What the darkin [Aatrox] Needs

1. Skill level: The character requires very little skill but really doesn't cement his abilities in any of the three fields he should fit in. [Tank, Assassin or Brusier.] I'd like to see his stats at least match those of other brusiers [Olaf] considering that like other bruisers he is relied on for engages and his passive is his only shield currently to help him survive such tactics.

2. Professional Play: This characters is very weak. Not only have I not heard of too many people talking about Aatrox in the professional scene but I've also hear many people talk about him as a bad choice in general even in matches ranked silver 5 and lower where most players are. I think that making aatrox stronger would also affect game diversity as his ability to resurrect would be a great way to slightly curb the burst meta that exists currently.

3. Design Core: The Darkin's Gameplay seems to revolve around lifesteal but not only is there limited support for lifesteal, the ability that heals him is not only weak but extremely dependant on another statistic. [Attack speed] There is no other move on his kit that heals him or utilizes his sword in a physical manner which is awkward because his sword is supposed to be his trademark in this case.

4. Reasoning: Another well thought of character taking a backseat because nobody is looking at him. The reason why nobody is looking at him is because he is underbalanced, the current itemization and the current mastery tree doesn't support his playstyle even in the slightest with his current kit. This means that his base stats become even more important and these are also abysmal.

5. Current Environment: This isn't a situation in which Aatrox has fallen out of style he just hasn't been in style at all. It's probably because the lack of stats combined with how fair his mechanics are not only makes an overall boring champion but an unrewarding one.

Those are the cruxes of my discussion.

Overall I'd like to see his main stats increased because his general strengths aren't good. He feels a lot like Vlad, Zac and Mundo when it comes to doing damage at a price but even compared to those guys he lacks highly in tankiness, mobility and damage making him a pale comparison. I do expect that this character shouldn't be a tank however because I'd love to see the 'damage for hp' mechanic on a non tank character. However because Hp usually does make tanks that should at least make him a brusier.

My opinion is that Aatrox shouldn't rely on resistances to become a threat to his enemies but hp and attack speed. All the signs are there already with the expendature of hp for damage and a revival that heals hp. All of his attacks also cost hp. Now the real issue I believe with this champion is that he scales with Ap and Ad rather than Hp. Hell I'd even rather see him scale with lifesteal over Ap and Ad. [Ult and sword wave have ap scaling.]

The darkin's sword is another thing I'd like to say should make lifesteal stronger. It just seems to me like this is the character that wants lifesteal the most in the game but I really don't like any of the trees for it. Either you go all offensive and forgo any defensive stats that make him relevant in a fight or you go all defensive and only act as a wall for your allies which doesn't seem to be his design style. If his passive had more to do with lifesteal and not his revival then perhaps that would be better?

I like the idea of incorporating an Item's strength into a character but Zac and Zilean have Guardian Angel covered and Trynd and Kindred have the 'endure' idea already. His unfortunately are but nerfed versions of all of these and yet his kit is weaker than most of these and so is his stats. [I guess understandably in Zac's case] If we go along the same idea then it is my opinion that Aatrox should be designed with an item in mind. Currently the two items that come to mind are Death's Dance and Bork. The issue with making it death's dance however is that he'd gain immense survivability stacking with the real item. [Say his passive staggered the damage like Death's dance.] I'd say either some sort of ability allowing him to clear staggered damage or allowing his bloodprice to do percentile damage with relevant damage compared to his own current hp pool is far more realistic.

While I like the idea that his engage can be countered, there are just so many other champions that have ones on lower cooldown that are stronger and have lower costs. It's hard to tell if this knockup for him is a curse or a blessing as it's not really contributing to his damage unless it's leveled up the most. This ability is a risk move just like many assassins which makes it a bit awkward because he really doesn't qualify as one in damage. His survivability is very questionable until you get a death's dance and this item is very expensive making playing him even more inefficient. His jungle clears aren't quick either.

I guess I will sum up the changes i'd like to see here and leave some room for discussion.

New passive: The darkin blade: Lifesteal and Healing are % more effective on Aatrox based on level. Using Massacre unlocks the true power of the darkin blade and adds new features to his current abilities. The darkin blade becomes sated off of Aatrox's hp. Once at full it will slowly drip/decay and can be awakened.

Q: Dark Flight - If Aatrox lands a knockup from this ability on a target Aatrox should be healed %hp based on his max hp. True Dark Flight- Aatrox cannot be CC'd while in darkflight when the darkin blade's true power is unleashed. A knockup removes all staggered damage. W: Bloodthirst - When first activated Aatrox gains 5-20% attack speed for 5 seconds. On every third attack heal hp based on his max hp. True Bloodthirst- On every third attack stun the target for .5 seconds. Blood price - When first activated Aatrox loses % hp, On every attack thereafter Aatrox will do X damage based on his max hp. True Blood Price- Damage taken while this is active is staggered as true damage over 1.5 seconds. Every 5 hits will remove all staggered damage. E: Blades of torment [Should be removed] Replace with Darkin Aura: Champions within X yards of Aatrox gain lifesteal based on missing hp. True Darkin Aura: Aatrox's allies become frenzied with battle lust and gain 5% atk speed. R: Massacre - Can only be activated when the darkin blade is fully sated via the cost of spells Aatrox uses. Passive: Aatrox will revive if killed while Massacre is active. Active: Massacre unlocks the true power of the Darkin blade exploding a radius around him that explodes. This should negate all current sources of damage as he draws on the stored life in the blade. [Mostly staggered damage from Death's Dance.] [Same 12 second duration and CD.]