Guide · Jungle

Hecarim Guide

the Shadow of War

Fighter

Tank

Tier C Jungle

Hecarim, the Shadow of War, is a fighter and tank champion of medium difficulty. Across our 858 analysed ranked games, Hecarim is mostly played in the Jungle (100% of its games), with a 49.2% win rate in that role: tier C among Jungle champions (#34 of 48, ranked by win rate). Hecarim's damage is mostly physical (82%): armor is the best defensive answer against this champion. Win rate varies with game length: 55.4% in short games (under 25 min, 325 games) versus 43.0% in long games (over 35 min).

Averages measured over 858 Jungle games played with Hecarim, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

Combos and how to play

Hecarim is a speed jungler: his attack damage rises by a percentage of his bonus movement speed. Rampage increases his damage and reduces its cooldown with each hit, Devastating Charge knocks back and deals damage based on the distance traveled, and Onslaught of Shadows charges in a line before terrifying on arrival.

The charge engage

E › AA AA › Q › W

When: An enemy is far away.

Devastating Charge increases your speed and lets you pass through units; your next attack knocks back and deals more damage the farther you have traveled.

The team fight

R › Q › W

When: Enemies are grouped.

Onslaught of Shadows charges in a line and terrifies nearby enemies on arrival; follow with Rampage and Spirit of Dread.

The prolonged fight

Q › Q › W › AA AA

When: You are in melee.

Rampage gets stronger with each hit; Spirit of Dread gives you armor, magic resistance and health.

Laning phase

Rampage damages nearby enemies; if it hits at least one, the next ones become faster and stronger. Spirit of Dread heals you for a percentage of the damage taken by nearby enemies.

Common mistakes

• Attacking without bonus movement speed: your damage depends on it.
• Using Devastating Charge at too short a distance: its damage depends on the distance traveled.
• Casting the ultimate while forgetting it charges in front of you.

Riot's official tips for playing Hecarim

• Spirit of Dread restores Health when nearby enemies take damage, including damage dealt by allies. Cast this during a large fight to maximize Hecarim's survivability.
• Devastating Charge deals more damage based on the distance traveled. Try using Onslaught of Shadows or Summoner Spells such as Ghost or Flash to maximize this damage.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Endless Hunger, Spear of Shojin, and Death's Dance (219 games, 58.9% win rate).

Endless Hunger+Spear of Shojin+Death's Dance

219 games · 58.9%

Black Cleaver+Spear of Shojin+Death's Dance

162 games · 55.6%

Endless Hunger+Black Cleaver+Death's Dance

116 games · 56.0%

Summoner spells

Ghost + Smite49.3% · 848 games

Most-played runes

Stormraider's Surge + Precision

49.0% · 708 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Nimbus Cloak99%

Celerity91%

Waterwalking99%

Secondary tree · Precision

Legend: Haste99%

Triumph98%

Shards

Adaptive force90%

Adaptive force98%

Health scaling64%

Conqueror + Sorcery

49.6% · 125 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph100%

Legend: Haste100%

Last Stand93%

Secondary tree · Sorcery

Celerity85%

Nimbus Cloak80%

Shards

Attack speed66%

Adaptive force96%

Health scaling74%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Hecarim's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team52.2% · 232 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Spear of Shojin 52.5% ▲

Death's Dance 56.0% ▲

Endless Hunger 58.6% ▲

Black Cleaver 57.7% ▲

Maw of Malmortius 56.7% ▲

Hubris 50.0%

The item that stands out most is Black Cleaver: 57.7% win rate, +7 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team51.6% · 244 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Spear of Shojin 50.8%

Death's Dance 51.7%

Endless Hunger 52.1%

Black Cleaver 51.1%

Axiom Arc 45.0%

Maw of Malmortius 62.5%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Balanced enemy team45.8% · 382 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Spear of Shojin 46.8%

Death's Dance 51.5%

Black Cleaver 45.3% ▼

Endless Hunger 53.8%

Maw of Malmortius 44.6% ▼

Hubris 38.7% ▼

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Hecarim in the Jungle

Lee Sin Hecarim: 37.5%32 games

Lee Sin has the edge in 62% of the 32 Jungle duels against Hecarim. See the Lee Sin guide.

Nidalee Hecarim: 37.5%16 games

Nidalee has the edge in 62% of the 16 Jungle duels against Hecarim. See the Nidalee guide.

Jarvan IV Hecarim: 38.5%26 games

Jarvan IV has the edge in 62% of the 26 Jungle duels against Hecarim. See the Jarvan IV guide.

Talon Hecarim: 42.1%19 games

Talon has the edge in 58% of the 19 Jungle duels against Hecarim. See the Talon guide.

Viego Hecarim: 45.8%24 games

Viego has the edge in 54% of the 24 Jungle duels against Hecarim. See the Viego guide.

Who Hecarim is strong against

Kha'Zix75.0% · 20 games

Shaco71.4% · 21 games

Graves57.1% · 21 games

Qiyana57.1% · 21 games

Viego45.8% · 24 games

How to play against Hecarim

• Hecarim gains life from nearby enemies with Spirit of Dread but lacks durability, use burst damage.
• Hecarim's ultimate causes opponents to flee in terror. Spread out to reduce his power in fights.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Hecarim's matchups.

Abilities

PassiveWarpath

Hecarim gains Attack Damage equal to a percentage of his bonus Move Speed.

QRampage

Hecarim cleaves nearby enemies dealing physical damage. If Hecarim damages at least one enemy, he increases the damage and lowers the cooldown of subsequent Rampages.

WSpirit of Dread

Hecarim gains Armor and Magic Resist. Hecarim deals magic damage to nearby enemies, and gains Health equal to a percentage of any damage those enemies suffer.

EDevastating Charge

Hecarim gains increasing Move Speed and can move through units for a short duration. His next attack knocks the target back and deals additional physical damage based on the distance he has traveled since activating the ability.

ROnslaught of Shadows

Hecarim summons spectral riders and charges forward, dealing magic damage in a line. Hecarim creates a shockwave when he finishes his charge, causing nearby enemies to flee in terror.

Frequently asked questions

Full Hecarim page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides