Yearn | Dark Souls 2 Wiki

Yearn
Spell Type	Sorcery
Slots Used	1 Slot
Requirements	19 Intelligence
Type	Short to Long Range Support.

Yearn is a Sorcery in Dark Souls 2 (DKS2). Yearn, conjures a warm soul-like orb acting as a decoy to attract and lure foes towards itself. The name of this sorcery perhaps echoes the irony of people lamenting loss and longing for what they lack. Sorceries demand the use of a Staff or Special Weapons, requiring a certain Intelligence level for casting.

"Creates a warm soul-like orb that serves as a decoy and lures foes toward itself.

People regret loss, and yearn for what they do not have. Perhaps the name of this sorcery harkens to this irony."

Dark Souls 2 Year Acquired From

• Purchased from Carhillion of the Fold for 3000 souls

Year Notes and Tips in Dark Souls 2

• This spell works similarly to Aural Decoy from the first Dark Souls game and it is recommended to take care when aiming this sorcery as whatever the spell hits it creates the decoy on, including walls, floors, etc.
• Extremely useful against The Skeleton Lords and Skeleton, as well as the Tower of Prayer Bonfire Ascetic farming route in Dragon's Sanctum.
  It lures unintelligent enemies (hollow, skeletons, etc) to attack the decoy with either melee or ranged attack (confirmed with Hollow Rogue archer).
• An offensive usage of the spell is to lure enemies especially skeletons to bottomless pits and knock them down with Force Miracle.
  White & Gold Phantoms can also use these spells to allure enemies, oddly, griefers can use this as a measure to aggro Agdayne by luring the Torch Hollow to his place.
• Whether it can be used for repositioning enemies while you're an invader needs confirmation. (if yes, it could be used for gathering up a large number of enemies to swarm the host)
• Yearn works on the following enemies (tested): almost all Hollows, including infantry and soldier varieties, as well as the Rogues in the Huntsman's Copse; the Ducal Spiders and Parasitized Undead in Brighstone Cove Tseldora; Lion Clan Warriors [very useful for battle mages, so you can set up an easy backstab OHK with a large physical weapon against lion warriors]; Royal Swordsmen; Undead Citizens; Manikins; Varangian Soldiers; the bloated, poisonous abominations in the Shaded Woods, and Skeletons. (note: this list is not exhaustive, and further testing is needed to see what other enemies Yearn attracts).
  Given the vicious nature of some of these enemies, and their tendencies to attack in large numbers, Yearn can be incredibly useful for crowd control and is particularly useful for setting enemies up for an easy backstab (the ones that can be backstabbed, anyway).
• Yearn works on the following foes
  Undead Traveler, Hollow Infantry, Royal Hollow Infantry, Hollow Soldier, Royal Soldier, Undead Citizen, Rogue, Undead Laborer, Undead Prisoner, Captive Undead, Undead Peasant, Undead Supplicant, Duke Tseledora, All Skeletons (except Skeleton Lords themselves), All Pigs, Kobolds, Forest Grotesque, Varangian Soldier, Dark Stalker, Undead Jailer, Royal Swordsman, Enhanced Undead, Torturer, Artificial Undead, Undead Steelworker, Manikin, Hunting Dog, Lion Clan Warrior, Gyrm, Grym Warrior, Parasite Spider, Parasite Undead, Giant, Sanctum Soldier, Sanctum Priestess, Ashen Warrior, Possessed Armor, Fume Sorcerer, Scorcher, Spellsword, Retainer, Rampart Golem, Ice Golem.
• Does not work on Frozen Reindeers, Rampart Stray Dog, and Rampart Hedgehog.
• This spell does not seem to affect anything till it enters its aggro state thus you must either preemptively cast it then aggro or aggro and aim at the spot you need to grab their attention. Also, the foes will not charge over any obstacle that they cannot reach themselves thus you cannot lead them off a cliff but they do take priority to attack Yearn over anything else.
• Lasts for exactly 10 seconds from the moment it lands or detonates in mid-air. Its duration cannot be modified by Lingering Dragoncrest Ring, Northwarder pieces, or other similar equipment.
• The aggro range is not infinite, but large enough to draw the attention of all valid enemies in almost any room in the game.