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Heimerdinger Counters: Who Beats Heimerdinger

Updated for patch 26.21. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch.

Heimerdinger counters are supports who out-range his turrets, clear them from a distance, or drag Heimerdinger out of his little fortress. He’s a 550-range mage who sets up rapid-fire turrets on a 1 second cooldown and wins any fight that happens inside them.

We set each pick’s patch 26.21 kit beside his to find the five. Win rates weren’t used.

Heimerdinger counters: Heimerdinger, the Revered Inventor, splash art

Why is Heimerdinger annoying to lane against?

  • Hextech Affinity (passive): Move Speed near allied towers and his own turrets.
  • H-28 G Evolution Turret (Q): a rapid-fire cannon with a secondary pass-through beam; turrets deal half damage to towers. Cooldown 1.
  • Hextech Micro-Rockets (W): long-range rockets that converge on his cursor. Cooldown 11/10/9/8/7.
  • CH-2 Electron Storm Grenade (E): a lobbed grenade that damages, stuns anyone hit directly and slows those around. Cooldown 11.
  • UPGRADE! (R): his next spell gets increased effects. Cooldown 100/85/70.

Heimerdinger turns a patch of lane into a no-go zone. Turrets shoot anything that walks in, the grenade stuns whoever it hits directly, and the rockets fly a long way. Fight him inside that zone and you lose. But the zone doesn’t move. His turrets sit where he put them, so champions who hit from outside their reach, clear them with area spells, or pull Heimerdinger away from them take the whole kit apart. What happens to a Heimerdinger with no turrets nearby? He’s a squishy mage with a slow grenade.

Which supports are the best Heimerdinger counters?

Xerath

Arcanopulse (Q) is a long beam that hits everything in a line, turrets and Heimerdinger alike, from far outside the zone they cover. His W drops a slowing blast on a circle, nastiest at its center. Shocking Orb (E) stuns, and Rite of the Arcane (R) roots Xerath in place for a string of long-range barrages, which picks off turrets or the inventor behind them. Mana Surge (passive) refunds Mana on basic attacks. Honestly, Xerath plays the same zoning game with a longer ruler, and every turret Heimerdinger places becomes free poke target practice before it ever gets a shot off.

Vel’Koz

Vel’Koz shreds turrets and the champion behind them at once. Plasma Fission (Q) splits on reactivation or on hit, so one bolt can tag a turret and angle into Heimerdinger. Void Rift (W) bursts twice in a line, and Tectonic Disruption (E) knocks up enemies in an area. Life Form Disintegration Ray (R) is a channeled beam that follows the cursor for 2.5 seconds and deals true damage to champions he has researched. Organic Deconstruction (passive) adds true damage after three stacks. Is Heimerdinger safe behind his turrets? Not from a beam.

Zyra

Zyra brings her own army to the turret fight. Plants grown from seeds near Deadly Spines (Q) or Grasping Roots (E) fight for her, and every turret shot that hits a plant is one that didn’t hit her ADC. Grasping Roots also roots every enemy the vines touch. Rampant Growth (W) stores seeds that last up to 60 seconds, and Garden of Thorns (passive) spawns them faster with level. Stranglethorns (R) lifts enemies into the air as the thicket closes. She has 575 range, a little more than his 550 (small, but it adds up over a lane).

Blitzcrank

Heimerdinger is strongest standing next to his turrets. Blitzcrank’s Q fixes that. One Rocket Grab drags him out of the zone into Blitzcrank’s ADC, and Power Fist (E) launches him into the air before he can lob a grenade back. Overdrive (W) gives a burst of Move Speed to set up the angle. Static Field (R) silences nearby enemies briefly, so no upgraded response comes back, and Mana Barrier (passive) gives Blitzcrank a Mana-based shield when his Health drops low after the turrets get a few shots in. Real talk, the turrets can’t follow their owner.

Nautilus

Nautilus can engage through the turret zone because one of his tools is point-and-click. Depth Charge (R) chases a target champion, knocks up everyone on its path, then knocks the target up and stuns them, no aim needed. Titan’s Wrath (W) shields him while he walks through turret fire. Dredge Line (Q) hooks Heimerdinger or pulls Nautilus to a wall, Riptide (E) slows with three waves, and Staggering Blow (passive) roots on the first attack against each target. To be fair, diving three upgraded turrets is still a bad idea. Wait for them to be spent.

How should Heimerdinger counters play the lane?

  • Don’t fight inside the turrets. They fire rapidly and have a secondary beam.
  • Kill turrets with area spells. Arcanopulse, Plasma Fission and Void Rift all hit them from range.
  • Dodge the grenade’s direct hit. CH-2 stuns only anyone hit directly; the rest are slowed.
  • Watch for UPGRADE!. His next spell after it gets increased effects, on a 100 second cooldown at rank 1.
  • Pull him away from the zone. Without nearby turrets, he loses his damage and his Hextech Affinity speed.

Which items help Heimerdinger counters?

Magic Resist, and patience. His turrets and rockets deal magic damage, so Mercury’s Treads add Magic Resist and Tenacity for a shorter grenade stun. Banshee’s Veil blocks one enemy ability (ideally an upgraded grenade), and Locket of the Iron Solari shields the whole lane when he commits rockets. Full numbers sit in our League items reference.

When is Heimerdinger weakest?

When his turrets are down. He can place a new one every second, but each one has to be set up again, and the area spells listed above take them out fast. That’s the moment to walk forward (for what it’s worth, timing your push with his UPGRADE! cooldown helps).

And when he’s away from them. A Heimerdinger caught in a river or pulled out of lane by a hook has only rockets and a grenade. Can he escape? Only with Hextech Affinity speed near his turrets.

New to support? Our guide to the support role and others explains it. Our guide index covers other champions, and the Heimerdinger skins page has his cosmetics. In short, Heimerdinger counters fight outside the zone or pull him out of it.

FAQ

Who counters Heimerdinger the most?

Supports with long range, area damage or a hook: Xerath, Vel’Koz, Zyra, Blitzcrank and Nautilus.

How do you deal with Heimerdinger’s turrets?

Fight outside their reach and clear them with area or long-range spells, then engage once they’re gone.

Does Heimerdinger’s grenade always stun?

No. CH-2 Electron Storm Grenade stuns only enemies hit directly; nearby enemies are slowed.

What is the cooldown of UPGRADE!?

UPGRADE! has a cooldown of 100/85/70 seconds.

How were these Heimerdinger counters chosen?

Each pick had to out-range or clear his turrets, or pull him away from them, judged from patch 26.21 ability text. Win rates were not used.