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Hecarim Build Guide by

Call Down the Thunder

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2 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Aezuriel

Hecarim Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (2) More Hecarim Guides

Spells:

Ghost

Flash

Ability Order

Hecarim Passive Ability

Introduction

Greetings summoners!

The main focus of this build is to fully utilize Hecarim's mobility without limiting him to the class of Jungler. It is designed to be a flexible all-purpose build for hit-and-run tactics emphasizing AP in Support of other champions. With a strong team, this allows you to effectively use up to two "junglers" for ganks and mobility.

Don't be surprised if you don't complete the build, and don't be afraid to call an audible on gear choice if it looks like the opposing team is particularly weak or strong in one area.

Per the usual disclaimer for writing one of these guides, I make no claims at being the best League of Legends player out there. So, if you notice any discrepancies, oversights, overcapping, or outright mistakes, feel free to offer some constructive criticism. I am always happy to take suggestions and try to make a good idea a great idea.

Thank you for taking the time to read this guide! I hope you enjoy it and find it useful!

Playstyle

First above all, you want the opposing team to be second guessing you at all times. Its perfectly acceptable for Hecarim to sit in one lane for a short time and rake in some Gold. In fact, Hecarim's sudden impact and mobility make him a great candidate to babysit a lane long enough for another champion to recall back to base, heal, and shop. But, don't get in the habit of sitting in one place too long.

Your primary goal is to hit an opponent hard and fast, make him piss his pants, and then disappear. Even if you don't get the kill, you want the other team sweating out where you are going next.

Another important thing to bear in mind is that this is a very greedy build. Make sure you practice when to run your ganks, and when to farm. You will probably spend many games racking up more assists than kills. Remember, its the team that counts. While this is not designed as a jungling build, you should be able to score some quick gold in idle moments by whacking off a few mobs.

Skills

Warpath

A significant amount of this strategy lies in Hecarim's Passive. He can be very squishy early on, so you really want to maximize that bonus damage, move in for the hit, and move out before they can retaliate.

This isn't just a tactic about dealing damage though. If you do this well, you will keep your opponent's off balance, creating a psychological advantage allowing your team to dictate the pace of the game.

Rampage

An all-around all-purpose ability that literally turns you into a moving "Area of Effect". Use this liberally while chasing an opponent to score some nice hits, while still moving to keep up with (or even ahead of) them.

When breaking a turret, you can position yourself to auto-attack the turret while spamming Q to keep approaching minions distracted.

Spirit of Dread

This spell is particularly useful for sustaining a tough fight, especially in a place where there are a lot of minions around to feed off of. The lifesteal from this spell is essential for clearing a large area of creeps quickly, while refilling your life. It moves with you, adding to the "Roving AoE" mentality.

Devastating Charge

This skill should be your bread and butter. Additional points in this skill only shorten the cooldown, so you don't want to level it too soon. However, when you get called for a Gank, you want to time this skill to allow you to charge into your target at full speed (for maximum damage) and if possible knock him away from his teammates/turret or into yours. If you get the jump on someone, this skill is a good way to run them down before they can escape to safety. If you get a good charge up, this is also a good way to towerdive a target opponent. If you are in trouble, it is a "free" speedboost for escape.

Lastly, this is the skill you want to be setting up with , and in order to charge in and score a huge hit from across the map.

Onslaught of Shadows

This is a truly potent Ultimate, turning Hecarim into a one-man army. The damage this AoE puts out is impressive, and it has great crowd control effect.

Its fear effect can be used to winnow a champion away from his turret or teammates. It can force opponents away from a fleeing ally. In big team fights, it can stun/split up the opposing team, allowing your team to pick people off one at a time. It even offers you a means of escaping a bad gank if you get in a little to deep.

Runes

The runes for Hecarim are pretty standard across builds.

- 3
Greater Mark of Desolation - 9
- 9
Greater Seal of Defense - 9

Of all the runes, Quints are the only ones offering you move-speed. As such, this slot is mostly indispensable.

You might consider using AP or Cooldown oriented runes for your Marks, Glyphs, and Seals. However, armor, resist, and penetration really shine throughout the game -- especially when you are still establishing your greed items.

Masteries

Considering that you really try to do everything while moving, I wanted to emphasize your damage dealing potential without having to stop to auto-attack. This basically translate into playing an Ability Power heavy Style. Since you also don't plan on spending a lot of time in one place, there is some added damage in there to really emphasize making that immediate impact before moving away. Also I pushed utility points into extra gold in order to compensate for the fact that you tend not to sustain a lane for very long. The six points in defense I find to be the bare minimum for survivability, especially in the early game.

is a somewhat controversial pick, but I find it useful simply because it give you the ability to move into a lane long enough to help your team tear down a tower faster than expected, restricting your opponent's mobility and keeping them off balance. It is not a hard and fast choice though.

If you don't like it, consider the following options:
: very useful if you are jungling part of the time.
: Allows you to use and to extra effect.

Summoner Spells

Ghost

It may seem a little redundant, but it really is perfect for Hecarim. Chain this with for a hit that the opposing team won't see coming.

And... it only gets better when you start adding in and

Flash

This is my preferred second pick on summoner spells because of the hit-and-run style play proposed with this build. You tend to put alot of effort getting somewhere to put the hurt on a gank, and sometimes you need to be able to get back out ... fast.

Ignite

If you opt for over . can allow you to score the last few points of damage to complete a successful gank, while allowing you to move away from the action while converting your cooldown timer into more DPS.

Items

Your opening should be and 3x .

Once your 3 pots are used up you should be able to start sustaining yourself with liberal use of while in lane.

Philosopher's Stone

Greed is good...
Each of these items gives you a small but noticeable benefit, while allowing you to afford more expensive items later, with less lane time.

Try to time your first three trips back at about 800 gold so you can pick up your greed items as quickly as possible. Remember the longer you have them the more they do for you. As a bonus, each trip back to pick one up makes the next trip shorter.

I prefer the raw benefits of speed, but if you are running into trouble down lane, consider using or instead. If you are having a lot of success with your mobility and find yourself moving behind combat lines more often, seriously consider .

While I said this is a hit-and-run style build, sometimes you are going to just have to auto-attack. This makes Phantom Dancer best in class when it comes to mobility related items. It helps that you can build first for some of the effect before finishing the full item. Still... depending on your needs you might want to audible to

STOP!!!

At this point, you need to stop and consider your next step. I have intentionally left one slot open in this build order for the vanity/necessity item of your choice. It is important to realize that once you start converting your greed items into the final product, future purchase start coming less frequently.

However, sometimes you want to leave that slot open until the end, just so you can take intermediate steps in converting the full greed item.

-into-

I tend to start itching to do more damage at this point in the game. Also, you have more mana, so spamming abilities with the cooldown on Ghostblade is nice. So is the speed buff when activated.

-into-

If you haven't pissed someone off by now, you probably will. Use protection!

*Also consider making this conversion early if you start encountering resistance to your hit and run tactics.

Philosopher's Stone -into-

All around good stuff that you can share with your teammates. as with Ghostblade, being able to bust the active with is pretty awesome.

Parting thoughts...

As a side note I will leave you with an important alternate to consider.

Once you get comfortable with Hecarim, consider trying to add as early as you can if you think you will be going out for long sustains. Even if you don't complete until late, the extra mana you generate between trips can be invaluable.

Special Thanks

First of all, thank you for taking the time to read my guide. Please comment if you have any suggestions to offer. I must be honest and say that I am still a little fresh to League of Legends, but constructive criticism never hurts anyone.

I would also like to give special credit and thanks to jhoijhoi. For her excellent guide to writing a guide, which can be found here.