Aatrox Rework - A Few Ideas
-- Preface --
Hello there! My ig name is skumnasty and I felt inclined to post my ideas on an Aatrox rework. When it became news that Riot was working on a fix for Aatrox's current poor state, I began fumbling with ideas on how he could be improved. Much of my kit ideas come from imagining a battle between the Magelords and Protectorates that is mentioned in his lore, and, consequently, I have even written a short story to try and capture this kit and the real Aatrox! Check it out here.
Design Explanation (Skip for just the kit details!):
Aatrox is labeled as a “legendary warrior”, one who “[slices] through legions” wielding a somewhat “living” blade “with grace and poise” that seems to drink the blood of his foes. I think focusing on the fact that he should be seen as hard to kill (old passive) is focusing too much on a god-like aspect of his being, when in actuality we should be focusing on the fact that he is a “legendary warrior”. With that in mind, he may be hard to be killed, but moreso because he is such a great fighter, and less so because he has God-like qualities. Perhaps he gets assistance from his Darkin roots, and/or from his living blood-sucking blade, but those should be supplements to his role as a machine of massacre.
I try to imagine a battlefield with Aatrox in it, and I see a horrific demon-like creature cutting down groups of enemies with each sweep of his massive sword, their blood being eerily drawn to its pulsing blade. Between each group of fallen men he uses his powerful wings to reposition himself among the next group of hopeless contenders and continue his slaughter. Once the enemies breathe no more, the few remaining men fleeing from the chaos are finally crushed under a mighty dive that seemed to come from nowhere.
With this kit idea, I try to bring to light Aatrox’s “legendary warrior” characteristics firstly with his Q, Double Cleave, capturing his ability to make devastating, but tactical, slices with his blade. Second, his E: Winged Leap, displays the use of his Darkin wings to reposition himself in order to cause maximum carnage, lowering the cooldown if he uses it for battle instead of just a movement tool. Further, the power granted by his living blade is captured in his W: Blood Pact / Blood Price, where he can harness the blood that has been gathered to either heal his wounds or cause more devastation. Finally, his R: Dark Flight, embodies his cause as a destroyer of life, giving him the ability to hunt down the very last of enemies, or enter a losing battle from a distance. We lose his passive revive, which was neat, but took up a large portion of his power budget that I think is better placed in his combat abilities. We also lose the knockup on his old Dark Flight, but its clunky and easily avoided/interrupted mechanics are remedied by Winged Leap’s smooth and less disruptive effect.
Finally, the idea behind the new blood generation is to reward Aatrox for being in larger battles, better fitting his lore, by granting him even more blood to be used with Blood Pact/Price. Ideally it would be tuned such that in a 1v1 situation he would only be generating enough blood to empower his autos about every third attack, while in a large scale fight he will be empowered nearly every attack. Additionally, the AS buff with blood will give him a way to dump his blood at a faster rate when it is full, allowing him to not over cap too much on blood.
Abilities:
(note that I have used 'x' in many instances where I was unsure of an appropriate number, and (?) to indicate possible alterations or uncertanties.)
(also note that I wrote this idea just before the Galio rework was revealed, and I am sad to see that they may have practically stolen my idea for Aatrox's ult!)
Passive: Darkin Presence / Darkin Blade - Aatrox’s presence bolsters allies that have their odds against them, decreasing damage taken and increasing damage dealt. Aatrox’s blood-eating sword stores blood from enemies that can be used to empower his attacks.
Aatrox’s Darkin presence bolsters wavering soldiers and tips the scales in their favor. While him and his allies within x(?) range are outnumbered by champions within x(?) range, allies take x%(?) reduced damage and deal x%(?) more damage (for each additional enemy champion?).
When enemies within x(?) yards of Aatrox take damage, Aatrox’s blade fills by 1(?)% of the post-mitigation damage taken. Aatrox’s blade stores up to 100(?) blood, and his attack speed is increased by 1%(?) for every 2(?) blood in his blade. Blood depletes by (10/8/6)(?) per second after (3/6/9)(?) seconds of being out of combat, and by (50/30/10)(?) each time he is hit by hard CC.
Q: Double Cleave - Aatrox performs a single or double arc with his blade in front of him, both dealing damage, the first briefly knocking up targets, and the second dealing additional damage to airborne targets.
Cost: None (?)
Cooldown: 16/15/14/13/12 (?)
First Cast: Aatrox sweeps his blade in a low arc in target direction. Enemies hit take (x/x/x/x/x)(+x% Bonus AD)(?) physical damage and are knocked up for .5(?) seconds. Aatrox may cast Double Cleave again within 1(?) second. If Double Cleave is not cast within this time, its remaining cooldown is (halved/reduced by x seconds)(?).
Second Cast: Aatrox sweeps his blade in a second, high arc in the same direction as the first. Enemies hit take (x/x/x/x/x)(+x% Bonus AD)(?) physical damage, multiplied/increased by (x/x/x/x/x)(+x% Bonus AD)(?) if they are airborne.
W: Blood Pact / Blood Price - Aatrox uses blood stored by his blade to heal himself or deal additional damage.
Cost: 25(?) Blood
Cooldown: N/A
Toggle to switch between Blood Pact and Blood Price.
Blood Pact: While Aatrox has at least 25(?) blood his auto attacks are empowered, funneling blood stored by his blade into himself, healing him for for (x/x/x/x/x)(+x% Bonus AD)(+x% AP)(% of missing HP?)(increased by missing HP?)(?).
Blood Price: While Aatrox has at least 25(?) blood his auto attacks are empowered, enhancing his basic attacks to deal (x/x/x/x/x)(+x% Bonus AD)(+x% AP)(?) additional magic damage.
E: Winged Leap - Aatrox leaps to a target location, dealing damage and slowing as he lands.
Cost: None Cooldown: 20
Aatrox uses his wings to perform a leap to a nearby target location, dealing (x/x/x/x/x)(+x% Bonus AD)(?) physical damage to enemies within x(?) yards and slowing them by (x/x/x/x/x)(?)% for 1 second. Winged Leap’s cooldown is (halved/decreased by x seconds)(?) if it hits an enemy unit.
R: Dark Flight - Aatrox leaps into the air and hovers for a few moments, before descending down to a distant targeted location, knocking up and dealing damage to enemies in a small area.
Cost: None(?)
Cooldown: 180/140/100(?)
First Cast: After channeling for 1(?) second, Aatrox leaps into the air and hovers for up to 1/2/3(?) second(s).
Second Cast: While in the air, Aatrox is revealed to enemies(?), and may recast Dark Flight to dive to a target location within (x/x/x)(?) yards. Enemies within (x/x/x)(?) yards of his landing take (x/x/x)(?) damage (increased by missing health?), are knocked up for (x/x/x)(?) seconds, and fill Aatrox’s blade with (x/x/x)(?) blood per champion hit. If Aatrox does not cast Dark Flight the second time, he will dive directly below him with the same effect.