Aatrox, Avatar of War
More like Avatar of Disappointment. I acknowledge that Aatrox was considered pick/ban back when he appeared along with Zac due to his passive originally giving 50% attack speed flat and his E, Blades of Torment, did tremendous damage. However since the nerfs to those two, he has greatly fallen to the wayside. I personally feel that his kit is somewhat counter productive, especially with the nerfs making it feel more obvious. I dont get what he is supposed to be. A bruiser? Tank? Juggernaut? Splitpusher? Jack of trades?
I ask because his kit makes him unable to excel at anything. I will list out why.
> Blood Well > > Whenever Aatrox consumes health, he stores it into his Blood Well, which can hold up to 105 - 870 (based on level) health. The Blood Well depletes by 2% per second if Aatrox hasn't dealt or received damage in the last 5 seconds. > Aatrox gains 0.3 - 0.55 (based on level)% bonus attack speed for every 1% in his Blood Well, up to a maximum of 30 - 55 (based on level)% bonus attack speed. > Upon taking fatal damage, Aatrox is cleansed of all debuffs, enters Stasis icon stasis and drains his Blood Well, healing himself over the next 3 seconds for 36.75 - 304.5 (based on level) health (+ 100% of Blood Well's stored health) up to a maximum of 141.75 - 1174.5 (based on level) health.
His passive makes him reliant on using his skills to boost his bar/attack speed but you're able to recover lost health from his W, Blood Thirst. Which is fine as his sustain, makes sense. Majority of the time, his blood bar will be at least 70% filled and there are some potential outplays utilizing his revive. However when he is revived, all of the bonus attack speed is gone thus making him less reliant during teamfights.
> Dark Flight > > Aatrox dashes to the target area after a brief delay, dealing physical damage to nearby units upon landing and Airborne icon knocking up all units in the epicenter for 1 second.
The only problem I see is that this is a worse version of Fizz's Playful/Trickster as Fizz's version makes him untargetable and immune to anything for the duration unless he was afflicted with a DoT ability before hand. Aatrox doesnt have that safety measure. He can literally be interrupted while in the air and midflight. So not only he CCs himself, but is also vulnerable too.
> Blood Thirst / Blood Price > > PASSIVE: Aatrox applies a bonus on-hit effect on every third hit against non-structures. > TOGGLE OFF – BLOOD THIRST: Aatrox heals himself on-hit. While Aatrox is below 50% maximum health, heal is tripled. > TOGGLE ON – BLOOD PRICE: Aatrox consumes health to deal quadruple the amount as bonus on-hit physical damage. > COST: 15 / 23.75 / 32.5 / 41.25 / 50 (+ 25% bonus AD) HEALTH
This is one of the biggest issues I have with Aatrox. While the Blood Thirst allows him to sustain in lane and recover from his abilities like Zac, his Blood Price hurts him more than it's actual worth. Not only Blood Price costs more with the more AD you have, Lifesteal cannot even be applied to it's bonus damage. I guess this was meant to add in "depth" into his playstyle but in the majority of the time outside of lane phase, you would always have it on Blood Thirst instead as it gives a lot more value than Price. With just two items of Botrk and Rageblade and Fervor as keystone, it makes the choice much more obvious. Even then, he doesnt pose as much as a threat as he should be. If you build him as a tank, he doesnt accomplish much due to his cooldowns. If you build him as a fighter, he gets blown up before dealing anything of significance.
> Blades of Torment > > Aatrox unleashes two converging energy waves in the target direction, dealing magic damage to all units hit and Slow icon slowing them by 40%.
This is perfectly fine to me. No complaints.
> Massacre > > ACTIVE: Aatrox draws in the blood of his foes, dealing magic damage to nearby enemy champions and filling his Blood Well by 20% of its maximum value for each enemy champion hit. > MAGIC DAMAGE: 200 / 300 / 400 (+ 100% AP) > Additionally, Aatrox gains bonus attack speed and attack range for 12 seconds. > ATTACK SPEED: 40 / 50 / 60%
Now this is also one of the biggest problems I have with his kit and the most glaring problem in my eyes. I feel that this was also supposed to add "depth" as you're supposed to choose when is the best time to use it. Majority of the time your Blood Well is already filled so is it supposed to be used after his stasis to regain his attack speed? Why take the chance of waiting and not use it immediately after you dive in as the bonus speed and range is useful. However it was designed to be used to fill his Blood Well when you're in the middle of everybody. A risk and reward type of deal? It's buffs are nice but it's function are odd.
When playing Aatrox, you're punishing yourself moreso than the enemy team. When comparing him with another champ that is most similar to him, Xin Zhao, there is practically no reason to choose the former as Xin does what Aatrox does but leagues better. Especially when they made Xin's 3rd auto as a crit.
What buffs or changes are needed to make him stand up to his title as the of Avatar of War?
