only situation when you can take both tenacities

As you can see, CC problem is for Legend: Tenacity rune. You might ask what to do if enemy team is mostly AD and has a lot of CC (only 20% from Legend: Tenacity rune will not be enough) - NEVER go Mercury's Treads in this situation only for extra tenacity (you get 44% with both rune + boots - not 50% as you could think, it doesn't stack well). You will just suffer. Only way here is learning and practicing how to dodge enemy CC spells

Few words about Tenacity and Slow Resistance:
*Slow resist decreases slow effectiveness
*Tenacity decreases slow duration
*For example you are slowed by 50% for 10 seconds
*30% tenacity gives 50% slow for 7 seconds
*30% slow resist gives 35% slow for 10 seconds

So this is why it is questionable to buy Boots of Swiftness as slows counter with 25% Slow Resist - Mercury's Treads with 30% Tenacity give you the same effect but in a different way. And 25 MR + 5% more Tenacity is obviously better for Hecarim than extra 15 MS and 200g cheaper. Even vs Zilean going Mercs is more worth - he can easily stun you with Time Bomb, and Swifties would be useless here. But I think (in theory) these boots can be viable sometimes into heavy slows or when you have exact money for that buy or some good early combo (for example when you have 1300g on second back and Boots + Long Sword in inventory you can go for early game ganking combo of Boots of Swiftness + Sheen, something like this)

3. I prefer Coup de Grace, in my games Last Stand will always deal less damage because of my playstyle. But I still would recommend you to test both and check in match history which one dealt more damage overall, this may vary from player to player

4. Triumph is the only option. Presence of Mind is just worse since we got buffed mana per level and mana restoration in jungle/river. Triumph just makes you live longer and provides insane outplay potential. That rune won so many skirmishes and whole games for me

5. Ghost vs Ignite
At first, please always go Ghost, it has received 2 big buffs. Like literally in 100% of your games (since we don't buy Dead Man's Plate in this build as core item anymore) and you can buy Executioner's Calling right after completing Divine Sunderer/ Trinity Force

Ignite WAS a possible option earlier. If you need more power in early / early midgame (when we had Nimbus Cloak before nerfs and not buffed Ghost), but later on it falls off really hard in compare to Ghost. Right now Ignite is just dead for Conqueror Hecarim because you will never go Nimbus Cloak in its current state. Even with Phase Rush it is better to take Ghost now
Before nerfs Ignite also could help you really much in hard early game matchups (especially against healing champions like Xin Zhao, Rengar, Olaf and Trundle)
And one more thing - Flash is never an option

6. Elixir of Wrath I believe is the best option for Hecarim. Extra AD and healing is so good for you to get in the late game. But Elixir of Iron is still a good alternative if you want more HP

7. In small runes always go AD, AD, scaling health. It used to be a strategy before to go AS, AD, scaling health for Conqueror build and AD, AD, scaling health for Phase Rush/ Predator builds - speaking of different playstyles these runes provide - faster Conqueror stacking or burst damage. Even though AS is just more gold efficient and always useful, I still take AD + AD for damage on Rampage with every build. Even that small amount of AD makes Rampage deal noticeably more damage - it's really good since we spam Q so hard. Scaling health is a default option now after massive buff, when Armor and MR are into AD/AP heavy enemy setups or to just deal with strong early game junglers like Lee Sin, Elise, Rengar, Kha'Zix and something like this when you want to lower their damage as much as you can (still not necessary). When you play easy matchup, for example Amumu - you can just go for scaling health. But I think I can afford myself to go scaling health in every game even though it can be kind of risky sometimes - it doesn't matter, rune gives so much health

8. Chempunk Chainsword vs Thornmail
Thornmail is hard to use against not autoattack based champions - for example Fiddlesticks or Vladimir just will not autoattack you. Thornmail is good when you need to lower enemy autoattackers healing and into AD heavy enemy setups. And again - enemy marksmans can just focus your teammates instead of you, the 150 Armor 3000 HP bruiser. Chempunk Chainsword provides you with way easier and ultimate Grievous Wounds application - you decide who will not heal. So the choice here is determined buy enemy comp and game situation

9. I've heard that some gaming apps recommend you to build Divine Sunderer and Trinity Force in a weird order - for example Caulfield's Warhammer > Sheen
Remember! You always want to look for Sheen + Boots early for massive damage and clearing speed boost
DETAILED PATHING
The main rule - ALWAYS look where enemy jungler starts, track him over all game and give that info to your team. Doesn't matter if it's an easy or hard matchup - doing that is your key to victory

You can start both Blue or Red Buffs. The choice here depends on game setups - you want to gank specific lane, countergank, avoid enemy jungler, loop your camps for further pathings etc. Clear speed is the same, so you just choose where to start every game and where you want to be after clear. From my experience starting Blue Buff is a safer option (especially with QWQ clear), because enemy do lvl 1 cheese mostly on your Red Buff, and then enemy junglers more often invade you lvl 3 at your Blue Buff - in both cases when you start from Red Buff

You need to think in every game which pathing will be better in current situation. For example, you take 3 camps - Red Buff > Krugs > Raptors , then meet enemy Kindred on your Blue Buff. This should NEVER happen, because you completely lose your early game here. You can't fight a strong early game jungler with 2 Buffs when you have only 1 Buff

You should determine your route by keeping in mind lot of things - who you want to gank, jungle and lane matchups, prios, your game plan etc. Now I want to share with you my analytics and thoughts about smart moving in jungle in different scenarios:

FULLCLEAR - I WANT THIS EVERY GAME
Hecarim is one of the fastest clearers in the game and we want to utilize that strength every game
Red Buff and Blue Buff starts are equal in terms of clearing time. Easiest way to do this route is when you are against farming or tank junglers - in other words champions who normally don't invade. Buff > Krugs / Gromp > Raptors + Greater Murk Wolf > Buff > Gromp / Krugs > gank / countergank / duel enemy jungler / Rift Scuttler > back. The best option is fullclear 6 camps before Rift Scuttler spawns at 3.30 with leveling Q again at level 3 (starting E lvl 3 is a safer option against strong early game junglers, but it takes a bit longer to clear). But be careful of enemy jungler invade and keep in mind the matchups. Then you should be on Krugs around 4.00 after base. Farm them, then gank somewhere or do the same clear again to get lvl 6

3 and 4 camps clears in hard matchups
If you play vs lvl 3 invading junglers ( Elise, Lee Sin, Olaf, Trundle, Rek'Sai, Kindred, Rengar, Graves etc) and/or when enemy laners have massive prio ( Talon vs Kassadin, Teemo vs Nasus) you should be really careful!!! In this situation you, of course, can still fullclear like normally, but there are some options:

You clear 2 Buffs and 1-2 camps to get lvl 3 and then play situationally (another camp, gank, countergank, invade or something else). This option is the safest one. Normally you start Buff > Greater Murk Wolf + Raptors > Buff (sometimes vs aggro lvl 2 junglers like Lee Sin you can do Buff > 1st small camp > Buff > 2nd small camp or even Buff > Buff > 1 big / 2 small camps, depends on where you want to be and meet/not meet enemy jungler). Keep in mind that Gromp is the hardest camp for you. And now you can fight enemy jungler, take your other camps or counterjungle enemy (for example Raptors against Warwick), gank, countergank or something else situationally. Doesn't matter which Buff to start in terms of clear speed, it's about where you want to be at lvl 3. In this route we can choose what to clear with 2 Buffs - 1 big camp ( Gromp or Krugs ) or 2 small camps ( Raptors and Greater Murk Wolf ). Clearing 1 big camp is good when you expect lvl 2 Buff steal from you enemy, because you will get lvl 3 off 3 camps when you vertical jungling (your Buff, big camp, then when you see enemy invade you invade by yourself and steal his buff). Clearing 2 small camps is a bit faster, healthy, brings you more gold, but it's harder to vertical jungling, because you either need to steal 2 enemy camps or soak some lane xp to get lvl 3

You always need to flexible with your movements on map - when you should continue farming, gank, countergank, base, invade enemy jungler or fight him in your jungle. Always think about macro things - will enemy jungler invade you or not, his clear speed and paths, your lanes matchups and prios (especially when you are going to chase enemy jungler with Ghost). If, for example, enemy has Talon vs your Kassadin, Draven, Kalista, Camille - you really need to think twice, because it turns up too risky to make some cheesy plays

Lvl 3 ganks can be from the side you started clearing or across the map. If you lvl 3 gank a side lane where you started clearing, you do Red Buff > Raptors > Krugs > gank (also works with Blue Buff > Gromp > Greater Murk Wolf ). But be ready to lose you blue side jungle for that move. It's a dangerous strategy. After that, if you didn't kill enemy laners, they can prevent you from going vertical jungling. Or enemy jungler can just do Red Buff > your Blue Buff > his Blue Buff with help of enemy laners. And you just simply lose here. Safe option here is ganking midlane after 3 camps and then rotate to your other side camps and Rift Scuttler . Way more safer is lvl 3 ganking lanes with 4 camps clear, because enemy will not be able to steal your camps

5 camps clear - something in between
Default clear when you skip Gromp or Krugs and get lvl 4 after killing Rift Scuttler . This path can be a next step in 4 camps clear route or a semi-farm-ganking route - when you are not really sure what do you want to do and where to gank around Rift Scuttler . Neutral risks, xp, gold, ganks - just an average route

Useful jungle tricks
You also need to ask your midlaner to cover you (or just be aware) from lvl 1 Red Buff invade (especially when enemy team has Galio with his Flash + Nimbus Cloak combo, Pantheon, Blitzcrank etc) if you start it and ward bushes (tribush, near river and Raptors / pixel brush on river). Just always be aware of that, tell your team and try to not miss your smite. Sometimes you should just leave it. Or vertically invade by yourself. Or start your other buff and then do something. Anyway, this cheese strategy is really hard to counter and I hope it will die really soon like funneling. I see only 1 good counter here - look at matchups and start opposite Buff. If enemy has Darius and Rengar - start botlane Buff with possible vertical jungling later, because they will lvl 1 invade you 100% on top. And if enemy bot has Kalista, Thresh and Graves - start topside Buff. Pattern is simple

If you play against lvl 2 dash junglers like Nidalee, Kindred, Graves and others (but dash is not necessary, sometimes people do that on any jungler and you can't really anticipate this, only warding pixel brush in river vs no dash junglers and warding opposite the Rift Herald and Dragon vs dash junglers will help) be aware of:
1. Their lvl 2 cheese (they take their Red Buff and cheese you on your Gromp if you take it right after Blue Buff). To counter it obviously ask your team for a hard leash and finish these 2 camps faster than enemy will come (be aware of hard leashers in enemy team like Draven or Shaco as well). Or just skip Gromp and do 4-5 camps clear or start other side and go for vertical jungling. 4-5 camps clear here can be for example Blue Buff > Greater Murk Wolf > Raptors > Red Buff > Krugs or Blue Buff > Greater Murk Wolf > Krugs > Red Buff > Raptors
2. Their lvl 2 Buff steal. You should ward it and go for vertical jungling if they come to steal it. To prevent this you need to do ward trick in ALL your games, because even no-dash junglers can and will lvl 2 steal your other Buff. At the start of the game go to you opposite Buff, start backing at 0:55 and place a ward into Buff bush at the last second or place it in river where they dash over wall (around Rift Herald and Dragon pits). Then buy Oracle Lens and it will be ready to use. This secures you from counter jungling and helps to clear enemy wards. Against no-dash junglers it's better to ward pixel brush on river or other possible entrances to your Buff. Keep in mind that enemy jungler can assume that and go long no vision way, but it's really high elo mind games which almost never happen
Also you can start your clear from enemy jungle Buff, but be even more aware about enemy laners, their covers and wards

It is always situational what to focus on - Dragon or Rift Herald , both are good. Herald provides tons of gold, but I would focus on Dragon Soul more - safer for the lategame in my opinion. If your bot is hard losing, you should just give up first and second drakes, go gank mid/top and take Rift Herald (maybe even 2 times). Or you can try to help your losing lane, get shutdown gold and comeback. It is up to you and your game knowledge

Best time to take first Dragon :
1. You know/see enemy jungler on toplane
2. Your bot or/and mid have prio
3. You are strong with Sheen and kill or two, have Ghost or especially Onslaught of Shadows so you can force a fight for Dragon

Also sometimes you just want to take it, have no camps in jungle, you think there is a high chance that you win that teamfight (favorable matchups, more items etc), when you know that it's gonna be a long game and you need to play for Soul, when you want to take Dragon and then move top for a gank or camps - a lot of cases when you can take the risk or not. All of that require macro, game and matchups knowledge. When, for example, I see that enemy bot is way stronger I can make a decision to just give up first 2 Dragons to not int more and just get myself and my team ahead other way
JUNGLE CAMPS KITING
These videos were made with old jungle, but idea of kiting is the same
GAMEPLAY TIPS AND TRICKS
Use your Rampage in the midair of Devastating Charge animation, because your damage scales with movement speed. But sometimes you should Q without jumping (but with E activated). For some reasons - kite enemy around, or cast Q two times and then jump (Q + midair Q) so he cant escape double Q and you finish him with one shot, or when you want to run behind him or change direction

Don't cast Rampage in midair of your autoattack animation - auto will be a bit cancelled because Q can't hit at the same time with autoattack, and you lose some DPS. The best way is to cast Q right after your autoattack deals damage or right before your autoattack. But not in midair. Hecarim Rampage doesn't work like Zed Shadow Slash and Skarner Crystal Slash which you can just spam non-stop without any cancels - they can hit spell and autoattack at the same time. That doesn't mean much or give you some big advantage, but sometimes that small DPS amount can matter in close fights. Just try to not spam Q thoughtlessly. You will get used to it fast, it's really not hard. Also try to stack Q before joining the fight - whenever it is viable and possible, but without fanaticism

Use your Spirit of Dread properly. Don't waste it at the start of combat. It's worth to instacast it for 2 Conqueror stacks when you gank 2v1 top and you are not going to die, but you need to ALWAYS keep it in head and use W for the most profit in teamfights

Advanced trick with Spirit of Dread. Sometimes it's better to wait until you have full stacked Conqueror, because it gives you extra AD -> you deal more DPS, so your W will heal more. That requires a lot of knowledge about how much damage you will deal/take with current items, matchups and game situations (can you afford yourself to hold W or you need to cast it earlier to start healing and get 2 Conqueror stacks). It will come with experience, start training that trick from time to time. It can for sure win you a lot of fights which you would lose normally (especially 1v1 and 2v2 in early/mid game). Also it's not a good idea to press Q and then W - you just miss healing. Should always be W > Q (if possible of course), keep that in mind also. Athough often is it better to just press W instanly (if you're not full HP of course) without waiting for stacked Conqueror to just get it back as fast as possible for the second cast in the same teamfight. Or when you need resists to endure heavy damage or burst

You can jump over walls with your Devastating Charge targeting creeps, neutral monsters, enemy champions and wards
Try to bait enemy's Flash with your E. So don't cast it from the far away. If you can't outrun it, better dash in the direction where enemy is gonna flash to follow him with the leap animation instead of knocking him away. Sometimes you even can not activate it at all and just walk up ( Ghost helps). Or activate it when enemy notices you and starts to run. You try to move behind him and knock back to your teammate. Even if he flashes away it's worth and you have done all you could
And when you are already in melee range hold your Devastating Charge and wait when enemy tries to escape with flash. For example when you sit in bush and enemy just walks into you - start damaging him with autos and Rampage, then use your E when he flashes out and get a free kill. Which is not possible if you waste your E in the beginning of fight, CD is too long
You can interrupt abilities like Tristana Rocket Jump, Rek'Sai Tunnel, Bard Magical Journey, Zac Elastic Slingshot and Rengar leap with your E
You can use E as auto reset when you need to do it in close fights for instant burst. That works exactly like Camille Precision Protocol and Trundle Chomp

Your Onslaught of Shadows gives you displacement immunity - including Realm of Death and The Show Stopper, suspension, knockdown, airborne, sleep and stasis. The effects of other types of crowd control and Fate's Call are deferred until the unit is no longer unstoppable, where their remaining duration may still affect them.
Sometimes it's really good to keep your ult and use it to dodge some СС. Great example - you duel Yasuo and he gets 2 stacks of his Steel Tempest on you. When he presses his Q again you just use your ult to not let him use his ultimate. Your ult can be used almost like Fiora Riposte to dodge enemy CC, but you take damage. Same idea
Also aim your ult behind enemy to fear them back. Advanced trick - R more behind to counter their flash. Enemy flashes - still dead
You can ult through Azir Emperor's Divide when he casts it and when there is a wall already
If you use your Onslaught of Shadows during Mordekaiser Realm of Death animation, you will not be send into his realm and Realm of Death goes on CD. Also works with Sett The Show Stopper - he will just fly away without you
Also you can dodge sleep from Zoe Sleepy Trouble Bubble by pressing your Onslaught of Shadows after bubble already hit you. Same with Lillia Lilting Lullaby - simply doesn't work on you
You can also dodge Syndra Scatter the Weak and many other champions with their CC abilities
During R animation it is still possible to use Q, W, E and Smite. Really useful in some cases - for example you can cast R over enemy to just fly further (to another enemy champion or any other purpose) and kill him only with Q + R damage if you calculated it right

Advanced trick with Onslaught of Shadows and Devastating Charge combo. Your ultimate allows you to knock enemy with E even when you are stunned in R animation if enemy is in range of your E where you end your ultimate. Let me explain. You use your E, then R behind Twisted Fate and he uses his Yellow Card on you when you are flying in your ult. You get stunned, but if you right click on him right after ending your R - he will be knocked back with E even if you are stunned. Works with some other champions too. For example Cassiopeia Petrifying Gaze

There is another trick. Sometimes you want to use your Onslaught of Shadows right after you jump on enemy with Devastating Charge. R here is only for extra burst damage and/or CC immune. Your R is unavoidable this way - enemy gets CC'ed by your E

You can steal Baron Nashor and Dragon with your Devastating Charge, Onslaught of Shadows and Smite combo. You deal really big damage and can save the game if you are a bit lucky and time smite perfectly

One more thing about your Onslaught of Shadows and Devastating Charge combo. When you press E and then R behind enemy you can actually change direction of your E knockback by just moving around enemy while he is feared with your E activated to deliver enemy into your teammates

You can disturb enemies when they cast their key abilities with your Devastating Charge (and with your Onslaught of Shadows when it's worth to waste). For example Malzahar Nether Grasp, Ornn second part of Call of the Forge God, Karthus Requiem and other abilities
HOW TO PLAY HECARIM
The most important! Be a shotcaller!
Always talk to your team about your plan, what you want to do, where you will gank, when they should back, go side, track enemy jungler, everything. Be a leader in your team. Hecarim rewards that insanely

For example:
"care enemy jungler top, im bot"
"top you alone, just farm, I go take drake"
"lets get soul and baron right after, they cant contest"
"wait me red and gank bot"
And everything like this. If you have a decent score and your previous info/shotcalls were successful, your team will listen to you. That will actually help you to win more games

In general you need to farm up, take some kills, objectives and then kill 2-3 enemy players with a good engage. Repeat until you win. Lets consider in more detail:

Early game
Your goal here is getting Divine Sunderer/ Trinity Force. Focus on farm and ganking when it's free. Like this - farm, track enemy jungler, gank/countergank with Onslaught of Shadows or Ghost and try to take Dragon and Rift Herald . Then farm again while your R and Ghost are on cooldown. It is just a main pattern, I don't mean afk farming. It is always situational. Look at map and be smart!

Mid game
Only difference with early game - people start grouping. Engage with your Onslaught of Shadows to get a free pick or land it on 2-3 enemy players. Take objectives and back to farm

Late-mid/late game
This is your time to shine! All you have to do - track all 5 enemies using minimap and make a great shotcall pick with your Onslaught of Shadows and Ghost. All what we have done before was for this moment (getting yourself and your team stronger, taking Dragons, Heralds and Towers). Every good initiation from you now makes victory closer (with dead enemies you take Baron Nashor , Elder Dragon , Inhibitors and, eventually, Nexus). At this time of game making it 5v4 is your key to victory. You should also look for a good initiation on 1, 2, 3, 4 or even 5 enemies. Whenever they make a positioning mistake you catch them and win off that

The common thing for every state of the game - Hecarim is a flexible champion. You can engage and peel you carries really effectively. Here is just a one thing to mention - please hold your Spirit of Dread (we discussed it earlier) and Onslaught of Shadows. This ultimate is one of the most powerful in the game. If you can reach enemy with only your Devastating Charge - hold it. Wait for the perfect moment to use it. For example, when 3+ enemies can be hit, when they focus you or your allies really hard (to save a life), when all your allies dealing damage to enemy, when you engage on carry with Devastating Charge and he flashes out and more more possible scenarios. That's what defines a good Hecarim player - smart management of your abilities, macro and game knowledge
MANDATORY MICRO TIPS
There are three things you HAVE TO do if you want to be a good player:

1. Use Target champions only as toggle. Everything is simple here - stops you from autoing creeps and towers. Also when you gank and use Devastating Charge on minion, attack tower on dives. I have it binded on ` key and on my mouse side button

2. Use Attack move on cursor. For me it's Shift + Rightclick. Saves you some milliseconds even with camps farming, when you entering a bush you autoattack enemy instantly, when enemy uses Zhonya's Hourglass or goes out of invis like Kha'Zix for example, when you stop enemy jumps with your Devastating Charge, when you move instead of attacking enemy and a lot more other situations. Just keep in mind that Attack move on cursor DOESN'T work with Target champions only - you still will autoattack creeps and towers. So use it cleverly

3. Always check minimap with peripheral vision. Every few seconds. And also disable minimap movements

4. I disabled the minimap movements to no click on it accidentally in fights

These 4 simple steps will make you play on a different level. Will be hard to get used to it, but it's absolutely worth
CONCLUSION
Hope my guide helped you to learn more about Hecarim. You can ask me ANY questions about this champion or anything else on my stream https://www.twitch.tv/riealone or in Discord riealone. Will be glad to help you! If you have a feedback about this guide (what can I add, change, edit) - leave a comment here!

Also we have a Hecarim mains Discord server where I am the coach. You can join it here: https://discord.gg/q8m9Rk4ZV4

Thanks for reading, have a nice day and good luck in League! :)
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