League of Legends is full of both AP and AD champs but rarely would you see a champion dealing both, that too without ever building AP! Yone is one of the scariest champions to face on Summoner’s Rift due to his incredible mobility and skill impression complexity. With the ability to keep you in the air for a few seconds while bursting you down, his kit can make him indestructible late game if not dealt with timely. Let’s see what it is about him that makes him so strong.
How To Play Yone In League Of Legends?
Yone is an auto attack-reliant champion that can deal both AD and AP damage through his auto attacks. He utilizes his Q and R to gap close before right-clicking his enemies to death. Since they are thrown in the air, there is little they can do. Yone can be played both mid and in the top lane with varying playstyles.
He is a mana-less champion meaning he rarely has to retreat in a fight because of low mana when he is on low health. Due to this, Riot has also given him a ton of damage amp and lifesteal to help him sustain throughout the lane phase.
What Do Yone’s Abilities Do?
Yone’s abilities are not his main source of damage, rather, they only help close the distance between the target and himself. His Q needs to be charged up, though, by attacking a target twice before it allows him to dash forward, throwing enemies into the air. His dashes also ignores terrain, so they can be great at getting enemies over walls or stealing objectives.
His E helps to check if an area is clear before entering so he isn’t in any imminent danger. Now we’ll take a closer look at how these abilities boost Yone’s winrate.
Way of the Hunter (Passive)
Yone’s passive, Way of the Hunter, drastically increases his basic attack damage. This happens by two sources. The first is that his Critical Strike Chance from all sources is multiplied by 2.5. This means that while most champs gain +20% Critical Strike Chance from Infinity Edge, Yone gains +50%. That’s not all, though, as all Critical Strike Chance after 100% is converted to AD in the ratio of 1:0.4 bonus AD.
The second part of his passive allows him to switch between two swords on alternating basic attacks. His first attack is using his Steel Sword, which deals 50% AD physical damage, while his second basic attack, done by the Azakana Sword deals 50% AD magic damage. This means that any enemy going up against a Yone cannot solely build armor or magic resistance.
Mortal Steel (Q)
Mortal Steel is the ability to master if you want to get good at Yone. Being his main source of engage, Yone thrusts his Steel Sword in a straight line, dealing physical damage and applying all on-hit and on-attack effects. This damage can critically strike for 76.4% AD bonus physical damage max.
If this ability connects with at least one enemy, Yone is granted a stack of Gathering Storm for 6 seconds. Getting another stack allows Yone to upgrade his next Mortal Steel with added effects. Yone dashes a fixed distance in the targeted direction, dealing damage and knocking up all enemies in its path for 0.75 seconds. This is great for catching enemies off guard and bursting them before they react.
|
Type |
Cooldown/s (Based on Bonus Attack Speed) |
Physical Damage (+105% AD) |
|
AOE |
4-1.33 |
20/40/60/80/100 |
Spirit Cleave (W)
One of Yone’s less talked about abilities, Spirit Cleave adds great utility to Yone’s kit. Yone swings his Azakana Sword in a cone-shaped radius, dealing both magic and physical damage to enemies hit. While this ability does not do much damage, it is Yone’s only ranged ability that allows him to last-hit minions from afar. On top of that, if this ability hits an enemy, Yone gains a shield based on how many champions are hit.
|
Type |
Cooldown/s (Based on Bonus Attack Speed) |
Total Mixed Damage (+11/12/13/14/15% of Target’s Max Health) |
Shield Strength (+55% Bonus AD) |
|
AOE |
16-6 |
10/20/30/40/50 |
35-55 |
Soul Unbound (E)
Soul Unbound is a unique ability as it lets Yone travel ahead throughout the map in a certain timeframe before returning him to his original position. On activation, Yone dashes a fixed distance, discarding his physical body and entering his Spirit Form for 5 seconds. Yone can travel through terrain while in this form while his physical body is untargetable.
In Spirit Form, Yone gains the Ghosted effect plus 10-30% bonus movement speed. All damage done to enemies marks them by storing a portion of post-mitigation damage done by Yone. On reactivation, or after the duration ends, Yone returns to his physical body at the cast location, detonating the mark on all enemies. This mark deals true damage. Yone cleanses himself of all immobilizing effects when returning to his physical body.
|
Type |
Cooldown/s |
Damage Stored |
|
Self |
22/19/16/13/10 |
25/27.5/30/32.5/35 |
Fate Sealed (R)
If you have ever gone up against a Yone, you’ll have seen him dash straight into the enemy team, pulling all enemies behind him. That is his ultimate, Fate Sealed, and an extremely powerful ability to have in your arsenal. Yone prepares a dash 200 units in the targeted direction, marking and stunning all enemies in its path. After a 0.3 seconds charge up, he dashes, dealing magic and physical damage to all enemies plus pulling them towards him.
This ability can change the outcome of teamfights and allow your team to use small AOE abilities to take out all 5 enemy champs, depending on how many were hit.
|
Type |
Cooldown/s |
Total Mixed Damage (+80% AD) |
|
AOE |
120/90/60 |
200/400/600 |
Yone’s Build Path (Items + Runes)
Since Yone’s kit is based around overloading his stats with attack speed and critical strike chance, he follows a very typical build regardless of your playstyle. Even though his basic attacks do deal magic damage, there is no point of building AP.
Items
Staring Item: Yone starts with Doran’s Blade in most matchups. This gives him some early lifesteal to sustain in lane and extra damage against minions. You can use Doran’s Shield for Bruiser or Poke matchups.
Core Build: Your core build will start from Immortal Shieldbow into Infinity Edge. Immortal Shieldbow is very important for the extra sustain and lifesteal. The shield from its passive also helps you stay alive longer, which can clutch some fights. Infinity Edge is irreplaceable for Yone as he needs the extra Critical Strike Chance and Critical Strike Damage.
Boots: You will always go Berserker’s Greaves for additional attack speed.
Runes
Primary: Your primary runes are lethal tempo into overheal, legend: alacrity, and last stand. Lethal tempo and legend: alacrity grants you an immense boost in attack speed, while overheal doesn’t let your healing go to waste. Since Yone lacks defensive stats, Last Stand is great to amp his damage the lower his health is. He can become more dangerous at lower health than full health with all the lifesteal and critical strike damage!
Secondary: Second Wind and Revitalize are your secondaries. These are essential to keep healthy. Second Wind allows you to heal back up each time you are hit, while Revitalize increases healing done from all sources. This means that all the lifesteal you get from your Immortal Shieldbow is amplified, allowing you to cut down your foes for longer.
Final Thoughts
Yone is an extremely fun champion to take on to the Rift, but you might get gapped in the first few matches. Landing his Q consistently can be one of the hardest aspects of the champion to master, as it is also a big source of his damage. Make sure you know how to land your skill shots and know your limits before fully engaging otherwise, it will be a very hard mid/top diff against you.
