Introduction[]
This guide features a large number of builds in Coming of the Horde, with at least one meta build for each hero and many other builds including the order to buy the items. The builds are not listed in this page, but in sub-pages for specific heroes.
Each hero is listed by faction and the order in which they appear in their respective hero selection building. The horde heroes are sorted by their primary attribute. To keep the format consistent, horde intelligence heroes are assigned to The Stormreaver Clan, agility heroes to The Bleeding Hollow Clan and strength heroes to The Blackrock Clan. However, in game all three horde factions choose heroes from the same hero pool.
In addition, the builds for each hero are roughly sorted in order of simplicity and normality. The top builds should be sturdy and viable, while the bottom ones can be everything from meme-builds, strange builds, fun builds or even outdated ones. The later will be marked with a special (Outdated) color.
Heroes which are considered to be the easiest to play and which are recommended for beginner players, are marked below with (REC)
Shops[]
All items are bought from the item Shops in the top left corner of the map. As long as your hero is alive, you can buy these items from anywhere on the map just by clicking the shop and then your item. The item points are then deducted from your resources and the items added to your hero's inventory. Items can also be resold to the Alliance/Horde item dealer for 50% of the initial price. Generally you don't want to sell items, as this is a large waste of item points.
When you've chosen the item(s) you want to buy, it's always worth to consider if you can afford any of the constituent items that eventually combine into unique items. For instance, if you're going to buy an 
Arcane Wonder, don't wait until you have all item points. Instead, buy a 
Battle Helm, 
Pendant of Mana and combine them into an 
Helm of Energy. Then buy a 
Periapt of Vitality, 
Amulet of Health and combine them into 
Khadgar's Gem, and then combine those into Arcane Wonder.
In Coming of the Horde there are also four consumable items you can buy for item points. 
Scroll of Teleportation, 
Clarity Potion, 
Potion of Regeneration and 
Healing Salve, which are all bought at Shop D - Scrolls and Potions. Each hero also starts with a Scroll of Teleportation, which has two charges. Scroll of Teleportation can be used to teleport the hero and five friendly units to any friendly land unit. Unless you're playing on the Horde side, you should always have at least one slot available for a Scroll of Teleportation. Keep in mind that unlike Warcraft 3 Melee, Scroll of Teleportation only brings five units and it does NOT make your hero invulnerable during casting. The other three items provide mana, or health regeneration over time. Keep in mind that they are all non-combat consumables and will be dispelled if the hero/unit affected takes any damage while using them.
There are also stat tomes for sale. These are a very poor investment compared to buying items and can only be bought when you have 6 unique items. Generally you want to spend all your extra item points on your heroes main stat.
However, keep in mind that item building is very dynamic and changes depending on many factors such as the friendly team hero composition, the enemy team hero composition and other players item choices and strategies.
Changing your build[]
An important factor to consider are the items of other heroes. Items like 
Venomstrike and 
Corrupted Edge are very powerful, but their effects do not stack with themselves. For instance two heroes with Corrupted Edge will not give a hero -80% armor debuff. It's no problem if more than one player on your team gets these items, but if five other alliance players already have a Corrupted Edge, you might want to reconsider getting one.
Warsong Battle Drum has less stats than other strength items, but it does provide all units near your hero with a 15% damage boost. For alliance players in particular, it might be worth considering changing 
Sunscale Helm / 
Blackrock Champion's Axe / 
Ogreskull Helm with a Warsong Battle Drum.
A similar item is 
Alleria's Flute of Accuracy, which instead provides a 15% attack speed aura. Consider getting it instead of 
Amani Throwing Axe / 
Windstring Bow.
Neither Warsong Battle Drum nor Alleria's Flute of Accuracy stack with themselves, so each team generally only needs one of each item.
You'll notice how most heroes have 
Starlight Treads as their final item. This is the only way for your hero to teleport with six unique items and is usually the only option for any Alliance hero as final unique item. There is an important exception to this. When you're playing Alliance and you're the last base standing, this item is not needed, as you'll never need to teleport anywhere else, and if your base falls, the game ends. In this case, get another item.
On the Alliance, it is also worth considering getting Starlight Treads as your first item. You'll almost always teleport around, and this will save you some item points. It is also beneficial to teleport 10 units instead of 5 and the stats are versatile enough to be useful on most heroes.
Several horde heroes possess powerful spells that are either channeled or charged up. These can often devastate your team and need to be stopped. This is usually done with a stun or a silence. However players using these heroes will often buy 
Glacial Shield that makes their heroes immune to spells for eight seconds. One way to combat this is to get 
Royal Hammer - an item which gives your hero a chance to stun on attack, removing the magic shield from Glacial Shield and interrupting any spell the caster might be trying to use.
The following horde heroes have interruptable spells you ought to watch out for: Kil'jaeden, Dentarg, Gul'dan and Azgalor (his ultimate won't be interrupted if he is stunned or silenced, however it creates a shield which must be activated by himself before it breaks. If you stun or silence him at the right time, you can break it before he has a chance to activate it.).