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@Riot, what is Hecarim's identity?

seireikhaan·12/8/2015, 9:06:48 PM·50 votes·3,313 views

I would appreciate some input from a rioter on what exactly hecarim's identity is supposed to be. I've always interpreted that he was meant to be a 'lightning bruiser' type character. He was the cavalry that swooped in from a flank with great speed and forced people to scatter and cause chaos.

But, apparently that isn't correct. Riot's stated for a while now that they want to make changes that emphasize a champion's strengths and identity, while having exploitable shortcomings. Hecarim's been made increasingly slow and clunky as the last few months have gone on. Homeguards have been nerfed in effectiveness and cannot be acquired before 20 minutes. His E no longer stacks with other movespeed multiplicatively(a change which just flat out made him slower). And now we're set to see him lose half his passive and receive it only while charging.

If his identity is not in his mobility, what is it? He's no longer a "fast" champion. His base movespeed is nothing noteworthy. His mobility from abilities is not particularly noteworthy either, anymore- his movespeed boost is no longer 'special', and his ultimate has a relatively slow travel time compared to other 'dash' ultimates like malphite or nocturne. Never mind that there's a load of champions who are better at traversing walls and terrain.

When I mained hecarim 3 seasons ago, he was mobile, fast, it felt good. It feels bad enough when a champion like zed feels slower and clunkier to use, but I had thought hecarim's identity was in speed and force. Apparently I was wrong. So, what is his identity?

46 Comments

ArithianFlame12/8/2015, 11:23:40 PM17 votes

As someone who mained him exclusively in jungle from season 4 to early season 5, I'm convinced they've just given up on balancing him in top lane. Rather than just get the root of the problem and deal with his interaction with teleport, they've decided to repeatedly nerf him into near unviability. The only reason he's managed to hang on in jungle has been because of the powerful new items that are slowly being tuned down. His mana costs are obscene, his clear is mediocre and they've hit his base mana and health on top of his regen.

With the removal of his ghost passive, I cannot think of a single reason to pick him over Jarvan or Vi. Their gap closer is better, their ults and kit serve a similar purpose, and now they stick to a target just as well. Gone are they days of Hecarim being able to effectively chase.

I'm going to hold out for awhile before I get upset. With any luck, Riot is aware of the problems and will give Hecarim some power back into his kit. I think more speed on his E and reduced mana costs will go a long way in cementing his identity as a mobile jungler. Improve his clear, let him gank more often and more effectively, and he'll be competitive.

Owltears12/9/2015, 9:03:25 AM11 votes

Hecarim Identifies as an attack chopper http://st.elohell.net/public/chill/a19e7029c3901dbb61912c0c630516fc.jpg

Weretiger541112/8/2015, 9:33:52 PM5 votes

I agree with you, as the only reason why I started to play leauge of legends was because of him. I like to find it odd about Hecarim "oppressiveness" they mention. 1v1 he can not really do in comparison to other champions like Darius or Tryndamere (sure their are other examples) and the only reason why I can see this oppressiveness if he was fed or started to snowball(but do not all champions develop this, or at least most?). Anyways, I would be happy to hear why he deserved to have this part of his ability removed, though I myself cannot think of one.

EDIT 1:I also find it unfair you are nerfing his health and mana in order to force him more into the jungle when he can serve as a counter against usually strong top laners like Riven , but these changes I trusted, though now that trust is in question with this new decision to remove a part of his passive.

Weretiger541112/9/2015, 12:13:15 AM4 votes

As an update, saw on the patch notes that the reason for the removal is because he can avoid the horrible minion block that everyone else is forced to deal with(http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/patch/patch-524-notes). Can we all agree on how poorly of a reason this is for the nerf? The reason for this nerf is because of riot's own pathing problems. This has to be a temporary nerf or else this could be considered one of the poorest reasons for a nerf(I also know this is targeted to take hecarim out of top lane, also disagree with that too).

EDIT:Changed the reason as the enemy laner could still farm, but with hecarim's passive he did not need to deal with the horrible minion block, at least until now. And to add, the health nerf seemed to be uncalled for to add to this.

Romans VI XXIII12/8/2015, 9:25:43 PM3 votes

I run MS quints on my hec page + MS from masteries, and a few games ago I ganked mid and got out ran by a TF....who only had item 3113 item 1056

BluePolarizer12/8/2015, 10:59:14 PM3 votes

A fast, high damage tanky initiator who has problems sticking after his initial burst but is absolutely unignorable because he will melt your team if you don't.

Essentially he is kinda like a AD version of Amumu with a easier to land ult that's not as good. The difference is that because he's AD, he's faster and has stronger single target sustained damage at the cost of AOE and utility.

DogIsGod12/9/2015, 11:52:01 AM2 votes

Hecarim has been Annie in disguise all these years http://i.imgur.com/aaB9tT0.gif

Slamurai Jack12/8/2015, 11:00:20 PM2 votes

His unstoppable charge. He's like a cavalry chage: He rushes in with tremendous force and you have to no choice but to try and survive his charge and force him back. Hecarim automatically turns any team he faces into a protect the carry comp because he just eats enemy carries alive if they dont dedicate their entire team to protecting them.

Stacona12/8/2015, 10:56:40 PM2 votes

A hyper tank; a pony that runs fast and charges at people, pretty obvious and clear identity

Best Darius KR12/9/2015, 1:13:34 PM1 votes

Back in season 3 when he was nerfed, they described him in the Patch Spotlight (or whatever it was called) as a Tanky Sustained Fighter. Don't know how much of that applies to nowadays but there you go.

IDeoxite12/9/2015, 1:31:32 PM1 votes

Agreed. He needs some tuning. I love Hecarim as a champion, and find him super fun to play, but get frustrated with his lack of capabilities. Especially with the new jungle, you need to take blue buffs away from your mid laner or else you just become completely useless due to the lack of mana regen in season 6 jungle and hecarim's through the roof mana costs.

It's upsetting when you finally find a champion that you enjoy playing and discover that they're unplayable and continue to receive nerfs. Rito pls.

Hella Kaiser12/9/2015, 2:17:09 PM1 votes

a Quinn in Ult is faster than Hecarim + E + summoner 6 + item 3142...

SpecterVonBaren12/9/2015, 4:10:51 PM1 votes

I feel that Hecarim should be all about running people down. He should be incredibly fast and have good sustained damage so he can chase after someone while taking little damage and being difficult to keep at bay while he attacks you relentlessly until you can't go on any longer and he then tramples you.

MLDzXnRRR12/9/2015, 6:02:09 PM1 votes

Hecarim got nerfed to the ground after his use in competetive. The champion was pretty good before, but not very popular for some reason.

Ironclad Dragon12/9/2015, 8:56:26 PM1 votes

Of the times I have played him, I never feel like I have anything going for me as Hecarim. Other champions I play have some sort of visceral feedback in their kit, something that tells me that I've done well. Hecarim lacks that impact, that strength. His Q doesn't feel impactful and I never really notice the healing from his W. No matter how "super good" he is, he doesn't feel as good as he might be. It's like a gold generation passive; sure, it's undeniably powerful, but it never feels like that. It just takes up a part of the power budget that could be used on something really cool.

BluePolarizer12/10/2015, 12:06:18 AM1 votes

Hecarim has been gutted. Fucking useless trash champ now.

RottedApples12/10/2015, 12:57:37 AM1 votes

i always thought hecarim was supposed to be tanky so i wonder why his health got hit so hard in this patch

Shrek Luigi12/10/2015, 7:22:46 PM1 votes

Hecarim's identity is the League's Helicopter Horse

Transgressor12/8/2015, 10:56:20 PM1 votes

¯_(ツ)_/¯

WookieJesuz12/9/2015, 12:10:06 AM1 votes

His identity: CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGEEEEEEEE into the enemy team and start slashing away.

Bruised Ego12/9/2015, 12:40:39 AM1 votes

Don't forget, a large part of Hecarim's power also came from TP/homeguard ganks. He has been indirectly nerfed because TP has a higher cool down now and homeguards have been removed from the game. In addition, the homeguard buff will no longer work after you teleport (I believe this is as of the patch which will be released within the next 12 hours).

bobsenbob12/9/2015, 1:33:21 AM1 votes

I agree with this post, I picked up hecarim because of his gameplay feel of being able to charge in with a flank and do some damage and not have enemies be able to easily kite him. I dont really get why he needs so many nerfs though. There are many champions more oppressive than hecarim.

Dengeden12/9/2015, 4:41:01 AM1 votes

His "mobility" is too easily countered and, like all champions, he needs something else to get him through the laning phase. In his case, he becomes a ferocious, bloodthirsty one-man cavalry (he deals sustained damage that ramps up).

This gets oppressive pretty quickly because scaling damage can get a lot worse that outright damage ... while also leading to outright damage (via items).

If he's too slow for you, you need a better support, that's kinda how it is. MS items that aren't Deadman's just don't work on him. You can get swifties too because they're a budget buy now. (Are you sure the ability to get Alacrity doesn't make up for the slower Homeguard's btw?)

LordKentravyon12/9/2015, 5:28:07 AM1 votes

Hecarim in my eyes is a rampaging unstoppable being that tramples all in his path. Stopped by minions? As if, he's plowing through / over them while he slaughters those around them.
Loosing that part of his passive that is in my eyes CRUCIAL to who Hecarim is infuriates me, and is another example of the horrid balancing following the initial preseason patch (which in my eyes was ok, not perfect needed some adjustments but once it got them would be fine) that is just driving me away from the game.

Hec needs his ghost, I'd like to see Fizz get a passive though the whole "i'm a trickster" could be better represented

Squidblimp12/9/2015, 7:14:54 AM1 votes

He's an unstoppable AoE CC engage that does a lot of damage and helps to clean up after the fight. Malphite is different because his AoE CC engage doesn't have much damage unless built full AP. Vi is different because she is more of a single-target lockdown rather than an AoE engage. I do agree Hecarim could use some love though.

Lady Hammerlock12/9/2015, 12:07:39 PM1 votes

A stupid fucking horse

Only DOTA players will understand that joke....