Some say Yorick is underpowered. Other, more rational folk say otherwise. I'm the latter. This guide follows a high damage output path best suited for 1v1 or "secluded" teamfights with a high damage count, high lifesteal and a good pinch of crit. Yorick is probably best known for being able to take quite a bit more damage than your average DPS but also deal out the heavy damage whilst also supporting his team with slows and his ressurection.

These Pros/Cons are for the build i'm using, not the actual champion

Pros: High damage output, very high lifesteal and a good amount of crit

Cons: Less tanky than the average semi-tank Yorick build

Flash: I believe it's extremely important for Yorick to be able to chase his opponents down in the best and most effective way possible. So I take flash to reduce the risk enemies being able to escape (Kassadin's ultimate or other flashers). It also adds survivability to this Yorick build which the actual build itself is lacking.


Ghost: Many of the same reasons as Flash for this one. Yorick already has a lot of movement speed and slowing capabilites later into the build so why not give him an advantage early on aswell, when he can't chase as effectively?

Ignite: Ignite can be a pretty good summoner spell for Yorick, giving him a higher damage output earlier on in the game to be able to aquire his Sheen and Boots quicker. I still stand by my summoner choices, however for the improved survivability and speed.


Exhaust: Exhaust gives Yorick a lot of extra slow and so can be quite effective on him. However, the build I use goes down the path of maxing Yorick's W (his slow) and getting a Trinity Force, giving him enough slow to justify not using Exhaust.


Cleanse: Cleanse can be useful for chasing down enemies who can stun or slow you but I usually stay clear of Cleanse because if the enemy team doesn't have a lot of CC Cleanse isn't used effectively enough.


Smite: Some Yorick players prefer to go jungle. However, a jungle Yorick probably has a completely different build and skill tree. If you want to jungle Yorick go read another guide.

UNHOLY COVENANT

Yorick's passive Unholy Covenant: Yorick's summoned ghouls deal 30% of Yorick’s attack damage and have 30% of his total health. The Ghoul's health is reduced by 20% of their max health every second. In addition, Yorick's attacks deal 5% more damage for each summon that is active. So bassicaly keep your ghouls alive so you do lots and lots of lovely damage. Easier said than done, mind you.

OMEN OF WAR

First off: Omen of War. This is your main DPS spell (On Hit) which does damage when you attack something and summons a ghoul which increases your movement speed. The fact that the damage output this skill brings to Yoricks rotation makes the skill a must to max first. It's also a great harassing tool if you can sneak up in the bushes!

OMEN OF FAMINE

The next skill is Omen of Famine. This spell summons a ghoul that gives you life steal everytime it attacks and is extremely useful for lifestealing early on in the game (Single Target) and is benefited by Sprit Visage and can heal Yorick quite a hefty amount even at rank 1. I definitely reccommend getting this skill at level 5 or so.

OMEN OF PESTILENCE

Now this is a REALLY useful one. Omen of Pestilence (AoE) slows your enemies to allow you to catch up to them and summons a ghoul to do damage (duh -ed). This works extremely well in conjunction with Omen of War - Giving him a big speed boost whilst your enemies run for their weak, pathetic lives... MUAHUAUHAHUAHUAUHUHA!

OMEN OF DEATH

This is Yorick's ultimate: Omen of Death. Yorick can conjure a revenant on an allied champion which has a % of their health and damage. The cool things about this ability are that you can control the revenant with ALT+Right Click and if the allie with the revenant buff dies he is reanimated as the revenant and can use all of the abilities of the original champion. However, the reincarnated champion loses health very quickly so deal damage fast!

I won't go in depth with these because I feel that the bonuses the items in this build bring is self explanatory but i'll run through them quickly:

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Sheen before boots: Sheen coupled with your Q does a massive amount of damage and since Yorick is effectively a skill spam champion it's pretty vital to get this item. Also, it's okay to get sheen before you actually finish your boots because of the massive speed buff you get from Omen of War and the big slow from Pestilence


Berserker's Greaves: It's important to deal damage faster as Yorick with this build seeing how you rely pretty heavily on lifesteal. Berserker's is one of the only attack speed items in this actual build so I highly reccommend getting it.

Tear of the Godess
ToG: This item is EXTREMELY important to get early on so you can get that extra mana as soon as possible because of the simple fact that Yorick is a heavy spam champion.


Spirit Visage: Very important item in my opinion. The CD reduction is extremely useful and the lifesteal bonus is SO nice. It works in conjunction with all the lifesteal items in the build and it works with his Omen of Famine aswell. Amazing item.

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Phage before Zeal: This is a big decision. Attack speed and movement speed or a slow, extra health and extra damage. Apart from the Berserker's Greaves, you won't have any attack speed items this far into the build yet and you may think "I don't hit fast enough so I should get Zeal". But hold on a second there, sonny. Phage may seem pointless to get first because of Yorick's very powerful slow but there's a problem with his casted slow. It has a cooldown! Yes that's right, his spells have cooldowns (shocker -ed). Phage will give you a chance to slow those pesky noobs down before your casted slow comes of cooldown and the added speed buff of his Q will make Yorick a formidable chaser. Zeal may have the movement speed but as stated before the speed buff of his Q greatly outweighs that. So, Phage before zeal.


Infinity Edge: By now you'll be a pretty formidable opponent with a Trinity Force, Manamune and a Spirit Visage. Now all you need is MORE DAMAGE!!!!!!!!!!!1 Infinity Edge is a great choice for any fighter who just wants to kill more stuff faster. Tonight we dine in hell.


The Bloodthirster: This is by far my favourite item in this guide. Not only does a Bloodthirster give more damage to Yorick it also gives him BIG lifesteal which also (as stated before) works in conjunction with his Spirit Visage and Omen of Famine to steal lots of lovely HP's but it also gives him EXTRA lifesteal and damage depending on how many minion kills Yorick has gained after obtaining a Bloodthirster. Yorick is an amazing farmer with his ghouls and AoE so a Bloodthirster suits him perfectly for dishing out lots o' damage whilst stealing lots o' health.

Frozen Mallet: For those who want a bit more survivability, swap Trinity Force for this badboy and you'll have a much more reliable auto attack slow and a lot more health. I don't normally take a Frozen Mallet because you miss out on the massive damage potential of a Trinity Force.


Sunfire Cape: For the more tanky Yorick's out there you can take a Sunfire Cape over the Infinity Edge or The Bloodthirster. I don't really enjoy playing tanky Yorick so I prefer to keep the damage items.


Last Whisper: This item is very useful for taking down those pesky tanks giving you a hard time. This is mainly for the DPS Yorick kind of build and works well with his Q and coupled with a Trinity Force and Infinity Edge. If you take this item I suggest getting rid of the Spirit Visage or The Bloodthirster.


The Black Cleaver: Another very solid item to take out annoying tanks. Couple this with the Last Whisper and you'll be a killing machine in the face of tanks. It also gives a nice bit of extra damage which is always handy. I suggest getting rid of the Spirit Visage if you take this route and take the Last Whisper while taking off The Bloodthirster or the Manamune.


Youmuu's Ghostblade: A solid item for Yorick even for this build in my opinion. The extra attack speed never goes amiss and the armour penetration is pretty damn useful for taking down tough tanks giving you trouble. If you decide on getting a Ghostblade I suggest getting rid of the Infinity Edge, The Bloodthirster or even the Manamune.


Atma's Impaler: Another very solid item for tanky or even DPS Yorick. The health bonuses from Spirit Visage and Trinity Force work well with Atma's 2% health-damage passive. It also works extremely well with Infinity Edge with the increased crit damage. If you decide to take Atma's I suggest getting rid of the Manamune or The Bloodthirster

The increased mana regen on this seal greatly increases Yorick's ability to lane for longer and more effectively, giving him a much better chance of getting his Manamune much earlier. The greatest handicap for Yorick that i've seen so far is not being able to lane effectively so I highly reccommend at least getting 9 of these seals.

Greater Glyph of Clerity
I take these glyphs for the VERY important cooldown reduction which not only enables Yorick to lane for longer, giving him less time to have to wait for his lifesteal but also allows him to dish out a lot more damage in teamfights because Yorick relies mostly on his Q and E for damage. I highly reccommend getting at least some cooldown reduction runes or you will be severly handicapping Yorick.

Greater Mark of Desolation
This mark gives Yorick the much needed armour penetration that he needs to do more damage to annoying tanks and off-tanks. These marks probably won't be needed if you take the Last Whisper or The Black Cleaver (or both) approach to Yorick but is very useful for my Yorick build. If you go the armour penetration item route then I suggest taking for a higher damage output.


This quintessence is so useful. Not only does it help Yorick to lane a lot longer by reducing the cooldown of his lifesteal but it also massively increases his damage output, reducing the downtime of no spell casts. Increased downtime on Yorick is a massive handicap for him as he relies quite heavily on his Q doing a massive amount of damage in conjunction with Trinity Force's sheen component.

Yorick is easily one of the best farmers and pushers in the League of Legends. For very effective farming and last hits, his W does a very high amount of damage mid-late game on minions gives him massive farming potential. His Q ghoul also helps out quite a lot with farming and pushing, doing a considerable amount of attack damage to towers and minions. His E ghoul also helps out with pushing but not as much as his Q. Suprisingly, his ultimate is a great pushing tool aswell. Using it on himself whilst attacking a tower deals a heavy amount of damage to the tower whilst the revenant can tank at least 3-4 hits from the tower before dying. Utilising these farming and pushing components of Yorick can greatly increase the chance of doing well with him in a match.

Please note that this guide is not yet complete, as I have to add things like why I picked the masteries and a decent jungle route.

Thanks very much for reading and I hope this guide helped you out with Yorick. Please remember that there's no such thing as a bad champion but a bad player. Oh and don't feed :P