Guide to Heimerdinger - Killing Force Mecha
Intro
At this point there are several Heimerdinger guides up. They all focus very well on survivability, lane pushing, and farming. This isn't a guide about this. This is for those people who like aggressive champions, and never thought Heimerdinger could pull this off.
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Basics - Skills
Abilities
About – We all know a love of a turret. But most people cling to these suckers for life. They are replaceable, and should be considered as such. When you plant one, your objective is to do damage (it's an ability) and force the enemy to make a decision (often the wrong one). I use these as defensive blockers (counters a Blitzkrieg grab, watch for him to line himself up, and drop it just as he thinks your vulnerable), plant in grass if enemies are ambushing, etc. These are also your offensive strikers. People want to kill you, they will avoid the turrets. If you know you're about to get ganked, try to get two or three down, and upgrade at least one of them. If your upgrade is up again, save it until they jump you (then ugprade a turret, it'll get rapid fire attack/armor reduction ability!)
W: Hextech Micro-Rockets – Heimerdinger fires 1/2/3/4/5 Champion-seeking missiles. Each rocket does 80 (+0.2 ability power) magic damage hitting random champions within its range.
About – Use this as a ping if your laning and have mana to spare (especially against heroes without a hp regen (so early game). This is also your bellweather to if your being ganked. If it looks like there are no heroes nearby, but the missile is usable, there's a hero in range (it's not active unless there's a hero). This is your canary in the mineshaft people, so always be aware. I also use the missiles to "pop" spell shields (it's 5 shots, the first shot pops the bubble, the next 4 do damage!) Excellent if the two teams are lining up against each other, and half their team is shielded!
E: CH-1 Concussion Grenade – Heimerdinger lobs a grenade dealing 80/135/190/245/300 (+0.7 ability power) magic damage to enemy units, towers and turrets as well as stunning anyone directly hit for 1/1.5/2/2.5/3 seconds.
About –Grenades! Very miserable to use at a long range unless you're being chased (will blind/stun the chaser). Blind is useful if you're being hit, you'll stop them from hurting you! You'll use this extensively when you get to the gank disruption (see Mid/Late game below). Early game, put a rank or two in this early, and toss it at the enemy if they're going for minion last hits. Make em miss, stun em, hurt em, scare em off. The less money they get, the less geared they're gonna be.
R: Upgrade!! – Passively increases cooldown reduction by %10/15/20. On activation fully heals an Evolution Turret and doubles the turret’s attack speed for 10 seconds. Each upgrade adds 200hp, 10 damage and 10 armor and upgrades the turret to:
Level 2 with Uranium rounds that stack -1 armor -1 magic resist per hit
Level 3 with explosive area effect cartridges.
About – This has three uses! First off, if you're setting up a turret feeding location (minion eating) the first turret should get the upgrade quickly (it'll have enough hp to take a few hits, while the rest of the turrets whale away). I like to have my upgrade ready, in case I get jumped, for the Turret drop Upgrade Grenade combo. This makes your turret use armor reduction (and magic reduction) and high velocity, while the opponent is stunned. When they get unstunned, they will go for you, and the turret just eats them alive!
Passive: Techmaturgical Repair Bots – Gives nearby allies and turrets 6/12/16/22 health regen per 5 seconds.
About – This is the only ability that can heal allied Towers! If we've got some low towers, and I'm feeling generous, I'll spend some time building a turret fortifaction around it (if my cooldown is low). Two or three turrets and some upgraded, plus that tower has been healing the entire time I was building! Slight consideration. Also vital if your team gets pressed at the home base! Kepp those towers alive longer.
Basics - Character
Base Statistics
Health: 420 Start (+72 per level)
Mana: 305 Start (+65 per level)
Movespeed: 300
Armor: 10 (+3 per level)
Spellresist: 30
Critical Strike: 1 (+0.4 per level)
Health Regen: 0 (+0.2 per level)
Mana Regen: 0 (+0.2 per level)
Attack Range: 550
Builds
Ability Path
Fairly standard stuff here. I get a round of Rocket's early here, which gives you the early game ping. What does this mean? If you have the mana (Which you should), you can ping the enemy if they're close, or hanging in the back. Keeps them on their toes, not at full life, and away from the minions (less cash early). It's also phenominal usage when they decide to teleport back. They normally blue pill behind their turret. First, send a grenade their way, they'll get annoyed, and run back a few feet, and try again. Then send a missile their way, after they've been charging a bit. This will stop them from a speedy return (and they'll normally miss a minion wave they were trying to make it back for). Everylittle bit helps in early gaming!
1. Evolution Turret
· 2. Conc Grenade
· 3. Rocket
· 4. Evolution Turret
· 5. Evolution Turret
· 6. Upgrade
· 7. Conc Grenade
· 8. Evolution Turret
· 9. Conc Grenade
· 10. Evolution Turret
· 11. Upgrade
· 12. Conc Grenade
· 13. Conc Grenade
· 14. Rocket
· 15. Rocket
· 17. Upgrade
· 18. Rocket
Items
For ability power Heimer, you're really going to want a decent mana pool to keep things going, as well some early game HP regen. I generally start with a Meki Pendant and some HP pots. Depending on your team efficiency (and theirs) we're either going to build mana regen early, or ability power.
Item build goes something like this -
Philosophers Stone-> Kage's Lucky Pick-> Tear of the Goddess -> Boots of Mobility -> Mejaj's Soulstealer -> Fiendish Codex
Then, it's dependant on the enemy build, but I tend to go for a Zhonya's ring, Archangels Staff. Last item should provide heavy HP (and ability power if possible). Rylai's sceptre is generally a good option (combined with the rockets, you can ping someone with a slow at a LONG range as you're running away, dropping turrets as you go).
Mix this up based on the game sequence. If you're spending a lot of mana (getting pushed, grenading a lot, very aggressive, turrets getting killed often) go for the teardrop first. If your team is ganking early, and your getting assists, grab the soulstealer to stack up those ability points! (180 ability points PLUS hp/mana regen from assists is amazing!!!)
Masteries
Standard - 9/0/21. Don't get the blink mastery (it's useless), but do use blink.
Runes
Movement speed for the quintessents (Heimer is SLOW, so boost him as necessary). Grab some Mana/regen in the yellows to help keep your mana up in early game. Late game HP or AP is fine for the rest.
Summoner Abilities
Blink and Teleport. Teleport gets you back to those turrets to keep the minions dying, and allows you to jet across the screen as needed. Keep that exp bar moving as much as possible! Blink is invaluable to get out of those multi team ganks. Get over the trees, on the other side of the turret, etc. I also use my blink for some fun maneuvering around my turrets. I'll explain this is the "Heimer can Gank?" section.
Tactics
Turret Placement - EARLY GAME
Take the bottom lane (the bottom bushes are in range of the minion pushes, not the case for the top, and the middle has no bushes in range of the minions). Place a turret in the closest corner of the enemies bushes. This will give you range on the minion fights, and also keep them out of the bushes early game. Place your second turret just on your side of where the melee minions will meet. This will mean your turret will be able to reach all of the minions in the first wave. Then sit back a safe distance between the two, and whack any hero that tries to mess with em. The first wave should go easily enough, and your minions should walk away with the advantage. Place the next turret right behind the mellee minions when they run into the next wave. This should be just outside of their tower range, so begin building a turret wall (should be a "(" formation, giving your turrets strong focus on the middle (Where the minions will be). Expect the wall to suffer some for now, until you get upgrade, your capability of keeping the tower alive is slim to none. However, at least 3 turrets up means that any attempt by the enemy to reach you is likely to end them.
Use concussion grenades as means to slow the minion wave as it approaches your turrets. And rocket ping/grenade if the enemy gets too close! Your first trip back to base should be roughly at 1k gold (if you haven't gotten an enemy kill yet). Buy a philosopher stone and faerie charm (or second meki pendant). Keeping your mana up all the while tossing out grenades and rockets is vital to keeping the enemy off balance.
Normally, with a non-feeding champion with me, we can push the first tower down very quickly, and start pushing to the next turret. This is when I build a strong "(" of turrets, upgrading whichever turret gets aggroed by the minions first. Money is flowing quickly, and the enemy is starting to get frustrated by the hard push. Expect a gank (warn your friends). Any MIA's are coming your way. As soon as they head towards you, start running away, the enemies ALWAYS love chasing down Heimer. Your slow, and tasty (your allie will likely not be targeted). But they just ran through your turret wall, and their minion friends just got eaten. Turn around, throw a grenade in their face, and backtrack to the turrets. They'll be getting pinged by them, but you're a little hurt, and still juicy in their opinion. Drop an upgrade on a yellow turret (2 turrets should now have armor reduction, making their hero start taking MAJOR damage). Head to one end of your turrets, and when they get close, drop a grenade and blink to the opposite side. Their health is now very low, and they'll suddenly lose their appetite for Heimer. Try for a last hit, and then boot back to town. Either you got a kill, or you made bank while injuring their toons (turret wiping their minion waves), and not dying. And while your back at town shopping, your turrets are still eating the waves.
MID GAME
Grab a Soulstealer, and start looking for gank situations. Any lane with a half life hero is fair game. Let your allies know, and have them help with an early kill. Use this to feed your soulstealer (the rockets mean you're getting an assist in ANY fight situation). Enter their lane from behind, with the enemy between you and your fellow champion. Drop a turret on the way (upgrade it as well), and then close in (having your ally attack first). Immediately sweep in with a grenade drop from range, and dropping a turret as you come close. Don't blow your rockets, as it's just a waste of mana at this point. As soon as your cooldown's up for your turret, drop another one closest to the interior exit route (so they'll think the best escape is along the lane, where you dropped the upgraded turret). Leave any turrets you made as minion fodder (they'll grab a minion kill or two before they're downed) and head to another lane for minion nom'ing.
Ganking
You've got very nice mana regen by this point, your soulstealer has 4-5 stacks (45 ability points? Juicy!), and you've got Kages Pick and a Fiendish codex, and your turrets will now shoot for a minimum 80 damage. These suckers fire fast and furious, don't underestimate their damage (and your opponent WILL be underestimating this, use it to your advantage).
Realize, you are highly susceptible to multi-hero ganks, but against one or two enemies, you can kite them around a turret with a few grenades and take them out. I've taken out the most fed Ashe/Twitch combos with some fancy footwork. Your greatest asset is your assumed "Vulnerability". Drop turrets in the middle of team fights (upgrade ASAP), and on the outskirts of where you expect people to flee. They will also provide a novel distraction if your ganking a solo member (As their team mates will be killing your turret instead of coming to their aid). Always have the blink ready in case your being targeted. Keeping yourself alive means your turrets are alive and still wailing away at the enemy.
LATE GAME PUSHING
The late game push is the joyous part of the ability power Heimer. Your turrets ramp nicely with your ability power, and with a Zhonya's ring and Archangels staff, you've got about 500 ability power. That means your turrets are cooking at about 180 damage a piece. If the enemy is pushing your base, place a few turrets at the top of the ramp, and look for allied minion waves close to their base. If your team is ready (And all 5 of their guys are just idling). pop your rockets for pinging (spell shield popping), and then teleport to your advance creep wave (At the enemy base turret). Drop a turret, and upgrade it immediately, then lay waste to their tower. It should die in about 4-5 seconds, then drop a second turret in range of their inhibitor. Upgrade this as well, and then blue pill to base. You have successfully taken out an inhibitor in 15 seconds of work. Help the lane they were attacking as needed.
Always lay turrets in the middle of battle, and upgrade as quickly as possible (cooldown on both turret and UPGRADE should now be running every 10-15 seconds.) Rocket ping any close enemies, and play loose and easy. You are not diving into the fray at this point.
Overall, this strategy should not be used as a first time Heimer player. You need a certain "knack" with the grenades which can only be learned from a lot of practice, and you need to know how to get away. Do not hold value in your turrets, they are fodder to save you from being killed. Use them as such.
