Yango
(元歌)Assassin
Yango
元歌
Assassin
Also known as
Yango's Chinese name is 元歌.
Quick summary
Yango is a mid-tier Jungle Assassin who wants to close distance and snowball off picks. Public guides recommend a build starting with Boots of Tranquility and Flash.
Current patch decision guide
When to pick Yango, when to avoid them, and how to adapt your build.
Yango is a balanced Jungle Assassin who wants to snowball with kills off early ganks. Public guide data shows a build centered on Boots of Tranquility, Axe of Torment, Overlord's Might, paired with Flash, used to clear camps efficiently and convert pressure into ganks. Pick him when the draft lets Yango reach the targets his kit is designed to threaten; avoid when the enemy chains crowd control that stops the engage before damage lands.
Pick Yango when
- The enemy team has carries with limited self-peel that Yango can reach before the team can react
- Your team has the structure to use his ability to clear camps efficiently and convert pressure into ganks, since Yango delivers tempo from objectives and cross-map kill threats.
- The enemy composition leaves room for Yango to reach the targets his kit punishes.
Avoid Yango when
- The enemy stacks crowd control that interrupts the engage before damage goes out
- Your team needs a tank pick more than Yango's specialty, leaving the role unfilled if you commit here.
- The enemy team is built around answers to Initiate, removing the windows Yango's kit needs to perform.
Power spikes
Build decisions
Bruiser-assassin jungle core
Yango's official build runs a durable assassin jungle path. Boots of Tranquility reduces his skill cooldowns so his Occult Arts toolkit stays available, while Axe of Torment is the anti-squishy core and Overlord's Might adds the burst to punish carries. Deepfrost Siege (slow on hit) helps him stick to fleeing targets through his shadow plays.
Survivability & resistance tail
Bloodweeper provides physical lifesteal for sustained skirmishing, Demonsbane raises magic defence against mage comps, and Pure Sky plus Immovable - Sky Dome (temporary damage reduction) with Destiny (negates fatal damage) are the survivability items that let Yango dive and reposition. The recommended arcana are Mutation, Stealth and Eagle Eye, with Flash for repositioning.
Matchup logic
Versus crowd control
Reliable hard control stops Yango's engage before the combo lands. Bait the most threatening control skill before committing Occult Arts - Shadow Crucifixion, and wait for ally engage to absorb peel.
Role positioning
Yango is a Jungle pick whose value depends on tempo from objectives and cross-map kill threats. Stick to the role plan rather than forcing fights his kit is not designed to win.
Synergies
Public synergy data lists Umbrosa and Fatih as strong partners for Yango. Plan engages around Umbrosa's setup window, then second-engage with Occult Arts - Shadow Crucifixion.
Common mistakes
- Engaging without follow-up — gap-close gets you to the target, but a solo dive without ally damage trades 1-for-1.
- Engaging without checking enemy summoner-spell cooldowns, which often decide whether Yango's commit reaches the target alive.
- Pathing predictably and getting tracked by the enemy jungler — vary first clear and rotate based on ward placement rather than muscle memory.
Background
Avici Puppeteer
“Desire nothing and keep smiling.”
The terrible trauma that Yango suffered as a youth left him mute and rather terrified of social contact. So matters would have remained were it not for the kindly attention of fellow student and mentor Kongming at the Jixia Academy, who taught him how to channel his mind into the art of mechcraft. His quick mastery of this art allowed him to create a lifelike puppet to act as a proxy in transmitting his voice. So skilled reportedly was the artifice, the puppet could even be used to project Yango's voice to sow confusion or deceptions so convincing that even the master manipulator Cao Cao was fooled and clashed with his underling Xu Fu. Yango's artifice was employed again against Cao Cao during the Battle of the Red Cliffs, confusing the commander into delaying his fleet in such a manner as to permit friendly forces to deploy the Eastwind Altar to its full military potential. Thus the youth and his twinkling, miraculous artifice repays those he considers his enemies.
- Race:
- Human
- Height:
- 182 cm
- Style:
- Mechcraft
- Nation:
- Shu
- Title:
- Mechanoid Puppet Maker
Source: Official Honor of Kings — canonical lore for Yango.
Base Stats
Source: in-game capture (HoK Global v11.x, 2026-04-20)Survivability
Offense
Utility
Build
How to choose a build
Start with the safe default badge if the draft looks normal, then swap to burst, anti-tank, sustain, or utility builds when the matchup clearly calls for it.
Full AD lethality
Safe defaultStart here if the draft looks standard and you want the safest all-around setup.
Jungle Full AD lethality
Anti-tankBest when the enemy team has multiple frontliners or early defense items.
Full AD lethality
Anti-tankBest when the enemy team has multiple frontliners or early defense items.
Full AD lethality
Burst damageBest when you can reach squishier targets and convert quick kills.
Full AD lethality
Anti-tankBest when the enemy team has multiple frontliners or early defense items.
Full AD lethality
Anti-tankBest when the enemy team has multiple frontliners or early defense items.
Full AD lethality
Anti-tankBest when the enemy team has multiple frontliners or early defense items.
Sustain DPS
Anti-tankBest when the enemy team has multiple frontliners or early defense items.
MM/CL
Full AD lethality
Anti-tankBest when the enemy team has multiple frontliners or early defense items.
Skills
PuppetRecovery Chance gaining Hero Shards and recover Health when attacking. Collect 50 Hero Shards (up until 150 stocks, can auto-stock every certain seconds) to summon the corresponding hero.
PuppetCrowd ControlMovement Throws the puppet, dealing damage and launching enemies in the path, then begins controlling the puppet.
Damage Reduction Tosses paper birds, which deal damage to enemies in their path.
MovementSlow Releases several strings, dealing damage to targets hit. Repeated hits additionally inflict slow.
MovementCleanse Vanishes, cleansing all crowd control effects, then reappearing in the target location after a brief delay.
RetrieveCrowd Control Retrieves the puppet immediately, dealing damage to enemies along the path and launching them.
Location Swap Swap positions with the puppet, dealing damage to enemies in the path.
SlowCrowd Control Phase 1: Damages and slows nearby enemies. Phase 2: Continuously stuns and damages enemies.
Movement The puppet dashes in the target direction and pulls its master to itself, dealing damage to enemies in the path.
Skins
2 skins
Lord of Mysteries
Midnight Opera
Playstyle
Your main threat is Occult Arts - Breakout (movement The puppet dashes in the target direction and pulls its master to itself, dealing damage to). Track cooldowns and only dive when the target's defensive skills are down.