Aatrox the Warbringer Rework
P: (It is somewhat similar in function to Kindred passive and Sion passive in terms of bounty hunter and bonus stats) Aatrox's blade thirsts for blood, as it is fed it grows more potent. (with appropriate visual fx :D) Every 50 CS (modified for jungle score so that each camp adds a reasonable number to it, say 8 for blue buff, 8 for red buff, etc. would be viewable by player as well), Assist, or Kill, Aatrox gains one (two from kills) stack of insert dark evil name here, which empowers his ultimate, and grants him 5 bonus AD per stack (kills give 10 free AD). This isn't meant to be the most substantial stat boost ever, not 35% bonus AD erhm Rengar, but it is meant to allow him to offset his kitability a little bit, he'll be a bit stronger than usual. His auto attacks might gain range based on stacks, so that he could eventually have range similar to his current ult's increased range constantly if farmed/fed enough. Would count as melee attacks, not ranged, so hydra would function, hurricane wouldn't.
Q: Darkstrike Similar in terms of look to a combination of Yasuo Q and Aatrox's E, in terms of speed is closer to Yasuo's Q. Strikes forward, dealing damage in a cone/line that deals increasing damage towards targets that have lower amounts of health. Has a somewhat lengthy cooldown, say 6 seconds level 1, and does reasonably low damage against a high health target, and pretty high damage versus a low health target. It functions as an execute, and a weak trading tool. Aatrox is healed a portion of the damage dealt. Alternatively, instead of healing might gain a 10% shield for damage dealt with it.
W: Eternal Thirst Aatrox's blade thirsts for the blood of his foes. (active) He deals extra damage when activated (similar to Kassadin W), gains extra range, and heals for a chunk of it. Heals for less against minions than champions, substantially so. Slows target for scaling percent movespeed when hit. Is used as the primary trading tool, to trade in lane, to recoup health losses, and to stick onto a target. Moderate cooldown as well, longer at lower levels but would scale relatively well with CDR and higher ranks. Passive stacks might add extra reach (range) to this attack, increase the slow, damage, etc. Where it feels like he grows more powerful the more stacks he gets, and not just through stats either (in terms of range it would look different, and perhaps be substantial).
E: equally edgy name for dashing Replacing Dark Flight (moved from Q as usually engage abilities go on E nowadays). Aatrox slices forwards through his opponents after a slight delay, reducing their armor by x% and slowing them for y%. Deals physical damage, gains range based on his stacks.
R: Warbringer's Ruination Functions as a 'skillshot' halfmoon crescent, with range based on stacks. Covers the 180 in front of him, it does not go behind him so it can be countered by flash/dash/blink behind him, or out of it. Area in which he swipes his sword at becomes infested/inflicted (SFX for destroyed ground/red ground meant to show that he is desecrating the ground). In that area all enemies have mortal wounds, and take moderate damage based on AD, based on stacks additional effects occur. At 5 stacks 50% slow. Each stack increases damage in area. At say 10 stacks all enemies within the field are feared for 1 second after they are hit (alternatively are rooted for 1 second). Deals moderate-high damage on swipe itself, aoe would be relatively minor in comparison.
Idea is to make his gameplay a bit more engrossing to play, and more interesting to watch. Adding in the skillshot Q allows for some efficient last hitting when behind (deals increasing damage (executes) towards targets based on missing health, would also execute champions obviously). His W would be intended to poke at the enemy laner (closer than a Q would be), but also heals him. Would slow target as well. The E is meant for him to slice through his opponent potentially going behind them or through them (similar to Warwick rework Q, except this is a pure skillshot without attaching). Would not be able to slice through walls. His R would be used to gain an advantage against foes, either as an area of denial ability, to catch opponents out, or to give him a slight edge when dueling/teamfighting (helps his teammates out as well by applying mortal wounds to all enemies inside of the AoE, perhaps lasting for 2 seconds after leaving it as well). His passive is to make his gameplay feel a bit more dynamic, with noticeable growth, and to keep him balanced throughout the game.
Currently he suffers from the issue of being easily kited, the concept of the rework is to keep the focus on his dueling potential, and to make sure that he doesn't become utterly useless against certain champions that are ranged and can permanently slow him. It's to further the 'character' growth of Aatrox himself as the 'battle' continues on, gaining increasing power and abilities that aren't as powerful later in the game (though still useful) as they would be early. He is somewhat overloaded, but the time it takes to unlock his full power is such that he doesn't start off with an overwhelmingly unfair advantage or disadvantage. He would be considered 'weak' early in comparison to his later power spikes, but would not be utterly useless either. It would add counterplay and tactics, making him a bit more interesting to play and face.
This rework hopes to accomplish creating a 'new' role within the Bruisers for Aatrox that is somewhat fundamentally different than others. He scales similar to a Tristana (range, though he'd still be a 'melee' champion, a bit shorter range than Kayle even at full power), but would build like a bruiser (Darius). He'd provide a counter pick for champions like Tryndamere, Jax, and many of the other top-tier duelists. His weaknesses would mean that he is a bit more vulnerable to champions like Kayle (who can kite him with decent relative range, and her ult essentially counters his and his Q pretty hard), Fiora, Jayce, and would be somewhat vulnerable to jungle ganks as he isn't all that mobile when running away. His other weaknesses would be a lack of hard CC (except perhaps his ult at X number of stacks, might fear or root target), and still relatively kitable, though he has options open against an opponent. His roams would be predictable still, and he'd have to commit hard if he wants to fight (as his Q won't start doing relevant damage until the opponent has been hurt a bit, and is still somewhat short ranged). (Intended for the Toplane, though might be able to Jungle relatively decent. Lacks inherent AoE damage so he would need a Tiamat for jungling. And probably would be core in his build in general.)
