Hi there, this is a short intro.. this character Hecarim is by far my favourite champion to play, hes so hard to catch, hard to kill, and hits like a trucky early to late game.

This guide is to hopefully lay out some helpful tips for not only Hecarim but also other champion's as well. It will help you understand what is more viable, when and why on this champion. Warmog's Armor or Manamune?

A lot of build's I've seen for Hecarim has been favoring Warmog's Armor but I believe that Manamune is a better choice over all except under certain circumstances, which I will explain further into the guide.

So what is Hecarim exactly? He is a melee a fighter and a jungler.

I believe he is a good jungler, one of the best ganker's early game by far. But unfortunately I just haven't had a desire to jungle him (I do jungle, just felt like playing him more lane) Eventually I will add a section on detail about his jungle, but for now lets talk lane.

Hecarim's skills are very interesting, and from reviewing his abilities and the CD on his Rampage is why I believe Manamune to be the optimal choice.

As you can see Rampage has a 4 second CD. It also increases its damage by 0.6 point of attack damage he has. We will go into further calculations later. Devastating Charge also stacks based on Hecarim Attack damage (0.5 - 1.0 per damage)
Spirit of Dread and Onslaught of Shadows are great abilities if used right. I will cover this further in detail.

First off I want to say this, from what I have been seeing with Hecarims abilities, it seems that Armor Pen is not included in the defense of his skills. I could be wrong, but it just does not appear that way. So in that case Greater Mark of Desolation is not useful, unless your planning on standing there and hacking away (which is not the way I believe you play Hecarim). So I replaced that with 6 Greater Mark of Attack Damage and 3 Greater Mark of Scaling Attack Damage. The reason for this is that if you had ALL Greater Mark of Attack Damage You will only have +3 more damage early game, not a bad choice but not a great one either. If you chose 9 Greater Mark of Scaling Attack Damage You wont be able to hit as hard, they will get away with just needing that 1 last hit, and team fights start around level 10-14, and you will only have +1.82 Per Mark (1.82 x 9 = 16.38) Extra damage. Hey that sounds great.. but again, if you look at the items, they are NOT cheap, and you want to be able to get some gold for Kills/Assists to farm those item's early. Also level 14 and starting team fights if rare.

So having that 6/3 Balance I believe is optimal.

[{Greater Seal of Vitality]] Why not Greater Seal of Armor? The reason is this, armor is great don't get me especially when your up close and personal with certain champions that hit hard like Xin Zhao Tryndamere or fighting AD carries like Ashe. But as I will explain how to play Hecarim He does not fight up close and personal.. So making him a bit more beefy I believe is the way to go.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist Is just something you can't pass up, I tried Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction and Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction but I found that I was getting nuked to hard by AP champions regardless of how much health I have. So I personally believe Magic Resistance is the better choice.

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed is a MUST on Hecarim Why? Because I said so.. No it's because of his passive Warpath and because of survivability.

I chose 1/21/8. Going to keep this simple. Exhaust and Ghost.. why? Exhaust to help your teammates out with getting away or ganking. Ghost to do the same.

21 - You want Hecarim To take as little damage as possible, and have as much health as possible. Enlightenment also helps with the cooldown on Devastating Charge Late game and I found it to be that much more helpful.

8 - Why? Because Hecarim although is very mana friendly, excessive use of his abilities while in lane (Especially when trying to farm a very harassing lane) will make you run out of mana. Also Expanded Mind is a great utility mastery for Manamune. Finally Swiftness is just something you don't want to pass up on Hecarim.

Now we get to the fun stuff. Both the Manamune and Warmog's Armor have I believe to be mutual item's. So before I explain the difference between the build's we are going to go through the mutual item's.

Mutual Item's
Trinity Force - Why? At level 18 Hecarim base attack damage is 107.. Trinity force deals 107 + 150% which is 160 = 107 + 160 = 267 EVERY 3 seconds. That's NOT including his regular damage. The bonus movement speed is also very nice, as well as the survivability, mana, and so on.

Frozen Mallet - Why? Extra health, and the constant slow, you can use it to either kite them (discussed further in the guide) or keep them near you.

Atma's Impaler - With all the extra health you have going on, this item is a great item as a last (but not always needed) item to help you out.

Shurelya's Battlesong - This item (when activated) increases you and your team's movement speed. Now if you have a support who's sporting this item, I don't think you will need to take it (and I would advise against it because tho this item is great, there are better items that Hecarim can use.) But if you do find yourself taking this item, MAKE SURE U USE IT. This item could also be a situational Item.

Boots of Swiftness - The extra bonus movement speed is nice, and I found it to help a great deal. Even without any Tenacity I found myself (if played right) not having much problem with CC.

Situational Item's.

Phantom Dancer - Attack speed, movement speed, need I say more? This item is great for that added Attack power, and getting to (and away from) situations. Tho I find myself feeling not as good about this item when it come's to heavy AP team.s This item is great for team's that can kite you, or just keep getting away (heavy AD ranged and also Heavy AD melee, explained further in the guide)

Force of Nature Another great item for movement speed. This is great for those heavy AP team's that you just find yourself dying to quickly. You may want to think about picking up this item.

Mercury's Treads - If you are finding yourself having problem's with a lot of CC (especially lot's of AOE CC) I would sacrifice the +1 movement for some extra Tenacity And with Juggernaut those AOE CC like Amumu and Nunu & Willump will be easily escapable.

Maw of Malmortius - This item is great if you are fighting against heavy burst damage team such as Annie Karthus Brand. I would take this item if the team has 2 burst Champions and your team is lacking CC and ranged to down them (or if they are getting fed). This item would also be taken IF you are having trouble with that one burst carry that just seems to get lucky in the team fights and is kill stealing from the enemy team.

Now for the time you have all been waiting for, the debate.

Well first we need to look at the calculations of bonuses given by both Manamune and Warmog's Armor What you see at the top of this guide does NOT have the added bonus's, only the base stat bonus of the item's themselves. So I will be giving you the bonus increase once the item's are totally farmed.

First we need to know Hecarim's base Health Mana and Attack Damage at level 18. Hecarim Base HP at 18 is 2150. His Greater Seal of Vitality Give him +174.96 at level 18. Which 2324.96 (we will round up and say 2325) this is persistant for both the Warmog's Armor and Manamune builds. Hecarim's base Attack Damage is 107 with runes at level 18 he will have 12.72 extra Attack Damage. This being understood let us move on.

This will be done in short form unless there is an explanation needed.

We will start with Warmog's Armor
Base HP + Runes = 2325 + Warmog's item build = 4195 + Warmog's Armor Farmed (+350HP) = 4545.
Atma's Impaler gives +1.5% of total HP in Attack Damage. 4545 x 0.015 = 68.175 (68 extra attack damage).
Hecarim Attack damage (without the increase from a fully loaded Warmog's Armor or Atma's Impaler is 169. 169 + 68 = 237 Attack Damage in full.

Now for Manamune
Hecarim Mana without a farmed Manamune or Mana from Expanded Mind has 1180 Manamune being at 0 charges. The buff's with Expanded Mind and a fully loaded Manamune would be ( Expanded Mind = 216 and Manamune = 1000) 2369. 2369 x 0.02 = 47.96 (48) attack damage)

Let's Recap.. Warmog's Armor = +68 Attack Damage Manamune = +48 Attack Damage. Wait Warmog's Armor is better! Wrong.. We did not include the bonus that Atma's Impaler gives to Hecarim with the Manamune Build.

Manamune Build total HP is 3604.96 (3605) 3605 x 0.015 = 54. 54 + 48 = 102.
Atma's Impaler + Manamune = +102 Attack Damage
Atma's Impaler + Warmog's Armor = 68

See why Manamune is the better choice? And if that doesn't sell you, the Manamune build is cheaper!!

Now you might say " Warmog's Armor is still better because you have more health" You have only 941 more health for the sacrifice of 34 Attack Damage. Now sure if you are initiating or tanking (which is not wise of Hecarim players sure you would want that extra health. But you a fighter, not a tank. So don't play those roles, you want to fight, and you want to hit hard. Want to know how to play this fighter? Read on.

I have played Hecarim Top solo (and duo) and Bottom (with a ranged) I don't believe he is viable in mid just because he could get harassed a lot and have trouble. I prefer top solo.

Early game:
FARM, forget kills and harassing. IF you are facing champions that rely on farming such as Nasus you may harass with Devastating Charge When he is going in to farm his Siphoning Strike and push him away from that minion he is going to farm.. This is a good way to play, but this will cause Mana issues, and if you know you are going to be doing this, I would buy a Mana Potion instead of 3 Health Potion. This also could leave you open to a gank from their jungler. So be mindful.

You want to farm with your Rampage It eats away at minions life, as well as the enemy champion's if they are near you. Look to try and last hit, but you don't want them pushing RIGHT UP to your tower, because the tower will deny you farm.

KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR MAP. If you notice your jungle is at bottom, your lane minions are in the middle of your lane, and your mid is being pushed into your tower, it only takes about 8 seconds for Hecarim to get to mid. Right before you hit the bush pop Ghost and Devastating Charge at the same time and charge for that champion. If it is a champion like Vladamir who have abilities that cant protect themselves from your attack's, don't cast Ghost or Devastating Charge until he pop's his Sanguine Pool then run past the pool, and push him back into the middle of the lane. This takes practice and focus.

When you go back the first time you need to make a decision, do you want Boots of Swiftness or Tear of the Goddess? If you are finding that their jungle isn't a big deal to you, and that you don't need to be in places fast (or away from places fast) buy Tear of the Goddess but ONLY if u can build it right away (buy it all or don't buy it at all). If you are being harassed a lot, being denied minion kills, having trouble with their jungler, or just failing to get that gank, get Boots of Swiftness. You then want to build Manamune ASAP. With that being said, when you are returning to your lane, why not pop Rampage a couple of times when you own Tear of the Goddess to build it up. Always remember to keep farming it. 1000 Mana is alot.

Mid Game:

By now you should have Manamune The reason why I say buy a Giant's Belt is because of survivability, you are just that much harder to kill, and in team fights if the enemy team see's you as a big threat, they WILL focus you first. This also helps with tower diving because you have that much more hit's to take before the tower kills you.

If your team is doing well, and you have a few kills and some nice gold, and you don't seem to be dying (or being focused because you have a bigger threat on your team like Kog'Maw or Vayne then I would recommend building Trinity Force then Frozen Mallet. But Usually I like to get Giant's Belt then work on Trinity Force

As for team fights, you DO NOT want to initiate, either wait for someone tanky to initiate like Malphite or someone who can grab their carry like Blitzcrank.. You're role is to sit back and wait for a team fight to happen. Once the fight start's and the enemy team is clustered together, pop Ghost then Devastating Charge and charge in at their carry, whoever is doing the most damage, charge in and hit them. Right before you hit them pop Exhaust on them for even more Damage. Next, right after you do this, cast your ultimate Onslaught of Shadows and your W Spirit of Dread. At this point, hopefully you will have helped kill 1-2 champions.

Side note: your Ultimate Onslaught of Shadows will fear whoever is in the circle of your ability NOT who he passes through. So be mindful of this.

After you have done all this, start spamming your Rampage and keep focus on who is being downed. If you find you are being focused, RUN AWAY. Don't bother staying and fighting, if you are at 50% health or less, they may try and focus you. Don't let them kill you, just run to your team mates and past them (or to your base) this will kite them and if they are dumb, they will chase. If they stop chasing you, run back in at them and do it all over again. If you have 3-5 seconds on your Devastating Charge wait for it to be ready before going back in.

What I like to do with Devastating Charge At this point is run around in a circle, or prance around the team for another second or two then come charging in. Do not activate it and hit them right away, it is a waste and for an extra second or two, you can make the difference between killing that enemy champion and saving a team mate, to having a team mate die, and the enemy champion possibly getting away.

Late game:

This is where people get lazy and tired... do not do this. You are part horse, you can run for miles, you will run until you DIE!!! So play like him. Farm farm farm, watch the map, don't go off alone. Team battle's are roughly the same here, remember if you have 20% health left.. don't go back in to fight, just go and heal and return. If your Devastating Charge is ready and u know u can get that kill and help your team, then by all means do it, but be mindful of champions who can burst u down like Annie or enemies that can get away from you like Ahri or Shaco.

Well it has been a wonderful lesson has it not? I hope it was informative, in the future I will be jungling as Hecarim and placing my thoughts on what to build him as. I hope this add's a better understanding to Hecarim and what I think is viable and what is not.

I worked hard on this build and the calculations to make this guide possible. So please leave your comments and your thoughts on what can be improved/changed and/or what you liked/disliked about it.

Much appreciated :)