In my opinion, dps is by far the best way to build Yorick. Don't just build him like a regular DPS champ though, attack speed and critical chance are hardly worth the cost on him; just get lots of damage. All of his summons benefit from his damage (they deal 30% of his) and his abilities scale with his damage, making attack damage very valuable for him.

You could argue that it's better for him to play as a , but I just think that Yorick is better as a killer. He does have good cc and is a great initiator, making him a very capable , but he just seems to have more effect on the game when built with AD. I have added a second build for a tankier Yorick btw. However, this guide will be based on the first build for heavy DPS Yorick.

Utility tree is definitely best on him. All the mana, speed, cdr, etc. helps a lot. I put the other 9 points into the defense tree, for extra armor/mr and health regen. The start of the defensive tree is much more helpful than the early attack tree, since critical strike won't help him much and he doesn't use ability power. Defense masteries are also a great help for staying alive, especially early game.

I go tanky runes for survivability. Armor and magic resist especially helps keep him alive longer and can make a big difference in the game. Getting tanky runes is better than building tank items imo, since runes are effective as soon as the game starts and they won't slow down your damage very much. With the masteries and runes, you should end with about fourteen extra armor and thirty extra magic resist. These should allow you to play as a tanky carry without needing to buy any armor or magic resistance items.

You should always start with either a mana crystal or meki pendant with Yorick, so you can summon as many minions as possible before having to go back. By starting with your E, you should be able to lane all day without having to worry about dying. That is, until you run out of mana, which is when you should go back to the base to get it back. Typically, I go back when I can afford my Tear of the Goddess and Boots of Speed.

One thing that is a great help to Yorick is getting the Gollum (blue buff). An early game Gollum, right after building a Tear of the Goddess will help you farm its passive much faster and it gives you mana when you need it most, during early-mid game. Of course, if your team has a jungler or a mage who would benefit from it more, you should be considerate and let them take it. You should at least ask your team if it's ok for you to have it though.

Pusher - Yorick is a very good pusher. Once you have solid AD, he's one of the best pushers in the game. You can destroy minion waves in just a second or two and turrets go down very fast when they're undefended.

Initiator - When you have the other team outnumbered, you can charge the enemy with your q, slow them with your w, throw your e on the weakest one, ult your ally with the most DPS, and fight. He's an especially good initiator once you have two or three bloodthirsters. Be careful though, since he'll still die fast when focused or stunned.

Fighter - In team fights that are equal in numbers or when you're out numbered, it's best to just constantly spam your minions on top of the other team, but do not charge in. Wait either for at least a few of your team mates to start fighting or for the other team's health to go low before you start meleeing the enemies.

Support/Scout - Use Yorick's w to save teammates from charging enemies. You can also use it to check dragon/baron or scout, by summoning it over walls. You can stand on one side of the wall and safely scout by summoning your w into where your opponents might be at.

Chaser - His speed buff (q) and slow (w) make him a great chaser. Run down any champs that are low health. He's especially good for this if you have ghost, flash, or both.

Manamune - you need mana and mana regen. There are two items in the game that do this best: Manamune and Archangel's. Archangel's would be stupid on him since he doesn't use AP and there aren't any other items that give all the mana you need. So, that leaves Manamune.

Boots of lucidity - CDR is a must on him. With CDR, you can spam your minions almost constantly and are a much greater threat.

The Bloodthirster(s) - You need all the damage you can get, this is the best way to do it. Infinity edge isn't that great on him imo, since critical builds won't help your minions or abilities. Bloodthirsters do more damage than an Infinity Edge and are cheapter, plus they grant life steal which helps a lot for staying alive. Black Cleaver would be a good item too, but it doesn't give you as much boost on your abilities as another Bloodthirster.

Youmuu's - For chasing, more CDR, more damage. It's an excellent item to throw into the build.

Frozen Mallet - An extra slow makes him a better chaser and extra cc is always good. Also, the health makes him much more viable in team fights and helps his ghouls fight longer.

Black Cleaver - good armor penetration. I wouldn't advice getting it on Yorick, but you can substitute it for one of the Bloodthirsters.

Banshee's Veil - Get this against teams with lots of stuns. The extra health and mana are really good on him too though.

Guardian Angel - Get this if you're having a hard time staying alive. The armor/mr is always helpful and it has a great passive.

Last Whisper - If the other team is stacking tons of armor, why not? I don't think it's needed much though. Your abilities deal ability power, so you should be able to counter armor-heavy teams by just relying on them more.

Trinity Force - I would never get it on him, but it's viable. It gives a little of everything and is ideal for off-tanking. I prefer going straight AD and health on Yorick, for the sake of his minions, so I would rather get something else.

Infinity Edge - If you're able to use your melee attacks a lot, this is probably worth it. If you're mostly just summoning and only doing some attacking, it's best to stick with the Bloodthirsters.

Atma's Impaler - If you also get a Frozen Mallet, this should give you 56 Attack Damage, 45 Armor, and 18% Critical Chance. It's definitely worth getting vs teams with high AD or when you plan on building more health. It can easily be replaced for the last Bloodthirster and is arguably better.

Warmog's Armor - It goes very well with an Atma's Impaler. The health will make your minions stay alive a bit longer and it gives you more survivability. Its drawback is a lack of damage; it's only really good if you're tanking. You should get it if you're the one doing most of the initiation though or if you just need more health for you and your ghouls.

In the build, I have a bloodthirster as the last item. It may be what I plan to get, but more often than not I substitute it for something else. You final item is very situational and you should get whatever the game calls for. Here are some examples of how you can counter with your final item.

Against AD heavy teams - Atma's Impaler
Against AP heavy teams - Banshee's Veil
Against tanky teams - Last Whisper or Black Cleaver
Need help staying alive - Guardian Angel
Any of the other optional items work too.

Need proof that this build works?

These were all in solo queue and before the patch, so I didn't have a pro team to make sure my Yorick did well. I carried pretty hard in three of the . The one game I did bad in was because I laned with a Vayne and all she did was feed all game (her stats were much worse than mine). And yes, I did have to leave in one of the . You can ignore the custom game btw, I was playing vs bots while waiting for a mate to finish his game. Then, he ended up leaving without playing another...

Some after the buff-

These aren't all my best or anything. It's just the most recent ones. Most of my have been getting stats like this. All of these were solo queue too btw.

Clearly, this build is best if you can somehow get fed. It is viable in any game though and you can really dish out tons of damage with it. You can even solo baron quite quickly and with full health at the end, at the cost of only half your mana or less. You and your minions will really tear apart everything in your path, as long as you can stay alive and get enough feed for all your items. The best part of this build though is that the other team can't just ignore you, like they could if you went tank or something stupid.

I made this guide when Yorick sucked btw. I have edited it since then, so it should be up-to-date.