Hecarim Build Guide by Drykyn

Introduction

Hay.

My name in LoL is Drykyn and I has made this quick Hecarim guide out of boredom. I mainly play dominion because I'm bad at classic so this guide will only cover Hecarim in dominion and what has been successful for me.

Disclaimer: As I am lazy I may or may not read posts, care if I get votes, update this guide or pick my nose.

Hopefully I will find time and motivation to come back later to make shiny pictures and nice item links. Until that day I hope all 5 of you that read this guide have a nice day.

Updates:
4/22/12 Added some pretty mouseover item pictures

Pros / Cons

Good stuff

-He has nice burst damage built tanky.
-A well placed

Devastating Charge combined with Onslaught of Shadows can easily push your enemies where you want them, preventing escapes or helping your team escape.
-His original art looks great.


Bad Stuff

-Easily kited if his ultimate is on cooldown.
-Lacks any hard crowd control.
-Has a weaker start (I blame relying on Trinity force).
-VERY VERY FREAKIN SQUISHY if not built tanky. It's totally not worth trying to glass cannon on him. You WILL look stupid if you're playing against opponents with any sort of brain.
-His passive makes people brain dead and they think they can stack 5 phantom dancers and own the world.

Items

Right out the gate I purchase Boots of Speed, Long Sword, Ruby Crystal and 2 or 3 health pots. Prospector's Blade is also a nice start but sets you back on your build. I've also built Ninja Tabi / Mercury's Treads at start if I feel the presence of impending doom. After Phage I usually build Sheen or upgrade boots to Ninja Tabi or Mercury's Treads depending on enemy team composition or which champions seem to be dominating.I've also bought Ionian Boots of Lucidity and Boots of Swiftness a few times but I feel the prementioned ones are almost always better. I generally finish off Trinity Force after and then buy a Chain Vest and/or Null-Magic Mantle if I seem too squishy or go ahead and buy the The Brutalizer if I made off with enough gold to on my next recall. You could also shove a Aegis of the Legion in there somewhere I guess but I personally don't use it. This finishes the core of the build so you should look something like this:

Core

Ninja Tabi or Mercury's Treads or but not recommended Ionian Boots of Lucidity or Boots of Swiftness
Trinity Force
The Brutalizer
Chain Vest and/ or Null-Magic Mantle


Generally in the average dominion game there's time for one more item. I tend to try and get as close the cooldown reduction cap as possible, which is 40%. However it only takes about 20% to get your Rampage down to a 1 second cooldown to cap it out. Frozen Heart is almost always my next purchase if the enemy team is AD heavy or there's just a AD carry that's eating my face. However Sunfire Cape, Thornmail and Randuin's Omen are also great choices if the situation calls for it. Force of Nature would be my next purchase if the team was more ability power or there was a mage dominating. Maw of Malmortius is also good to counter burst casters like Leblanc or Karthus's ultimate. If you're team is just slaughtering and the opposing team just wants to loose and get their points I generally buy a The Black Cleaver. Sanguine Blade, Infinity Edge, Zeke's Herald, Last Whisper or finish off your Youmuu's Ghostblade are all great choices though.

So your build should look something like this respectively:

VS Blanced Team

Mercury's Treads or Ninja Tabi
Trinity Force
The Brutalizer
Frozen Heart or Randuin's Omen
Force of Nature or Maw of Malmortius
The Black Cleaver


VS AD Heavy Team

Mercury's Treads or Ninja Tabi
Trinity Force
The Brutalizer
Frozen Heart or Zeke's Herald or Randuin's Omen
Sunfire Cape
The Black Cleaver or Atma's Impaler


AP Heavy Team

Mercury's Treads
Trinity Force
The Brutalizer
Force of Nature
Maw of Malmortius
The Black Cleaver


Note that these builds are obviously just suggested cookie cutter guides. You should ALWAYS try to adapt your build to best counter your enemies and what you need to give yourself the advantage.

The main thing to point out for building his items is please do not stack 50 Phantom Dancer and think you can take on the world. His passive really does not give him enough AD to justify such builds. Building tanky dps is the only way to go as far as I'm concerned.

The VS AD / AP builds aren't exact choices or any particular order. They are just items I would be more inclined to buy versus a team composition like that. Use your brain and buy what you need to fit the situation.

Skill Sequence

As for his skills always level up Onslaught of Shadows and Rampage first. After that I try to spend points in the other skills equally. If you're team is working well together Spirit of Dread may be more benifical to you. If you want more Speed shrine poking potential Devastating Charge is the way to go. Most people go the Spirit of Dread route to give him more survivability. HOwever keep in mind Devastating Charge does give him a small movement speed boost which can be used for escapes also.

Masteries

Of all the masteriers I have tried this seems to be the best set up for him. For me atleast. The extra defenses help him out greatly along with the extra tenacity as CC's always seem to find him.

Summoner Spells

I'm a huge fan of Cleanse on Hecarim although Ignite is also nice for finishing off those annoying "I gots 2hp and gonna gets away" players. Also it always helps out a great deal vs any champs that do tons of healing. Ghost is an obvious pick for Dominion. Not only does it help you get around the map and chase/escape but it also gives Hecarim a minor attack damage boost. If you end up not getting Cleanse and you face a team with any kind of crowd control I would reccommend picking up a Quicksilver Sash.

Playing Hecarim

Quick recap on previously discussed topics before discussing my play style.

Crowd control hurts...DON'T CHASE AND GET KITED if your ultimate, QSS, Cleanse, etc. are on cooldown
Hecarim likes him some cooldown reduction.
Hecarim not built tanky = stain on floor all match against anyone with a brain.

Alright now for a quick explantion of my play style. If it doesn't work for you I'm sorry go find another guide that does xD. I tend to roam the map and keep up a speed shrine buff as much as possible. Grab it everytime you can when heading to wherever your happy place is.

I have ganked many unsupecting enemies after finishing my listed core build. Speed shrine > Ghost > Devestating Charge > Ult (+Cleanse / QSS / Spirit of Dread where needed)can be very fearsome against ANY enemy when you're knocking / fearing them under a tower you control. Heck it's even pretty scary when a super pony comes out the bush and does that too you. For skirmishes around the jungle or in lane I tend to just poke them to death with Speed Shrine + Devestating charge and a couple of Rampages on my way out. This is very effective for dueling or team fights.

Hecarim's ultimate's fear is differnt from other champion's fear. It always fears the enemy away from you so you can pretty much always count ont hem going a predetermined direction. Use this to your advantage when using it to push enemies back into you team or under your towers.

The main thing, as with any champion is just play smart and try to take advantage of the situation. Working with you're teammates and helping them will always get you further in the game then trying to solo a match by yourself (uless you get nicely fed lol xD).

Summary

All in all he's a very fun champion to play. If you can overcome his weaknesses of being CC'd and poor early game pre Core he definatly has the potential of driving the enemy team crazy.

PS Why does his original art look 420349825349058304982345 times better then his skins

I'll try to update this guide later to have pretty pictures and links. If I ever find time and overcome my laziness.

Example Results

Here is an example of how effective my balanced build is against a well rounded champion roster. This was a random pvp que.