This is a build for an off-tank Yorick. A well-played off-tank means that, if the opposing team targets you, they should get wrecked by your hard carries. On the other hand, if the opposing team doesn't target you, you'll be the one to wreck them. Due to Yorick's sustain from his E, he is best suited to solo top and can be a real threat up there. After the laning phase, he can initiate team fights, support the carries, and deal lots of damage as well.

21 in defensive - This is to make you a little extra tanky, so you don't have to be afraid of charging in and hitting people. The bottom of the defense tree is also simply amazing on Yorick, much better than offense or utility.

9 in offense - Some extra attack damage, cooldown reduction, and magic penetration. This is all great on Yorick.

Marks and Quints - Flat AD is best for his laning phase, as it affects both your autoattack and abilities.

Seals - Flat armor yellows make you tanky for the laning phase and are a necessity against strong bruisers on solo top.

Glyphs - MR/level to give you a sturdier presence against mages in team fights.

This is great for initiating, escaping, and chasing. Without it, Yorick often has a difficult time charging in to team fights quick enough.



Ignite is great on Yorick. It fits his caster/range ability poke style of play wonderfully.

Other viable spells-
- This is good just for an extra escape. When ghost or this is on CD, you can just use the other one.

- This is great for 1v1 fights and allows you to retreat/chase easier.

- This is good for the lane phase, since it allows you to go back to the base and buy, then instantly return to your lane so you don't lose any farm and your jungler doesn't need to cover for you. It is also very useful for early-game ganks and pushing turrets late game.

+ 2

The mana regeneration and health potions give you great sustenance, allowing you to farm on top for quite a while before having to go back. I prefer Meki Pendant to Sapphire Crystal, so you can stay on top longer. Sapphire Crystal is only better if you plan on harassing the **** out of your opponent and then going back to the base early for a quick ToG.

Other viable starts-
+ Sight Ward + 6

This will give you an extreme amount of sustenance, so that you can sit around on top for a very long time. You also get a ward, to either prevent ganks or scout the jungle. Its drawback is a lack of mana, so you won't be able to pressure the opponent or farm as easily as you otherwise could.

+ + Sight Ward
Of course, when you go back depends on the game, but generally it'll be around when you can get a Tear of the Goddess and Boots. You will probably also want a sight ward, unless there's very little chance of you pushing your lane. If your laning phase goes very well, you may be able to wait to go back until you can afford a Philosopher's Stone. Philosopher's Stone is good, because it gives you mana regen, which allows you to farm your Tear of the Goddess better, and it gives you health regen for more sustenance in lane.

Other viable boots-
- These are good for when you don't need Tenacity or Magic Resistance. They are very good with Yorick, but Shurelya's will normally give you enough CDR.

- These are good for playing against AD-heavy teams. I would usually just go Boots of Lucidity against AD teams though, unless you really need to be tankier vs their ad.

Manamune is the only item that you really have to have every game with Yorick. The attack damage is good for your abilities and auto-attacks, the mana is good so you can almost-constantly spam abilities, and Strength of the Spirit also gives you around 35 health regen/5 seconds once you gain the full 1000 mana bonus.

This is an excellent and very under-used item on Yorick. The health and mana regeneration allows you to keep fighting longer, without having to retreat. Its mana regeneration is especially helpful before you have your Manamune's mana farmed. It also has extra health and cooldown reduction, which are both great for Yorick. Then, it has a great movement speed boost, that is awesome for initiating and retreating, for you and your team mates around you.

What Yorick typically needs in a second item (or third, if you include boots) is some kind of mana or regeneration and a speed boost for getting into team fights. Frozen Heart doesn't provide you with any MS and it will leave you squishy against mages. Trinity Force could work, but I feel that the regeneration and speed boost from Shurelya's is simply better at this point in the game. Shurelya's also has a great advantage to items like Trinity Force, since it's very cheap and allows you to build into your next items (Warmog's, Atma's, etc.) earlier. After completing the build, it's ok to sell your Shurelya's for something else, if you want to.



This will make both you and your minions much sturdier and harder to kill. The health and regeneration will also allow you to be able to fight and fight, with hardly ever having to go back to your base.



With your Warmog's Armor completely farmed, this will give you around 75 AD. Along with the 45 armor, this is definitely worth getting.

You need magic resistance -

This will make you a tanky beast. However, your damage won't be as impressive if you get this and I would only get it if you really need help vs magic damage.

You don't need magic resistance -

This item will make you hit much harder. The life steal makes you a lot better stronger too.

Quicksilver - This is good for blocking ignites and stuff like that. It also gives you a good amount of magic resistance.

- The healing boost to this is really pretty low for Yorick, so I don't like this item on Yorick. I will admit the magic resistance, CDR, and health is all good though and it's a very cost-effective item.

- Trinity Force gives a little of everything and has an amazing on-hit effect. This is generally the best off-tank item in the game and is exceptional on Yorick. I just prefer the regeneration of Shurelya's and the raw health and damage of The Bloodthirster and Warmog's Armor.

- Frozen Heart is another good item on Yorick. This can replace the Shurelya's, but I just prefer Shurelya's, mostly for its speed boost.

- Banshee's is a good item for pretty much anyone. It's not all that needed, however, since you already have sufficient mana and your health and magic resistance should already be high enough with this build.

- The main reason you would get this is for the spell vamp. With a Gunblade, every time you use an abilitiy, you gain back around 50ish health. This might not seem like much, but when you're almost-constantly summoning ghouls, it adds up quickly. The attack damage, ability power, and life steal is all good as well. However, due to its latest nerf, I don't think this is that great on Yorick.

- This item is good if you're having trouble surviving through team fights. The armor, magic resistance, and its passive all do a great job keeping you alive long enough to do some damage.

Once you have all six items built, there are a couple extra things you should do.

First - After you have six items, you can spend your gold by buying elixirs. Each time you go back to your base and can afford to, you should sell your boots, buy all the elixirs, and then rebuy your boots.

Second - Once you get enough gold, you can choose to sell your Shurelya's and buy a better late-game item. Trinity Force or Hextech Gunblade are your best choices in most . Force of Nature is also very solid if you could use the magic resistance and Guardian Angel is good if you need both armor and magic resistance.

Use your ultimate on your team mate with the highest damage. You should normally use it at the start of a fight, so you can get the most out of the damage. Waiting until someone is about to die is usually not worth it.

Thanks to your minions, Yorick is a great backdoorer and pusher. He can down turrets very fast and sometimes can even do it with no minion support.

Omen of Pestilence (W) can be used to scout by summoning it over a wall. This can be great for checking Baron or Dragon from behind and allows you to safely face check bushes.