Ultimate In-Depth Yorick Rework Concept (AKA If Rito would see this I would be sooo happy)

So as I have video game making as a hobby I've always been fascinated with gameplay design. So I bought Yorick with IP and took the task to imagine what would be a good kit that would make for a perfect rework. Long story short, playing him is torture, playing against him is even worse. But I still got a good look on how Yorick works and his design flaws.

Anyways without further ado...

Let's first start defining what Yorick is as a character and how he should feel in gameplay:

What we know:

• He rises an army of the dead.
• He commands said army of the dead.
• He is somewhat from an important family that has practiced this 'art' for generations.
• For some bizarre reason, he's supposed to be a fighter/mage class hybrid.

What we can deduce:

• He should feel like someone capable of commanding an army of the dead.
• His gameplay should revolve around said army.
• His gameplay should revolve around DECISIONS on how you use said army.
• His kit must leave room to decide whether being either a fighting frontline for said army or a commander sitting in the back.

And this are the (non-outrageously-toxic) strenghts I found in current Yorick:

• He's a good skirmisher. (With the ghouls extra AD and the ult revenant)
• Extremely good splitpusher.
• Very good innate sustain.
• His, just like Trynd, makes him very hard to 1v1.

And his defined weaknesses:

• Huge AoE damage. (Kills the ghouls)
• Mana intensive.
• No hard CC.

Poking with ghouls and other stuff he might be good at I find it not healthy for the game.

Still with me??

Good.

Now let's define what's a ghoul in this proposed new kit:

They will inherit these stats:

• Has 20% of Yorick's Max HP as HP.
• Deals 10% of Yorick's total AD on basic attacks (we can figure out their attack speed later).
• Has 50% of Yorick's HP regen.
• 50% of Yorick's Armor and MR.
• Deals 50% of Yorick's AP as AoE damage on spawn. (just like his W)

Any other stat would make them very overloaded. Exact X% can me meddled with because of course I have no way of testing if it's too much or too little.

Now here's where I use some bold concepts for his kit, let's put them all together:

• The ghouls last indefinitely.
• The ghouls have no cooldown.
• The ghouls can be de-spawned to gain mana back proporional to both its remaining health and the mana spent on that ghoul
• The ghouls are controllable while alive each one with its respective QWE key (a la Tibbers), with a long leash range (think Mord's ghost)
• The ghouls all have an aura that empower other ghouls (more on that later)

Now, the limitations:

• Yorick uses charges (can store up to three) that recharge passively every 9-1 sec (base on level). These are gained back whenever you de-spawn a live ghoul
• You can only spawn one ghoul at a time
• You can only spawn one ghould of each type (so, 3 max)
• They will cost A LOT of Mana
• Summon range must be that of a battle-mage. (Not as long as Azir's W or Annies' R, but not as shot as a Heimer's Q)

That was the complicated part. It will solve a lot of problems:

Yorick being useless, because he NEEDS his ghouls to be effective, it would be unfair to restrict him to CD. Decision-making will play a HUGE role on him. Choosing to wether let a ghoul die, tank, be de-spawned to get a different one for the situation... etc. Will make it need skill, in this case, micro-managing.

Let's go to the Passive then...

I really think think his current passive is very good in concept, but the efficiency difference between having all your minions out and none is too big. You're basically god-like when the 3 are up and you're useles when there are none. So I split it!!! And added a little counter-play mechanic that will make decision-making very important. Again, pay little attention to the percentages and more to the concept.

• Yorick's basic attacks deal 10% more damage per active ghoul.
• Yorick's ghouls take 10% reduced damage per active ghoul.
• Whenever a ghoul is killed by an enemy champion, Yorick is dealt 10% of his own HP as True damage. (May put an exception when under 10% max HP)

Some of the most frustraiting things about Yorick is that early-on he overwhelms you with his 3 ghouls whithout leaving a chance to fight back, but late his ghouls are done so easy he becomes useless, even if he survives.

I left the auto boost on Yorick, because if he is an AD frontline, he can life-steal from the extra damage on his autos, and if he's a backline AP mage he'll need the ghouls to be resistant, without him tanking.

Now, for his basic abilities....

They all spawn a ghoul. Yes they do.

These are a lot simpler, though. I used roughly the same design for all of them, each ability includes:

• Summon a ghoul which has it's special function, but all have the same stats listed above.
• The effect that empowers nearby ghouls, which also empowers the summoned ghoul.
• An effect that empowers Yorick while said ghoul lives.

The special trait is meant to give a specific purpose to each ghoul. The aura effects are meant to be used mostly in an AP Mage Yorick, and the effects on Yorick himself are focused on his ability as an AD fighter. And also I tried to keep the feel of each individual ghoul.

Let's begin:

Q - War

• Summons a ghoul that deals an extra 10/15/20/25/30% of Yorick's AD as bonus on-hit physical damage.
• Leads the charge, and nearby ghouls gain 40% movement speed while moving towards it, and half of it within the aura range.
• Yorick is ghosted while the ghoul lives.

W - Pestilence

• Summons a ghoul that slows surrounding enemy units by 40% on spawn, decaying to a continuous 20% while on the close vicinity. All damage dealt by this ghoul is duplicated on minions and neutral monsters. (this is very important and I'll tell you why later)
• Deals 10/15/20/25/30 + 15% AP magic damage each second in a small area around it. All ghouls within aura range gain this damage aura too. They stack.
• Yorick's basic attacks apply Grievous Wounds for 5 sec while the ghoul lives..

E Famine

• Summons a ghoul that feels no pain and takes 30% reduced damage from all sources.
• This ghoul's basic attacks heal it (not Yorick, IT) by 20% of the damage dealt, this also applies to nearby ally ghouls.
• Yorick heals himself for 5/7.5/10/12.5/15% of all damage dealt while the ghoul lives. (Omni-Vamp)

They're not much different but they can all now be used with more versatility. Each does a unique thing and choosing which one to level first will define how you will play Yorick for the remainder of the match.

Now for the Ultimate... ...and, boy!, this one is cool...

... well, at least I think is cool.

R

It has an un-leveled effect on cast:

• De-spawns all active ghouls and restores 1 soul/charge per ghoul de-spawned.
• Refunds mana proportional to the ghouls' current HP, up to a maximum of 50% of mana originally spent to summon said ghoul.

It'll keep that effect even once you level it, as this one will only be castable when you have NO GHOULS active And it has 2 parts, that activate simultaneously.

Part 1 - Conquest: Yorick gains all the benefits from his ghouls for 5/7.5/10 sec on himself. Ghouls CANNOT be cast while on this state.

Benefit's which i'll list here:

• Up to 30% AD as extra damage on basic attacks.
• Has 40% increased movespeed.
• Is ghosted.
• Slows enemies around him by 40% on cast, decaying to 20% when nearby.
• Up to 30 + 15% AP magic damage per second around him, 60 + 30% AP to minions and monsters. (I'm gonna tell you why it is important soon, I swear)
• Applies Grievous Wounds on auto attacks.
• Takes 30% reduced damage.
• Heals for 20% of damage dealt on auto attacks.
• Has up to 15% Omni-Vamp.
• Has an aura.

Of course that's only at lv 18. and the numbers may be tweaked so it isn't overwhelming, maybe half of those stats. I really think the 2nd part should be the bulk of the ultimate.

Part 2- The Second Coming: Yorick's current souls/charges orbit around him and slowly throw themselves at Yorick's current target, each dealing 50/75/100 + 30% AP magic damage and each applying spell effects as a single-target ability.

Every ally, enemy and neutral unit that dies within Yorick's aura releases another soul that deals its respective damage.

Any ally champion that dies within the aura remains alive for half the time remainder of this active ability.

And then there is it. I told you it was important.

I hope that last part is not too overwhelming, I mean, current Yorick always did have all his ghouls up anyways. And this ult should make one hell of a show.

I also have some lore that makes a good story (Yorick interacts with other Champs!!) and a bad drawing on how I imagine Yorick should look. But it's currently 5 am an I have to work tomorrow, so I'll leave it for another day.

I'd like to hear any feedback you have, and please do tell other people if you like it. The more the merrier!!!

Maybe senpai will notice me - and it won't be too late for Rito to see this and take a few ideas from it.

So, anyways...

PEACE!!! I love you guys.

PD: And also, the reason I changed the name for his ultimate. Yorick 'The Gravedigger' sounds so simple and not special. So I thought that we coud call him:

Yorick, The Omen of Death

Has a nice ring to it, ain't it???