Maybe the problem with Aatrox isn't Aatrox...

OlafRagnarson·Jan 9, 2016·3 votes·1,321 views

Maybe its the fact that he doesn't benefit from items that seem tailor fit for him the way other champions do.

Aatrox has long cool downs and is very squishy. However, he needs attack speed to for his W. Other champions who don't rely on things like attack speed can enjoy items like frozen heart or titanic hydra, or rush a black cleaver.

He needs attack speed for his W to sustain. He also needs AD because his W scales off of that. He also needs armor and magic resist because he is so squishy. He also needs CDR because his cooldowns are quite long.

You wanna know what was one of the best items on him? The Zephyr, combined with tenacity from the old tree.

It allowed me to runamuck and not get locked down by CC, gave me some cool down, attack speed and damage. It was a great item on Aatrox.

Perhaps Aatrox is fine if riot had items that fit him better. BRING BACK THE ZEPHYR.

10 Comments

BeuhlakorJan 9, 20165 votes

Aatrox's kit is a mess. Period.

He is supposed to be a DPS champion, but his base stats are so bad that you don't play Aatrox as a DPS champion.

You play him as a burst champion in early and midgame thanks to all the hybrid damages he has coming from his E, R and W.

But you still need AS. And AD. For his "lategame" (lol) because the scaling of all his abilities except his W is bad.

item 3078 is out of the question unless you are far ahead because Aatrox only has 3 skills that can activate item 3057 (one being his ultimate) and they all have long CD. And CDR suckson him. Because of his health costs. And because most CDR items don't synergize at all with his kit.

But you can't go full damages because he will explodes in teamfight since he is super squishy and you have to choose between dealing damages and healing.

We have to thanks his passive and his sustain for his garbage kit. All his power are in these 2 abilities and therefore the rest sucks. Hard.

And I'm not even talking about how freaking boring his kit is as a whole.

TyroneWatermelonJan 9, 20162 votes

thats why i confess that i got headache from Aatrox itemazation,because he needs so many stats: Attack Speed:Check Attack Damage:need Critical Strike:Good stat on him but there are no items which worth to buy on him Cooldown Reduction:With his long ass cooldowns,even 40% make no difference,since he relies on AA,DarkFlight will be on 7.2 cd,Blades of Torment will be on 4.8 but doesnt really serve a good purpose,Ultimate will be used 1 time in a teamfight anyway. Health&Resistances:Available and a must because no natural durability. Armor Penetration: No item worth it except item 3142 which gives small amout of flat. Movement speed:No other source than Boots is available. Because of the Above: Aatrox cant utilize properly item 3071 like 90% of Fighters because he has no aoe sustained physical damage except AA and DarkFlight-Cooldown reduction still useful and other stats are but he can get alot more from other items instead. Aatrox cant utilize properly item 3078 Because he uses Health,Movement speed is kinda nerfed,Item is SUPER expensive,even with 40% CDR Aatrox cant use item 3057 's passive. just like the aformentioned,alot of items are better than Aatrox cant utilize item 3748 because he rather get mix of all durability instead of stacking health,and item 3074 will always be a superior choice. Will usually go for 2 offensive 1 both 2 defensive items as recommended by Riot(and me). Conclusion: Because in needs of so many stats, Aatrox got a pressure in his build and he will ALWAYS lack some stats. So many items utilized by Fighters are just not viable on him,and this will always be an advantage to his enemies,either stacking armor because he lacks armor pen,stacking slows because he got no movement speed and high cooldowns,getting an item to cripple his sustain. Few notes to point out: Aatrox is a unique champion,and im talking about Kit,because most bruisers have: Armor reduction: MonkeyKing XinZhao Trundle JarvanIV (AND EVERYONE EXCEPT AFORMENTIONED AND Jax GET UTILIZE item 3071 ) Attack Speed: Aatrox Udyr LeeSin Nocturne Fiora RekSai XinZhao Trundle Skarner On hit with AA reset: Darius Garen RekSai Illaoi Shyvana XinZhao Trundle Irelia Jax Skarner
True Damage: Darius Garen Olaf Irelia Fiora RekSai Will benieft highly from CDR:lol everyone Typical source of defense mechanism: Garen Fiora MonkeyKing Udyr Nocturne JarvanIV Jax Olaf LeeSin Skarner Sustain: Aatrox Illaoi Irelia Darius Garen Fiora LeeSin Renekton Nasus RekSai XinZhao Illaoi Now as you can see,everyone except Aatrox and Illaoi have moar than 2 aspects in their kit,which they speciallize in that area(i didnt include darius because he gets fvcking 200 ad buff) and dont need too many stats,thats why they are health champions. unlike Aatrox ,you cant include everything in one build,and even if you want to push them all together,you cant utilize properly even the father of stats ~~Illuminati~~ item 3078 .Thats my opinion about the problem of Aatrox ,from an Aatrox main's perspective. ps;i guess im the only one who isnt playing Aatrox Jungle devourer or using item 3124 on him

OlafRagnarsonJan 10, 20161 votes

Well, I have been going rampages rushing item 3022 item 3006 item 3075 item 3156

It works surprisingly well, with attack speed runes. You end up with good enough attack speed but you aren't squish. I find that it still deals plenty of damage, and I can 1v1 a fed champ from behind with this in mid game.

I'm a huge advocate of mallet on Aatrox. It lets him stick which means he gets to heal and the health on him allows him to live long enough to be able to heal and attack. It got me from silver IV to silver II and then for some reason I went back to rushing hydra or botrk, old school and started losing again.

AL000Jan 10, 20161 votes

actually aatrox is very similar to udyr without mana or hit on or whatever....

TyroneWatermelonJan 10, 20161 votes

Um no. Aatrox is more squishy,more reliable on burst,half of his kit deals magic damage,needs to use correctly DarkFlight or he's fvcked,got a skillshot,can't utilize every single item in the game. Meanwhile udyr:build everything that has attack speed on it,maybe even just TF and devoured--->Literally mash buttons and right click,congrats you mastered his full potential. Also udyr is not high risk high reward,which most bruisers are not.

Dominick DestineJan 9, 20161 votes

He just needs lovelier skins.

ModKnightsKemplarJan 9, 20161 votes

Yeah, I feel this. Always wanted to get Spirit Visage, Bork, and Bloodthrister

Titanium70Jan 9, 20161 votes

Why everyone consider Aatrox weak??? I played him 3 times this years - 3 times I dominated. His Devourer Synergy is.. INSANE - he can Jgl for ages. Even his ganks are great and save due to his passive.

The only problem I have with Aatrox is his Lore! He SHOULD be a inspiring Warrior who thrives on the battle field.. his Kit does not reflect this at all.

OlafRagnarsonJan 10, 20161 votes

I am mainly referring to him as a top laner.

AL000Jan 10, 20161 votes

simple

AS runes 6/12/12

item 3153 item 3006 or item 3009 item 3068 item 3065 item 3031 item 3091 or item 3072