glory to riot gamez i love yall

New on Hecarim I’ve had really poor result playing the meta build and Phase rush. I just switched to conqueror and started build testing instead. I love long trade with him and it’s been night and day compared to the storm raider route

I buy axiom arc, omnivamp boots, voltaic cyclosword, endless hunger, death's dance and for the last item i either go cleaver or spear of shojin depending on the enemy team

Hey guys, I'm pretty new to heca and I want to pick him up for he seems like a lot of fun to play.

I was reading through his kit and I was more and more thinking to myself "this champ has got to build spirit visage", yet the item doesn't even seem to be in the recommanded items even late game.

Can anyone explain me why? It would sound like the healing bonus would be pretty interesting to me when facing heavy ap comps.

dont ask why i ulted that sona

Summoner Spells: Smite / Ghost
Keystone: Deathfire Touch (Sorcery)
Target Rank: Iron – Low Platinum

The Build

Runes:

Item Build (in order):

1. Ionian Boots of Lucidity
2. Stridebreaker (rush this)
3. Spear of Shojin
4. Black Cleaver
5. Jak'Sho, The Protean OR Guardian Angel

The Pitch: The Forgiving Death Fire Pegasus

The popular Hecarim builds (Stormraider surge + Shojin / Hubris) demand:

• Perfect R placement — miss it, you're dead.
• Conqueror tracking — need to weave autos and keep stacks up.
• Clean execution — one wrong move and you explode.

This build lowers the skill floor. You don't need to be a mechanical god. You just need to follow one simple combo:

The Combo: E → SB → W → Q

It's a self-sustaining damage loop:

• E gives knockback + damage.
• Stridebreaker gives instant damage + slow.
• W heals you from all damage (including DFT).
• Q spam refreshes DFT's burn.
• DFT burn keeps W healing you.

You don't need to track Conqueror stacks. You don't need perfect positioning. You just run at the enemy ADC/mage and press your buttons.

Why Deathfire Touch?

DFT gives you more upfront burst in short skirmishes. Conqueror gives more sustain in extended 5v5s. For diving low-mobility targets (ADCs, mages, immobile bruisers), DFT wins because you kill them faster.

And the W synergy means you're still healing while you fight — just from DFT burn instead of omnivamp.

Why This Works in Low ELO (Iron – Plat)

This is the "training wheels" Hecarim build. It teaches you to play as a secondary engage, dive the right targets, and disrupt fights — without punishing you as hard for mistakes.

Gameplay Guide

Early Game (Levels 1–6)

• Pathing: Powerfarm. Secure both Scuttles.
• Ganks: Look for opportunities but don't force. Stridebreaker isn't online yet.
• Goal: Farm well. This build is expensive.

Mid Game (Stridebreaker + components)

• You come alive. Stridebreaker makes ganks free.
• Look for skirmishes — 2v2s and 3v3s are your bread and butter.
• Combo: E → Stridebreaker → W → Q spam.
• Dive low-mobility targets (ADCs, mages). DFT burns them down while W heals you.

Late Game (3+ items)

• You are a disruptor, not primary engage.
• Wait for frontline to start the fight.
• Flank → Ghost → E → Stridebreaker → W → Q spam.
• Apply DFT burns + Cleaver shred. Soak damage with Jak'Sho/GA.

What If You Fall Behind? (0/3 at 10 Minutes)

• Keep powerfarming. Don't panic.
• Buy cheaper components (Phage, Kindlegem, Caulfield's) while building toward core.
• Look for smart ganks — Stridebreaker's slow is always useful.
• Do not pivot to full tank. You lose the DFT + W synergy. Build it slower, but build it right.

TL;DR

• Runes: DFT + Nimbus / Celerity / Waterwalking + Triumph / Tenacity
• Items: Ionian → Stridebreaker → Shojin → Cleaver → Jak'Sho/GA
• Combo: E → Stridebreaker Active → W → Q spam
• Playstyle: Secondary engage. Dive low-mobility targets. Disrupt fights.
• Why DFT? More burst in skirmishes + W healing from the burn.
• Skill floor: Lower than Conqueror builds. Forgiving. Beginner-friendly.

Has anyone else tried DFT + Stridebreaker on Hecarim? Drop your experiences below — let's see if this "noob build" actually carries. 

I'm a D3 Briar OTP and I'm just starting to learn Hecarim. I've noticed that Hubris usually has a good win rate as a lethality item, but I'm really struggling to win games when I start with it. Lately I've been trying Voltaic Cyclosword first and it's been working much better for me.

Is it worth it? To me it seems good item to get some HP and damage, but no one builds it ever.

Hecarim already has pretty damn decent ap ratios on his W and R - what if, in a bizzare scenario where riot devs smoked something before a patch, hecarim got ap ratios on his Q?

I can already see how many intresting builds could come up with cosmic drive or even rylais and riftmaker. He could become a drain tank, similar to swain, with his Q and W perma applying a slow and actually dealing damage, unlike now.

I believe full AP would still be weak - as his Q deals physical damage and 90% of ap item roster doesnt work on him.. but a hybrid with some of the items would definitely be intresting!

I'm curious what you guys can come up with.

How weak, or broken, could it be? Would it actually be a meaningful change?

Do you guys think it takes skill to play hecarim and get solid results? Im a hecarim otp and I can’t tell wether Ive been playing the champ for to long or if it’s just a simple champ. I personally think it takes skill to have a 50%+ wr on hec no matter the elo because he isn’t extremely OP into any matchups or games.

Edit: I also think knowing what to build also changes the champ completely

Consigli per su come giocare con hecarim e quali sono i suoi punti forti e le sue debolezze? Poi qualcuno mi saprebbe spiegare la build? Sono otp sejuani e volevo sperimentare altro

Specifically at the start of the game, my team mates tend to save their wards for no reason, im in plat and i was wondering once i get to maybe emerald or diamond, do your team mates actually ward your jg and the enemies jg at the start of the match? I do ask in chat but ofc that gets mixed reactions like " make me" or "go fk urself lol" lmao

Hello, im new to playing hecarim o/
i actually do enjoy playing him quite a lot, i think he is one of the more engaging junglers in the game and i do have fun with him.

I think i like to run conqueror more then stormraider, but if the enemy comp seems quite squishy i prefer to run stormraider and go lethality item first - axiom arc.

As for the conqueror build, i really really like muramana as my second item, and i feel like its a good combination with spear of shojin as first, i also experimented with going eclipse first but that seem to go nowhere, as i like to be more survivable if im gonna go muramana second.

i also tried to insert a black cleaver instead of serylda somewhere, but most people just play bruisers instead of an actual tanks.

Any tips or tricks for this champion? Im thinking of maining heca when im playing jg, he gives me similar feelings when i play him to those that i get from playing azir mid (my previous otp)
I can also answer some questions if needed :> (Dont mind the insane lose streak)
https://op.gg/lol/summoners/euw/Yordle%20Lover-PRIDE

Started playing heca recently, and I feel that itemizing properly is really huge for hecarim and if i dont i straight up lose even if im ahead. One thing that I struggle with knowing what to pick is the boots, normally i buy Cdr boots after first clear, but ive seen people buy omnivamp boots instead, im not sure when I should buy cdr or omni boots, and whether i should rush omni like I would for cdr boots. Anyone have any advice?

Good horse

can we as a community just get riot to remove this ? every team is gonna have some sort of heavy slow that takes a whole item from hecarim just because of his passive.. this is such bad game designt wdym my passive is working against me if the enemy has slows that already destroy hecarims dive heavy playstyle . just cap it out at 0 AD if his move speed goes below baseline -49 AD is a joke man

I absolutely despise this system , on a champion like Hecarim that has to be ahea and stay ahead it's so punishing to have a 700g bounty on you , one death can literally lose you the game

I've had so many games where I get ahead an end up dying once and I feel 10 times weaker than I was before, literally getting punished for playing well on a champion that is useless when not ahead

I can get super fed have 5 items just to loose a 1v1 to a 2 item toplaner with a kda score of 1/8. I love his playstyle but bro wtf i have to rely on my team in order to do something other than one shotting their adc, and in low elo its a coinflip wether your team is actually doing something or not. my user is 1992vnos#EUNE if anybody cares

*Volume Warning*

First time I've gotten a penta in a bit. Craziest part is when I decided to ult trough Jax E and it ended up giving me setup to get a 1 Q double. I also have to say Voltaic Axiom is broken as fuck because how is this damage balanced on 2 items?

is Shaco currently bugged or did i just get mega unlucky ? i have 3 Q stacks Shojin fully stacked Q both shacos deal 184 dmg to one shaco and 204 to the other so ofc i thought the one with the lower number is the real one i killed it and realize its actually the clone?? i even rewatched the match everything added up i Q both of them at the same time and the clone just takes less damage even tho it should take 50% MORE DAMAGE what the fuck is this ? vid is attached Clone HP: 1077 to 893 = 184 dmg real HP 936 to 732 = 204 dmg

https://reddit.com/link/1une4i5/video/9bvu4eipu8bh1/player

I was wondering what builds you usually go for when playing hecarim or what items you buy depending on enemy teams.