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Yorick Build Guide by sync1337

AD Offtank Yorick! The ULTIMATE resource guide (Season 3 ready)

AD Offtank Yorick! The ULTIMATE resource guide (Season 3 ready)

Updated on September 12, 2013
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League of Legends Build Guide Author sync1337 Build Guide By sync1337 850 76 5,416,126 Views 337 Comments
850 76 5,416,126 Views 337 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author sync1337 Yorick Build Guide By sync1337 Updated on September 12, 2013
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Choose Champion Build:

  • LoL Champion: Yorick
  • LoL Champion: Yorick

Introduction to my guide (Please read)

This guide is once again under construction for season 3. Majority of the changes are pretty great for Yorick (including masteries) I will go into more detail about the new stuff in the sections below. I have also added an alternative item build for Yorick which works just as great as the other build you all seem to enjoy.[/color]

Hey there guys! this guide is the explanation of why this has become my favourite way of building Yorick. I consider Yorick a great Tanky Dps champion who is viable in any lane (especially solo top). I am not a high ELO ranked player but I do consider myself an avid Yorick player who knows him inside out. If you decide to actually try this guide you will most likely be pretty satisfied with the outcome.

I originally wrote this guide a long way back after the major Yorick nerfs soon after his release. He was pretty much considered trash at that point and I wanted to show the community how successful he could be in many different roles. I put a great deal of effort into this guide so please read the whole guide or at least play a few matches before you down vote. If you do not like it for any reason please have the decency to explain why in the comments to I can attempt to improve it's faults.
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My scores + member scores.

Some of my scores using this build:

Some member scores:
Shoutout to camp!
Shoutout to DoodAwsumMan!Shoutout to Beerpain!Shoutout to abe lincoln bot!

Shoutout to Katiosha24!
Shoutout to blo0draven!

If you would like you're score posted up here feel free to message me with an image link on photobucket or something and also the summoner name and I will give a shoutout.
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UPDATES

29/9/2011 - I added a mini dominion guide for Yorick.
05/10/2011 Due to community input and testing I made some Mastery changes.
17/10/2011 Added the option of Ionian Boots of Lucidity over merc treads
17/10/2011 Removed Hextech Gunblade from core to optional and added Bloodthirster in core build (it's amazing)
5/4/2012 Added Frozen Heart as a late game luxury item. If you want an explanation it will be in the items section.
5/4/2012 Also went through the guide and fixed up out of date information and a few mistakes. I went into deeper detail about some items in that section also.

5/4/2012 Added an alternative mastery build to the guide. More information on these masteries will be in that section.
7/12/2012 Added a new item build for Yorick that works REALLY well.. give it a try!
7/12/2012 Changed the masteries to fit in with the season 3 changes.
7/12/2012 Made minor changes to some of the descriptions and explanations why I made some of my choices.
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What is Yorick? and where did he come from?

Yorick actually has some nice Lore behind him which I found pretty interesting. Feel free to read up if you want to know some more information about our friendly neighbourhood ghoul pimp.

The work of gravediggers is essential amongst the living, but invaluable in the Shadow Isles. There are many shades of death there, and each is embraced rather than feared or reviled. One can only ascend from one state to the next with the magical aid of a skilled professional. At the end of the first Rune War, Yorick Mori made his living as a gravedigger. His family owned and maintained the Final Rest Memorial, one of the oldest cemeteries in Valoran. The shovel he employed for his work had been passed down for generations. Each gravedigger taught his son that this shovel was imbued with the spirit of every forefather, and that those spirits would protect him during the long lonely nights amongst the tombstones. To his eternal regret, Yorick died without an heir, bringing the proud Mori line to a close. His body was interred with his shovel in the family mausoleum, and the Final Rest Memorial soon fell to ruin. Death, however, was not the end Yorick had expected.
Yorick emerged on the haunted shores of the Shadow Isles – not quite dead, definitely not alive – still clutching his beloved shovel. He soon learned that with it he could act as a ferryman for the Isles’ undead denizens, helping them climb death’s many-tiered ladder. This proved a curse, as a gravedigger must “bury his quota” before he too can ascend, or so the legend goes. No one knows what “his quota” is. Yorick dug tirelessly, waiting in vain for the day when he would be freed of his burden. As decades turned to centuries, the shame of his failures came to a head. He returned to Valoran to find his corpse, convinced that salvation might be buried with it. When he arrived, no trace remained of either the mausoleum or the memorial. Hope nearly lost, he discovered the League of Legends, and there saw an opportunity to immortalize the family name he allowed to be forgotten ages ago.


“Die first, then we’ll talk.” -Yorick
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Pros / Cons

Pros:

- An amazing farmer/pusher
- Some of the best top lane sustain in game.
- Ultimate can change the outcome of a fight.
- Great 1v1 champ.
- Can be built pretty tanky with only a couple items.
- AMAZING harass.
- Passive makes him super tanky in team fights.

Cons:

- Can be Mana starved if you do not build tear/Manamune.
- No escape abilities (besides slow ghoul).
- W ghoul scales with AP and will basically only be used for the slow/bush checking late game.
- Q is great but only gives movement speed when you hit them (not when you activate it).
- Ultimate needs to be used wisely or can potentially be wasted.

So as you can see Yorick is a great overall champion and has some Cons like most champions. If you play correctly you can have some amazing moments with him.
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Runes I choose

I have tried different combos of Runes including dodge yellows, arpen reds and mana regen blues but I can honestly say I have had the most success with the Runes below.

: I choose these over arpen because Yoricks early game harass is amazing based off his ghoul damage which scales with AD. These also make it easier to last hit minions and works well with the rest of your item build.

: Since the changes to boots in season 3 this is also another viable option for quints.

: I choose these marks for the same reason I select the Quints.

: These armor runes will allow you to run in and out of range to harass the enemy with ease and take minimal damage in return.

: The same reason as the seals basically. MR scales well into late game and is always an effective thing to have.
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Masteries

Even after all the changes in season 3 I still believe deep utility is the way to go for Yorick. Since Miki Pendant isn't in the game you will have a hard time keeping up mana in lane without mana regen utility mastries. Utility also gives Yorick the ability to spam his ghouls and harass like a real bad *** in top lane (like he should be doing). I moved the leftover points into offensive tree due to MR and Armor mastries being pushed further down the defensive Tree. Read below for a more in depth explanation of the new mastery choices.

Offensive Tree:

Sorcery : Cooldown reduction is great for Yorick early/late game.
Deadliness : This will make your ghouls hit like a truck throughout the game especially if you went with AD quints. This mastery is also great because it makes movement speed quints a viable option instead of AD quints. Yes you will not have as much AD at level 1 but the mastery will boost your AD slowly as you level.


Utility Tree:

Wanderer : Pretty average mastery but it's better then nothing. It has also been pushed way up in the utility tree which makes it a no brainier to pick.
Meditation : Makes up for some of the early mana regen lost due to Miki Pendant being removed.
Expanded Mind : This mastery is great for Yorick as it stacks with his Manamune and also gives more overall mana for ghoul spam. Once you get Manamune you are essentially getting stronger and stronger each level for free.
Vempirism : Decent mastery that works pretty well with your lifesteal ghoul. I found this to be the better option over the rest of the tier.
Biscuiteer : A nice single point mastery that will give you some mana regen in lane to make up for the Miki Pendant.
Awareness : Self explanatory, you level faster then your enemy.
Nimble : This stacked with boots + Wanderer makes you really fast early game.
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Summoner Spells

Summoner spells come down to personal preference but I find Flash and Ignite work best for Yorick.

Flash is probably the best summoner spell in LoL and can help with escapes/initiates and many other things. This spell has saved me countless times and secured me many kills with a flash/ghouls/ignite combo on a low hp tower hugger.

I have become somewhat addicted to this summoner on Yorick. It has scored me first blood so many times and also kills on those pesky low hp runners. This in combination with your ghouls and auto attacks can provide some great damage. It also works well late game reducing healing on those annoying support champions.

Other possibilities:

This is an alternative to Ignite as it can help you 1v1 that heavy damage champ or can slow an enemy for a gank or even escape, I prefer ignite but some might like this.

You can choose this over flash if you want as it is good for escapes and sticking to your enemy with Q/auto attack/ghoul spams. I still find flash to have more uses as we get a Phage and frozen mallet most the time to slow them.

A good all round spell that some enjoy using but I personally do not use it.
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Skill Sequence

> =

This is the way I usually build Yorick. is definitely the most important early for sustain/harass. Once I have maxed I then take turns to max out and . Before you think WTF there is actually a valid reason I do this, they are both very important skills but neither important enough to take priority over the other during the leveling phase. If you level them equally you will be getting a nice use out of both of them until late game instead of only having a strong E or a strong W these skills work in perfect sync and that is the way I build them.

Obviously should be upgraded at the standard available levels which are 6, 11 and 16 if you didn't already know.
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Skill Breakdown

Yorick has a variety of skills in his arsenal which are all effective in their own way I will explain each skill below.

An underrated passive that makes you VERY tanky throughout the game with all of the ghouls up. This also increases your damage 5% per ghoul on top of that so you can put out some great damage.

This is a great ability that some people seem to dismiss as being average. It gives bonus damage and movement speed on hit and also summons the strongest/fastest physical attack ghoul. This ability is great to use to last hit and once you kill the minion it will run over to the nearest champ and attack them. This skill is excellent to use in combination with W then E then Q as they will have 3 ghouls smashing them and strong auto attacks.

Yoricks bread and butter skill that you should be maxing first. This ghoul does very nice damage and has a heal on cast ASWELL as a lifesteal effect. Do not only use this ghoul to simple heal up on minions as it can be used to ranged last hit, harass and get that last damage on a fleeing enemy. This is just an overall amazing ability do not hesitate to use this often unless you need to savoir your mana.

This is the AOE slow and harass ghoul. This ghoul also has many uses such as initiating, slowing enemy, bush checking and escaping. Do not forget that this ghoul has an initial slow plus keeps slowing while the ghoul is alive. Sometimes you will be being chased down cast this ghoul behind you even if they aren't in range and it will slow the enemy once it reaches them and they will be too focused on killing you to fight the ghoul so it will continue to slow. When you harass use this first and then E as it slows them to allow your ghouls to do more auto attacks.

This Ultimate is good do not get me wrong but it has to be uses properly in order for it to be effective and these uses vary greatly depending on the situation I will outline some uses below.

1. Tower damage : if you cast this on yourself or a nearby carry and Alt right click the tower plus you and your team start hitting the tower you can do some great damage to it. I have also used this ulti just to send him into a guarded tower to get the last few hits on it while I watch from safety.

2. Revive : if you have an able carry on your team who is fed then you can use this on them to make a strong copy and also revive them for a short period after death to get revenge. Often you will find your carry wastes it though and since you build so much AD it is also nice to use it on yourself and make the best use of the afterlife.

3. Killing : you can pop this on yourself or carry and fight single or multiple targets with it as it puts out some good damage. If you are fighting a tough 1v1 pop this and basically make it a 2v1.

3. Juking : in a frantic team fight when you are low and want to escape I have popped this and sent it into the enemy team for them to focus on it while I escape with low hp. Smart players will ignore it I am just letting you know it can work and it has saved my life a few times.

4. Cooldown blowing : Popping it and sending it into an enemy team sometimes makes them blow their cooldowns on it because they are either stupid or believe it is an actual player. This can also allow the tank to run in after and get a clean un interrupted initiate.

So as you can see all Yoricks abilities have their uses and all work well together with his passive.
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Items

Starting items:
+ x3

Since Miki Pendant was removed from the game this is the next best option. Some of the new stuff in utility will almost make up for some of the missing mana regen but you will still be fine with this setup.

First Trip back:



Try and farm up the remaining cost for the tear as your next trip to the lane will allow you to build up mana stacks with each ability used. If you can afford the boots this is a bonus and means next you can focus on saving that gold for Manamune which is a very important part of Yoricks build.

Next Trip:

This item is amazing for Yorick as it builds from your tear and gives an initial 10 AD 250 mana and 7 mana regen. But the main reason we want this item is for the passive which converts a % of our mana into AD which is what Yorick is all about. This works when you cast an ability you gain mana which then converts to more AD. Since we are yorick and should be spamming ghouls like crazy for harass and last hits this item will make us very strong. In the latest patch a fully stacked Manamune now turns into Which is an absolutely brilliant/free upgrade. The active on this will make you hit like a truck but be careful not to use all your mana as it is pretty hungry.

Link to Muramana : http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Muramana

Next:

I absolutely love these boots and usually always choose them on Yorick due to the great stats and obviously increased movements.

Another great option on Yorick, I sometimes use these over Merc treads as the CD reduction is very nice indeed.

Pick these up if you are having issues with pesky auto attackers.



Optional:

I put this here as it is a cheap and very effective item to increase Yoricks damage output. Frozen Mallet is a great item but it is fairly expensive and it only gives 20AD so sheen will help with Yoricks burst until he gets his Atma's. Sheen works well with Yorick as it does with poppy's Q ability.

First major item:

or

It is up to you which one you prefer between Warmogs and Frozen mallet as they both work well with Yorick and compliment his Atmas which you will build next. Warmogs is great if you think the game is going to go for a long time and want some more regen and health as it will end up completely dominating frozen mallet health wise when it is fully charged. Frozen mallet gives nice HP some AD and the passive is amazing for Yorick considering we do not take ghost and it will allow you to stick to your enemies easy with the slow + Q. I would still say Frozen Mallet is the best option as Warmogs has seen several nerfs over the months and is less desirable (still viable though).

Next trip

This item is great for Yorick it has armor, crit (which isn't that great but a bonus) and the passive which converts a % of his hp into AD. Since you should have bought a tanky item with lots of health before this item your AD should skyrocket and continue to throughout the game. Recently Atmas took a nerf and now grants less AD per health but overall you will only be losing 10-15 AD which isn't enough to render the item useless.

This item is an alternative to Atma's Impaler but that isn't to say you can't pick both up (I believe the gold is best spend elsewhere). Maw gives you a hefty 55 AD, 36 MR and 1 AD for every 2.5% health missing. The other great thing about this item is the shield it gives you which is amazing for AP burst damage champions like Oriana or Ahri.


You now have two options depending on how the game is going either building tanky or more dps

Luxury dps item possibilities after core build:

All the stats on this item benefit amazingly with Yorick especially the 150% increase on AD for one attack it hurts a lot with Q. This item is very expensive but each piece has a really nice benefit to Yorick besides zeal which isn't as great. Only Issue here is if you choose to get Frozen Mallet the slow effect on trinity is kind of a waste (Only get instead of Atmas if you go Warmogs over Frozen Mallet). Also if you do choose to go the trinity route I would suggest getting a Sheen in between boots and Frozen Mallet.

I have been doing some testing with this item as yoricks final luxury item and it is AMAZING! great stats, great lifesteal and awesome passive. Give this a try if you do not believe me! Also does not conflict with frozen mallet like Trinity force does.

Pretty good item for Yorick even after nerfs but I not Prefer the bloodthirster.

Honestly not a fan of this item but i cannot deny it has some nice stats and an active that are suitable for Yorick.

: I have tried this item and it is pretty damn good for Yorick but I would still prefer to spend my gold elsewhere UNLESS the Tenacity passive will be a game changer.

Link to Zephyr until Mobafire updates tool tips: http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Zephyr

If you decide to build more Tanky:

This would probably be my number 1 defensive item against AD champs. It has a ****load of armor an amazing passive and most importantly CD reduction which is perfect for Yorick. The other major benefit is the fact that it gives you more mana to spam more ghouls and that mana is also increasing your AD from Manamune which is great.

Gives HP nice armor and HP regen. It also reduces ability cooldowns by a bit and has a slowing effect on hit. The active is also great for team fights in combination with the slow ghoul.

A pretty good item on any champ as it can shut down many champs who rely on an initiating skill or a stun like annie and brand. I find there are better options but some like this item.

{icon=Runic Bulwark size=32]: A new item that has some very nice stats for Yorick to make him tough as nuts. The auru also works wonders in team fights.

Link to Runic Bulwark until tool tips updated: http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Runic_Bulwark

This is how I enjoy building Yorick and find it to bring the most potential out of him but I sure others have different preferences so feel free to change some around.
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Playstyle

Early game Yorick:

I choose AOE ghoul first because you can bush check with it early game to reveal those cheeky enemies waiting to gank you. As most champs you should be focusing on last hitting as much as you can which shouldn't be such a problem considering the AD runes you chose. Once you get your E ghoul you can start harassing the enemy champions really hard and even zoning them out. You should start with a W slow ghoul on them then chuck your E ghoul on them. This should so some nice damage as well as heal up most if not all the damage you received in return. You can keep rinse and repeating this until they are low hp and even get a Q ghoul in there when you can but do not forget to farm minions as well in case you cannot get early kills. Once you feel you can finish off the enemy/enemies let your teammate and go for the gank with your ignite and flash if you need them you can probably get first blood or at least a kill before you B to shop.

Mid Game Yorick:

By this point of the game you should be very strong due to Manamune and sustain in your lane. If towers are not pushed by now you can push you're tower or help other lanes with your ghouls and ultimate at tower to help with extra damage. You are also very helpful in team fights with your slow ghoul and ultimate so help out you're team members when you can and start dominating this game!. You should still focus up on farming as much as you can to afford you're more expensive build so you can start becoming an unkillable monster.

Late Game Yorick:

Lots of team fights should be popping up all over the map and you should be grabbing blue and red buffs if you're team doesn't mind. During big team fights you should let the main tank initiate while you slow ghoul the enemy team to cut down their mobility during the fight. You should then focus on their squishy using you're Q and other ghouls and even use the ultimate in the fight to take the carry/squishes down quicker. If the team fight does not go in your favor and you and some others need to run you should get some distance by using Q on something for a speed boost and then keep dropping W slow ghouls behind you to slow the enemy team (this has saved me and teammates many times). Once you get your mallet and Atmas impler and possibly other items you will be VERY strong and even capable to off tank many fights while putting out some great damage. You should be able to push lanes very easy so if the enemy team is distracted do not hesitate to ghoul push a lane and tower as it will become very easy just be careful if they come and gank you. Always remember to be a team player as you can provide some nice utility and definitely turn the tides of a match!!
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Yorick mini Dominion guide.

Before you read on guys I am just letting you know that this is one section of my guide I will most likely NOT be updating. This is due to the fact that I never play dominion anymore and don't really have the motivation to keep testing builds in there. If you guys would really like me to continue with this section let me know and I can work on it now and then.

I have done some testing with Yorick in dominion and he works REALLY well. I think the forums is also starting to realize this as I constantly see him on peoples personal tier list. I decided to add a mini item, mastery and strategy guide here for the folks who need some insight on how to build Yorick in Dominion.

Firstly I will start by saying that we are going to be building a more offensive Yorick for dominion as he does insane damage and is great for defending/attacking points with his brute AD power. I have tried building him semi tanky but honestly that should be left for the true tanks in Dominion such as Alistar and Rammus.

Masteries

With the masteries I used this link instead of making a second spec up the top to avoid confusion : http://www.fieldsofjustice.com/m/#/auZwwynlayPqZlyw

As you can see this is a far more offensive build in comparison to the main build. Yorick can do amazing damage straight away in Dominion and pretty much heal all of it back up with health packs and E ghoul. The sustain from Utility is not needed in Dominion because there is no laning phase and gold regen is SO fast that you will become super strong by 10-15 mins. I do not think I really need to in depth about my mastery choices as they are pretty self explanatory but if anyone needs it feel free to request in comments.

Runes

Honestly the runes you use in the main build work pretty well but you can feel free to change to a more offensive/rushing set-up. This may include:

This will help you get around the map faster and also get in range for Q attacks (which will really hurt).

You will find yourself doing pretty amazing auto attack damage throughout the game so these can play a more offensive role.

Since we are not speccing into utility these can help for more ghoul spammage.

Items


+ This is a GREAT starter combo as Prospector's blade gives you everything you need to defend or attack as soon as the game starts. You will have close to 100 AD right out of the gates so the ghouls will hurt the enemy badly. The boots are needed to get around the map faster as Dominion is all about speed.

These boots are wonderful for Dominion as they will basically make up for the lack of CD reduction in Utility and allow you to do some crazy damage in short periods of time.

Yes... Trinity Force is still amazing for Yorick in dominion as he will be putting out insane damage with the Sheen procs and Q.

A M A Z I N G item that gives a brutal 70 AD! the health, passive and active make it even better for Yorick in Dominion.

You may be thinking Wtf man? this isn't an offensive item how will it benefit Yorick in Dominion. Well it benefits him in every way and I will go over each stat:

- 25 health regen. You may think Regen is pointless in Dominion but it is very very good considering you will be defending a lot of the time. This in combination with the health packs laying around will help to keep you healthy through attacks and defense missions.

- 15% Capture rate makes a huge difference when capping. You will notice in Dominion you are a second off getting that cap and a pesky Rammus will interrupt you before you finish. Well with this passive that is less likely to happen throughout the game.

- 30% movement speed active is great for getting around the battlefield, escaping and chasing.

Another great item that will benefit both you and the teammates.

Remember guys you can still use the old items! I was just going over some new concepts and items that will help you through Dominion but items such as Hextech are still very viable.


Strategy

I will not include much in this section as there is whole guides dedicated to Dominion strategy but I thought I would share a few tips into how I play Yorick in Dominion.

- You can play both defensively and offensively! Yorick makes a great pusher and capper due to his crazy damage and heals and this also applies to staying put to hold a cap against an enemy.

- The ultimate can be used to tower dive and take the tower shots while you and the teammates jump in to cap or mutilate the enemy.

- GET HEALTH PACKS! they are very useful, especially if you run around the map collecting a bunch of them to bring you back to full HP while life stealing with your ghoul. A lot of people seem to ignore them so they are available pretty often.

I hope you enjoyed this mini guide for Dominion guys. Like everyone else I am still learning the ropes of this game mode but I am doing pretty well with this guide I showed here.
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Closing Comments.

I really hope you enjoyed my guide and it helps you to have as much fun on Yorick as I do every game i play the lovable grave digger. I would really appreciate you're comments on this build and if you do not like it a reason behind the dislike would also be great!
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