3/1/2013: Fixed the "walls of text" and made things more colorful/easier to read.
3/19/2013: Updated for today's patch. Added "Aegis of the Legion" to the items list and updated some of the text to be cleaner/easier to read.
4/17/2013: Small fixes to Summoner Spell section, reduced wording in entire guide. Thank you for second place Heimerdinger build so far!
4/17/2013 (later): Even more word reduction and more COLOR! Removed Abyssal Scepter and added Deathfire Grasp to Situational Items. Removed a useless chapter. Surely this will hit number one! >:D
4/24/2013: Lots of changes to Item Build. Moved things around, added some, removed some. Going to tinker with Rod of Ages, will see what that does.

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Let's face the facts: Heimerdinger is not the greatest champion in the League of Legends. Sure, he can throw some long range stuns (if your opponents stand still for 2 seconds), and his missiles are nothing to be laughed at. But everyone knows that this poor Yordle is looked down upon by a large portion of the LoL community.

I am not going to stand here and tell you how Heimerdinger can be amazing, because I can't. I love him to death, but I can't lie to the community. What I plan to do is show you how to play Heimerdinger competently. In this guide you will see a few golden eggs that many people overlook in The Dinger, as well as a comprehensive look on turret positioning.

If you simply do not care about my build, skip ahead to the last two chapters, where I get into the turret positioning during the laning phase, as well as how to play with a Heimerdinger during a team fight and how to build a team composition around him.

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Pros + Strong turret defense. (plus turret healing!) + Strong turret push. + Longest stun in the game. + One of the longest pokes in the game. + All AOE abilities allow for maximum harassment in team fights. + Two CC abilities. + Almost always at full 40% cooldowns with UPGRADE!!! + His hair. + His humor. + His mustache. + Can counter strong, often-picked champions. ( Katarina, Morgana, Kassadin, Diana, Evelynn, Akali, Fizz)

Cons - When he gets countered, he gets countered HARD. - If enemy team picks Nunu & Willump, que-dodge immediately. - Slow base movement speed. - No escapes. (See above "Slow base movement speed") - Situational poke. - Slow moving skill shot stun. - Has a hard time dealing with high HP champions. - Slower than average autoattack, occasionally making farming a hassle. - Arguably has a very weak late game. - Team must have a strong AP carry to cover his lack of damage.

Flash is an absolute must on The Revered Inventor, as it provides him with an escape. Never go without it.

I believe Teleport is the best secondary summoner spell to use on Heimerdinger simply due to his strong turret defense capabilities. It allows Heimer to be in more places at one time, and can be a huge asset late game if he is able to split push.

Optional Spells

Ghost and Barrier are okay in some instances. If the opponent has a TON of CC, grabbing Flash/ Ghost might be a good idea. Lots of burst, consider Barrier if you don't think you'll survive long.

Do not use any other summoner spell. Seriously. The rest are teribad on Heimer.

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Before creating Heimerdinger's rune page, you must first understand his weaknesses.

Out of all the champions in the game, Heimer starts with TEN armor, the second lowest start in the game to Sona's 8, and still ends at second to lowest again with 61 by Lvl 18, to Thresh's mega-awesome-tastic 18 armor (but we all know why Thresh's base is so low).

Like every champion, Heimerdinger starts with 30 magic resist. However, he has less literally no scaling, thus making him squishier than Teemo's mushroom, and therefore will end up with 30 magic resist if nothing is built on him.

Heimer's base HP is tied for 3rd lowest in the game, and tied for 4th worse increase per lvl, putting him at about 7th worst HP champ in the game.

As for his Movement speed, he is at the lowest tier (325) of the champions, effectively making him the slowest in the game. Heimerdinger literally has no escapes other than a situational, and extremely well placed stun. Every other champ in this tier has at least a semi-reliable way of escaping a threat. Yeah, he's the slowest.

So you can see there are some serious issues that need to be addressed!

How do we handle these issues? Address them with runes! I strongly suggest not worrying too much about building early damage with AP runes; Heimerdinger's best ratio is 0.6, and that's on his grenade. Pfft. Focus on damage in the mid game, and you will have a stronger chance at succeeding. I chose 9 Greater Mark of Magic Penetration, 9 Seal of Armor, 9 Glyph of Magic Resist, and 3 Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed.

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The Revered Inventor should not be built like a standard AP caster. The turrets have a 0.2 ap ratio, the missiles 0.55, his grenade at a whopping 0.6. His ratio's are not the absolute worst, but there are much more important things to be focusing on in Heimerdinger's build than stacking damage.



Sir Dinger has some pretty awful movement speed. Without boots you will always--I repeat, ALWAYS--be ganked successfully. Start with these and 3 health pots unless you want to give mid an early advantage.



You're number one priority should focus on lane sustain, and Tear of the Goddess gives you just that. Fiendish Codex is a wonderful cheap item as well, despite it losing it's mana regen preperties, and should be bought first when going for Banner of Command. Buy Seeker's Armguard early if facing/being ganked by a physical champion.

Heimerdinger's turrets have enough damage by themselves to be a serious threat during the early game, especially once you manage to finish Banner of Command. Not many people are aware of this, but Heimer's turrets are minions, and will benefit from the 15% additional damage. The only problem is that they disappear when the master dies. So build tanky, and it won't happen very often!

mercury treads

Finish your boots, just like every champion. Heimer will need the 35 tenacity, do not choose Sorcerer's Shoes over this item. Zhonya's Hourglass is also an absolute must for Heimerdinger. He treats it much like Morgana does when she flashes into a team fight, ults, and activates the hourglass to win. Runic Bulwark helps give resistances to his turrets, as well as boosting Heimerdinger's passive. Giving everyone in the lane 12 hp/second late game is just fantastic.



Archangel's Staff because you will want to complete the Tear of the Goddess. This will eventually create itself into a Seraph, which has an amazing active for tanky-Heimer to use. Guardian Angel, while amazing in this build, should be considered nearly last. While he is reviving, his turrets continue to stay alive and do damage. Hopefully, however, with all the other tanky items he has, this should not happen very often.



If fighting a champion similar to Akali, or if Heimerdinger is getting camped, Twin Shadows is an amazing tool that can be used to smoke out the invisible carry, or, more importantly, slow any gankers if Heimer is pushed a bit too far or has already lost flash. With Artificer , this item is definitely a strong consideration. Abyssal Mask may come in handy vs those strong burst mages, and in fact might make it's way into my core build. Rylai's Crystal Scepter is another good pick, as it provides high HP, AP, and the ability to slow champions with the rockets or grenade. Deathfire Grasp is an excellent, and only, counter Heimerdinger has against tanky champions, and again works with Artificer . Thanks to user Gott der 7 Meere for pointing this item out to me!



Liandry's Torment is a wonderful item to fight HP based champions, and one would think that with Heimer's weakness to high HP champions he should consider it. It proc's off of the rockets (6 second CD with 40% cdr), and the grenade (about 5.4 seconds with full cdr). These CD's are, in my opinion, much too high to consider this item. 5% of the champ's current life every 4ish seconds is not worth it. NOTE: I say 5% and not 10% because I am assuming Heimer does not have a way to slow them, unless he purchased the situational, late game Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

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This next section will show some clever positions for your turrets.




Unless someone is jumping directly on top of you, Heimer should always, always, ALWAYS have a turret at position 1 on the map. Once a fight is over, be sure to have a turret in that position. Having a turret on the edge of the torch leading into the top river bush prevents faster characters from lunging past a pushed lane to get to you quickly, such as Rammus and Lee Sin. Furthermore, it allows better coverage of the lane so that it makes it difficult for your opponent to curve around you and cut you off from your turret, especially if Heimerdinger activates UPGRADE!!!

This position also makes things difficult for a melee lane opponent to "creep-score". Heimer's passive will allow your lane to push no matter what, so focus on keeping the opponent busy. Most champs will "shuffle-step" with you while you hug Position H; try to stay closer to the top of the lane so they are exactly diagonal to you. Auto-attack the opponent once they are closer to your turret, and it will begin to assault them, forcing a retreat. Once I can make a video of this to show you I will.

SIDE NOTE: Some champions will require you to switch up position 1 and 2. These champions are those who have abilities that can clear waves of minions quickly, such as Malzahar and Mordekaiser. Place your turrets on the exact opposite side of the minions to prevent your turrets from taking free damage.




Position 2 for your turrets is also a definite must, but still second to position 1. Once again, you have defended yourself from a potential gank, as well as dealing minor free damage to whomever arrived. Never underestimate the power of position 1, people do not like to be caught near a turret they can see, as they know it is most of Heimerdinger's damage.




Position 3 is situational, which is why I have them labelled as "3a" and "3b." On both sides, 3a is where you want to consider placing your position 1 turrets for 2 reasons: 1) It is now mid game and either yours or your opponents' towers are gone. By placing the turret in the bush you now have better coverage for a 5 man gank in mid, as well as allowing the minions to come down closer to your inner turret if yours was lost, aka safer farming. 2) You've been ganked from top bush and need to keep a closer eye on it.

It is important to note that on either side, Blue or Purple, Heimerdinger can place his turrets on the edge of either river bush from over the wall. This is a much safer place to do this, and I highly recommend choosing this safer route of turret placement.


Position 3b is a bit tricky. It is the least likely spot you will be placing your turrets, and yet still holds some strategic value for each side that it is worth noting. For the Blue team, 3b is a great spot to cover over Position 2 if you have Twin Shadows. By spamming twin shadows and keeping one of your turrets at 3b, you will most certainly be guaranteed safety should you be ganked from the lower river, as you will have 2 turrets stored on your person and 1 at Position 1for a quick slow if your lane opponent moves in to challenge you.

The Purple side is a bit easier for Heimerdinger, as 3b is not nearly as necessary whether or not he gets Twin Shadows. Position 3b is used if the support is having a hard time getting dragon warded, and Heimer feels safe to leave one of his turrets near it to prevent the opposing jungler from traversing the river. The Purple side is also easier due to the Ancient Golem buff being directly overhead Dragon.

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Probably the biggest problem Heimerdinger has had to face is: Where does he fit in a team fight? How can I manage to position him properly so that I don't either A) Explode immediately, or B) have any impact on the battle at all?

The sad truth is, you could be the greatest Heimerdinger player in the game of league, but it won't mean diddly if your team doesn't know how to build around you. Team fights need to happen in lane, where Banner of Command can be more efficient. REMEMBER: HEIMERDINGER IS AN AREA-ZONING CHAMPION IN TEAM FIGHTS, NOTHING MORE. Your team needs to know how to react to your early turret placements, and on the flip side, Heimer needs to know when to replace his turrets at the right time at the right place. In a cluster fight, it can get extremely difficult to manage your situation, especially if the fight is moving rapidly from bush to bush.

So what team comp works best with Heimerdinger?

In my opinion, a strong AP top with an AD jungle that does not necessarily need to gank, or vice versa, can work well. Heimer certainly cannot be the APC, no matter how much damage those rockets do. His utility with AOE blinds, stuns, and slows is far superior to just relying on rocket explosions every 6 seconds. Allow for the other solo lane to build the damage while you defend the mid turret easily. If you have an initiator such as Amumu or Malphite, or even Warwick, the fight is already over.

Some necessary points to remember:

-Never ever EVER place your turrets in the middle of the fight. There is far too much AOE damage going on in a normal fight for your turrets to survive for very long. At the very max the turrets have 655 HP, not enough in a late game AOE brawl, or even a mid game fight for that matter.

-If you are fighting 1v1, take a deep breath and trust the damage of your turrets. Kite in a circle, unlike how most kiting works. You can do this with your stun.

-Peel for your carry. You have a stun, use it. You are the off tank, do your job.

-Place turrets wisely. I cannot stress this enough. It's the primary focus of Heimerdinger, don't f*** it up.

-DO NOT INITIATE. Do not be the first into the fire, even with the hourglass or a Guardian Angel. Heimerdinger can fight well on his own if he allows the other players to get overconfident and strike at him first.

-Careful using your rockets too early. It only focuses the closest 3 enemies, so be sure to save your rockets for when they can truly help.

-In some cases, throwing your grenade simply for vision is the way to go. Heimer's rockets can easily reach any opponent near the grenade's destination. During the laning phase, feel free to toss a few in Position 2 on the map above if you do not have Twin Shadows or a turret placed there.

If the enemy team picks Nunu & Willump, just que-dodge. Seriously. I mentioned this before, but seriously...pull a NIKE and just do it. F*** Nunu & Willump. I hope you get liver failure, you lousy, turret eating grouch.

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Heimerdinger is an incredibly difficult champion to get used to, I admit. He has a lot of flaws, many restrictions on who he can fight and fight with, and overall doesn't seem to make the cut on multiple fronts.

But damn he is fun, isn't he?

Learn to play Heimerdinger, and I assure you, your positioning skills in team fights will increase dramatically. Your map awareness will rise to a level that will embarrass your friends. You will achieve nirvana, get the seventy-one dark haired virgins, and at the end of the day you get to say:

I just beat you with Heimerdinger.

gg wp