Yorick is a very weird champion and we mean that in the best possible way. Players often underestimate how strong this fighter actually is. His unique and unconventional playstyle often catches a lot of players off guard. In this guide, we’ll show you everything you need to know to get you started playing the Shepherd of Souls.

Back in the day, Yorick was seemingly the most unbalanced champion out there. His kit was very inconsistent but at the same time, kind of overpowered. Riot faced a lot of challenges trying to balance this champion and in the end, they just decided to rework his entire kit and design. What came out of it turned out to be one of the most satisfying champions to play. Yorick’s rework resulted in a massive success that renewed interest in the champion and gave him clear goals with expected payoffs in terms of his playstyle. As of now, Yorick is a very powerful split pusher and a very good duelist that can even 1v9 as long as you know and understand what you’re doing.

Abilities

Yorick’s abilities are all geared towards being a duelist and a split pusher. He can summon a lot of his own minions which drastically help him push lanes and destroy turrets.

Passive – Shepherd of Souls

The Cursed Horde: Yorick can have up to 4 Mist Walkers in an area. Mist Walkers will perish if they move too far away from Yorick or the Maiden of the Mist. Mist Walkers take 50% reduced damage from monsters.

Final Service: After a few enemies die, the next enemy that dies near Yorick will leave a grave. Enemy champions and large monsters will always leave a grave.

Shepherd of Souls is a very powerful passive to have. While it doesn’t do much on it’s own, when activated using his Q, this passive allows Yorick to have Mist Walker that will attack enemy units and help him push the lane.

Q – Last Rites/Awakening

Yorick’s next basic attack deals physical damage and restores Health (double below half Health). Last Rites will leave a grave if it kills the target. When there are three or more graves nearby and Last Rites has been used, Yorick can cast Awakening to raise Mist Walkers from graves.

This is Yorick’s bread and butter. Last Rites will enhance Yorick’s basic attack and restores a bit of health giving him both damage and sustain on one single ability. You can use this to effectively last hit minions and the ability actually does a great job incentivizing you to do so by leaving a grave which you can then use to summon Mist Walkers. The second part of this ability is Awakening which allows you to raise your Mist Walkers from the grave. These Walkers will attack enemy units and can even be used to target a certain enemy when combined with your E.

W – Dark Procession

Yorick summons a destructible wall of spirits around the target area for 4 seconds. Allies can walk through the wall freely.

This is a very useful ability to have. It can be used to single out enemy targets and just works as an all purpose disruptive crowd control. The best part is that you don’t need to worry about accidentally trapping your teammates since all your allies can freely pass through the wall.

E – Mourning Mist

Yorick throws a globule of Black Mist that deals [+15% enemy’s current] as magic damage, slows by 30% for 2 seconds, and marks targets for 4 seconds. Yorick and his minions are hasted by 20% while moving toward the mark, and take 40% bonus damage for 8 attacks from Mist Walkers for the duration.

This is another source of crowd control for Yorick. Despite it giving a pretty decent slow, you’ll mostly be using Mourning Mist to have your minions attack a certain target. Using this in tandem with the rest of your abilities will essentially make you unbeatable in a 1v1. Well, technically it wouldn’t be a 1v1 since you have minions to attack for you so you’ll have the numbers advantage.

R – Eulogy of the Isles

Yorick summons The Maiden of the Mist and some Mist Walkers. The Maiden has Health, deals magic damage per second, and raises Mist Walkers from nearby enemy deaths. When Yorick damages the Maiden’s target he will deal bonus magic damage. Recativate to set the Maiden free, but can’t get her back. She’ll push the nearest lane until she dies.

Eulogy of the Isles is what makes Yorick a very powerful split pusher. I mean, how many other champions can boast being able to push TWO lanes at the SAME time? No other champion can do that but Yorick. Apart from the split pushing potential, this also increases Yorick’s dueling power when he commands the Maiden to attack the same target. Additionally, this ability allows Yorick to easily solo objectives like Baron and Dragon.

Runes and Item Builds

When it comes to builds, Yorick benefits the most from items that have the spellblade passive or enhance his basic attack. Items that can increase his survivability and wave clear are also really good on him.

Starting Items

Yorick has two sets he can go with when picking his starting items. For the most part, you’ll want to go with Corrupting Potion. This gives you good sustain early on and increases your dueling power for those early game trades. Top Laners are known for being aggressive and having this item ensures that you can keep up with them. If you’re against a ranged opponent, you’ll be better off with Doran’s Shield and a Health Potion. This item reduces a bit of the damage you receive which can be helpful when being poked by a ranged opponent.

Mythic Items

When it comes to Mythic items, we’ve mentioned before that Yorick benefits from items that will also enhance his basic attack. That’s because it stacks perfectly well with the basic attack enhancement from Last Rites. That said, the best overall option on Yorick is Trinity Force. This item quite literally gives you tons of damage. It gives Yorick a little bit of everything from health to damage to attack speed. If the enemy team has a lot of tanky champions then you would be better off with Divine Sunderer instead. This item uses the enemy’s health against them when enhancing your basic attacks with its spellblade passive. Lastly if you’re the team’s only frontliner or if you’d just want to play more as a tank, then go with Frostfire Gauntlet. This imbues your basic attack with a small AoE slow that you can use to kite or to stick to your targets better. It also somewhat increases your 1v1 potential thanks to the bonus damage over time from the immolate passive. Whatever Mythic item you choose should depend on your preference or the situation you find yourself in. But when in doubt, just go for Trinity Force.

Full Build

Unlike most heroes, Yorick doesn’t need to rush his Mythic items at first. His first item should actually be Hullbreaker. This makes him tankier when no other allied champions are near him. It also makes the large minions around him stronger, making them deal more damage to towers. Since we all know that Top Lane is an island, Yorick will have no trouble having this passive most of the time. Next go for boots. Your choices are Plated Steelcap or Mercury’s Treads; choose whatever suits your needs. Next you build your Mythic item. Afterwards, you must build Serylda’s Grudge. It gives him more damage and lets his damaging abilities slow enemies by 30%. Finish off your build with a Spirit Visage and a Thornmail for the resistances and durability they provide.

Other Viable Items

While the build we’ve shown above is the recommended set of items to buy, there are plenty of other options that you can use. Chempunk Chainsword is a good item to have when the enemy team has a lot of heals. Titanic Hydra is great if you want to increase your already impressive split pushing power. Sterak’s Gage combines both damage and survivability in one cost efficient item. Death’s Dance is great for when you find yourself diving into the enemy team. And Gargoyle Stoneplate gives you a ton of armor and magic resist while having an active shield that can soak up a lot of damage. These are just some of the items that work well with Yorick. Make sure to mix and match to see what works best for you.

Runes

For your runes, go with the Resolve tree and take Grasp of the Undying as your keystone. This will help you sustain at the Top Lane while drastically increasing your tankiness as the game goes on. Next take Demolish to help you clear towers faster, Bone Plating to reduce the damage you take from enemies, and Overgrowth to increase your overall health. For secondaries, take Biscuit Delivery and Approach Velocity  from the Inspiration tree. Biscuit Delivery increases your sustain while Approach Velocity lets you stick to targets better. For rune shards, take Attack Speed, Adaptive Force, and Armor.

Useful Tips

1. Keep in mind that Yorick doesn’t need to cast Awakening to regain the ability to cast Last Rites. This can be handy as new players might experience hesitation when using this ability.
2. Yorick is a very strong duelist. Not a lot of champions can actually shut him down in the Top Lane. However, he is easily countered by ranged champions. Champions like Quinn, Jayce, Kayle, and Vayne are some of Yorick’s biggest counters in the Top Lane.
3. For your summoner spells, always take Flash and Teleport. 

So there you have it! That’s all you need to know about playing Yorick in League of Legends. Be sure to check back with us again for more awesome guides on your favorite games. Have fun and we’ll see you on the Rift!