What would YOU do with Aatrox?

Andromedon·9/19/2015, 4:05:07 PM·10 votes·2,118 views

So, I saw this video from our most favourite wall- stonewall008 where he talked about Aatrox and his problems, that he was doomed from the very start and yada yada. His "Question of the day" was What do you think Riot will do to Aatrox? Riot stated they want to give some love (however he currently is not prioritized), and want to give him unique space to the game. I got into thinking "What makes Aatrox Aatrox, and how could we put that into his kit?" ....I have no idea. That's the problem. I have no idea what to do with him. So I came here, to the magical lands of the **Boards ** to hear some of your suggestions! What do YOU think can be done with Aatrox?

20 Comments

Teridax689/19/2015, 8:17:56 PM5 votes

I think that, first and foremost, Aatrox needs to have his lore better represented in his kit. In the event surrounding his announcement and his lore, his biggest claim to mythical fame was his ability to infuse entire armies with all-conquering bloodlust, but in-game he's this very selfish, very generic diver bruiser with multiple redundant personal steroids and terrible teamfight presence. Changing his ultimate to implement that bloodlust in-game would be a good first step towards making him stand out, and would finally give him something no other champion would have.

Other than that, Aatrox likely needs a new tanking/sustain paradigm, as his current mode of sustain is slightly overbearing in lane when he can just heal for free every couple of seconds, but otherwise doesn't feel that good in actual combat (Blood Price also feels like a complete trap, particularly due to how terribly it works with both AD and health). Farther down the line, he might need to lose either his sustain or his revive passive, as having both at the same time would likely force him to be a mediocre off-tank, as revive passives are naturally good against burst and continuous sustain counters DPS (so he doesn't specialize in one form of durability, and at worst would either suck against both damage types or be impossible to counter). Currently, Aatrox doesn't feel too good about building any stat, as he feels really fragile when going AD and incapable of dealing much damage when building tanky (and just meh when building both), and that needs to change so that he feels good about building either or both.

Balmor09/20/2015, 2:54:45 PM2 votes

"With each foe felled, Aatrox's seemingly living blade drinks in their blood, empowering him and fueling his brutal, elegant campaign of slaughter."(http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Aatrox/Background 20.09.2015).

Remove his revive passive so that his base stats can be improved. And Give him a passive like viktor where he has a specific item just for him. That he can upgrade. This fits in with the lore of him getting stronger with each kill. Another idea is giving him a stackable passive that is capped like cassiobias passive is and giving bonuses at certain number of stacks. Reason for removing his revive is that when you revive you lose all blood well stacks. And in a team fight lets say you played a champ who dint have revive and got aced having aatrox revive would do nothing. You get punished more for having blood well on cd than having it (in terms of getting bonuses you lose more than you gain).

His Q takes a long time to windup is on a rather long cd, lose 10% current hp, it is short ranged, small knock up area and interruptible by every type of cc. Chance idea increasing range, increasing stun duration, increasing aoe radios, making it so that stun effects take place at the end of the ability but stun duration stats at point of contact. (of gorse not every chance should be applied)

His W if riot doesn't like him having that much sustain on it make it so that he gets same amount of heal no matter of how much hp he has. That would mean increasing the heal a little over all (and i mean the heal before the 50% triple heal ), by increasing the ad scaling on it, or increasing the damage on his w blood price and reducing the health taken. (also by increasing the scaling).

His E make it ad damage (increase the ad scaling and reducing the ap scaling ), make the speed faster, (give it passive armor shred same at all level).

His R making better visual effects. Resetting the duration up one getting a kill.

TŒŒMØ9/20/2015, 7:13:05 PM2 votes

I play Aatrox a lot and think he's not far off in terms of balance atm. His biggest problem is that he scales inversely with items (building HP increases the cost of Q and E, and building damage increases the cost of W), he also doesn't have the damage of an assassin or the CC/tankiness of many bruisers. I would:

A) Q and E flat HP costs instead of % max health as not to punish him for building HP. You could even make them costless and he wouldn't be OP. Other champions who spend HP on abilities usually end up getting more back than they spend anyway ( Zac blobs and Vladimir tides of blood)

B) His life regeneration on his W (Blood Thirst) is fine, but the damaging version (blood price) isn't useful in team fights, and is only good for building up bloodwell or catching people out and assassinating them when they can't fight back. As his primary damage source, the HP cost of Blood Price should NOT scale up with AD. That's just dumb, especially since the bonus damage doesn't benefit from lifesteal. He's just hurting himself more by building damage items. Either make the cost flat rather than scaling with AD /or/ allow it to benefit from lifesteal /or/ change it from bonus damage to % armor penetration so that it can benefit from lifesteal that way

Those are the only changes he needs in order to be viable as a bruiser IMO. If you wanted him to be a strong champion, all you would have to do would be to add a bit more CC to his kit for sticking power. You could easily A) Cause Blood Price to apply a slow. B) Cause Dark Flight to apply a slow after the knockup (much like Chogath 's Q) C) Give him a movement speed buff after landing Blood Price D) Give him a movement speed buff during his ultimate

Or if you want to rework him to follow his lore E) Cause his ultimate to give buffs to nearby friendly champions (he's supposed to inspire others to fight well, according to his lore) F) Cause his ultimate to steal enemy stats to buff nearby allies (since his lore is all about turning the tide of lopsided battles) G) Give him passive bonuses based on nearby enemy stats (same reasoning as option F)

Doctor Jarvis9/19/2015, 4:42:19 PM1 votes

My problem with Aatrox is that it never feels GOOD to land his abilities. Sure if you knock them up its like "Yes! I have bested you! I am War Incarnate!" for like, a full second until they land and walk as normal. "But wait! I can slow him!" So you do, and now you've used 2 abilities to ~~kill~~ sort of annoy the opponent. I just want his abilities to deal some more damage.

Big Lincoln9/19/2015, 5:01:24 PM1 votes

i think he'd be more interesting changed from a diving light-fighter into a front-line warrior ( i'm biased though)

seems like it'd make more sense to me. i wouldn't expect him to be disruptive, he looks/feels like the sort of dude who wants to fight everyone and everything

Sasogwa9/19/2015, 8:20:40 PM1 votes

buff his base HP and HP/lvl and bam he's viable

Mastamune9/19/2015, 8:49:35 PM1 votes

Make him a Juggernaught.

Change his Q so he slashes his sword in and arc and gets blood well from the damage. Leave His W The same, but make blood price scale off of his current health value, and the more HP he has the more damage he gets (like, building health will give him more damage) Blades of Torment can stay the same, but it steals movement speed if he hits a champion. and His ult does less damage but it also marks all enemy champions hit with it. All enemy champions take bonus damage from auto attacks and subsequent hits that Aatrox does heals him for blood thirst.

make him less of a dive the enemy comp guy and more of a "Im going to be tanky, charge in and start meleeing everything. My team will deal more damage and this entire fight will become a slug fest.

My Desired Name9/19/2015, 4:22:27 PM1 votes

I would revert the nerfs they did to him, at least for now.

Rıots Bad Client9/20/2015, 4:33:55 AM1 votes

I would do something simple with him.

It his shitty Q The knock up that a simple sneeze can blow him down.

I think it would be REALLY cool if he was Knocked up he can use his Q to blast his ass back down to earth skipping the rise animation. He would the "Knock up" counter guy. It would be cool.

Oh whats that? you're knocking me up?!

Nah, I'm knocking YOU up.

That's is my lil thought that could help with Aatrox

Blade of Justic9/20/2015, 4:37:55 AM1 votes

Replace his ult with Sion's old ult.

Makes more sense thematically.

TyroneWatermelon9/20/2015, 4:58:07 AM1 votes

My main is Aatrox I would just lower the cooldown on his Q and give better base health

SirLapse9/20/2015, 6:56:19 AM1 votes

For me, thematically Aatrox was never about motivating everyone by encouraging them with some steroids. I think he's the kind of guy that you initiate and start stomping the enemy visually, thus everyone else rushes in and tries to get in on the action. I don't think he needs a stat booster to accomplish such feats.

My list:

-Dark Flight now dashes a small range and slashes his blade outward to knock back opponents slightly. They are slowed by 70% for 1 second afterward. This is my alternative to his current Q which is just "HEY GUYS, I'M GOING OVER THERE!"

-Blood Thirst removed. I'm all for sustain, but infinite sustain in lane? Why? He should be sustaining in teamfights, not in lane. Right now it's "I'm going to out-sustain all your damage hue hue hue-- OH HELL A JUNGLE GANK ssdndgjadahtrh"

-Blood Price needs to be changed to an active that chunks Aatrox's HP considerably, giving him a gigantic AD steroid that stacks better throughout the game but is underwhelming early. Should work with lifesteal. If he's meant to be a fighter, then he should have the damage front-loaded into his kit, none of this 3rd attack bullcrap that is nearly impossible to be consistent with in duels or teamfights. I think it shouldn't have an HP cost if he's under a certain amount of HP though.

-Base stats increased so he's not RELIANT on what his Blood Thirst exists as.

-Blood Well CD brought back to that long as hell CD. Grants max bonus of attack speed once reviving from Blood Well for 3~5 seconds. You should be making them panic even if you're about to be taken down, none of this "Please let me Q Please let me Q Please let me Q Please let me Q." Seriously, does not fit his theme at all.

Feel free to criticize this, because honestly he needs a rework like Tryndamere.

Asayake 5150glow9/20/2015, 1:15:50 PM1 votes

Ok, here's my ideas.

Q Dark Flight I like the way it works, but most people do not share the opinion. Also, the 10% health cost. Probably refund the life if it hits a champion, and apply the slow as well as the knock up. It'd let him get a few more auto's off before he has to chase them around (unless he has red buff). W I thought of an idea, and please tell me if it's good or not. Looking at the other ideas, it's like a short-term version of Blood of The Fallen, another idea suggested. Bloodblade Passive: Killing units grants a stack of Blood Thirst, granting additional stats (Ad, lifesteal, attackspeed, your choice.) Stacks fall off after (5?/15?/20?) seconds (maybe when out of battle?), and are refreshed with each kill, capping at (undecided). Large minions or monsters grant additional stacks. Champion kills temporarily grant Blood Price, applying additional damage to each auto attack equal to (% of max life? % of current life? Increased armor pen?). Combine with Ravenous Hydra for damage in teamfights for the minions, and increased ganking potential. Active: Consume all stacks to deal a burst of damage (skillshot, or surrounding area) that slows and draws in an enemy. Requires at least 1(?) stack, and scales on AD and stacks consumed. E Now this needs huge changes. I kinda put it into Bloodblade's active, but he needs a new E. Crimson Fury (this is my least thought out idea) Aatrox's every auto attack increases surrounding allies attackspeed by (?%)/steals attack speed and grants it to his allies while this is active. Q is free, and heals for 10% of max life. W also heals for damage dealt (active). This is his teamfighting tool. He gets to keep his whack-the-enemy playstyle, while buffing his allies. R Massacre Draws in blood from nearby enemies, doing magic damage. Then spreads out the blood to allies, increasing stats. While channeling, he puts everyone around him in stasis. Afterward, enemies are slowed by 10% for 4-5 seconds, forcing a fight. This'll increase his ability to not die after hitting enemies with Q+R. Grants AoE attacks for 5?/6? seconds afterward, and increased attack speed/AD based on however many hit. This means he'll still be able to crush enemies 1v1, as well as staying on top of them when they run. Usually, he has to chase them until his Q/E come off cooldown.

So... what do you think? When I play Aatrox, he's not the strongest teamfight, his ability more relying on jumping on enemies to 1v1, and coming out as the victor. Unfortunately, he finds it pretty hard to stay on them without red buff or frozen mallet, meaning the job is usually left half-done.

ABlueQuaker9/20/2015, 1:53:02 PM1 votes

tbh Aatrox is just a Xin/Irelia clone. The only difference is that, out of the 3 of them, he's the only one with a Ranged Ability on a Basic Ability. It gives him safety in lane with little consequence to himself.

cFlame9/20/2015, 1:07:20 AM1 votes

My rework concept for Aatrox would reflect on his lore, and fix the problems of his snowball sustain. Keeping some of his sustain, this is what I came up with: Give him some more health and armor since his sustain wont be snowbally. Blood of the Fallen: Aatrox gains stacks of Blood of the Fallen for champion assists and kills. He gains 2 stacks per assist, and 5 stacks per kill. Aatrox gains passive bonuses depending on how many stacks hes collected. 10 stacks: Damage increased by 10% against all enemies with less than 50% of they're maximum health. 25 stacks: Gain bonus movement speed equal to 10% of all damage dealt in the last 3 seconds. Bonus movement speed gained by damage applied by items is reduced by 75%. ( item 3153 item 3068 and other items when this passive bonus is shared with allies.) 50 stacks: Ignore 25% of all armor and magic resistance of enemy champions, increased by 0.5% per additional stack obtained. Blood Well, W: Passive: Aatrox stores 80/90/100/110/120% of all self inflicted damage into the Blood Well, which can hold up to 105 to 870 damage. The Blood Well depletes by 2% per second if Aatrox hasn't been in combat within the last 10 seconds. Depletes by 15% per second after being out of combat for 15 seconds. Active: Aatrox stops gaining additional points into the Blood Well for the duration of 5 seconds, and gains 0.4/0.5/0.6/0.7/0.8% bonus attack speed per 1% in the Blood Well, up to 40/50/60/70/80% bonus attack speed. Whenever Aatrox obtains a stack of Blood of the Fallen while this ability is active, he heals for 10% of his maximum health over 2 seconds. If Aatrox takes fatal damage while this is active and has at least 50% of the Blood Well filled, Aatrox becomes untargetable and enters a 4 second stasis. He can still heal if he gains a stack of Blood of the Fallen. Halfway through the stasis Aatrox raises his blade to consume all in the Blood Well, dealing 30% of the amount consumed as damage around himself to enemies. After dealing the damage Aatrox can use items. (I was thinking of allowing him to use items anytime in the stasis but realized how annoying it would be to have a item 3153 to cast on an enemy champion under the tower slowing them to take turret shots while healing yourself.) If Aatrox has health at the end of the stasis he gets back up, if not he dies. Massacre: Aatrox draws in the blood of his foes, dealing 200/300/400 magic damage to nearby enemies champions. Additionally, Aatrox gains 40/50/60% attack speed and attack range for 10 seconds. Aatrox also emits an aura around him sharing all his passive bonuses from Blood of the Fallen. Just to clarify here, the duration was slightly weakened and I took out the Blood Well fill up effect because it would be very strong to have all that power in one ultimate. I think this rework concept would make him fit his lore a lot better, being an ancient warrior with lust for war and inspiring allies. I want to hear what you guys have to say about this.

Stars Shaper9/19/2015, 4:26:00 PM1 votes

I have thought about how to keep the "Drain Fighter" archetype and still keeping most of his kit untouched.

Lower his HP cost on Q.
Making his passive a constant AoE drain that fills his bloodwell so that he can make a use also of the time he stands still while resurrecting.
Give his Q an immunity window from either damage or CC.

I won't go into numbers because I suck at them but this feels like a more solid way to keep Aatrox a melee fighter and a diver rather than a lvl 3 ganker.

ninjaIRL 9/19/2015, 4:32:20 PM1 votes

I think Meddler or whoever was talking about his role as a diver. So they might do more knock-up/CC on him and change his over AA reliant kit.