This is the KEY point of Jungling Hecarim. Although his ganks are very powerful, he is still pretty weak early game. Holding off until you have Spirit of the Elder Lizard and boots to appear in lane is one of the most efficient ways to gank.
The farming pattern you want to go with is
Blue -> Wraiths -> Red -> Golems -> Wraiths -> Wolves -> Wight -> Wolves/Wraiths -> Base
Then repeat until you have the gold for SotEL.
Your Gold per Minute (GPM) is necessary, so you want to make sure you're clearing camps as fast as possible, using E just before starting a camp to ensure maximum damage, Q-ing a quarter second before buffs spawn to get hits before they are visible (not sure if this will be possible after the SR update or not), then using W and Smite to heal and sustain yourself throughout clears. Going back after you hit 800 gold to get Avarice Blade will ensure your GPM is maxed.
At this point, look for ganks and continue farming, because of how Hecarim works, it's ideal to secure kills while ganking top, mid or helping the support, and donating kills to the ADC.
The next item you want to grab is Sheen, followed by Phage. Once you get your Trinity Force completed, get Spirit Visage. Even though Yomumu's Ghostblade provides damage and move speed, You're going to want to hold on to the Avarice Blade for when you're pushing lanes for when you kill minions. It sounds a little counterproductive, but your CS and GPM is very important for when you hit 20-25 minutes when you're effectively one-shotting people.

While he does have a spell that essentially turns him into a Ferrari with four legs, he doesn't have very many options for escape, aside from his ultimate. Thus, he's very susceptible to CC and, at least in lower ELO, will probably be targeted instantly, since he will be hurt the most by it. Although that also makes them drive their attention away from your ADC.


Hecarim's damage output from when he tackles people is insane! He can cross the map and get into fights quickly; easily getting up to 800 move speed with a final build, which at level 18 will be giving an extra 200 damage. Not to mention the damage from his E and Spellblade. You'll be melting Carries like ice in fire.