PSA: It only took two nerfs to turn Aatrox from broken to meh

SpecterVonBaren·May 23, 2016·1 votes·446 views

Don't believe me? Here's his patch history.

V3.8

Added

V3.13

Blood Well Attack speed gain reduced to 30 - 55 (based on level) % from 50. Blades of Torment Damage reduced to 75 / 110 / 145 / 180 / 215 from 75 / 120 / 165 / 210 / 255.

V4.5
Armor increased to 18 from 14. 
V4.6
 Blood Thirst /  Blood Price
     Bug Fix: Stance effect sometimes triggering every 2 basic attacks instead of 3. 
V5.6
 Massacre
     New Effect: Grants 20% maximum Blood Well.png Blood Well per enemy hit. 
V5.11
 Blood Well
     Cooldown reduced to 225 / 200 / 175 / 150 seconds from 225. 

Wish it was that easy to balance and .

11 Comments

Doctor JarvisMay 23, 20161 votes

Was he broken on release? Is that why it took them FIVE patches to nerf him?

SonaTitsAndAssMay 23, 20161 votes

he actually was... sustain was extremely toxic to the game at the time and aatrox was the king of that the meta was "if i outheal you i will eat your soul"

SpecterVonBarenMay 23, 20161 votes

I think the fact that all it took was two small changes to knock him down shows that there's more to this story than Aatrox being broken.

SonaTitsAndAssMay 23, 20161 votes

yes its called riot going "FUCK THIS SHIT ALL HEALING IS FUCKED"

Dark NephthysMay 23, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=Doctor Jarvis,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=7el9s6EU,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2016-05-23T23:16:35.710+0000)

Was he broken on release? Is that why it took them FIVE patches to nerf him?

not to mention those 5 patches were done across 3 years to lol. But I honestly don't rem him being broken on release, sure he was probably strong but I'm sure they'res worse out right now.

QuephaMay 23, 20161 votes

He's a stat check champion, there's zero subtlety to playing his kit so when he loses his stat checks he becomes bad.

SpecterVonBarenMay 23, 20162 votes

Mmm. I just don't understand why Riot hasn't even tried to do anything with him for all this time yet they go through so many patches to try and make other champs work.

QuephaMay 23, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Mmm. I just don't understand why Riot hasn't even tried to do anything with him for all this time yet they go through so many patches to try and make other champs work.

Because the problem that Aatrox has is also a problem that Irelia, Wukong, Diana, Nocturne, Shyvana, Renekton, Rengar, and a few other champions have to some degree. Divers as a whole need to have their role more properly defined than "like an assassin but a little tankier with less burst".

ALL these champions need more counterplay, ALL these champions need better defined strengths and weaknesses, ALL these champions need something that distinguishes them from each other to prevent their state of balance from being anything but "Irelia has bigger numbers this patch so she's the only one that doesn't feel like garbage until she gets nerfed again". To solve the problems of any of these champions it would be best for Riot to look at all the champions at once to understand what they're supposed to do, what they're not supposed to do, and what they're allowed to do in order to distinguish them from each other.

SpecterVonBarenMay 24, 20161 votes

Hhm... Well Wukong is actually pretty unique design wise and he does have the healthiest stealth ability in the game (Outside of URF), but yes, you're right about a lot of fighters being kinda the same. Though I'd say the problem with fighters isn't diving fighters, it's auto attack based fighters that end up pretty generic.

Sneakyy XDMay 23, 20161 votes

He was garbage back then, too.

SpecterVonBarenMay 23, 20161 votes

I'm inclined to believe that its this way and that it was just itemization and that specific meta that made him strong. Cause even when itemization favors him, the only time I've ever seen him be strong was when Feral Flare was released and when an Aatrox main plays him.