Thoughts on Aatrox
Its been a bit since Aatrox's rework, was released and I figured I'd give Riot some feedback on how it is. So, on to the criticisms!
Passive: While it was compared to Darius's passive, it more reminds me of Gnar's. It's slow to stack, and you have to use it before its gone, as once its gone, you're not getting it back. It terms of the passive itself, it is a little underwhelming. The AS and bonus AD is nice, but it doesn't feel strong enough for something so hard to get/keep. The revive is nice, since its constant, but the window it is up is so narrow, it's easy for an enemy to play around.
Q: Honestly, the changes here are really good. The CD on it feels better, the damage actually scales, and it overall just is better. Good job!
W: Blood Thirst functions pretty well, and the missing health scaling works pretty well. I just wish it had an AD scaling still, since, unless your building health early, it doesn't scale efficiently. In terms of Blood Price, it just feels weaker. The health cost removal was nice, and it makes using the skill a lot less binary, but the hit to the damage really hurts Aatrox. However, it does make CSing easier, although I do have to keep reminding myself to turn it on. Although, I sometimes feel like the skill is bugging a bit, its interaction with wards is strange, and the number of hits it takes to proc BT/BP seem to vary. It may just be me, but the skill could be bugged a bit.
E: The change to physical damage wasn't bad. The increased damage and AD scaling feel nice, and it now proc's BC and Death's Dance, which is nice. Also, I love the shift from scaling to flat health costs. It makes using the skill so much better. That said, I really dislike the removal of the AP scaling. Aatrox was meant to be a hybrid champ, and this scaling loss really restricts his item choices.
R: Not much was changed here, don't expect much to change until he's fully reworked.
Suggestions: Add AP scalings to his other abilities, or remove the AP scaling from his ult. Since his ult lacks utility, having a useless scaling doesn't do Aatrox any good. If you want Aatrox to be only AD, then don't leave him with his current ult scaling. However, I would really prefer him to have more AP scalings. This could promote build variety, and just make Aatrox more viable overall. I understand it may be a bit strong, but just food for thought.
Increase his base or scaling AS. With the loss off the AS on BoRK, and Rageblade/Nashor's no longer being good pickups, there are few pickups for Aatrox that work well with Aatrox. A buff to his AS would make his W a lot cleaner to use. If that's not possible, how about adding passive AS on his ultimate? Maybe something like half the AS it grant's when active.
Allow Blood Price to apply on turrets, dealing reduced damage. With how his new passive works, Aatrox lost quite a bit of his splitpushing power, and this would be a decent way for him to get some of it back.
