Do you love being an unavoidable little nuisance who places turrets all over the Howling Abyss? Well, you have to look no further than Heimerdinger!
Heimerdinger is a high-damage dealing mage who if played well can be the enemy team’s ultimate demise.
Heimerdinger’s H-28G Evolution Turret (Q) is a placable turret that Heimerdinger can store a maximum of 3 at a time. If players try to place a fourth H-28G Evolution Turret (Q) the oldest turret will be replaced.
H-28G Evolution Turrets (Q) do not have a timed-lifespan otherwise and will remain active for a short period of time after Heimerdinger players die, though they will become inactive shortly after players leave their vicinity.
When players use Heimerdinger’s ultimate UPGRADE!!! (R) they will empower the next ability and gives access to H-28Q Apex Turret (R+Q) which is also a stationary turret, though it has more range, deals more damage and unlike the H-28Q Evolution Turrets (Q) the H-28 Apex Turret has a timer attached to it and will disappear after a while.
Heimerdinger’s Hextech Micro-Rockets (W) launches a barrage of 5 rockets, intercepting each where your cursor is. The upgraded version of Hextech Micro-Rockets (W) is Hextech Rocket Swarm (R+W) which will deal more damage to champions and launches 4 waves of rockets instead of a single wave.
Finally, players will have access to CH-2 Electron Storm Grenade (E) which is a grenade that deals magic damage to nearby enemies and will slow them for 2 seconds, however, enemies in the center of the grenade will become stunned.
The upgraded version of CH-2 Electron Storm Grenade (E) is CH-3X Lightning Grenade (R+W), which hurls a very large grenade that bounces at the targeted location 3 times, exploding with twice the radius as its lesser ability. Enemies can be stunned or slowed multiple times if the circumstance permits.
Note that attacking enemies with either Hextech Micro-Rockets (W) and CH-2 Electron Storm Grenade (E) while next to placed H-28G Evolution Turret (Q) will cause the turrets to target the affected enemy and will deal up to double the damage.
QUICK RUNDOWN:
SUMMONER SPELLS: Flash, Heal, Clarity or Ignite (depending on preference)
RUNES: Dark Harvest, Cheap Shot, Eyeball Collection, Ultimate Hunter // Manaflow Band & Transcendence
ABILITY POWER UP: Q, W, E
FIRST BUY: Lost Chapter
BUILD ORDER: Luden’s Echo, Sorceror’s Shoes, Liandry’s Torment, Ryali’s Crystal Scepter, Morellonomecon and Rabadon’s Deathcap
COMBOS: As mentioned players will want to make sure that they use Hextech Micro-Rockets (W), Hextech Rocket Swarm (R+W), CH-2 Electron Storm Grenade (E), or CH-3X Lightning Grenade (R+W) next to already placed H-28G Evolution Turrets (Q) to target a single enemy champion and increase their damage.
SUMMONER SPELLS FOR HEIMERDINGER IN ARAM
FLASH
As is with most champions, I would strongly suggest players take Flash as one of their summoner spells.
While Heimerdinger does have some extra movement speed next to already placed turrets, Heimerdinger players can always use an extra helping hand when it comes to escaping team fights or when he is being chased by enemy champions.
When using Flash to get away from enemy champions, I would recommend trying to do so near one of your already placed turrets as it will raise the chances of you damage enemy champions, though, at the end of the day, whatever gets you to safety, gets you to safety.
Since Heimerdinger’s damage predominantly comes from his turrets, players will not want to use Flash to move forward, though, I have seen some success when players Flash forward and use Hextech Rocket Swarm (R+W) as it deals massive damage very quickly.
IGNITE
Although it takes a bit of getting used to, Ignite is one of the best Summoner Spells players can take on Heimerdinger as it can help secure a takedown, especially on low-health champions.
Ignite pairs up extremely well with gear like Liandry’s Torment and can also work well with Heimerdinger’s H-28G Evolution Turrets (Q).
The only concern I have when it comes to taking Ignite on Heimerdinger is that Heimerdinger players may not actually end up close enough to enemies that they are trying to attack as Heimerdinger players can play fairly far back.
HEAL
Heal is a fairly standard Summoner Spell to take into ARAM, especially for players who need some extra help with sustain.
Heal will both provide players with health and movement speed, though if players use healing runes from the Domination rune tree, players may not need to take heal.
CLARITY
I have to be honest in saying that Clarity isn’t going to be much help when playing as Heimerdinger unless you’re having to place your turrets regularly or have to rely on his other abilities to do deal damage due to enemies destroying turrets too quickly.
Clarity, in general, is a bit of a team supporting summoner spell, so if you don’t have many mana hungry champions on your team, maybe think of ignoring this summoner spell.
RUNE TREES FOR HEIMERDINGER IN ARAM
Heimerdinger plays like many other mages such as Veigar, Morgana, Twisted Fate, Anivia, Brand, Karthus, Teemo, Zyra, Soraka, Ziggs, and Malzahar where he can either use domination runes or sorcery runes.
There are two runes trees players can choose to use when playing Heimerdinger. The two most popular rune tree builds include:
Domination/Sorcery – Burst Damage Heavy
Sorcery/Domination – AP/Mana Sustain
Domination/Sorcery tends to be more aggressive than Sorcery/Domination, especially if players are able to harvest a good amount of souls by securing enemy takedowns.
Sorcery/Domination is recommended for players who would like to build high amounts of Ability Power and have issues with keeping their mana up. Since players will not have access to Dark Harvest, players may notice a plateau of damage from building Sorcery/Domination.
DAMAGE HEAVY/BURST RUNES FOR HEIMERDINGER (DOMINATION/SORCERY)
DARK HARVEST
Damaging champions below 50% deals 20-60 (+ 15% AP) damage based on your level. Each soul that you harvest adds +2 AP.
Players will only be able to collect souls every 45 seconds or can reset Dark Harvest’s cooldown to 1.5 seconds by being part of an enemy takedown.
Dark Harvest souls should be extremely easy to collect on Heimerdinger as Heimerdinger has some of the best range and versatility in ARAM.
Dark Harvest is most notable when H-28G Evolution Turrets (Q) damage enemy champions, especially during team fights where players are able to first deploy Hextech Micro-Rockets (W) or a CH-2 Electron Storm Grenade (E) to deal extra damage to said the enemy champion.
I would say that Heimerdinger is one of the easiest champions to get Dark Harvest on, especially if players have built Luden’s Echo. The only risk players have when taking Dark Harvest is when players are against enemy champions who constantly destroy their turrets though players should still be able to get a decent amount of stacks with Heimerdinger’s other abilities.
CHEAP SHOT
Cheap Shot will deal 10-45 (based on level) bonus true damage to champions who have impaired movement or actions. Cheap Shot has an extremely short cooldown, being 4 seconds.
Cheap Shot is great if Heimerdinger players are able to slow down or impair enemy champions, though I must admit that it can be a bit difficult to catch enemy champions without the help of gear pieces like Ryali’s Crystal Sceptor or the assistance of teammates.
Cheap Shot is the more aggressive rune players can take though if players are having difficulty staying alive as Heimerdinger and don’t need to worry as much about dealing damage to enemies, players can trade Cheap Shot for Taste of Blood, which will heal Heimerdinger players as they damage the enemy champions.
Taste of Blood comes in especially handy if players do not have a tank on their team, though I can’t say that Taste of Blood is going to save you from tough circumstances.
As mentioned earlier, if players take Taste of Blood, they may not need to take summoner spells like Heal as Taste of Blood should provide enough sustain to players.
EYEBALL COLLECTION
Collect 1 Eyeball per champion takedown, up to 10. Each takedown will provide players with 2 AP. Once players have received 10 Eyeballs they will also receive an extra 10 AP.
Eyeball Collection is the only Rune you will be able to use in ARAM from this tier of Runes.
ULTIMATE HUNTER
Reduces the cooldown of the player’s ultimate ability by 5% (+4% per each unique champion killed) up to a maximum of 25% CDR at 5 stacks.
While I would usually take or recommend Ravenous Hunter on mages because of the healing it provides, Heimerdinger players are going to want to have their ultimate off of cooldown as often as they can have it, simply due to how powerful it is.
While I personally use Heimerdinger’s ultimate on his H-28G Evolution Turrets (Q) to unleash an H-28Q Apex Turret (R+Q) as it deals some of the best damage in comparison to the other abilities.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what ability you use with Heimerdinger’s Ultimate, having his ultimate on the shortest cooldown as possible will always be a good idea.
MANAFLOW BAND
Hitting enemy champions with an ability will permanently increase your maximum mana by 25 (cooldown 15 seconds), up to a maximum of 250 mana. Although players will receive an increase in the maximum mana they can have, proccing Manaflow Band will not provide an increase in your current mana.
Once players have capped out their maximum mana at 250 bonus mana, they will receive 1% of their missing mana every 5 seconds.
Manaflow Band is mostly a defensive rune and is not required for Heimerdinger, though can definitely be helpful especially if players are extra aggressive with Heimerdinger.
If players want a more damage oriented rune they should pick Scorch as it can help secure takedowns, especially when paired up with Liandry’s Torment.
TRANSCENDENCE
At level 10 players will receive 10% CDR and 2 AP for every 1% CDR that goes over the 40% cap (or 45% if using Cosmic Insight).
Although players do not absolutely need cooldown reduction on Heimerdinger, I will say that having access to Heimerdinger’s abilities as often as possible is nothing I’m going to complain about.
I personally usually stick around 30% CDR on Heimerdinger, though, if I’m against more aggressive champions who I need to stun often, I definitely get that CDR up to 40%.
SUSTAIN DAMAGE FOR HEIMERDINGER (SORCERY/DOMINATION)
ARCANE COMET
Damaging enemy champions with an ability causes an Arcane Comet to be thrown at the enemy’s current location. The Arcane Comet can deal between 30-100 plus 20% AP. Damaging enemy champions with abilities will help reduce the cooldown of Arcane Comet, though the cooldown sits between 8-20 seconds based on player levels.
Unlike Dark Harvest, Arcane Comet has a cap on the amount of damage it can do and the increase in damage is tied to the player’s champion level, making early game buffing… well… unachievable.
Arcane Comet is a pretty decent pick on Heimerdinger, however, due to the fact that it deals sustain damage instead of burst damage, Heimerdinger players may not be able to rely on it to secure takedowns.
Arcane Comet does proc fairly often when playing Heimerdinger, however, the reality is… since it’s so easy to harvest souls with Dark Harvest there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t take it.
MANAFLOW BAND
Hitting enemy champions with an ability will permanently increase your maximum mana by 25 (cooldown 15 seconds), up to a maximum of 250 mana. Although players will receive an increase in the maximum mana they can have, proccing Manaflow Band will not provide an increase in your current mana.
Once players have capped out their maximum mana at 250 bonus mana, they will receive 1% of their missing mana every 5 seconds.
Manaflow Band is mostly a defensive rune and is not required for Heimerdinger, though can definitely be helpful especially if players are extra aggressive with Heimerdinger.
TRANSCENDENCE
At level 10 players will receive 10% CDR and 2 AP for every 1% CDR that goes over the 40% cap (or 45% if using Cosmic Insight).
Although players do not absolutely need cooldown reduction on Heimerdinger, I will say that having access to Heimerdinger’s abilities as often as possible is nothing I’m going to complain about.
I personally usually stick around 30% CDR on Heimerdinger, though, if I’m against more aggressive champions who I need to stun often, I definitely get that CDR up to 40%.
SCORCH
Every 10 seconds players a player’s next damaging ability sets an enemy champion on fire dealing between 15-35 bonus magic damage after 1 second.
While it doesn’t seem like Scorch is all that powerful, especially in comparison to runes like Gathering Storm. Scorch can be extremely useful for Heimerdinger so you can keep enemy champions are low on health.
Scorch can be helpful when trying to get rid of an enemy’s magic resist shield and can also make sure that you continue to deal damage to enemy champions even after your passive ends.
CHEAP SHOT
Cheap Shot will deal 10-45 (based on level) bonus true damage to champions who have impaired movement or actions. Cheap Shot has an extremely short cooldown, being 4 seconds.
Cheap Shot is great if Heimerdinger players are able to slow down or impair enemy champions, though I must admit that it can be a bit difficult to catch enemy champions without the help of gear pieces like Ryali’s Crystal Sceptor or the assistance of teammates.
Cheap Shot is the more aggressive rune players can take though if players are having difficulty staying alive as Heimerdinger and don’t need to worry as much about dealing damage to enemies, players can trade Cheap Shot for Taste of Blood, which will heal Heimerdinger players as they damage the enemy champions.
Taste of Blood comes in especially handy if players do not have a tank on their team, though I can’t say that Taste of Blood is going to save you from tough circumstances.
As mentioned earlier, if players take Taste of Blood, they may not need to take summoner spells like Heal as Taste of Blood should provide enough sustain to players.
ULTIMATE HUNTER
Reduces the cooldown of the player’s ultimate ability by 5% (+4% per each unique champion killed) up to a maximum of 25% CDR at 5 stacks.
While I would usually take or recommend Ravenous Hunter on mages because of the healing it provides, Heimerdinger players are going to want to have their ultimate off of cooldown as often as they can have it, simply due to how powerful it is.
While I personally use Heimerdinger’s ultimate on his H-28G Evolution Turrets (Q) to unleash an H-28Q Apex Turret (R+Q) as it deals some of the best damage in comparison to the other abilities.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what ability you use with Heimerdinger’s Ultimate, having his ultimate on the shortest cooldown as possible will always be a good idea.
SKILL LEVEL UP RECOMMENDATIONS & TIPS ON HOW TO PLAY HEIMERDINGER IN ARAM
H-28G EVOLUTION TURRET (Q)
Every 20 seconds (is affected by CDR), Heimerdinger will store up a single H-28 Evolution Turret that can be placed on the floor.
Turrets have a short-range and deal 6 / 9 / 12 / 15 / 18 (+35% AP) magic damage and a long-ranged laser beam attack that deals 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 (+55% AP) when the H-28G Evolution Turrets are fully charged, which takes 16 seconds and is not affected by CDR.
Turrets will charge with each basic attack by 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5% or can alternatively be charged by 20% for every Hextech Micro-Rocket (W) that hits an enemy champion or by 100% when an enemy champion is hit by a CH-1 Electron Storm Grenade (E).
Turrets will be charged in a similar manner even if the abilities are empowered by Heimerdinger’s ultimate, UPGRADE!!!
While Heimerdinger’s turrets are powerful, they will go offline if Heimerdinger is too far away from them and he will not be able to place more than 3 turrets at a time.
H-28G Evolution Turrets cost 20 mana to place and have 150 Health (+25 per champion level)(+5% of AP from levels 1-8 and beyond that will receive 3.5% per level up to 40% AP).
H-28Q APEX TURRET (Q + R)
When upgraded the H-28G Evolution Turrets will become a single H-28Q Apex Turret which deals 70 / 90 / 110 (+35 AP) magic damage and 100 / 140 /180 (+70% AP) magic damage with its charged beam for a maximum of 8 seconds.
Every basic attack from this turret will charge the beam by 20%.
Q is by far the most useful ability Heimerdinger players can use in battle and should not be taken lightly. Make sure that you power this sucker up first because it’s going to be the main source of your damage.
Though you may alternate between other abilities to upgrade and empower, the H-28Q Apex Turret is probably going to end up on your favourite list.
HEXTECH MICRO-ROCKETS (W)
For the cost of 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 mana players can unleash a barrage of 5 rockets that meet up where a player’s cursor is.
Players can either choose to fan out this ability to have more are of effect, though they can use all 5 rockets to target a single enemy champion dealing 50 / 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 (+45 AP) magic damage to the first enemy hit. If enemies are hit by multiple rockets they will take only 20% magic damage up to a maximum of 90 / 144 / 198 / 252 / 306 (81% of AP).
Enemy minions will take 30 / 48 / 66 / 84 / 102 (+45% AP) damage per rocket.
Players can launch Hextech Micro-Rockets every 11 / 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 seconds and I would recommend fanning out this ability rather than using it on a single enemy, though this will obviously depend on the circumstance that you’re in.
HEXTECH ROCKET SWARM (W + R)
Firing 4 waves that deal 135 / 180 / 225 (+45% AP) magic damage each though if hit by multiple rockets enemies will similarly take reduced damage up to a maximum of 503 / 697.5 / 892 (+183% AP).
It’s no secret that players should max out their W second, especially due to its extremely high damage and ability to cause AoE damage.
While I have to admit that the Rocket Swarm heals such high damage, especially if they hit enemies multiple times, Hextech Rocket Swarm isn’t the easiest ability to land, especially if you’re up against fast-moving enemy champions.
CH-2 ELECTRON STORM GRENADE (E)
Every 12 seconds for the cost of 85 mana players can hurl a grenade that deals 60 / 100 / 140 / 180 / 220 (+60 AP) magic damage, slowing enemies by 35% for 2 seconds, though enemies struck in the center will be stunned for 1.5 seconds.
CH-3X LIGHTNING GRENADE (E + R)
Throws a grenade that discharges 3 times dealing 100 / 200 / 300 (+60% AP) magic damage and becomes larger each time while slowing enemies by 80%.
In reality, you don’t see this sucker get much use, especially because… well it doesn’t do much damage.
GEAR BUILD FOR HEIMERDINGER
LUDEN’S ECHO
90 Ability Power, 600 Mana, 20% Cooldown Reduction and can cause extra AoE damage to help proc Dark Harvest? Yes, please.
Luden’s Echo is remarkable for the amount of CDR it provides players and the huge amount of mana and damage.
Luden’s Echo is a lot of fun to use on Heimerdinger as similar to Teemo players can stand back while running around in hopes of charging Luden’s Echo, though Heimerdinger + Luden’s Echo is much more impactful than Teemo in my opinion.
Players can literally keep running around in circles after placing a few turrets in hopes of activating Luden’s Echo. If players do choose to do this, it’s a wise idea to make sure that you’re still using your other abilities to deal damage, especially your grenades as the stun they provide can be game-changing, especially alongside allies.
SORCERER’S SHOES
Sorcerer’s Shoes will provide players with magic penetration and movement speed. The only other shoes I would recommend are the Ionian Boots which will provide players with 10% Cooldown Reduction and will reduce the cooldown reduction of Summoner Spells.
LIANDRY’S TORMENT
If players do not need any defensive items or do not need cooldown reduction I would recommend using Liandry’s Torment so they can do sustained burn damage.
Liandry’s Torment gives 75 Ability Power and 300 Health. As a passive Liandry’s Torment will also deal 2% more damage per second in combat with enemy champions, up to a maximum of 10%. Spells will also burn enemies for 3 seconds dealing 1.5% of the player’s maximum health per second. If enemies are experiencing movement impairments they will receive an extra 2.5% damage from the burn.
Liandry’s Torment pairs up extremely well with Rylai’s Crystal Scepter and Morellonomecon.
I love Liandry’s Torment, especially on Brand because of the burn it provides. Liandry’s pairs so well with players who have Dark Harvest. Get to collecting those souls mama!
RYLAI’S CRYSTAL SCEPTER
Rylai’s Crystal Scepter provides players with 90 Ability Power, 300 Health and will also reduce the enemy’s movement speed by 20% by one second.
Rylai’s Crystal Scepter is a must build for players who are using Cheap Shot as one of their runes as it will ensure that players can easily get Cheap Shot off whenever it is available.
MORELLONOMICON
Morellonomicon will provide players will Ability Power, dealing 70 AP and giving players an extra 300 Health, which will also work very well with Liandry’s Torment.
Morellonomicon provides players with 15 Magic Penetration as well as Grievous Wounds for 3 seconds.
Morellonomicon is a must build for Heimerdinger players, but when to build it will depend on who you are up against.
If you’re up against a team of tanky enemy champions or champions who do a lot of healing, I definitely recommend building Morellonomicon 3 or 4th. If not, build it whenever else you want or need it!
RABADON’S DEATHCAP
Need to amplify all that sexy Ability Power? Grab Rabadon’s Deathcap for 120 AP with a 40% AP increase.
Rabadon’s works best with Gathering Storm, however, is just useful no matter what.
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