Heimerdinger used to be regarded as an amazing pusher with extremely annoying potential when it came to pushing and anti-gank methods. Although he had no natural escape mechanisms, a halfway decent player would, with ease, kite you to your doom whilst allowing his turrets to output insane damage. His nerf hampered his damage severely and left him regarded as a "meh" champion to most people. I believe this is mostly due to the fact that most people are building him improperly, and playing him even worse. Before we begin with the same template I use in the other posts, let's take a few moments to get into a "Heimerdinger" state of mind. Heimerdinger is probably the biggest niche role in the game. There are a couple of things that he is very good at, and some players have seem to have lost sight of this.
Anti-Pushing.
If you lose your mid turret as heimerdinger, all I can say is what the fuck. Both of your turrets can stop an early push in it's tracks along with your grenade, and Heimerdinger should be doing everything in his power to ward off pushes. I consider it his main early/mid game job.
Space Control and Proper Ability Use.
Heimerdinger rewards creativity. Instead of thinking of your abilities as tools for damage, try to think outside the box. They have many uses outside of that. Here are only a few things that Heimerdinger can do.
- An Escape Mechanism. Throwing down 1-2 turrets and popping your ult can and will save a teammate's (or your) life. My Heimerdinger play style supports mobility and mana regeneration in order to get around quickly and to always have enough mana to save a teammate in a clutch situation, as well as building around making it easier for your teammate to escape / chase with support items.
- Team fight disorientation. "Oh shit. I'm slowed and my armor/magic resist is being rapidly drained. Fuck. He stunned/blinded me." You need to live and breathe to be annoying, and to make life as difficult for your enemies as possible. Such is the way of the Yordle.
- Baron/Dragon/Tower Pushing safety net. Placing your turrets in strategic positions can give your teammates that needed 1-3 seconds in order to secure something of value. Usually upon getting slowed by a hidden brush-turret, players will either try to kill the turret or run right past it. You can punish both of them by throwing your grenade in their way and buying your team even more time.
Issues that Heimerdinger faces.
- Mana hungry.
- Squishy
- Slow
- Positioning Reliant
- Reliant on a solo lane whilst carrying a support role.
Let's ignore the fact that his damage is shit. That ship has sailed and in my opinion it's a ship that should have sailed a long time ago. When we build, we build to address those four problems. Don't worry about getting massive AP. If you want AP, play Kassadin.
We start out with a Regrowth Pendant and an HP Potion. 25 HP/5 + 200 HP from your potion. No one is going to be harassing you anytime soon.
You can stay in your lane however long you want, although the rule that I follow is that I will definitely go b when I have 1365 gold. I buy a Philosopher's Stone and Boots of Mobility.
Boots of Mobility are an obvious choice for a niche character like Heimerdinger. They give him a bunch of play style related options.
- Moving around the map to defend turrets.
- Rushing to help a fleeing teammate.
These are only two different situations in which these boots come into play, and there are plenty more. The possibilities are endless.
Your next purchase, as some may have guessed, is Shurelya's Reverie.
Suddenly, your lack of speed isn't as much of a problem, your mana issues are a bit less obnoxious, and your a tad less squishy. Now that we're starting to flesh out his early game speed issues and mana problems, we can focus on his alleviating a bit of his fragility. My next purchase is an Aegis of the Legion.
It's cost effective. It supports your team. It helps you push. I really don't feel the need to explain further. You'll find that Heimerdinger's mana issues are ever prevalent, even after buying a Reverie. This is why I always invest in Elesia's Miracle.
If you don't feel like you need the Aegis at that point in time, you can get the miracle instead and get the Aegis after, although I usually enjoy the added safety.
Now that you have amazing regeneration, mobility, and 35% effective CDR, we are going to work on bolstering your core defensive abilities. I almost always follow up with a Banshee's Veil and a Randuin's Omen.
The Banshee's Veil is an obvious choice to avoid getting locked down by pesky CC, and with your veil + aegis, you have around 100/100 in both of your stats.
The Randuin's, I may have to explain. This is probably my favorite item for Heimerdinger because it works amazingly with a Reverie, and bolsters your ability to escape and chase. The sudden burst of speed in conjunction with your enemy being suddenly slowed is enough for almost anyone to get away, on top of the slow from your turrets if need be.
Now that we've established your build we can move on to spells. My personal opinion is that you should have some sort of combination of Teleport, Clairvoyance, and Fority.
It honestly depends on your mood, your play style, and your preferences. I prefer teleport/clairvoyance personally.
Runes
Mana regeneration is your friend, as are defensive runes and movement quints. Try to avoid using cooldowns as this build maxes on CDR and it'd be a waste.
This is what I use, although you can opt for a more defensive focus if you want fortify (You should definitely invest in improved fortify. It's worth it.)
Tips, tricks, and alternative uses for your abilities
- You can use your turrets as bush wards, especially in the early game.
- You can use your turrets to kite people fairly well.
- Your concussive grenade moves fairly slow. It isn't always a bad idea to close the gap in order to maximize effectiveness. Alternatively (a better option in my opinion) you can shoot it from behind a wall so the enemy doesn't see it coming.
- Micro rockets are amazing for securing last hits and later in the game your grenade + Micro rockets can kill jungle camps.
Leveling Order
Max out your turrets first and your grenade next. I ignore the rockets until they are the last thing to level (Save a level for last hitting if I feel like it, it's a matter of preference).
The Role of Heimerdinger.
I consider Heimerdinger the true essence of a utility support. His strength and usefulness lies within his debuffs, his steady stream of stuns (every 5.4 seconds), his ability to keep a lane pushed through the use of turrets and grenades, and his ability to be a safety net for baiting and when for when things truly go wrong, and finally his amazing farming ability. To a good team, he is a support, and to a bad team, he is what makes a horrible situation more manageable. A true problem solver and one of the only characters that truly epitomizes utility.
You won't output massive damage as Heimerdinger, and you won't CC as hard as Janna, or heal like Soraka, but what you do have is the ability to make things happen, and the ability to TRULY get your teammates out of a bad situation. Where as most supports are only as good as their carry, Heimerdinger is a self sufficient champion that doesn't need someone else to prove his worth. That being said, it is your job to make the enemies life a living hell whilst making your teammate's lives a breeze.
Map awareness is of extreme importance to him. Clairvoyance constantly, ward constantly, and control the map. Position yourself decently, and be creative in your play. Heimerdinger isn't a straight forward champion but once you get a hang of him you'll be having lots of fun. Remember to be creative, and to be constantly thinking about how you can make your play better.
I'll post some replays soon of some Heimerdinger games, but here's a screenshot of some successful scores. 
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