Aatrox Rework Concept
I was daydreaming at work and this came out of nowhere, and its been stuck in my head. Want to share to hear other peoples thoughts on it. Aatrox is in a bad place. We can all agree on that. He had his shining moments through the years, but he is honestly not good anymore. There are champions that 1v1 better (Fiora), do what he does better (Xin), and are cooler designs as a god (Sol). My idea expends his bland kit and makes him feel more like an undying god of war like he is supposed to be. So here we go.
Passive: Undying God When Aatrox dies he does not go into a grey screen. Instead, Aatrox jumps high into the air and becomes untargetable until his death timer is completed. During Undying God, Aatrox can move over terrain and is granted vision, but may not use any spells or abilities. At the end of Undying God, Aatrox slams down to the ground with full life; knocking up enemies in a small AOE. Aatrox may not recall while in Undying God. Additionally, Aatrox starts the match with a flat amount of Armor and MR that builds up normally as he gains levels. Bonus armor and MR from items, runes, and masteries are converted to HP by a high ratio.
Q: Terror Blade Aatrox swings his blade in an arc(like a Diana passive) dealing additional damage and fearing all enemies hit. Can be used as an auto attack reset. Additional points will grant reduced CD and a longer fear.
W: Blood Price Passive: Critical Strikes do not grant Aatrox additional damage. Critically Striking an enemy will cause Aatrox to gain 100% lifesteal of damage done, after damage reduction. Attacking feared enemies does 2.0x damage and guarantees a Critical Strike. Attacking any other CC'd (soft or hard) champions will deal 1.5x damage And guarantees a Critical Strike. Additional points would increase the lifesteal and extra damage to CCd enemies.
E: Aatrox jumps into the air and flies down in an arc with his sword dragging on the ground(like his current e) slowing enemies struck. Aatrox can store up to two charges of his E. (imagine his current q but more range and as a dash And slowing ability instead of a knockup) Additional points will shorten CD and increase damage
R: God of War Aatrox activates Undying God for 5 seconds and amplifies his next ability. Q: Aatrox slams back into the ground, knocking up enemies in a medium AOE and fearing enemies in a large AOE. W: Aatrox stays in the Air for an additional X seconds, granting allies below him to gain Additional critical strike chance and gaining his W passive. E: Very long version of his E ability with a wider hit base and more damage. R: Aatrox slams into the ground, knocking up enemies in a small AOE. For the next X seconds, Aatrox has additional critical strike chance, increased attack range, and increased speed.
Combo would be E, aa, Q, aa, E away. R,r if in a 1v1 and Rqwe if in a teamfight.
Biggest counters would be items that apply grievous wounds, frozen heart, BORK, and randouins omen.
I feel like this version of Aatrox can sustain alright at level 3 when he can proc his W lifesteal from his Q and E, while late game he can be a lifestealing powerhouse. If he builds full crit he will have to deal with being a squishy melee champion, but giving him the tools to succeed in that area if played right. If he builds tanky, he can still lifesteal and deal moderate damage while giving his team soft CC to work with. One thing I really wanted to tackle was his terrible team fighting ability. Thematically, Aatrox flying above the battlefield to raise moral in his allies or being able to strike fear into his enemies inspired me. If he needs he can swoop in to try to save the day, or he can be greedy and become a monster, showing his allies that he can do things without them.
My inspiration was Aatroxs lore and Darth Nihlus in Galaxy of Heros. His passive is all Sith allies can't crit and lose a bonus defensive stat in that game(but gain it in extra hp), then gain 1.5x damage and gain 200% lifesteal.