The passive just needs to go in it's current form.
Riot has done well with other AD champion that builds squishier.
- Yi - Hypercarry. Doesn't require lanning, so shutting him down is mostly winning before he becomes a god.
- Yasou - Possibly dethroned Lee Sin as the most complained about champion.
- Trynd - Debatable. But he does what he does well and has the tools to work. A little broken as a champion? Sure, his kit can be toxic. But he's never really OP or too weak. He just might break a current meta that can't handle split pushing.
- Riven - Top contender of the boards circle jerk.
- Gangplank - Unique playstyle. Nothing too overboard after this nerfs.
- Fiora - Scary what she can do when played right.
Then we have Aatrox. Like most melee AD's who don't build tank. He's meant to be in the fray doing a lot of damage.
Unlocked most melee AD's, he's not built to survive this. He's built to die and come back. He really has little to handle this.
His sustain is weak. Assuming 250 bonus AD. His W heals him for 102.5 health every 3rd hit. Or about 34 a hit. Meaning this is the same as doing 170 damage with a basic attack with a BT(20% lifesteal). I'll actually admit this is probably balanced. But sustain is meant to be part of his survival as a melee AD that doesn't build tank. And his damaging abilities cost him HP. For a champion built around a health system and built to survive combat through sustain. He doesn't do it well.
His CC isn't reliable. While they're not bad. They mostly only help him enter a fight. Their impact in a fight is much less. Q has a long enough channel time that using it in close combat and not a gap closer will result is less overall damage from the self CC and lack of AA's. On top of the Hp cost. E I'm not too sure of. I haven't played him enough. But it's likely best to save for the CC than the damage.
With the above on his Q and E being better saved than used for damage. His ult is mostly an AA steroid. The ult's damage works with nothing Aatrox builds(magic damage/ap). Overall he gets AA range and attack speed from this.
So we're left with a champion that Q's into a fight. And AA's. That's it. No gimmicks. He's expected to sustain his way through all the burst coming his way. Not once, but twice.
The passive is just not made in a good way.
Passive - Surviving Through Carnage
-- Bask in the Battle - Being near a slain enemy will heal Aatrox for 5%(+1% per level) over 5 seconds after the enemies demise. Allies are healed as well if the enemy is champion.
Does not stack, clearing a wave will not heal you for 30%(+6%). This gives him some strong sustain, but creates openings for his enemies to deny him
-- Blood Well - Upon Aatrox's death all nearby allies gain 10% Attack damage, Ability Power and Movement Speed. If these allies kill 3 enemy champions, Aatrox will be revived with HP based on how long he was dead to a minimum of 20%. Aatrox's deaths, even if revived, will reward gold to the enemy team.
_Yes, this has no cooldown. Instead it rewards gold to the enemy. Meaning you wont be tower diving with this. And it takes 3 enemy kills to active the revive. So you likely wont get two off in a battle. Unless it's a very extended battle. These two passives are meant to be his theme this lore gives. He thrives in battle and empowers through battle. _
Other changes:
Q - Untargetable while at the very top of his flight. It's short, mainly to give it an in-combat use to avoid attacks by luck. Not meant to turn him into Fizz.
W - Reworked - Gives 4/8/12/16/20% physical damage dealt as healing when attacking enemy champions as a passive. Now activates to an AA reset that heals Aatrox based on his enemies missing health(higher at lower enemy HP). Aatrox will also continue to AA this target while moving as long as they don't leave his range for up to 5 seconds or 3 AA's.
E - No change
R - Activation removes CC. AA range and AS stays for the same duration. For 3 seconds after activation, all damage dealt to himself or nearby allies is distributed between those allies. Allies who fall under 20% HP will break from this effect and instead be healed for 10% of all of Aatrox's self healing.
Sure maybe numbers would need tweaking. But at least he fits who he is. He's a threat in battle as well. Still AA focused through. More of a support melee ADC. Which is his theme lore wise.
