Well since Diablo 3 is a bust, I've been playing LOL a bunch more these last few weeks. I've finally got Yorick nailed down. I haven't lost my lane yet with him. And only lost one game with him when I had a real troll on my team. Even then it was close.
So here is my build at setup for Yorick that just WINS.
Masteries are 8-16-7 AD Bruiser setup
Offense:
3 Brute force, 1 Mental Force (meh could go Summoner's Wrath as well)
4 Alacrity
Defense:
1 Resistance, 2 Hardiness, 2 Tough Skin (this lets you be a bully in lane)
4 Durability, 3 Vigor
2 Indomitable (best mastery in game period), 1 Veteran's Scars
Utility:
3 Expanded Mind, 1 Improved Recall
3 Meditation (needed for the mana problems Yorick has)
For Runes I do the following:
Movespeed Quints
Flat Armor Reds
Flat Armor Yellows
Mr/lvl Blues
So 4.5% move speed boost, 21 armor, and 24 MR.
Start with boots and 3/4 pots (4 if you wait to go top). If I'm not invading I put my first point in E. If I'm helping team invade I put first point in W.
From here I just bully. Use my ghouls to finish a minion for a creep kill and to send it against my opponent. I alternate E and W. I don't bother with Q until level 5 or 7. Get R when it's available.
After boots and pots I rush a chalice. This is where my build majorily differs from the "recommended" and prevailing builds I see. Most rush ToG and go straight for manamune. I feel this is a HUGE mistake for Yorick. Manamune is such a crap item for the cost. For the AD it provides you need almost 2000 mana to make it a somewhat cost effective item. Even then, the huge mana pool it provides and slight mana regen are useless late game. So it's being used for AD only and takes forever to be used early when you REALLY need it. Beyond that, the regen provided by ToG is crap early. Chalice provides FAR more regen early, along with more MR which allows you to bully the lane early on even more. and being a lane bully is what being Yorick is all about. You must OWN top. No one has the early power of Yorick with a chalice. NO ONE. I say that emphatically. There is not a single champ in the game stronger top that Yorick early on with a chalice.
After chalice I like to build for my opponent. If the top and or jungler is AP based, or the mid keeps coming top, I go for more MR. If they top and jungler is AD based I go for armor. So I build my boots next to a ninja tabi or merc treads. I then pick up a kindle gem for the extra CDR and hp. Which completes into a Spirit Visage. This is another key core item for Yorick. A maxed E with Spirit Visage is going to make it impossible for you to be pushed out of lane. Even most gank attempts will do NOTHING against you. I've had 3 to 4 people come top to gank me. Blow every ult, every summoner, and still not kill me because of E, R, and spirit visage with Yorick's innate tankiness.
Next items I complete are Athena's Holy Grail, and Glacial Shroud which goes into a Frozen Heart. This should put you around 240 armor and 160 MR. With your 15% damage reduction from ghouls this is just sick. Finally I build into a Tri-force going for Phage first (more hps and ghouls hurt more), then sheen (I hurt them more), and finally complete Tri-force.
Last item is really open. I've done Aegis when team didn't have one. I've done PD or even BT. All works. Just depends on what your team needs and the other team has.
Seriously though this build just wins. Flat out, hands down beats every champ top. Just bully, bully, bully. Make sure you ward the river though as the jungler on the other team will have no choice but to baby sit top. Which takes pressure off the other lanes and Yorick can easily handle 1v2.
Also, learn to use Yoricks abilities in the right order. Don't lead in with W on someone. Use E or Q. When they run for a bush then use W. This is because W is the only ghoul you can summon which doesn't require a target minion or champ to activate. The other two require something to activate upon to summon the ghoul. So you can summon the W ghoul blind into a bush and give vision to whatever is in that bush. So if you use E first, the enemy champ runs into a bush, the E ghoul will stop. Once you pop W in the bush it gives vision and now both ghouls will chase the enemy again.
Remember to use your R EARLY in a fight. Another big mistake. Using it at the end does not matter. Using at the end means you intend to die and be made a revenant and hope to kill them after you are a ghoul. Using it early means you intend to kill the other person before you die. There is the key difference.
The base damage from Yorick's ghouls is high enough which means you don't have to focus on making them stronger per say. Just focus on making Yorick more tanky and able to spam them. Which means CDR and Mana regen. Which all comes from Athena Holy Grail. It's the perfect item for Yorick. Massive mana regen, MR, and CDR. Add to that AP to make his W hit harder when it spawns on a target and it's all gravy. When you get Tri-force on top you should be pushing 200 AD and 160 AP anyhow at level 18. MORE than enough to smack down almost any enemy champ. Late game just use R early on your biggest team carry and just win the fights by have 6v5.
That's my Yorick guide. Enjoy and wreck people.