Talk:Hecarim/@comment-5877442-20140503115449/@comment-24702580-20140503130559

Hydra is certainly a possibility on Hecarim but I feel like it does not synergize as well as some other items. With Hecarim it is usually best to go for one item dedicated to damage and then full tank, Hydra is an option for your one offensive item but I think there are better options.

The Black Cleaver: It gives a good chunk of AD, some health, armor pen, and cooldown reduction which are all vital for Hecarim to function. On top of that he is also able to make use of the armor shred very easily with his Q. Oddly enough this item isn't actually built too often on Hecarim but can work very well with an AD heavy team.

Youmuu's Ghostblade: AD, armor pen, and cooldown reduction are strong stats for Hecarim but the critical strike is a bit wasted. People tend to build this item for the active but the attack speed is not all that effective for Hecarim. Overall I think that the item has it's place in certain situations but I view it as a bit more of a gimicky option.

Trinity Force: Hecarim can make use of every stat except for the attack speed and critical strike. He also is able to use the spellblade effect nearly on cooldown with his easily spammable Q, on top of this Trinity Force also gives him amazing ability to stick to his target. This is my go to item whenever I am starting to get ahead with Hecarim, usually I will sit on the Sheen and Phage until I can upgrade in one go. With this item Hecarim is able to devastate squishy targets while also being able to initiate a teamfight and make picks on out of position targets. The biggest downside to this item on Hecarim is that it is so expensive, you need to be ahead if you want to build this item and immediately after buying it you need to go for full defense in order to avoid dying.

Iceborn Gauntlet: Hecarim makes use of all the stats, and the 20% cooldown reduction is a massive bonus. This item is considered core for Hecarim by many people. As with Trinity Force Hecarim is one of the most effective users of spellblade effects in the entire game close to the tier of Jax and Udyr. This item is best built if you are not snowballing the game, the slow is arguably more effective than the speed buff that Trinity Force offers as it allows your entire team to stick to a target rather than just you. Overall this item should be built in the majority of games as Hecarim (Although I personally find Trinity Force to be much more fun). The biggest issue I have with this item is that it does not add any real damage to Hecarim and is likely the source of Hecarim's reputation of not dealing much damage later in the game. I would reccomend building this in conjunction with another hybrid offensive item such as a Maw of Malmortius or Mercurial Scimitar.

Spirit of the Lizard Elder: Easily the most popular item to build on Hecarim, in combination with an Iceborn Gauntlet this item gives you significant power in the mid game. The attack damage and cooldown reduction are strong stats for Hecarim but the main reason people build this on Hecarim is the true damage passive. Hecarim is able to apply the passive to many targets at once with his Q and the true damage also contributes to the heal your W gives you. This item is a solid choice in combination with one other hybrid offensive item. If you plan to go for one fully offensive item such as Trinity Force, however; Spirit of the Ancient Golem is a better option as it makes you tanky enough to survive mid game fights while you are still building your damage.

Ravenous Hydra: Hecarim does make use of all the stats this item provides however I feel that there are much better choices. Hydra is built for three reasons: Waveclear/jungle clear, Sustain, and the active for burst. Hecarim already has an extremely quick cleartime if you can keep your Q stacked between camps, he also already has strong sustain with his W, and Hecarim is not a bursty AD assassin, he is more focused on a steady output of damage and crowd control heavy initiations. Another important factor is that this item actually has anti-synergy with his kit, when Hecarim uses his ultimate to initiate a fight it fears people and makes them walk away from him, usually by the time you use the active on Hydra they are all out of range. Overall this item is a possibility for Hecarim but in comparison with the other offensive options Hecarim has it is somewhat lacking. Of course, if you have success building this item on him then by all means continue to do so.