Hi, I want to tell you a little bit about Yorick and how i think he has to be played.
I bought him as he came out immediately and i was surprised how stong he can potential be.

I made a try with all meele DPS champs in the game, who can solo the Baron fastest with a pure offensive build and i got the baron in 7 second with him (the fastest)

1. How to play Yorick
He is a possible DPS-Carry or Offtank; I wouldn't recommend building him as a tank because he's not made for it.

2. What items does Yorick need?
He primary need items, that give him Attack damage or Health because his minions will benefit from both

3. Ghouls don't live longer than 5 seconds and you can't have 2 of the same kind! You should't believe that your minions will livwe infinite long if you buy 5 warmogs or things like that

Pros
Can stay in a fight for a long time with his ulti
Slow the enemies
healing mechanism
strong laner
speed boost

Cons
no escape mechnism
no defense mechanism
low mana

The runes i use in this build are the ones i personally use because they give you some survivability and damage

Runes that work on Yorick:
Armor penetration, Health, Armor, Magic resistance, Crit chance/damage , Cooldown reduction

Unholy Covenant
Yorick's basic attacks deal 5% more damage for each summon that is active. Meanwhile, Yorick's ghouls have 30% of Yorick's Attack Damage and Health.

Omen of War
Yorick's next attack will deal bonus physical damage and summon a Spectral Ghoul that deals additional damage and moves faster than Yorick's other ghouls. While the Spectral Ghoul is alive, Yorick moves faster as well.

This is your primary attack ability and it gives your the srongest ghouls; it benefits form on hit abilities -> sheen/trinity; also gives you a good speed boost (35% at level 5 as long as the ghoul lives)

Omen of Pestilence
Yorick summons a Decaying Ghoul that arrives with a violent explosion, dealing damage and slowing nearby enemies. While the Decaying Ghoul remains alive, nearby enemies continue to be slowed.

Your slowing ability + it has a little area and slows further if your ghoul survives

Omen of Famine
Yorick steals life from his target and summons a Ravenous Ghoul that heals Yorick for the damage it deals.

Good stayability in the lane and a little bit of regeneration in teamfights

Omen of Death
Yorick conjures a revenant in the image of one of his allies. If his ally dies while its revenant is alive, the revenant sacrifices itself to reanimate them and give them time to enact vengeance.


How to use your abilities:
In the laning phase you will face big mana problems -> don't harass your enemies until your mana is empty
use to heal
use to harass the enemies
use only if you plan to kill the enemy or escape


How to kill a enemy:
Initiate with and if you are level 6 already also use if you want and take if the enemy decides to run away

Starting item: I always start with It gives you good survivability in earlygame and helps you if you are getting harrased

Boots:
I would always recommend this because as a dps champ you have to be fast and the enemies can harm you with stuns and slows; if you are a offtank you want to help your teammates and initiate figths -> doesn't work if you are stuned or slowed to 150 running speed
Gives some attack speed; not the best choise but viable
Only if the enemies have a lot of DPS champs like Tryndamere or Nocturne (I mean characters who rely on their autoattacks)
because Yorick is pretty slow...

Offensive:
Attack damage,speed,armor and a awsome passive...
nice item if the enemy team is stacking life
it gives attack speed and reduces the armor of nearby enemies. And don't forget the attack speed and lifesteal buff for all alies around
This is one of the best items on DPS champions i think... (If you have Stark's + Runes and Masteries + this you will deal full damage to a enemy with 90-100 armor -> any mage with one defensive item) also: the other dps champs in your team will love you for that item) + your ghouls deal more damage, too
I love this Item. You can use it on any DPS champ and it will work because it gives you a high amount of damage and a lot of lifesteel. With this item every DPS champ is able to kill jungle monsters staying at full life. But the Item is a bit Risky because you lose all the stacks everytime you die
This item explains itself -> lots of damage
but it is very expensive... don't buy it if you're not getting feeded (ok it's obviously not easy not go get feeded if you play Yorick this way)
If the enemy team has a lot of tanks stacking armor (don't buy it if they have just one tank... it's not worth it)
i personally don't like that item but I would lie if I told you that youmuu's is a bad item. It is indeed very good and worth it's price, but i prefer armor reduction before armor penetration
one of my personal favourite items because you get really fast at killing and running... Yorick has a low basic attack speed
High burst damage... a must have as a offtank
-> your q will deala huge amount of damage
do the enemies have a jax? you don't really need it otherwise... it's good but there are better options for Yorick
If you have problems with the enemy mages. this is a good offensive and defensive item at once
that helps you if you are nuked by enemy mages in the early game... buy this only if you really have no other option because it's close to useless in the endgame
only if you go jungling
maybe the best choice as a offtank

Defensive:
This gives you a lot of survivability + the special effect:
the enemies don't want to attack you because you have such a huge amount of life -> you can kill them one after the other without problems
-> your ghouls get a lot more survivability -> i would always recommend this on Yorick
A lot of life and a offensive slow -> you get more survivability + if you focus one special enemy he won't escape - never buy this and a trinity force
The best choice for every champion who needs survivability and uses mana for his abilities. I pretty like the spell shield ! Remember that you have mana problems as long as you don't have blue buff
if the enemy team is ad dominated or you stack life and the enemies buy madred's
Also good because you should always be in the middle of the fight -> deal a lot of AoE damage + survive
If the enemies have a lot of autoattackers
If the enemy team has more than the half DPS champs
I personally don't like snowball Items... but: if you get a lot of kills this will work and improve your survivability - the passive with 20 stacks is awesome - maybe not the best item on him
is a good item but i don't like it
If you are focused a lot (might happen because you kill the enemies so often that they will hate you) You can also try to make a granade build plus this - it helps if you are squishy and have a lot of lifesteal to reach full health fast


Recommended Items (top 6 in my mind):

You are squishy but deal huge damage
Even as a DPS-Carry you need some defensive items especially because you are a meele fighter and always in close combat

A lot of people make the mistake to biuld a meele DPS-Carry like a ranged one and they die often in high summoner levels -> don't believe you are unkillable just because you have some lifesteal and a insane damage output (Master Yi, Olaf or Tryndamere can be build as glascannons but not Yorick)

Build example:


the building order is described on top.

Stats at Level 18:
Health: 3037
Armor/Magic Resist: 133/97
Attack damage/Speed/Armor penetration: 379/1,104/28 (45 reduction)
Crit chance/damage: 27%/260%
Movement speed: 385

Crit Yorick:


Buying order:










Stats at Level 18:
Health: 3507
Armor/Magic Resist: 133/72
Attack damage/Speed/Armor penetration: 404/1,434/28
Crit chance/damage: 90%/260%
Movement speed: 401

-> take a to get 98% crit chance

The Freezer (more defensive):


Buying order:









Stats at Level 18:
Health: 4005
Armor/Magic Resist: 133/72
Attack damage/Speed/Armor penetration: 370/1,144/24 (45 reduction)
Crit chance/damage: 20%/200%
Movement speed: 405

You aren't squishy and able to deal a lot of damage, too

Build example:


the building order is described on top.

Stats at Level 18:
Health: 5300
Armor/Magic Resist: 133/147
Attack damage/Speed/Armor penetration: 251/1,144/24
Crit chance/damage: 35%/200%
Movement speed: 428

Crit-Offtank:


Building order:










Stats at Level 18:
Health: 4925
Armor/Magic Resist: 133/148
Attack damage/Speed/Armor penetration: 243/1,474/24
Crit chance/damage: 65%/200%
Movement speed: 423

Thank you for reading my guide

I hope I helped you playing Yorick

Please comment my guide so I can improve it