Hi. I recently picked up Hecarim when he was free and quickly discovered that my play style and any of the recommended builds were not compatible. While I do main Xin Zhao and Master Yi, two of the most offense champions in the game, playing Hecarim like a quick damage dealer wasn't the best way. I messed around with a few builds (all out AP, Hybrid AP-AD, AS-Move Speed) but none of them were really that great. Once i decided to just try out my least favorite build and champion type I quickly grew to see the potential Hecarim has for long periods of sustained damage dealing and recovering most damage done to him.

Promote and Flash are basic support and escape spells. Use promote when the enemy is elsewhere so you can gain some income while you go jungle for a bit or help out another lane. Save flash for those really tight spots where speed alone cant get you out of trouble. You can also grab ghost for the same reason.

The masteries I show reflect how I play Hecarim. I can usually get at least 4 kills in a game and average a medium to high creep score so I don't worry too much about extra gold. I would focus mainly on the defense and sustainability aspect of this build. The key masteries to choose are health regen and movement speed.

The seals, glyphs, and mark runes are vital to the success of this Hecarim build. Without them you can't withstand the same punishment. You can use either magic resist per level or flat magic resist runes, however I recommend flat magic resist because it gives you a better early game than the magic resist per level. For the quintessences you can change those quite heavily. AP quints give you a better bite in your abilities, especially Spirit of Dread. You can go all move speed for more damage on your basic attacks and you can do what Hecarim really does best (get to team fights faster, stay in fights longer and still escape quicker than your allies, catch up to fleeing enemies). The quints you choose really depend on how you want to play him.

Grab Spirit of Dread first and max it first. SoD is your clutch sustain and is the key to surviving team fights since a lot of damage goes out. At level 2 get Rampage and at level 3 get Devastating Charge. This way you have a damage dealing spell, a healing spell, and an escape spell. I would save Devastating Charge for escape from enemy ganks and fights gone bad. Max rampage next. Use Rampage as soon as your SoD actives that way you can get 2 rampages in thus healing you more. Your ultimate is one of the greatest tools in your tool box. When an enemy tries to flee use it to fear him and do some damage to him. Try to get on the other side of him to cut off his escape route. If he tries to flee again then just use your speed to catch him and keep hitting. One of the best things about this build is that enemies have a hard time fleeing from you and if they do choose to fight it out then you have the sustain and resistance to take the beating and deal steady damage.

Start off with Cloth Armor and at least 2 Health Potions. Go back as soon as you get enough for boots and a Regrowth Pendant. Your next trip back won't be until you run out of health pots and your health and mana are basically gone, so it will be awhile. Considering you have bonus move speed, upgrading your boots should not be on the top of your list. I noticed I was out running people with full boots when I had only basic boots. Keep an eye on this. Once you start not being able to catch people you need to upgrade your boots. Having a speed advantage is crucial with Hecarim no matter what build. After you get basic boots work on a Warmog's. Just so you don't have to worry about boots anymore go ahead and buy Boots of Swiftness, preferably on the same trip you get your Warmog's. Force of Nature is the last item that you really need to have with this build. I would recommend the Maw of Malmortius and the Randuin's Omen but you can change them out for other defensive items that suit what you have to counter. The Atma's Impaler is one of two items I change out depending on the other team. I usually go Atma's if the other team is still having a hard time taking me down. However, if you notice them easily picking you off grab a Guardian Angel.

If you are laning with someone then let them get most of the creep score. Take out minions only for health during the laning phase. Once everyone starts to roam around stick to a lane and boost your creep score before going to other lanes. If you want to really give yourself a large payday use promote on a lane and then take out some jungle on the way the another lane that you are going to push. During late game if you notice your caster isn't grabbing blue buff at all or you see the enemies blue is up take it. Hecarim gets somewhat mana hungry late game.

Try not to solo lane. You will get zoned easily and you won't be able to handle a good solo laner. If you are playing with friends or an organized team try to get your lane mate to be a roamer, like Xin Zhao or something. Also, a DPS jungler will help too as you can have 2 people coming and going from your lane to take down enemy champions but letting you get a good creep score. When going into fights try to have a DPS ally nearby. Engage and let them target you before your ally comes in for the kill. You can take down low health enemies trying to flee especially from team fights. This way you get kills that some allies may not be able to get.

Pros

• Great sustainability
• Very fast movement speed
• Easy to master
• Higher gold income than most other tanks

Cons

• Does not deal large amounts of damage quickly
• Lower gold income than other players on your team

So, I hope this build works as well for anyone who tries it as it does for me. If you hate it then it doesn't fit your play style and I recommend you try another great build on here. Hecarim can be a great tank if you know what to put your points and money into. This is just a basic guide of how I play him, but like every build posted on here you might need to change a few things because every game is different. If this build didn't work like you wanted it to then I guarantee you are just copying the build word for word and not using your brain to see what you need to do to make it successful.