I've had a chance to really get to know Yorick over the past week and he's not as weak as people say. I myself, just went along with the crowd. When I'd fail horribly, I'd just repeat everyone else's voicings that Yorick is just to under powered. I'm starting to believe it may just have been a combination of build, runes, items and play style that was tripping me up. Just to be thorough, I documented Yorick's raw numbers as he levels. No runes, no masteries, and no items.
Let me say he is a fun champion to play and is loaded with potential after the changes Riot plan on making to him: Phreak Says Yorich Needs Something

The play style that's really worked for me is that of a ganker-tank. Yorick can dish out a surprising amount of damage through the use of Omen of War. You'll see a lot of guides that say to max out Omen of Pestilence or Omen of Famine first. Even the champion spotlight says to max omen of pestilence first, but I disagree. You're going to want your highest damage dealer maxed in order to be an effective threat early to mid game. How you use it is what separates the noobs from the licensed mortitions. You need to hide in the bushes waiting to spring out and conk your unsuspecting champion on the brain box with the family shovel.
Even in the one loss you can see I had 17 kills and 17 assists. As a DPSer I did my job.

Until Riot makes some changes, be patient with Yorick. You'll have some really good games, and really bad ones, but stick with it and you'll be surprising your teammates with the kills you start to rack up.

By the way, this is my first guide. Please feel free to vote and comment so that I can improve upon it. I hope you enjoy it and I will work to keep it updated.

Version 1.0 - Last updated 6/25/2011 - Based on patch 1.0.0.120
Version 1.1 - Last updated 6/25/2011 - Based on patch 1.0.0.120

• Cleared up some typos.
• Added more information about Yorick's abilities.
• Changed skill sequence order.

Version 1.2 - Last updated 6/27/2011 - Based on patch 1.0.0.120

• Added a section regarding Tank vs DPS.
• Added a video testing ghoul lifespan.

Version 1.3 - Last updated 6/28/2011 - Based on patch 1.0.0.120

• Added Yorick's raw scaling numbers.
• Added what my core build is in the items section.
• Added a sample gaming history.
• Made some formatting changes.
• Changed build due to extensive testing.

Version 1.4 - Last updated 6/29/2011 - Based on patch 1.0.0.120

• Added what I believe to be the perfect 6 items to the Purchase Order section. This way you can see how all 6 items affect Yorick's stats at the top of this page.
• Added a defensive item to Yorick's Core Build.
• Added a section explaining my rune selection.
• Added a section going over masteries.
• Added a section comparing Yorick's scaling numbers to that of a tank and DPS champ.
• Tweaked masteries. (See comment in the comments section)

Version 1.5 - Last updated 7/1/2011 - Based on patch 1.0.0.120

• Swapped out Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction for Glyph of Magic Resist for the extra magic resist.
• Added an "Interesting Facts" section. Check it out for cool things you might not know about Yorick. There's a great tip about attack speed in there!!!!
• Added a section that lists how much damage the ghouls and revenant do.

Version 2.0 - Last updated 7/8/2011 - Based on patch 1.0.0.121

• Updated Yorick's abilities to reflect the new information from the patch.
• Updated Yorick's base numbers.

Pros

- Great solo laner if you have a jungler on the team.
- Best last hitter in the game.
- An amazing pusher.
- His Q combined with a sheen puts out considerable burst damage.
- Waiting to find out what's happened due to the patch first. Come back daily to find out.

Cons

- Waiting to find out what's happened due to the patch first. Come back daily to find out.

Thanks goes out to the League of Legends Wiki for the stats on each ability.

Omen of War:
(Active): Yorick's next attack will deal bonus physical damage and summon a Spectral Ghoul. The Spectral Ghoul deals additional damage and moves faster than the rest of the ghouls. While the ghoul is active, Yorick moves faster as well.

Cost: 40 mana
Cooldown: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 seconds
Bonus Damage: 30 / 60 / 90 / 120 / 150
Ghoul Extra Attack Damage: 8 / 16 / 24 / 32 / 40
Bonus Movement Speed: 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 %



Omen of Pestilence:
(Active): Yorick summons a Decaying Ghoul that arrives with a violent explosion, dealing damage and slowing nearby enemies for 1.5 second. While the Decaying Ghoul remains alive, nearby enemies continue to be slowed.

Cost: 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 mana
Cooldown: 12 seconds
Magic Damage: 60 / 95 / 130 / 165 / 200 (+0.8 per bonus attack damage)
Explosion Initial Slow: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 %
Ghoul Ongoing Slow: 10 / 12.5 / 15 / 17.5 / 20 %



Omen of Famine:
(Active): Yorick deals magic damage and heals for up to 50% of the damage dealt. A Ravenous Ghoul is summoned behind his target, which heals Yorick for the damage it deals and lasts up to 5 seconds.

Cost: 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 mana
Cooldown: 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 seconds
Magic Damage: 55 / 85 / 115 / 145 / 175 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage)



Omen of Death (Ultimate):
(Active): Yorick conjures a revenant in the image of one of his allies that will have a percentage of their max health and attack damage. If his ally dies while its revenant is alive, the revenant sacrifices itself to reanimate them temporarily by restoring them to full health and give them time to enact vengeance. The revenant and the reanimated ally will lose 10% of their max health every second.

Cost: 100 mana
Health and Damage Percentage: 50% / 75% / 100%
Cooldown: 120 / 100 / 90 seconds



Unholy Covenant:
(Passive): Yorick's summoned ghouls deal 35% of Yorick’s attack damage and have 30% of his total health. Yorick takes 5% reduced damage for each summon that is active. In addition, Yorick's attacks deal 5% more damage for each summon that is active.

greater mark of desolation
Armor penetration is going to be a must.


The extra armor early game along with the Doran's Shield will enable you to give chase on a gank and you won't have to worry as much that you'll become the ganked instead.


I used to sport glyph of celerity for the cooldown reduction for spamming Q faster, but it wasn't making that much of a difference. If find the extra magic resist goes a long way when you're going for those kills with your Q and they're trying to unload all their spells on you to prevent it.

greater quintessence of desolation
Again, the armor penetration will go a long way

For masteries I go 21/9/0.

I'm experimenting with whether or not the offense tree needs to go as deep as I have it. I wouldn't deviate from what I've chosen in the Defensive tree though. Yorick will need those boosts in order to survive longer. They offset what he should have gotten naturally.

Exhaust
What better way to slay your prey then by slowing them down by 40%, reducing their attack damage by 70%, ability damage by 35%, armor by 10 and magic resist by 10. Think of it like that part in the movie where the girl trips just so the villain can catch up.

Ignite
Monsters are usually afraid of fire, but Yorick's not afraid of a little cremation . Ignite is great for dealing that last little bit of damage and reducing healing and regeneration by 50%. Great for all those Tyndameres that pop their ultimate in order to stop their inevitable doom.

Alright, down to the bones that make up the monster. This is by no means a cheap build, but the good thing is that every time you port back you should be able to buy another useful part that makes up your final items.

The Core Build

After you finish the Core Build, anything you purchase from there on out is conditional. You can find the order in which you purchase items at the top of this page, but be ready to be flexible. If you're finding that you're having to port back frequently due to loss of health, then purchase the Ruby Crystal and Giant's Belt first. Finding that you're just not doing as much damage as you would like? Then buy Sheen first. The order isn't set in stone. A good player will be flexible and by what is needed.

Here are key items that make up the build and why I think they're important:

Doran's Shield
If this is a dps build, then why aren't i going with Doran's Blade? Because, The 120hp and 10 armor helps to maintain the lane, and keeps you alive when you attempt an attack. In the beginning of the game, you will find that it comes down to a war of attrition when you try and gank someone in your lane. If you can outlive them, then you win. With that said, Doran's Shield has kept me alive enough to start games 3-0 within the first 5 minutes. You will eventually sell this to make room for a conditional item.

Boots of Mobility
Every evil character needs to be light on their feet in order to deliver that initial blow. Burst from the brush with these babies on and the enemy will never know what hit them, but you'll know it was your trusty shovel. You're also going to need these in order to get to mid quickly for a quick gank and then back to your lane again. These boots are perfect if you want to be a split lane pusher or stop a split lane push.

Frozen Mallet
You will notice at times that your victums tend to just slip from your grasp like a bad horror movie. Frozen mallet will help to keep that from happening. Coupled with your Omen of Pestilence and boots of mobility you should be able to always keep your target within reach. Plus the 700 health will not only keep you alive but also 30% of it is shared with your ghouls and revenant. This helps to keep them around a bit longer before they shuffle off this mortal coil.

Trinity Force
Like Frankenstein's monster, it is time to stitch together the parts of your current arsenal into masterpiece of mayhem, the Trinity Force. What's not to love? It's got everything a handler of the dead needs.

Banshee's Veil
One of the most useful defense items in the game. Negates one negative spell. So, hopefully it's a CC spell or someone's ult. The 50 magic resist along with the mana and health boost really make this a must for Yorick.

Conditional Items

By now the battlefield should be a graveyard littered with corpses you need to clean up, but if it goes on longer than you anticipated then might I recommend some of these? These are situational of course. Assess your current needs and grab your weapon of choice:

More Damage

Infinity Edge
The grand daddy of damage weighing in at a whopping 80 attack damage and boasting considerable critical strike bonuses. If this doesn't put them in the ground then buy a new shovel.

Black Cleaver
The 55 bonus to attack damage is nice, but the ability to lower a targets armor makes it a must.

Anti-DPS

Frozen Heart
Just because Nocturne and you are both the stuff of nightmares doesn't mean you two will always be the best of friends. If he does come a knockin he'll probably bring Madred's Bloodrazor. That means you'll need more than just health. You'll need Frozen Heart's 99 armor and aura that reduces nearby enemies attack speed by 20%.

Thornmail
Thornmail is a damage dealers worst nightmare with 100 armor and a passive that returns 30% of the damage back to it's owner; and who wouldn't mind giving Nocturne nightmares for a change?

Anti-Magic

Force of Nature
Topping the charts with 76 magic resist is Force of Nature. The movement speed and the super health regeneration shows you wont bend to the mystical forces.

Wit's End
If you're on a budget and in need of some attack speed boost to go with your magic resist, then pick up one of these bad boys. Made specifically to cut through soft cloth wearing magic wielders.

Q ---> R ---> E ---> W

Your Q Omen of War gives you a big damage bonus upon your next physical hit. Combine that with the bonus you get from Sheen or Trinity Forceto increase your next physical attack to monstrous proportions.

Example:

Level : 12
Items: Frozen Mallet and Sheen
Normal Damage: 120
Damage After Sheen Procs: 374


After your first cycle of your abilities continue to spam Q Omen of War. The cooldown will coincide well with Sheen's or Trinity Force's bonus damage cooldown.

Remember, hide in bushes for surprise attacks. Can't stress this enough. Being melee you need a way to close the gap in order to deal your damage. Lurking in the weeds is the best way to do that.
If you are on the blue team look at the blue marks on the map. If you're on the purple team look at the purple markers. The place of choice to hide are the starred areas. They prevent an unexpected gank from behind. If you see someone coming you can either counter gank them or hit them with Omen of Pestilence to slow them down while you make your getaway. This also allows the enemy to push forward enough to gank them and finish them off before they reach their turret. If you find yourself low on gold hide in the circled areas instead. They give you the best opportunity to last hit minions.

Early Game (Levels 1 - 6) - You won't be midding anytime soon so you will either be top or bottom. You will want to keep to the bushes. Like any good gravedigger, when the opportunity presents itself you will want to jump out from the shadows and attack a champion with Q Omen of War or last hit a minion with your auto-attack. Whatever you do, don't chase the champion to the turret and get yourself killed. Try and stay in the bushes that are in the river. You will be pushing hard and this will help to prevent someone from sneaking up behind you to gank you and your lane partner.

Omen of War is great for last hitting minions because it hits immediately after an auto-attack. Don't use it if you are running low on mana though.

Yorick is a great lane pusher. When you need to port back use all of your abilities to clear minions fast, pushing them to the opposing team's tower, and then port back from a safe position. You should have enough time to get back before they do too much damage. If you're manning a lane by yourself the first item you should get is Mobility Boots. This will enable you to get back to your turret fast in case you had to port.

Mid Game (Levels 7 - 13) - By now you should have your Mobility Boots and either your Phage, Sheen, or Giant's Belt, if not, then you need to kick it up a notch. Now's the time you will want to keep an eye on mid for ganking opportunities. If nothing presents itself continue to push your lane hard. If your enemies health is low and you have a wave of minions at their tower, try using your ult on you, or your lane partner (whoever has more attack damage) and start hitting the turret. Your revenent can help to take down towers fast.

Late Game (Levels 14 - 18 - By 14 you should have your Frozen Mallet and a few kills notched on your shovel handle. depending on your enemies you will want to either stick together or help split push. Don't be shy about grabbing buffs along the way. Remember, you're not a full fledged tank so don't go initiating a group battle. Save that for 1v1's. Once you're done with making the Trinity Force look to see what you need next and proceed accordingly.

Let's compare Yorick to some other champs. I've chosen one of the best tanks and one of the best DPS champs.






I'll go over the key categories for tanks and DPS champs one by one, and at the end of each give you my opinion as to what role Yorick belongs too.

Starting Health: Of the three, Yorick has the lowest starting health. DPS

Health Scale: Lower than the tank's, but the same as the DPS. DPS

Starting AD: Higher than the tank by 4, but lower than the DPS by 3. DPS

AD Scale: All three are the same, but with the starting number being higher for DPS. DPS

Starting Attack Speed: The lowest of the three. Tank

Scaling Attack Speed: Essentially the same as the other two, and because of the starting attack speed Tank

Starting Armor: Lowest of the three. DPS

Scaling Armor: The same as the others, and because of the starting armor DPS

Starting Magic resist: The same as the DPS, and higher than the tank. DPS or Tank

Scaling Magic resist: The same as the DPS, and higher than the tank. DPS or Tank

By the looks of it, I would say that Yorick falls in the DPS category, and not a bad one at that if you can use runes, masteries and items to offset his lower health and slightly lower AD. Some might point to the fact that because his magic resist scaling is high that he falls in the tank category, but Yi, who is definitely a DPS champ has the same numbers which leads me to believe that Yorick should also be considered a DPS champ.

I decided to document the damage output that each ghoul does including the revenant considering I wasn't able to find this information elsewhere. For the test I chose to stick with Yorick's base damage (+1 because of mastery) and base health. The target was the big wolf on the 5v5 map. It has 9 armor. Each ghoul only was able to hit 3 times before they died. The revenant though, was able to hit more often due to it's time and health degeneration being longer. Also, and this is really cool, The revenant retained the attack speed of it's copied champion. So, it is able to do more damage because of that. For this test though, I didn't use any attack speed bonus items.

Can Yorick operate as a tank? An off tank maybe, but I still believe his strength lies in DPS. I've had a few people tell me that more health on Yorick = longer lasting ghouls. Not really. Play Video /league-of-legends/item/mobility-boots-86 Play Video

Here is a list of interesting things I've found with Yorick:

• Yorick's ghouls can be used to stop skill shots.
• The revenant receive the bonuses from Rally and Zeke's Harbinger
• The revenant has the same attack speed as the champion it copied. Keep that in mind when choosing who you pick.