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, Hecarim is by far my favorite.

I hope this guide will help players have a basic understanding of Hecarim and how to build him. He is a strong jungler that can get you out of ELO hell. Please comment and vote as you see fit :-). I'm open to suggestions.

Pros AoE Damage Fast Clear Time Escapability Initiation Interruption Can Mid-Game Carry

Cons Less Tanky Long cooldown on Spirit of Dread Not a strong counter jungler Can be cc'd d d d

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.

Greater Seal of Armor gives you extra armor. Very useful as a tank and also reduces damage taken from jungle camps.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist gives you late game magic resist because the amount of magic damage you take will be minimal until team fights break out.

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed increases movement speed which increases damage output because of Warpath

Must have on any jungler. This spell allows for insane gap closing combined with Devastating Charge. It also increases our damage due to Hecarim's passive for the duration.

Only Other Viable Option

If you prefer having an immediate escape or gap closer use this instead of Ghost.

Warpath is what makes Hecarim so unique. He has damage that scales off how fast he is. Also, the ability to pass through units makes chasing and escaping much easier. Rampage is your spammable damage skill. It does damage all around Hecarim so enemies behind you will also be hit. It does not apply on-hit effects but it does proc the passive from Spirit of the Elder Lizard. The fact it has reduced cooldown if you continue to use it means you get ramped up damage as fights last longer. Spirit of Dread is an AoE ring around you that heals you for a portion of ALL damage dealt to enemies within it. This makes you incredibly tanky in team fights while it is active. The cooldown has recently been increased so it is important to time the use of this skill correctly. Devastating Charge increases movement speed and knocks back the first enemy attacked. This skill is a great gap closer and cc ability for ganking. Onslaught of Shadows is an ability with endless uses. It can be used to escape through walls, engage on the enemy back line, cause disruption in team fights, or win those close duels. Master the use of this ultimate and you will win games. The low cooldown of this skill is what makes Hecarim a terror late game.

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This is your priority for skilling up your abilities. Obviously, Onslaught of Shadows should be leveled at 6, 11, and 16 when it is available. Rampage should be maxed first, followed by Spirit of Dread and finally Devastating Charge.

This is the ideal build for Hecarim. It gives good AoE damage with your kit and Spirit of the Elder Lizard. It makes you quite tanky as well. The Runic Bulwark might be purchased by your support so discuss who will be responsible for having it when the game starts. REMEMBER TO USE THE ACTIVES! Randuin's Omen offers a very powerful active that can change team fights.

Now to explain how we got there.



These items are the standard starting items for any jungler in the current meta. Cloth Armor and 5 potions is still possible but it significantly reduces any champion's clear time.



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, Spirit Stone and Boots take priority. Before you buy Long Sword, buy at least 1 Vision Ward to clear ganking lanes for yourself. Health Potion's can also be purchased to help you sustain longer while continuing to farm and gank.



These are the must have items on Hecarim. I usually finish Spirit of the Elder Lizard before the other two items for early damage. Some people prefer to get Spirit of the Ancient Golem instead of Spirit of the Elder Lizard for the health and armor but I find that the damage and AoE debuff (applied by both Rampage and Spirit of Dread) Spirit of the Elder Lizard gives, allows for a stronger champion. Buy Giant's Belt for an early boost in health for soaking damage before going for Iceborn Gauntlet.

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 Spirit of Dread. This is my first option to replace Runic Bulwark when the support is building it. 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 Iceborn Gauntlet if you plan to be a bruiser. 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

• 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.

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.

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. Hecarim is able to set up ganks pre level 6 due to Devastating Charge so take advantage of this. A lot of players don't expect ganks until the jungler reaches level 6. If a gank is successful, push the lane to the turret to starve the enemy laner. Take advantage of lanes that are left empty temporarily but be sure not to push the lane and hurt your own laner.

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 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 Onslaught of Shadows on as many targets as possible but prioritize the carries. This is a good time to have Enchantment: Captain because you want your team to be able to follow you in quickly to continue the damage on the carries. After winning team fights, push objectives and secure barons/dragons.

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.

To come later possibly?

I hope you enjoyed my guide. Please give it a try before voting and let me know why you downvoted if you are planning to do so.

4/9/2013

• Guide is created and published.

5/29/13

• Edited item build and item section of reading
• Added to Counter Jungling section
• Added Warding section