Yorick is a very underestimated champion with many people thinking he is under powered, but with my build you are able to not only boost your attack but also boost your defense and health to survive a lot longer. Yorick is supposed to be a DPS tank hybrid but that is not how i play him. Yorick can be good with DPS but his base attack speed isn't very good and his ghouls dont share his attack speed. So i build attack damage and hp mostly because his ghouls share 35% of his attack damage and his health so having more health will make them last longer and will help you tank turrets, and having more attack damage will just make them put out much more damage. Yorick can also be a very good tank and if you want to go tanky then try substituting some of the damage heavy items with more armor or health items.

For runes i start with 9 marks of desolation because having that extra armor penetration also effects your ghouls and will help you if the enemy team starts building armor against you. They will also allow you to go right through the minions armor and put out max damage allowing you to farm easier.

Next i get 9 seals of resilience because having armor is great for yorick and for my build because early on you wont have much armor so this will make up for the armor you dont have and will allow you to absorb more punishment and stay in lane longer also it makes minion attacks seem like nothing.

For my third set of runes i get 9 glyphs of focus because Yorick's cool downs are just to much and having the added cool down reduction from these runes along with your Ionian boots of lucidity will bring your cool downs down a lot and allow you to cast those ghouls more often.

Lastly, for my quintessences i get greater quintessences of resilience which again add to your armor making you even better early game for taking that harassment and taking minion agro is nothing.

for masteries i go 9/21/0 getting all the basic caster masteries in offence but instead of archmage's savvy i go 3 in deadliness and 1 in archmage's savvy and then getting all the basic armor boosting masteries in defense and skipping dodge completly and grabbing some extra ability power and attack speed as well as some magic resist on top of my armor which all adds up to better durability with some better ability in combat. Although i dont think masteries arent very important they are depending on your play style if you like to go full offense they are quite good for boosting your damage and if your squishy and take minion agro to much to much then the defense helps with armor, but Yorick and the way i play him dont necessarily need masteries but they are useful. Point is if your a low level and dont have a lot of mastery points itwont matter just put them wherever suits your play style.

For items I start with a Saphire crystal and 2 Health pots but you could also go with a Ruby crystal for the extra health and durability.This will boost your mana early game and the health pots will help you stay in lane longer.

Next i get a Sheen to help with the mana issues and allow you to spam and harass with your abilities much better and the sheens passive help a lot when coupled after you hit with your omen of war.

Now you want to grab a pair of Ionian boots of Lucidity to maximize your cool down reduction and give you the speed Yorick so desperately needs but then again boots are quite flexible and really your choice and are dependent on the other teams comp for example if the other team had a lot of cc then you will want to get mercury treads.

And now you are going to build your bread and butter the Tri Force this gives you a little bit of everything you need (attack speed, damage, ability power, critical strike chance, health, mana and a slow on hit) this item is perfect for Yorick. However it is perfect but it is very expensive a good alternative would be to build bloodthirster or infinity edge if you want more damage instead of attack speed and health, or if your doing really well get phage then infinity edge then get your tri force.

Next we have warmogs now this will give you amazing health and health regeneration to help you survive a lot longer and you will last a lot better in teamfights instead of dying instantly, because i know with Yorick being melee you have to be up front in a team fight to get off your omen of war but Yorick isnt exactly tanky so if the other team is smart and focus you you die instantly so with warmogs you get that extra survivability you need and if you need more you get bloodthirster to keep you in fights.

Now for your major damage output which will help you take down any enemy easily you will want to get an Infinity edge this will give you great damage output and allow your ghouls to do much more damage which is great because i dont believe in the instant burst damage that Ap ghouls do but i prefer long term damage.

Your 2nd last item which you probably wont reach you will want to pick up a Blood thrister to help you gain hp and be deceptively long lasting in a fight but only get this if you are taking on many enemies and are doing good and have no need for more damage other wise i suggest getting a Banshees veil if your facing a heavy AP burst team or getting some normal armor such as frozen heart or even a frozen mallet or which will help you live longer if you are being targeted and focused and then get a blood thirster.

For your skills you want to max out omen of war first putting 1 point in omen of pestilence and omen of famine so you have all your abilities and can harass but also leveling up omen of war when you can next you want to alternate between omen of pestilence and omen of famine so you get the slow and the life steal to help you chase and live longer. Unlike most builds which suggest going omen of war then omen of pestilence because they dont like the life steal on the omen of famine but i feel it really helps with survivability but its still up to you because the slow can be even more useful in chases and escapes.

For summoner spells i get flash and ghost to help you chase as well as escaping although
some other great spells to go with are exhaust for slowing and chasing your enemies or teleport because Yorrick is very slow without boots so getting into lane takes a long time but with telport you can get back into lane fast and not loose any precious farming. But i will always say to go with flash because flash is the best escape spell and it can be used aggresively the second spell is up to you which also relies on your play style and your summoner level.

When farming you DO NOT want to farm with your abilities as they do take a lot of mana to use and the cds are high so you want to save them for harass and fights or escapes, but when using them to harass only do so if you are CERTAIN it will hit otherwise DONT because you need your abilities and wasting your mana and cool downs could/will get you killed or pass up an opportunity for a kill. So to farm with Yorrick stick to last hitting and avoid attracting minion agro because Yorrick is seen as under powered so if you play defensive early then your enemies will get aggressive and thats when you do good.