Hecarim Jungle Build Guides, Runes, Items, and Abilities

Hecarim is an AD bruiser which means that he has a lot of great build variety right now with many good options for him. Part of what makes hecarim so great is he can go bruiser core into lethality when really ahead or tank when even or behind allowing him to offer value at any stage of the game regardless of the situation. When ahead Hecarim is able to solo carry and 1v9 games, when behind he can be played as a supportive champion and can provide tons of peel and cc for his team.

Hecarim has a fast and healthy clear which is pretty easy to learn so the best tip I can give any new hecarim player on how to climb with him is to learn how to clear properly, and then to full clear prior to making plays on the map.

If you want to improve on Hecarim the most important thing you must know how to do is dragging camps.

For those who do not know Hecarims Q stacks up to three times when he hits any target with it, lowering its CD when stacked and giving him bonus AD. This means that Hecarim is WAY stronger with 3 Q stacks then he is with just one. By kiting your camps properly and dragging them with you while spamming Q on them before ganks you are able to enter an engage with your damage already there, versus going in without it full stacked and having to get those stacks up during the engage.

This is the most important thing to optimize your ganks and up your DPS and thats why Hecarim love to be at his camps when hes not ganking. Any time you are standing still doing nothing on Hecarim you are dropping your stacks and effectively lowering your own damage.

The best playstyle on Hecarim in my opinion is Full clear -> 1 action (Either gank, invade, or take an objective) -> reset. This playstyle is extremely consistent and very strong in low elo as it pushes you to farm effectively and will train you to keep your farm up while also making sure you have 3 q stacks the majority of the game.

In higher elo hecarim becomes much harder because the best way to punish him is with good jungle tracking and invading so for higher elo you may need to adjust your playstyle more around the way your enemy is playing. It is very important to consider what type of character they are playing. Characters that love to invade like Kindred, Graves, Viego, and Shaco, are all pretty annoying however there are ways to manage them 100%.

When played properly Hecarim can become one of the best solo queue junglers because of how flexible he is and with how much value he is able to provide regardless of gamestate.

Summary:

• You can use your Q Rampage while you are in animation of R Onslaught of Shadows, this can be really good to proc your Phase Rush or/and to get additional stacks of Black Cleaver's armor shred or Conqueror stacks.
• Your Rampage doesn't reset or stop your autoattack animation, so feel free to use it as soon as it comes from cooldown.
• After changes in patch 7.16 on Onslaught of Shadows,it's best for team fights to use it on maximum range because it will increase it's fear duration on targets hit.
• After buying Sheen/Trinity Force don't forget to use your Rampage when hitting a turret to get additional damage on it.
• When you gank a lane an enemy you want to charge with your Devastating Charge and use your Rampage right at the moment when Hecarim is about to hit a target. The reason is the speedboost from E is still active, increasing your AD through your Warpath, giving you extra damage on your Rampage.
• The center of the circular indicator of Onslaught of Shadows tells you where Hecarim will land. It has to be over the walls for you to get across. The fear direction depends on which side you hit enemy, enemies go away from the center where Hecarim lands, so you usually want to land slightly behind the enemy to push them back towards your team.
• Finally, your Devastating Charge allows you to cross narrow terrain. You can jump the blue buff wall for example. Devastating Charge is also an AA reset and deals damage to towers.

1. Pros

• Versatile (assassin brusier engager)
• Strong ganks
• Insane map pressure
• Good for catching people off(insane speed)
• Strong Early - Mid Game
• Easy to play

2. Cons

• Weak late game
• Early mana issue
• Heavily item reliant
• Very risky(if you get fed you snowball hard and carry if not you are useless)
• Ultimate is easy to counter.

• E + W + EAA + Q + A: Your basic fight combo is E and run at your target. W right as you get in range then AA, Q as soon as it connects then AA.
• E + W + Q + EAA: To fake-out your enemy when engaging E then run behind your target. When you get in range W and Q but only AA once you are behind your target.
• E + W + EAA + Q + AA + R + AA: For prolonged fights E and run at your target, then W right as you get in range and AA. Q as soon as it connects then AA and R behind your target followed by an AA right after.
• E + R + W + EAA + Q + AA: In a shorter fight with R you should E and run at your target, R then mid air W and AA your target. Quickly Q followed by an AA.
• E + W + EAA + R + Q + AA: If you want to burst an enemy E and run at your target, W right as you get in range then AA. Instantly R behind your target after the knockback is about to end, then Q AA.
• W + AA + E + R + Q + AA: For a close quarters burst W AA then instantly E to reset the AA. As soon as the knockback lands R Q followed by an AA.
• E + W + R + Q + EAA: To bring the enemy towards your team, E and run at your target, W right as you get in range then AA. R behind your target and Q them mid air then AA as soon as you can.

1. Tracking enemy jungle

Tracking the enemy jungler as a jungler yourself is one of the most overlooked things a jungler can do. Almost all people are too focused on their lanes so they cant track the enemy jungler themselves,but if you do it for them you can potentially deny the enemy jungler a ton of gank opportunities. To do this,you need to either ward one of the enemies buffs to know which side they are starting at,or you can ask your mid laner to ward the enemy at 1:25 so u can see to which side of the map the enemy jungler is going to path to. You also need to take into consideration what jungler they are playing,for example if they are playing a heavy ganking champion like Xin Zhao, Lee Sin, Elise they will take 3-4 camps and then look for ganks,meanwhile champions like Evelynn, Bel'Veth, Kayn and Udyr will look to do the same as you,which is fullclear from one side of the map to another.

2. Early game

As we discussed in the pathing section,during the early game you should just look to full clear and look for gank/countergank opportunities without wasting too much Tempo. After 8 minutes when Rift Herald spawns you should look to contest it if ur mid and top lane are doing ok. When u get in the pit and start stacking on herald you should most likely win the 1v1/2v2/3v3. As for drakes, i usually avoid them most of the games untill 11 minutes because i value the gold from taking herald and a tower more than the first drake. Upon exiting early game which is around 14 minutes,you should look to be around Level 10 in the XP department.

3. Mid game

Mid game goes the same as early game except now you will be teamfighting for objectives or having random fights. Keep clearing ur jungle on respawn and look for engages/counterganks with ur stacks. Take the 2nd herald if u can and try to get the drakes. If the enemy team tries to contest the objectives dont be afraid to engage on them with your fully stacked. You will need to be more careful of the enemy CC in the mid game teamfights and the enemy ADCs. If you get try to run away with your and wait out your cooldowns and re-engage with your .

4. Late Game

Baron control is number one way of finishing your games before you get to ultra late game where Hecarim can fall off depending on the enemy champions. Try to push a mid wave first,get vision around Baron and start it. If the enemy team gets too close you can turn on them when the baron is 3000 HP or above. If you do this the chances of you winning the fight are significantly increased cause you have your stacks. If the enemy team isnt coming close but the enemy jungler is trying to smite steal,try to + the baron with ur, it should do around 1800 damage. If the enemy jungler is playing Nunu & Willump Evelynn or Ekko you will have to completely back off cause they do way more damage. If you think your team cant win a 5v5,try to go into a side lane (preferably bot) and 1v1 or even 1v2 the enemy team. If you win the 1v1 you can run to Baron from bot to top and still do it 5v4 because Hecarim is insanely fast. Look to end the game with Baron minions or if you dont have baron keep some camps alive around midlane so you can engage on the enemy with your stacks and possibly ace them.

To sum up Hecarim is one of my favourite junglers as he is super fun to play and pretty viable as well . So with this guide I hope you learn how to play Hecarim as well as you want to.

Thanks for Reading! If you want to gain more in-depth knowledge about LOL, check out many helpful articles here!

Good luck to you! – Cheng