After a delay and a half, the centaur of war has come! This guide is mostly a first thoughts guide on Hecarim, who I have found is capable of decimating most anything he comes across. This particular guide is focused more towards a laning Hecarim.

This is my first guide, so please forgive the mess that will be coming.

Thank you in advance for reading, and remember to leave comments! I'm open to any and all constructive criticism and will answer any questions about my build.

Please, also remember that everything in this guide is not set in stone. Fluidity is the key to winning any game, and you may need to adapt to an enemy team to better fight them.

Pros:
+ Hits like a truck
+ Incredibly fast
+ No unit collision. EVER.
+ Great sustaining power in team fights with Spirit of Dread
+ Good at surprising people with Onslaught of Shadows

Cons:
- Melee range makes him easy to harass
- Likely to be focused
- Spirit of Dread is much less effective in 1v1
- Devastating Charge is a poor escape mechanism if you're surprised as it takes time to reach a good speed boost.

Greater Mark of Desolation for Armor Pen to give that edge early on and to chip off some armor from later game foes.
Greater Seal of Armor Hecarim needs a bit more armor to survive early game against range.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist Same as the armor runes, but I personally find that later game is when you really need the most magic resist. Between these and [Maw of Malmortius], you should be able to survive that initial burst.

I always start the game with Boots and 3x Health Potion. The boots add speed and some AD thanks to Warpath, and the potions help with sustaining.

The first trip back to base will usually be for a Sheen. The passive ability on it is brutal on Hecarim, who can easily activate it 5-6 times in the span of a couple seconds.

The second trip back will be for Mercury's Treads and a Vampiric Scepter.

After those, Trinity Force is your goal. I get Zeal before Phage, but the order between them is up to you.

By this time, you've most likely hit mid-game. Sporadic fights will break out, and you'll need some way to keep yourself alive. The item here is either the Hexdrinker or the Sunfire Aegis, depending on what is hitting you the hardest. Both add to your defense without sacrificing offense.

After your first defensive item, your next major target is Bloodthirster. This will kick your sustain into high gear, and when mixed with Spirit of Dread, you'll be able to pick fights at will and feel very little effect as you drain nearly 50% of what you do in damage.

Endgame will see even higher damage from AP users, so the Maw of Malmortius will help buff that magic shield you have, as well as a bit of general attack boosts. In addition, you'll get that nifty AD boost based on health missing.

You'll probably notice, if you're being a massive nuisance to the opponent's team, that armor will become more commonplace. If multiple people on their team are stacking armor, Last Whisper will be a good 6th item. Otherwise, Black Cleaver is the way to go.

Offers you AD based on your bonus speed, and allows you to ignore unit collision entirely.

A cleaving strike. Costs very little mana, and if you damage with it, it reduces its cooldown by 1 second, all the way down to 2 seconds! A fun, spammable skill. I level this either second, or at the same times as Spirit of Dread.

Hecarim's sustain skill. Does some magic damage in an area of effect around Hecarim, draining some life from the damage it does. You cannot drain more than a small amount from minions, but healing from damage to monsters and champions is not capped. I level this either first or at the same time as Rampage.

Hecarim's chase ability. He speeds up over 4 seconds, and the longer distance he runs before plowing into someone, the more damage he does. Adds a small knockback, making it able to interrupt channeled spells in a pinch. Level it up once at level 3 or 4, and then ignore it until all other skills are maxed.

The ultimate. Hecarim and some spirit riders charge forwards and damage anything they touch. Once Hecarim stops, all foes in front of him take even more damage, and are feared for a short time. Hecarim can plow through walls and barriers with this, which can let you surprise people in a way similar to Fiddlesticks's Crowstorm. Remember that Hecarim only goes to where you click, unleashing the shockwave after he gets there, but the riders will go the whole way.

is one of my personal favorites. It can burn off the last few slivers of someone's health if they (somehow) escape you. It's also fun to use this on healers (Soraka, Sona, Taric, etc) to keep their heals down. Remember, Spirit of Dread will drain a % of the damage ignite deals if they're inside the aura.

While you don't benefit from the "no collision" part of the spell, 27% (or 35% with the mastery) move speed boost is HUGE for someone that goes at Hecarim's speed. And guess what? It's bonus move speed! That means Warpath will give you some (as in 30+) AD from it for a full 10 seconds!

While the speed component is again not a HUGE priority, it can keep an opponent from getting to a turret to hide. However, it can also be a huge kick in the jimmies for people trying to burst down Hecarim, especially AD carries. With the mastery, it allows you to ignore a bit of their armor as well. Not my favorite spell on him, but it has its uses.

Flash, Flash, Flash. A fun spell for sure, it gives Hecarim an escape mechanism that doesn't take about 2 seconds to be notable. You can also use it to position a [devastating charge] a bit better if you must.

I personally do not recommend any of the other spells, as they are mostly utility, or just plain not worth the slot that could be used for the above spells.