Welcome to EdgeJay's first ever Hecarim build/guide on MobaFire.com.

First of all, an imtroduction to Hecarim:
Hecarim is a unique Champion that can fit multiple roles, his most efficient role would be a Bruiser. This is because most, if not all, his abillities require him to be in the middle of combat to maximize efficiency. Additionally, his ultimate: Onslaught of Shadows, which is a great initiation skill, puts Hecarim right in the middle of combat most of the time. This will result in him taking huge amounts of damage. As a result, he will need to be more beefy and robust in order to maximise efficiency. However, he also has a significant amount of damage output, which is why building damage on him is also a good idea. So, in conclusion, he is most efficent as a bruiser.

However, I have found a way to step it up a notch with Hecarim. This build brings Hecarim one step higher from a Bruiser. I like to call it a TankCannon build. This build gives Hecarim damage output that is as high as assassins but also keeps him as robust as full tanks. The catch is that there are few alternatives to achieve this, which means you will have to follow pretty closely in order to maximise the potential of this build.

With that done, lets move on.

Update 1.1
9/10/2012
FINALLY got back to editing this guide.

Hecarim: The Shadow of War

Lore:
Since his first sighting on the northwestern shores of Valoran, the towering, armored specter known as Hecarim struck a chilling fear into the hearts of all who laid eyes upon him. No one had ever seen anything like his titanic, ethereal form before, and the mystery of his sudden arrival was deeply unnerving. When Hecarim began to march eastwards, leaving a trail of desolate, lifeless ground behind him, the villagers of the plains fled their homes for the safety of nearby Demacia. In the city's now-overcrowded taverns, rumors about this inhuman phantom spread in hushed whispers. Some claimed that he was the vengeful shade of an ancient warrior, intent on destroying all living beings; one man insisted that they had seen him leading an entire legion of spectral cavalrymen; others still believed him to be the creation of some hateful necromancer. One Demacian commander, seeking to dispel the terror that had gripped the city, assembled a few of his finest soldiers and rode out to turn back or destroy Hecarim.

The commander led his soldiers to stand in Hecarim's path and braced for his assault. As the apparition bore down on them, an overwhelming sensation of dread gripped the warriors. The men, frozen in fear, could only scream as the ghostly titan ran them down, tearing them apart and trampling them beneath his iron hooves. Hecarim turned to the crippled, cowering commander and uttered a chilling statement: "This is merely the beginning. No mortal army can withstand the might of the Shadow Isles." With that, Hecarim departed, resuming his grim march. Driven to insanity by his nightmarish experience, the commander stumbled back to Demacia, where his dire warnings were dismissed as the ravings of a madman. While Hecarim's origin and intent were still a mystery, his destination became clear when he reached the Institute of War and, in a voice both ominous and commanding, demanded entry into the League of Legends.

"You don't understand... the shadows will consume us all..."
Former Demacian Commander

Skills:


Passive: Warpath
Hecarim is able to move freely through units. Additionally, he gains AD equal to 10% of his bonus movement speed. This is what makes Hecarim the powerful initiator he is.


Hecarim swings his weapon in a circle around him, damaging all units it hits. Additionally, the cooldown of this skill is reduced every time the skill hits an enemy unit (up to 2 times).
This is going to be your main damage skill. High base damage and respectable scaling. However, this skill is blocked by spell shields.


Hecarim creates an aura around him, dealing DPS to enemies in the aura. Hecarim also heals for 10% of the damage units in the aura take from any source. However, healing from minions and monsters is capped. This is your main sustain skill and you will find it extremely useful during laning and in teamfights.


Hecarim gains increasing movement speed for 4 seconds, and his next basic attack will knock enemies back, dealing extra damage based on how far Hecarim has travelled while this skill was on. This skill is extremely useful for ganking due to the fast that it can knock enemies backwards into teammates. Note that spell shields do NOT negate any part of Devastating Charge.


Ultimate:
Hecarim dashes towards a target location, sending out shockwaves and damaging all enemies caught in the location and in the line of fire. Additionally, enemies caught in the location are feared for 1 second and will move away from Hecarim. This is your main initiation skill due to the pseudo-blink and CC. Note that due to what might be a bug, Onslaught of Shadows is not affected by spell shield in any way.

Hecarim is extremely versatile when it comes to mixing spells with him. There are few spells that are not effective on him.


Heal: Restores health to Champion. This spell is very useful in the earlier parts of the game as it can help survive tower-diving when ganking, and also goes well with his mechanics, as he will take fairly much damage in teamfights if you dive right into the fight like recommended.


Revive: Revives Champion instantly and provides major health boost temporarily. Not very useful, but can be paired with teleport for more effective ganking.


Exhaust: Greatly reduces target Champion's attack damage, attack speed and movement speed. Useful for securing early game kills when ganking and to lock down high value targets late game.


Flash: Blinks Champion towards cursor. What can I say? This is probably the most useful spell and works well on everyone. Good for escaping near-death situations and chasing down targets.


Ignite: Deals true damage over time to target and reduces healing by 50%. Do NOT take this spell when jungling. Only useful when you are playing solo top. Helps secure kill with lower risk of getting killed on tower.


Ghost: Allows movement through units and grants major speed boost for a moderate period. Perhaps this is the best spell to pair Hecarim with. Firstly, it stacks with Devastating Charge to chase down targets. Secondly, the speed boost stacks with Warpath, granting a boost to your attack damage. This is most useful when jungling as well. Make sure you take this spell if you intend to make the most out of Hecarim.


Smite: Deals true damage to enemy minion or monster. Definitely a necessity when jungling. Also useful for stealing Baron and Dragon kills.


Teleport: Channels for several seconds to teleport Champpion to target allied minion, tower or ward. Not completely useful, but not completely useless either. Paired with Revive and a ward you can quickly return to a lane to assist in a fight where you had previously died.


Clarity: Restores mana to yourself and all allied Champions near you. Not the best spell on Hecarim. His main skill, Decimate, requires minimal mana and he will not be using up mana quickly either way. Don't take this spell.

All other spells will not be necessary for Hecarim.