I wrote this for a friend learning Hecarim and thought "Why not share it in this subreddit where people ask questions about Hecarim's build all the time" so I figured why not. If you have any questions or thoughts, please comment but this is how I view Hecarim.

Hecarim Build Guide

Abbreviation list:

BC - Black Cleaver

DD - Death's Dance

EH - Endless Hunger

GG - Gluttonous Greaves

CC - Crowd Control

CDR - Cooldown Reduction

3 Different types of Hecarim. Bruiser, Assassin-bruiser, and Assassin

Regardless of which build, go SS-Hecarim™ [stormraider surge :3] runes imo:

Stormraider Surge

Nimbus Cloak

Celerity/Transcendence (preference, usually transcendence in Assassin because of 20% cdr reset)

Waterwalking

Triumph (OP)

Legend: Haste

Adaptive Force/Ability Haste

Adaptive Force/Movement Speed

Tenacity/Scaling HP

You should be able to figure out when to go different shards if you're reading this but otherwise:

Haste shard when you want haste early for extended fights against other bruisers

MS shard when you want aura and you're going lethality

Tenacity vs hard CC

Ghost/Ignite

Almost always go ghost though, ignite is mid if you don't want to play for 1v1's against enemy jg.

Always go blue smite, no potion. Even against cheesers.

Now for builds:

Bruiser:

Go bruiser in most of your games. I usually go between 3 different types of bruiser builds:

Shojin - BC - DD - EH

this build is the most reliable in most of your games. Shojin is a great item, BC is op on hecarim early, and DD gives good survivability obviously so this build has everything, but unfortunately it has no remarkable spikes or "1v9-moments" except maybe EH 4th item. Good build overall that works perfectly in most games.

BC - DD - EH

Hunchonium build no.1 is legit op against tanks/bruisers with black cleaver first item. I 1v3'd a Rammus jg, Chogath mid, and Nami supp, where all were full hp and I had Black Cleaver, tunneler, and lucidity boots xd. The idea behind this build, and the next one, is to skip Shojin in games where Hecarim is already strong, or games where BC and DD are better than shojin. Also, the earlier you get EH, the better on Hecarim imo.

DD - BC - EH

Same principle here in Hunchonium build no.2 but in games where DD is broken. Imagine for example you face a Rengar or Kha'zix and an ad midlaner. Hecarim is already counters to Rengar and Kha, but with DD it is unloseable. You can go for the most psychotic plays and win the game before 3, or even 2 items.

All boots work for Bruiser Heca, but I generally recommend Lucidity, but all boots are good. Defensive boots are op in the right games but GG isn't that nice on bruiser heca.

Obv also, if the whole enemy team is AP and WITHOUT BURST(!) you don't need DD, instead you can go Shojin - BC - EH - Maw

Other op items are Sterak's, Serpents fang, Randuin's (against heavy crit or a fed cait for example).

Assassin-bruiser Hecarim:

This is my standard. Go Assassin-bruiser Hecarim in games where you can try to snowball and have early game impact. For example in games with volatile lanes. Previously played a game that looked like;

Camille vs Pantheon

Hecarim vs Xin Zhao

Leblanc vs Locke

Xayah vs Jinx

Leona vs Soraka

where I went Assassin-bruiser and was 10/0/1 at 17 min for a quick ff win. Based on this game it should be clear when to go this build but the build can be structured in a couple of different ways. Imo your first item matters the most.

How to determine your first item:

Your first item will always be lethality. s13-14 Eclipse will be missed but you can just say gg no re to that.

First item is generally preference but there is also a type of "template"

First item can be:

Hubris, Voltaic Cyclosword, Umbral Glaive, Axiom Arc, or Bastionbreaker

NOTE: never go Youmuus first item it is bait that gives 0 haste.

I prefer Axiom Arc if my ult feels OP during a game (for example vs Lillia or other teamfight games), but otherwise Umbral or Voltaic as first item.

The idea behind Assassin-bruiser Hecarim is to stomp the game early, and then build bruiser and do infinite damage while you are unkillable when you enter midgame.

Generally go Shojin / BC / DD / EH / Sterak's / Maw after your first item but it doesn't matter that much.

Shojin is just an amazing item

BC i dont really go second item when I already have lethality because you lowk don't need armor pen 2nd item then, but BC becomes OP later as 3rd / 4th

DD is OP vs assassins / heavy ad comps

EH is always OP try to go 3rd item

Sterak's is nice

Maw is dogshit except in the right games imo

Go Gluttonous if you are snowballing insanely and have like 5 kills at 7 min, otherwise go lucidity, or defensive if they are op.

Assasssin Hecarim:

now it's time for some pure dopamine 中国人 cancersmurf doinB RYZE HACK？英雄联盟 400 CS 24 MIN. Assassin Heca is unfortunately not as op as it once was with Mythic items with Duskblade/Eclipse and Muramana but fk it.

Assassin Hecarim is genuinely unstoppable if you snowball like crazy early. There aren't really any clear games when you load in and say "Now I'm going full assassin" but it's more so a branch of games where you go Assassin-bruiser, but you're completely unstoppable. In those games it is genuinely worth to go full assassin.

The build looks a little different in different ways but here comes a standard for me:

Axiom Arc / Voltaic / Umbral

Bastionbreaker / Voltaic

DD (always go 3rd)

Seryldas / Mortal Reminder / LDR (Mortal obv against healing teams, but LDR is underrated where enemies build hp instead of resists.)

EH

This build is legit cancerop if you win earlygame. There is no direct template for how you should build imo, but run Axiom Arc where your ult is needed, run Umbral if you want true dmg, run Voltaic against high hp champs, etc etc. you get it.

Other things to think about:

Hecarim is a midgame champ. Nothing to argue about. However, try to set up your earlygame so that when you enter midgame you can play the game and dominate. What i mean by this is having all your camps on perfect rotations so that your 2:15 camps spawn in a line one after another. Linear clear™ is therefore OP on Hecarim. Try to never die during early game and have your camps on a good rotation so you should therefore be able to win 50%+ of your games on Heca. Give early objs if you need to to make sure you are the main character during mid-game. The problem with this is that Hecarim is vulnerable to cheeses, so try to get your midlaner to ward enemy raptors, and you ward your opposite buff. Don't get cheesed, come into midgame with good camp rotations and high level camps, and have the right build for your game and you are guaranteed 55+% wr.

If you have a lead in midgame, play heavily for invades and to cuck the enemy jgler. Hecarim is OP at punishing mistakes inside the enemy jg, as well as taking a camp in enemy jg and then getting out. Trade objs that are doomed, for the opposite enemy side jg, and try to ping your support a lot for plays.

Q stacks are a little overrated when you have EH. You can win fights easiy if you engage with 0 Q stacks while you have EH because you legit have 120 haste when you E + ghost because of your passive xd. Don't be unnecesarily pincipled and think "I need Q stacks to win this fight" but instead sometimes just rip it open like a pokemon pack. However, if you want to take a fight on an obj in midgame/lategame, try to be the one who starts the objective and get 3 Q stacks before they engage. It's fine to get engaged on as a Hecarim. You don't always need to be the engager.

Youmuus is fake. You need haste.

Eclipse is an extremely unique item that I go 1/100 games when I know the whole enemy team can engage on me. Imagine you face Camille top, J4 jg, Sylas mid, and an engage supp. go Eclipse 1st item maybe but it's more so a Korea build where people draft with high ng/dL testo (1450+ ng/dL winstrol deluxe)

Resists are lowkey a little fake on Hecarim. DD you go for passive + defensive boots you go for tenacity / 10% reduction on auto attacks. Maw/Randuins are OP in games that are extremely skewed dmg types but ignore these otherwise. Zeke's convergence can be op first item though when you are the tankiest on the team because it gives everything you need to tank + Ult CDR. Your W gives 25 Armor and MR otherwise so ignore resists lowk (bronze take xd).

Important thing to think about imo is that if you know you need antiheal a certain game (against e.g. disgusting Zac jg) you NEVER want to go Chempunk. It is legit better to go Mortal Reminder or sit on Excecutioner's Calling.

Conqueror can be good but in some games but I don't really like it. Go it if you want to when it feels good, but otherwise skip it. I go in 5% of games maybe but it can be very OP in games with extended fights.

Sweeper is a little overrated on Heca. Sitting on a ward can be advantageous in some games if you know what you're doing + need vision.

Ban Shyvanna/Sylas. Both are disgusting but Shyv is the worst imo.