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Introduction
Welcome to my
Hecarim guide!

A little background information about me. My summoner profile is Odysseus14 on NA. I'm not a high ELO player and hardly play ranked much but I've been a jungler for a long time. I've been playing the game off and on since its creation. I've played many different junglers but in the current meta,

I hope this guide will help players have a basic understanding of

Pros
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Cons
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Runes




Greater Mark of Armor Penetration gives you the armor penetration you need to have threatening damage throughout the game. I also read somewhere that jungle creeps start with 10 armor so at the beginning of the game you will be doing true damage to the camps.




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Must have on any jungler. This spell allows for insane gap closing combined with ![]() ![]() |
Only Other Viable Option
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If you prefer having an immediate escape or gap closer use this instead of ![]() |
Ability Explanation
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
This is your priority for skilling up your abilities. Obviously,




Ideal Build
This is the ideal build for




Now to explain how we got there.
Starting Items
These items are the standard starting items for any jungler in the current meta.

First Back
In a perfect world, you farm and make exceptional ganks so you can stay in the field until you have enough gold to buy all of the items above at one time. Because this will not likely be the case,





Core Items
These are the must have items on









Options For Last Slots
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Great jungle tank item if you use the active well. CDR, Health and Armor for cheap. One of the strongest armor items in the game. Has an active that can cripple auto attack champions and the opponent ADC if you dive them. Great team item. Should have one in every game unless the support is buying one. Against two or more AP champions it should be rushed. Gives CDR, MR, health and a buff to the health on ![]() ![]() Gives armor and health. The passive fire damage can add up in team fights and helps with clearing minion waves. Huge health item but no mitigation. To stop people from getting away from you. Another high health item that gives damage and a slow. Could replace ![]() Decent health and mana, gives MR and the spell shield. Decent tank item. Another bruiser item. If you have another tank, this item could give a big spike in damage while still giving you MR and a shield against AP champions. Gives crit and armor. The passive damage based on health is why this item is a potential item. Another bruiser item. A catch all item that will significantly increase damage output but it is very expensive. Damage, health, CDR, and armor pen. Bruiser HUGE armor item. Good for teams with multiple strong ADCs |
There are two main paths that I use when jungling. One is an aggressive, smiteless route that gives me both buffs and level 3 for an early gank. The other is a slower route that will give me level 4 and both buffs for a gank. I prefer the slower path because I find ganking easier when the lanes are a higher level to help.
Aggressive
Less Aggressive
Aggressive
- Wolves
- Blue (smiteless)
- Red (smite)
- Should be level 3 with all abilities - Look to gank
- Wolves
- Wraiths
- Golems
- Look to gank or back
Less Aggressive
- Wolves
- Blue (smite)
- Wraiths
- Wolves (may have 3 sec wait)
- Red (smite)
- Wraiths
- Should be level 4 with all abilities - Look to gank or back
It is important to know when to gank and counter gank. Placement of wards by the laners is instrumental in the success or failure of ganks for both teams. Ask your laners to ping wards as they go down or ask prior to traveling to their lane. If you want to clear a lane, buy a
Vision Ward and place it where you want to travel, clear the ward and return in a minute or so. Using pink wards is the best way to keep control of the map and allow you the freedom to gank. The map below shows the important warding spots and which should be pinked whenever possible.
If the enemy jungle is spotted attempting a gank and you are near, you should immediately go to assist the laner. If you are on the opposite side of the map, invade the enemy jungle to make him pay for the gank if it fails.

If the enemy jungle is spotted attempting a gank and you are near, you should immediately go to assist the laner. If you are on the opposite side of the map, invade the enemy jungle to make him pay for the gank if it fails.
It is important to control not only your jungle, but the enemy's jungle as much as possible.
Hecarim is not the best counter jungler but whenever possible, check the small camps to steal the large minion. The buff camps are far more important. Stealing these camps can increase your experience and allow your own buffs to go to teammates immediately.
The best way to do this is by warding the camps. Estimating the spawn times is also helpful. If you assume the enemy jungler started at Blue, that buff will respawn approximately at 7:10. You can prepare the team for a steal or team fight if you have been winning lanes.
As the jungler, it is your job to keep track of timers. Whenever our blue, our red, their blue, their red, dragon, or baron dies, the time of respawning should be typed in team chat. Buff camps take 5 minutes to respawn,
Dragon 6 minutes, and
Baron Nashor 7 minutes.
Another option is to use an overlay jungle timer to help keep track for yourself. My friend created one and you can download it at SimpleJungleTimer.com.
Early invades are a good way to control the jungle from level 1 but they are high risk high reward. Only do this if you feel that your team's level 1 is stronger and proceed cautiously. Ward coverage is also important for this to work. It is much safer if you know where the other team is.

The best way to do this is by warding the camps. Estimating the spawn times is also helpful. If you assume the enemy jungler started at Blue, that buff will respawn approximately at 7:10. You can prepare the team for a steal or team fight if you have been winning lanes.
As the jungler, it is your job to keep track of timers. Whenever our blue, our red, their blue, their red, dragon, or baron dies, the time of respawning should be typed in team chat. Buff camps take 5 minutes to respawn,


Another option is to use an overlay jungle timer to help keep track for yourself. My friend created one and you can download it at SimpleJungleTimer.com.
Early invades are a good way to control the jungle from level 1 but they are high risk high reward. Only do this if you feel that your team's level 1 is stronger and proceed cautiously. Ward coverage is also important for this to work. It is much safer if you know where the other team is.
Early Game
In the early game, your main focus should be on clearing the jungle, securing buffs for yourself and your teammates, and ganking safely. Be aware of the location of all 5 champions on the enemy team. Keep track of where the enemy jungler is and take advantage of openings to counter gank or counter jungle.


Mid Game
By mid game, you should have one or two of your core items. Depending on how the laning and ganks have gone, this is a good time to push for team fights. Start fights over dragon or enemy buffs but be sure to engage intelligently. Have the area well warded so you don't get surprised. Keep your jungle clear as much as possible because the lane farm should be mostly going to your carries at this point. Try to catch enemy carries out farming or running through the jungle. If one is successfully killed, push the advantage and take a map objective (tower, dragon, buffs, etc).
Late Game
Late game team fights will often determine the game. By now you should have all your core items and one or two additional items. It will often be your job to initiate the team fight so the fate of the team will rest on how well you start the fight. Pick a good spot to initiate and if possible, use


Some things I've picked up watching pros or from my experience:
- [Devastating Charge]] combined with an
Onslaught of Shadows behind them will fear then knockback to team on first attack. This can separate a desired target for killing.
- Keep the stacks from
Rampage up as much as possible. The 2 second reduction on the cooldown is huge in fights. It can also increase clear speed at the beginning if you can charge from camp to camp.
Devastating Charge and
Ghost give you a hilarious speed boost that will get you out of almost anything.
Onslaught of Shadows can go through terrain so it can be used to escape ganks as well as catch unsuspecting opponents.
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