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Aatrox's primary problem's him having so much untapped potential

Malicious Metal··185 votes·11,703 views

Aatrox's often regarded as one of the worst champions ever released and he's often the topic of discussion, be it talking about potential buffs, replacing his current ultimate with Sion's old "Cannibalism" ult and the general consensus is him being somewhat disappointing.

But what's the underlying issue here? -Is it his kit being incoherent? No, it does synergize well with itself -Is it him being a bad champion? Not entirely, seeing that a skilled Aatrox can indeed carry games -Is it 42? perhaps.

No, the real problem here, and the main reason Aatrox needs some kind of rework, is him not delivering on his champion fantasy.

We've got champions ranging from eight year olds throwing flaming teddy bears at you to celestial caretakers that prioritize chimes over helping their team out. There are 129 champions and each and everyone's unique in their own sense, even the more common tropes have a certain spin to them.

And then there's Aatrox. He's a demon dude. On first glance you see the quintessential demonic warrior; red skin, wings, horns and a demonic weapon.

Well maybe his kit's unique.... well... Not entirely; Aatrox's kit is just a dive-fighter kit you could slap on literally any other champion and there wouldn't be a lot of thematic clashes. That's right, Aatrox's kit is disappointingly mediocre and a cookie-cutter cutout, so much that it's almost sad.

**Aatrox is a demonic entity that inspires battle spirit on the losing side of the war and allows them to overcome any odds and be victorious ** Aatrox's lore makes him out to be almost a support-ish type of character, a savior of sorts. He sweeps in, helping out the losing side and spurring them to commit Aatrocities they only realize after the bloodshed. For victory comes with a price; bloodlust, regrets and knowing that you committed ultimate sins of war.

Aatrox is just like Tahm Kench, he's a demon that thrives on human emotion and his type of "pact"'s not entirely different from Tahm's. Tahm offers you absolution and a new beginning, only to later on take everything from you whereas Aatrox offers swift immediate victory but life long regrets and bloodlust

Does that mean Aatrox should be a support?! NO! The last time Riot pushed a fighter champ bot lane was an outrage and this should never happen again. But what could be done to Aatrox?

Simple; Aatrox should be all about inspiring his allies to fight harder and provide strong combat buffs. He's a diving fighter, which he should remain. We don't want a Tank Aatrox.

Aatrox should be all about diving into the enemy team and inspiring his allies to follow his lead and fight at his side.

Imagine Aatrox diving into the enemy ranks with his dark flight, his wings like a torn cape as he lands in the enemy front line, surrounded by the opposition waiting to tear him to pieces. But instead of dying and submitting he swings his demonic sword, the Battle being his canvas, his Sword his painting brush, Blood his colors. This battle will be his masterpiece

The mere sight of such a powerful entity joining you to overcome a much stronger enemy fills you with battle fervor and the will to survive!

Aatrox should be all about inspiring his allies to fight alongside him, leading the charge as he dives the enemy. Almost suicidal but keeping alive in the midst of battle by increasingly stronger lifesteal and perhaps even strong combat buffs getting stronger the longer the battle rages on.

Aatrox's core problem is the lack of thematic cohesion and him lacking unique factors that truly paint him as the demonic entity inspiring the losing side to carry on and prevail

Sure, giving Aatrox Sion's old ultimate would be fitting but why go back to something that was broken and unintuitive and toy with other ideas we can add to our Darkin Blade. Be it AD/AS team buffs, Armor/MR buffs, MS when moving in his direction, his life steal spreading to nearby allies, him emitting auras, etc.

The possibilities are limitless and I don't think I'm qualified enough to make any more assumptions on what Aatrox "really" needs.

~M.M

http://i.imgur.com/0MtwhZp.jpg

122 Comments

DarKnight2068543 votes

[deleted]

Malicious Metal19 votes

Woo, someone noticed!

roar20012 votes

I laughed so hard when I read it!

Kaleidos26 votes

Yeah, it always really bugged me that Aatrox's lore flat out said he was this entity that would pimp into a battle, throw the losing side into a complete blood frenzy, and then get in the middle of it and just go to town on the winning side before leaving.

Then his kit came out and he's just a super generic diver who does nothing to aid his allies, not to mention we have a glimpse of how Aatrox's influence actually works since Tryndamere is a living example of the aftermath and yet Aatrox shares no mechanical similarities to Tryndamere in the slightest.

You'd think Aatrox would also use Fury and get progressively stronger as his health depletes, and possibly have a similar Undying Rage-esque feel (His Blood Well could've easily been flavored as being exactly that instead of... well, being the Blood Well , and they didn't do that for some reason), but nope he uses a seemingly random thematic for his resource, passive, and ultimate that have nothing to do with how he was described to us as in his lore.

Zero Skill Tank3 votes

I think his kit has more problems than failing to deliver his fantasy, like OP said he is a diving bruiser, but his diving isn't as strong as WK's or XZ's. And it can't be allowed because of his absurd sustain coming from Blood Thirst and Massacre - once he would get to back line and rekted someone he would just keep slashing. At the same time he can not perform role of light fighter, because his damage preventing mechanics and mobility just aren't strong enough. His CC is not enough to be a real tank, and his mobility and long-range slow prevent him being pushed into juggernaut tole. He is extremely hard to balance, and never very popular(unless for some reason he becomes very strong) because he has no clearly defined job.

Quort7 votes

Aatrox doesn't work well with Fury. Everything he does is calculated and cold. None of his quotes or lore suggests that he fights with anger or rage like Renekton, Shyvana, or Tryndamere.

I think his Blood Well could be reworked to be an interesting and unique resource like Flow or Heat. :3

GhastlyGhoulMan1 votes

{quoted}

Yeah, it always really bugged me that Aatrox's lore flat out said he was this entity that would pimp into a battle, throw the losing side into a complete blood frenzy, and then get in the middle of it and just go to town on the winning side before leaving.

Then his kit came out and he's just a super generic diver who does nothing to aid his allies, not to mention we have a glimpse of how Aatrox's influence actually works since Tryndamere is a living example of the aftermath and yet Aatrox shares no mechanical similarities to Tryndamere in the slightest.

You'd think Aatrox would also use Fury and get progressively stronger as his health depletes, and possibly have a similar Undying Rage-esque feel (His Blood Well could've easily been flavored as being exactly that instead of... well, being the Blood Well , and they didn't do that for some reason), but nope he uses a seemingly random thematic for his resource, passive, and ultimate that have nothing to do with how he was described to us as in his lore.

You know who could really use a blood well passive? ... Vladimir. ;)

Garfields Hungry8 votes

Malicious Metal should work for rito he has better ideas for champions then the development team

ForeverLaxx7 votes

There's never a shortage of "idea guys". It's the people who can translate ideas into workable mechanics that people actually need.

Narasimha2 votes

I mean, this same idea has LITERALLY been posted dozens of times in the past by many different people. It's only because its Malicious that it's getting any attention.

Rebonack7 votes

Aatrox' problem is that he's basically a manaless Jax with sustain and poke or a manaless Irelia with AoE CC and poke.

I can see no way to make that kit impactful without making it awful to play against.

Guy needs a ground up rework.

Nahara3 votes

Would be nice of Riot did a rework of the "diving fighter" class, but aside from Irelia, Jax, and Aatrox, who would that encompass?

OneSmoothDude3 votes

It could also include Diana, Fiora, Jarvan, Yi, Olaf, Pantheon, Renek, Shyv, Tryn, Vi, Voli, Wukong, and Xin.

Some of those are a stretch or might fit into another category better (Diana = assassin, Voli = tank, etc.), for sure. But none of those are less of a diving fighter than Skarner is a Juggernaut, so I'll allow it.

Lord Graves III6 votes

Aatrox's often regarded as one of the worst champions ever released

Dude Aatrox has a lot of problems, but this is the first of a ton of hyperbole in your post. I wouldnt even put him in the top seven worst champs.

I think it would be fair to say he has one of the worst remaining kits, because most offenders worse than him have been reworked.

My Waifu Vanilla2 votes

He's definitely not fun to play (extremely binary kit that isn't very good) and doesn't have very good reason to play him. I mean at least Garen and Xin Zhao are both relatively strong for how boring their kits are.

Is he the worst champion in the game? Probably not, but that doesn't mean he's worth playing. He brings nothing to his team that Xin, Yi, Wukong, Garen, or any other melee fighter doesn't bring and has huge kit problems that do not synergize well with each other.

He is extremely squishy for his class and has no defensive steroid like most of his class has. He does regenerate SOME health through W....after 3 hits and all health regenerated is instantly spent to fuel other abilities. His Q is an awful gap closer for a diver since it can get rooted, stunned, knock backed, etc. and is also fairly easy to dodge and would be better off with a point and click gap closer like almost every other diver has (or give him Malphite ult treatment/ANY other dash in the game treatment on Q).

His kit just doesn't do well with itself. He is punished for buying health with higher costs and less "effective" healing from W (100 hp every 3rd hit isn't shit if you have 3000 health) BUT he has to build more bulky than the rest of his class since if he gets CC'ed he dies. Xin has a steroid in his ult that gives a good amount of resists and Yi has Meditate to block damage and R to make him unkiteable.

If Riot doesn't want Aatrox getting too defensive and to be able to work as a squishier melee fighter he basically NEEDS Olaf's CC immunity to work since it probably wouldn't make him too TERRIBLY broken on him since he can still get kited fairly easily due to no reliable gap closer and other reasons.

Capt Milkshakes6 votes

You could say he fills you with determination...

TheImpLord7 votes

DETERMINATION!

because aatrox looks like the genocide run type.

IceKingChernobog3 votes

Knowing that your sins are crawling on your back fills you with...Determination!

Photos of Ghosts1 votes

Nah he's more like the red text telling you YOU CAN DO IT YOU CAN EXTERMINATE THEM (spoiler: the red HUD text is an actual character of the game)

Valthan3 votes

How about a new passive effect?

"Demonic Corruption" Enemy champions struck by Aatrox's basic attacks gain Weakness, stacking up to 5 times, lasting 5 seconds. Enemy champions take 2% increased damage from your team's attacks per stack of Weakness.

Then add this to his ult.

All enemy champions struck gain 5 stacks of "Weakness"

Whether or not Aatrox himself benefits from this passive would require a bit of tuning.

This passive would encourage his allies to follow him into battle.

Yes, Vladimir's ult is similar to this, but it only lasts for a few seconds, has a bigger damage buff, and has a burst of damage at the end. This passive, though, can be kept up indefinitely as long as Aatrox can keep hitting them.

rtbf2256182413 votes

Can't believe this isn't a Morde post.

Sahn Uzal2 votes

I agree with you on the ''he could be so much more'' idea. I also agree he should remain a diving Fighter, Dark flight has some uniqueness to it, especially because he is able to cast other spells like his ultimate mid air.

Aatrox is an embodyment of war, or atleast, he wants to be one. His sword is litterally alive. I feel like it'd be awesome if Aatrox had a good amount of versatility in his build path. Building a certain way could change his look/ animation. For example: -His armor exists out of separate pieces. If he builds a lot of resistances he could get more of that armor, making him look beefier. -If he builds a lot of raw AD, he could get an auto attack animation that looks like it'll hurt a ton, a brute swing. While building a lot of AS could give him a more smooth and quick animation. Perhaps he'll adopt a different playstyle depending on his build.

Let's say he does have a way of inspiring his mates. That part of his kit could scale well with raw AD On the other hand, he could make himself more of a solo carry threat if he builds a lot of attackspeed

"Some fight for honor, some fight for glory. It matters only that you fight." -Aatrox

There are a lot of ways to fight, and Aatrox should have versatility in how he fights. -_- But hey, that's just my opinion C: summoner 31

theArtifacts3 votes

[{quoted}](name=SwHc Fenris,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=ipPjj72h,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2016-03-12T10:57:20.645+0000)

I agree with you on the ''he could be so much more'' idea. I also agree he should remain a diving Fighter, Dark flight has some uniqueness to it, especially because he is able to cast other spells like his ultimate mid air.

Aatrox is an embodyment of war, or atleast, he wants to be one. His sword is litterally alive. I feel like it'd be awesome if Aatrox had a good amount of versatility in his build path. Building a certain way could change his look/ animation. For example: -His armor exists out of separate pieces. If he builds a lot of resistances he could get more of that armor, making him look beefier. -If he builds a lot of raw AD, he could get an auto attack animation that looks like it'll hurt a ton, a brute swing. While building a lot of AS could give him a more smooth and quick animation. Perhaps he'll adopt a different playstyle depending on his build.

Let's say he does have a way of inspiring his mates. That part of his kit could scale well with raw AD On the other hand, he could make himself more of a solo carry threat if he builds a lot of attackspeed

There are a lot of ways to fight, and Aatrox should have versatility in how he fights. -_- But hey, that's just my opinion C: summoner 31

Perhaps give him 3 special items in shop that he can purchase and upgrade, altering his play style and appearance.

Knight SoIaire 2 votes

But what's the underlying issue here? -Is it his kit being incoherent? No, it does synergize well with itself -Is it him being a bad champion? Not entirely, seeing that a skilled Aatrox can indeed carry games -Is it 42? perhaps.

yes his kit is incoherent .... in the way that it lacks any direction whatsoever is he a tank ? well he has some good cc and can survive long due to sustain but he lacks durability and gets bursted too easily is he a carry ? well he has neither the range nor the damage nor the stats of a raidboss to do it is he a fighter ? fighters usualy can see whether they need tankyness of damage ... aatrox always needs both or maybe as the lore suggests he is meant to inspire ? well there is nothing about that in his kit

No, the real problem here, and the main reason Aatrox needs some kind of rework, is him not delivering on his champion fantasy.

No the REAL problem is that riot failed his design both in terms of gameplay and his kit fitting his personality (so its like everything they could fail)

and yes not delivering on his fantasy is indeed one of the biggest flaws he has

WadeWilson13372 votes

Honestly, the single biggest problem with Aatrox is he is just another attack speed champion, and there is so many more consistent champions than him. The largest issue with Aatrox specifically is that attack speed champs can pick up devourer, one damage item, and then go into tank.

Whats that got to do with Aatrox's kit? Well, his W drains your health on a %hp basis...so health is actually a stat you get punished for building. So what do you do? Go glass cannon? Aatrox already has such low base stats that youd be more paper than most adcs, youd basically be a fiddlesticks that has to melee. With these low base stats giving him a bad early game, and the fact his W contradicts any sort of scaling, means that he literally doesnt have a strong point.

Even if aatrox gets fed, there is so many champions that could do much, much more while being fed while being the same "theme" as him, all while being more consistent in how to do it.

TheDevice2 votes

I 90% agree with everything you said.

I am still not entirely sold on the idea that Aatrox needs to provide buffs to the team. Its just not a interesting mechanic to any champion who's not a true support imo. Not fun.

This is my main issue with him aswell; He's only partially fun to play.

I've said this far too many times already but here it goes again:

Aatrox should be redesigned into a caster type champion like a true melee version of Vladimir instead of a Xin Zhao / Tryndamere ripoff. He should be in the same category as Riven Fiora, a mobile light fighter caster (in between a juggernaut and assassin) which is already so few in number compared to the the role Aatrox is competing for: the attack speed backdoor fighter (there are like 12 of them)

I just don't understand why he's being smushed into this cookie cutter role. Why does he have to be attack speed based? If he's meant to primarily be a dive fighter or teamfight-based.. why give him a backdoorers kit? And to me its just a very bland and boring playstyle lol. I hit you lots is pretty much his kit.

Three passive effects (counting the ult passive after activation) just to make up for his lack of base stats? Just so he can maybe build a little tanky just to maybe survive some heavy cc fights? He has a very contradictory kit just to fit this role thats entirely overpopulated.

My suggestion: Rework. Not a huge one but definately something that will redefine his playstyle a bit. He can be an actual dive fighter. Riven is a dive fighter. Why are there so many champions like XinZhao Trundle Tryndamere Udyr Olaf etc etc etc when there are so few champions like Riven and Fiora? Mobile light fighers who are caster based and can dish out a lot of burst damage and use caster-type mechanics to sustain instead of relying on the ever-boring aa lifesteal.

Aatrox "Don't cc me cuz the only way im going to do anything this fight is if i attack you lots k? Just let me auto attack you! PLS!"

Auz the Ripper2 votes

He needs more incentive to be in the middle of the fray. He should the bloody Star around which each solar system of violence should revolve.

Perhaps having both Bloodprice and Bloodthirst splash their effects so he gets far more mileage out of being in a teamfight without affecting his dueling power

My Waifu Vanilla2 votes

Honestly if he gets below half they should both turn on (to at least try to work with the low health fighter thing with the current health costs and better blood thirst).

Sancre2 votes

I would rework him this way:

The passive would be a biger but far weaker Hecarim's W, this drained blood will slowly charge his blood well, as any blood source will do, no matter if done by aatrox or by his allies, to allies or monster in the area. In the splash you see him draining the blood around him, why doesn't he do this? And that he can charge all his abilities with blood from the well

the q would become a line long dash that ends in a knockup, if charged with blood, distance will increase, and a fear effect to those touched by his model will appear, the more blood, the longer the fear, up to 1'5 seconds A bit safer engage for him and a path opener for his team, to conquer, you must divide them

the w would lose his active, and instead will react with the blood in the well: Over 66% blood on the well, both blood price and blood thirst will be on, from 33% to 66% only blood thirst will be activated, under 33% no effect will be activated, and will be a normal sword Charging blood will allow aatrox to give multiple hits on a single auto, up to 4 hits in one auto when you charge more than 40% blood, every 10% of the max blood bar will be an extra hit.

Blades of torment will become just one, Aatrox swings his sword so hard it sends a blood red slash across the air, slowing all enemies hit by it. Blood charging makes both the slow and the width of the attack grow depending on spent percentage

Massacre will be more or less like it is right now, but it will create blood chains that will join all allies in a close area to Aatrox, these chains will distribute all damage suffered between all chained allies, giving them a reason to stay close to Aatrox and go mad, as they are tankier now Blood charging will make the chains absorb a growing quantity of the damage that circulates by them, making allies and Aatrox even harder to kill

Its a bit op now that I see it, but I think this moveset would make Aatrox mains not feel that unconfortable with the new one, and would make him more lore friendly on moveset

Dªy1 votes

These sounds like awesome ideas![slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

XIII Vanitas2 votes

Some months ago I was thinking about transforming him completely into a diver/team-fighting champion by reworking his ultimate. Right now, he's both that and a split-pusher/duelist, which means that he's condemned to mediocrity. Aatrox needs to be reworked by Riot asap, especially after the buffs that Xin Zhao received, that made the latter a better version of the former (targeted knock-up on Q, heal and damage on W, targeted slow on E, better ult in teamfights and skirmishes).

mikemcparty1 votes

Reworked asap? Time to hop in line.

XIII Vanitas1 votes

By "asap" I mean right after Warwick, which is currently being looked at. And remember that Taric and Yorick are the next 2 big reworks.

adPrimusAeternum2 votes

I think Aatrox is perfectly fine with the way his kit is portrayed in relation to his lore. Sure he's underpowered, but that's because he generally has to be with the type of kit he has... it would be extremely unhealthy for him to receive any buffs with his current set-up. If you want a change, than they'd need to do a decent-sized scale rework, which usually involves changing lore, champion model et cetera.

Well maybe his kit's unique.... well... Not entirely; Aatrox's kit is just a dive-fighter kit you could slap on literally any other champion and there wouldn't be a lot of thematic clashes. That's right, Aatrox's kit is disappointingly mediocre and a cookie-cutter cutout, so much that it's almost sad.

You mention this, but then you say this...

A dive-fighter kit can't be changed much without feeling too weird or over/underpowered. But that's besides the point, Aatrox isn't even a dive fighter, he's a sustain duelist and a split pusher.

He's a diving fighter, which he should remain. We don't want a Tank Aatrox.

I disagree with the former quote, Aatrox's kit is unique and it does fit with his lore.

The first paragraph in his lore is this

Aatrox is a legendary warrior, one of only five that remain of an ancient race known as the Darkin. He wields his massive blade with grace and poise, slicing through legions in a style that is hypnotic to behold. With each foe felled, Aatrox's seemingly living blade drinks in their blood, empowering him and fueling his brutal, elegant campaign of slaughter.

This fits perfectly so far, with how Aatrox looks and feels in the game. I especially feel like Aatrox embodies his lore moreso than other champions, his blade quivers and twitches, his blade makes a high pitched noise as it readies for the third strike of blood thirst as well as using it, and it makes a lower pitched noise as it readies for the third hit of blood price and also as it uses it. He looks like an ancient race and a legendary warrior, his head-piece looks amazing, he has tattered dark wing-banners with armor that looks to be fused with flesh. The way he attacks also feels smooth and elegant, it makes him feel like an artisan rather than someone who does a hack-job. And if you've ever seen an Aatrox dive into a team, press R and go to town, he indeed drinks blood, dealing large amounts of damage and sustaining lots of return fire.

Aatrox is a demonic entity that inspires battle spirit on the losing side of the war and allows them to overcome any odds and be victorious Aatrox's lore makes him out to be almost a support-ish type of character, a savior of sorts. He sweeps in, helping out the losing side and spurring them to commit Aatrocities they only realize after the bloodshed. For victory comes with a price; bloodlust, regrets and knowing that you committed ultimate sins of war.

Aatrox is just like Tahm Kench, he's a demon that thrives on human emotion and his type of "pact"'s not entirely different from Tahm's. Tahm offers you absolution and a new beginning, only to later on take everything from you whereas Aatrox offers swift immediate victory but life long regrets and bloodlust

This is a misconception that will lead you astray as to what Aatrox really is. He's not a demon, he's a darkin. The lore doesn't make Aatrox out to be a support-ish character, it makes Aatrox look like a bloodthirsty elusive legendary warmonger who is one of a handful of his kind remaining. His main goal isn't to thrive on human emotion, but rather--in the baseness of his actions---kill things. He undeniably does have an influence on people however, by inspiring them to the same frenzy he's worked up to no doubt, but it's not his main goal. Aatrox is and isn't like Tahm Kench. He is like Tahm, because Aatrox has an insatiable appetite albeit different, much like Kench. But they're different because Aatrox isn't a demon, he doesn't thrive on human emotion persay, just war. He doesn't offer pacts, he just joins wars and inadvertently ends up negatively influencing the side he's fighting for.

All in all I'd say that Aatrox is a pretty unique, healthy champion. Though with his current lore/kit it's impossible to buff him or change him around without making him over-powered, or reworking him potentially into an Aatrox we won't know.

charcharmunro1 votes

I really feel like he should be more like... To draw from another MOBA here, he should be like how Amaterasu in Smite plays. She's meant to lead the charge, heading right into the enemy with constant buffs for her and her team, dishing out consistent damage herself and only really brings herself to the spotlight for her ult.

Sever the King1 votes

{quoted}

I really feel like he should be more like... To draw from another MOBA here, he should be like how Amaterasu in Smite plays. She's meant to lead the charge, heading right into the enemy with constant buffs for her and her team, dishing out consistent damage herself and only really brings herself to the spotlight for her ult.

Dazzling Offensive. aaaand their entire team is stunned into a lotta damage by heavenly reflection.

I would totally support Aatrox having a more supportive kit like Ame's.

Messaiga1 votes

I've had a concept for an Aatrox rework lying around here for a while (and while I have posted it once or twice, one of those times it got distorted in a way I did not agree with). The kit essentially revolves around making Aatrox this sustained-combat fighter that happens to excel in teamfights thanks to potent AOE, healing, and his passive revive actually being relevant. Important parts of the text are boldened. This is a CONCEPT, so don't worry about numbers.

Base HP increased to 570.8 Base Attack Speed increased to .668

Passive - Blood Well: All self inflicted damage is stored into the Blood Well. Upon taking fatal damage, Aatrox enters a stasis and begins draining his Blood Well, healing himself and nearby allied champions over the next 3 seconds. The amount of health restored is equal to 35% of the Blood Well's content limit, plus its amount of stored health upon activation. Allied champions are healed for 75% of the health Aatrox gains while reviving.

Q - Dark Flight: Aatrox takes flight and slams down at the target area after a brief delay, dealing physical damage to nearby enemies upon landing and knocking up enemies based on their proximity to where Aatrox landed, for up to 1 second.

W - Blood Thirst: Whenever Aatrox deals physical damage to an enemy champion they gain a stack of Cursed Blood for 4 seconds. An enemy can have up to 5 stacks of Cursed Blood on them at once. Upon activation Aatrox draws in the blood of nearby enemies afflicted with Cursed Blood, consuming one stack of Cursed Blood each second while dealing magic damage and slowing enemies. Aatrox is healed for a percentage of damage dealt (before resistances). Healing against minions (potentially monsters too) is reduced by 50%.

E - Blood Price/Impalement:

Passive - Blood Price: Every third basic attack Aatrox deals bonus physical damage. Against champions this attack costs HP but ignores a % of their bonus armor.

Active - Impalement: Aatrox's next basic attack pierces through the primary target, dealing physical damage to the target and opponents behind it in a line. This attack can apply Blood Price's bonus physical damage to all enemies struck.

R - Massacre: Aatrox draws in the blood of his foes, dealing magic damage and filling his Blood Well by 20% for each enemy champion hit. Additionally, Aatrox gains bonus attack speed, bonus attack range, and his attacks deal 75% of their damage in a cone centered around his target.

NOTES:

  • In my opinion Aatrox's Q animation should be sped up a little so it is harder to interrupt. The knock-up works like Rek'Sai W.

  • Aatrox's W can be activated before Blood Well procs and it would continue to deal damage, slow enemies, and heal him while in stasis. Cursed Blood stacks are applied by the AOE from Massacre and his E's line damage. Also applies to Titanic Hydra and Ravenous Hydra. "All Physical Damage". Worth mentioning that this ability would probably have a tether that one can break from or something.

  • Aatrox's E passive is essentially his current W blood price toggle with added bonus armor penetration so he can stay relevant versus different targets.

  • Think of his E's active like Lucian's Q, but on an auto-attack. You target the enemy, it hits everything in a line.

POTENTIAL PITFALLS:

  • Doesn't fit the "Inspiring conqueror when all hope is lost" theme as well as it could. Originally the idea was an aura on his Ultimate that made all damage dealt to champions from Aatrox and nearby allies heal them for a % of damage dealt, but after some reflection it seemed that it would be a very snowbally concept.

  • Not unique enough: See above^. It would be cool for an ability to directly make allies stronger somehow but I cannot think of a way in which it would be impactful without just having big numbers. Please inform me, and together we can make Aatrox great again!

  • He may still end up too easily kited, which in turn would leave him weak because a lot of his damage SHOULD be through DPS rather than a burst as the game progresses (this is ok early, but auto-attacking a lot is part of what makes Aatrox's gameplay).

Messaiga1 votes

Aaaaaaaaand this is why I don't bother. No feedback.

TheDevice2 votes

{quoted}

Aaaaaaaaand this is why I don't bother. No feedback.

Exactly. I'm pretty sure Rioters are not allowed to talk about Aatro- I mean...

He Who Must Not be Named.

48983507DEL11 votes

I play Aatrox solely because of his lore. I usually feel bad for doing it, since his kit is incredible "feast/famine," and there's always a better champion I could've picked.

Also, although his kit does have synergy within it self, it also fights itself a lot. The biggest example is the fact that he needs health to survive a fight, but that health gets wasted with his %HP costs on his abilities.

Another problem is his passive; a self-revive is such a strong ability that it forces Riot to make him weaker to compensate. And, because of this, whenever his revive goes off, he's pretty much useless. As it is now, it's only use is to allow him to escape in the lane phase, or delay his death in a teamfight. These are in no way bad, but looking at someone like Anivia or Zac, who are actually useful in a fight after they revive, Aatrox's revive just feels lackluster.

Finally, the pure simplicity of his kit mixed with extreme reliance on his abilities that have fairly long cooldowns makes him extremely difficult to play against these other high mechanic champions. His Q and W are pretty difficult to land if your enemies know anything about sidestepping, yet are VERY punishing if EITHER of them are missed. Even if they do hit, he's still kited pretty easily.

I really wish he wasn't so "relatively new" as a champion, because I feel like he deserves a full scale rework to better deliver his theme with his kit, while also making it competitive in comparison to those of similar champions.

Neamean1 votes

Just because he is fairly new doesn't mean he can't get rework I mean just look at Quinn who only came out a few month before him she got a rework.

48983507DEL11 votes

Their official statement on Aatrox was that there are other champions that are in more need of a rework than he is.

Neamean1 votes

But they also stated that he might be a high contender to be in the diver class rework if they decide to work on Divers.

FantasySniper1 votes

http://i.imgur.com/SwQ7Xn7.gif

Vicarious1171 votes

I like your thoughts on the matter, but his kit doesn't actually synergize all that well with itself....

His kit is essentially that of a splitpushing 1v1 fighter or an engagement tank/bruiser that tanks through sustain, yet his base stats are most similar to that of an ADC's. This means his power is DIRECTLY reliant on his items, cause without them he can't engage without being blown up and can't safely deal damage due to him being a melee champ, which means he is the pinnacle of stack-checking!

Does he have more items then you? He does? Then he wins! Or he doesn't? Then you win!

Only reason he's seeing SOME resurgence is cause devourer+rageblade+steraks is an absolutely OP as fuck item combination on many champs, which means he doesn't need as many stats to win a stat-check fight.

So yeah a better champion identity will help with his popularity and probably some balancing as well, but that won't fix him, his kit just does not work well with his stats.

They either need to give him a more reliable tool to deal damage from a safe(ish) distance, so we won't be punished for building as his base stats say he should, or change his base stats to more match his kit so he can make proper use of it without being punished should he not have the items to offset the imbalance.

I made a thread a very long time ago for a possible rework where he'd be a hard engaging tank that worked through sustain, but mainly sustain through abilities and positioning instead of auto attacks, and I think it captured his identity very well while still being very unique. It ofc didn't get much attention at all so it's long gone, but I still believe they need to make some drastic changes in order for him to be truly viable without relying on items.

Moonshade1 votes

Aatrox is weak right now because of the nature of his kit, he has the potential to be either incredibly over bearing due to the sheer healing and DPS potential that exists in his kit, its a kit thats meant to be a "If I keep hitting you and keep healing you'll never kill me" kind of kit, the issue if that if Rito isn't careful (and lets be honest the balance team can be a bit heavy handed at times) we'll have someone who can literally dive into a fight and just keep smacking people to death and never die because he'll heal at a rate faster than the enemy can DPS him, as opposed to what we have right now which is the opposite, its a I'm going to dive in and try to sustain my life through hacking away at yours but my heals are too weak to do so meaning I'm just going to die in the duel.

Frius1 votes

rip aatrox.

ChaosThief1 votes

I feel like if they wanted to push him in this direction, it would probably be best to allow him to debuff his enemies, which lets aatrox (and his allies) hurt them more, or heal of hurting them, etc.

And his current passive should stay. A warrior like he wouldn't just die when others need his presence, he would continue on until he has nothing left.

...Now I feel like trying to make a rework concept... hmm...

Luminier1 votes

Here I am in patch 9.14 and I just feel like any shred of the old Aatrox is gone. I remember upvoting this post many years ago and hoping Riot would deliver upon a thematic fantasy worthy of a visceral and dexterous swordsman warlord. I wanna go back to the "Aatrox rework concept post" days. I hate what they've done to my old favorite champion and no one in the game gives me the same feeling as old Aatrox once did.

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