Boards›Gameplay

Thoughts on Aatrox VGU from an Aatrox Main

Legacy Hydralpha·6/13/2018, 7:53:55 PM·3 votes·1,153 views

Aatrox was one of my first main toplaners, and I've played him consistently since right before Season 8, and somewhat less often before then. I have about 115K mastery points on him, but I'm only Silver if that matters. I'm going to give my thoughts on Aatrox rework, but I'd like to make it clear that I don't have PBE access, and have not played new Trox. This is only observations I made.

#Theme Issues: I think the main issue with new Aatrox is that it takes Aatrox's original theme in a different direction. Let's say his theme is "Aspect of War", old/current Aatrox personifies this as being a force of nature, something that causes war for the sake of war. As such, he doesn't have much emotion to his lines or attacks; he is swift, efficient, and deadly. This changes with rework Aatrox. Now that Riot has built upon what a Darkin really is, it makes sense to take his theme in another direction. Instead, Aatrox is vengeful and emotional over him and his kind being slaughtered/trapped; something that shows in his lines and attacks. While this is different from what we have, and it alienates current players, I can see why Riot did this. Granted, it doesn't mean they should have done this. I much prefer Aatrox's cold, calm temperament and not Rhaast 2.0.

#Voice Over: Wonderful, Aatrox is now just an edgy, angry brute instead of the calm, apathetic warbringer we all knew. From what we heard of Trox's lines, they mostly range from aggressive yelling to trash-talking to taunting, at varying degrees of quality. But we mostly have heard his in-combat and interaction lines, so what is he like on his own? Here's some lines from when he isn't hacking-and-slashing Dark Souls style:

  • "Am I the abyss? Or did I gaze into it?"

  • "I stood against the void... Now, I would welcome it."

  • "My darkness was not born... It was forged by my prison." Well, those are pretty edgy. And while the rest of his movement lines, which you can find on the League wiki, are pretty angry, it's not all yelling and "RAAAAH CARNAGE". Here's a bit more from his long movement lines:

  • "How far I have fallen! A god... reduced to a prisoner!"

  • "Once in noble battle, I screamed against the silence. I stood as light against the darkness. Now I serve a new master, oblivion..."

  • "They will call me villain... Come, let me earn their hatred, again and forever."

  • "I touched the stars... And saw the glorious light of a thousand suns... Now, blinded by this elegence, how could my purpose be anything... but dark..."

So it looks like we still have our somber, poetic Aatrox somewhere in there. Granted, angsty, but still a hint of something that isn't anger. From what I gathered from these lines, Aatrox was once a god or deity-like being, who was brought to Runeterra to assist in fighting the void, but after being trapped and betrayed, he became vengeful and had to suffice in a form that clearly has its own issues. As bad as his first impression was, Aatrox still has something there. There's even some humor there, in his taunts and jokes. Something I don't mind, but I don't speak for everyone.

##Abilities and Kit: From what I've seen, new Aatrox's kit seems clunky, unsatisfying, and incomplete. But before I get to those negatives, the positives!:

  • More CC and range for brawling others, especially good for teamfights.
  • Passive significantly reduces healing and shielding, great for tank-slaying.
  • Easier to control revive.

So that's just a bit of what's good, but since this is the League Boards let's be negative. Here's the bad parts:

  • Passive is used up on minions. Why? It's an important fighting tool and shouldn't be wasted.
  • Aatrox can't move while using Q. From PBE Trox players I've heard that this is clunky and doesn't feel fun. Could it be like Camille at least?
  • W works for Aatrox's kit (lockdown-focused), but its always felt off to me, ever since the first time I saw the trailer.
  • E, why? I mean, it's a minor AD steroid and the heal helps, but that dash is just pitiful.
  • Ultimate is underwhelming. Oh boy, I fear minions and get... movement speed and blood well? Why is blood well only used here? Why isn't it more prominent?

Yeah, it seems underwhelming at best and clunky at worse. Passive looks great and the Q, while it is like Riven, it unique in its own right. If anything, I wish his Q hitbox on the first two hits was smaller, make it easier to land the edge up close if they added moving during it too. The main issue is this kit isn't a juggernaut/diver kit. The kit is basically juggernaut/tank. How is Aatrox supposed to dive in with this? His E? His ultimate? It may be too late for changes, but Riot really should consider making Aatrox actually be able to dive. That's one of the core parts of his character. Speaking of which...

#Kit is Too Different: From dueling diver to straight juggernaut, how is this like our current AAtrox? Granted, it wasn't the healthiest design but why affect a champion this much? Him being so different from what he is now is definitely alienating. Asides from just being... different, I don't have any other issues with the new direction. Angry, world-rending juggernaut fits the new Aatrox. He isn't even AA-based anymore, oof.

#Riot Didn't Stay True to Aatrox, and Didn't Listen: When Riot reworks a champ, they are trying to make it work for the majority of players. That makes sense, why have a super unpopular champion? (How are you gonna get money from skins that way?) But at the very least Riot could have at least checked better with what Aatrox mains feel the champion is. We went from poetic, apathetic AA duelist/diver to aggressive (but still poetic), caster juggernaut. Very little remains of old Aatrox asides from the basics. It's very disappointing, but I don't think they'll learn. It's happened time and time again that little of the old champion remains. At the very least, make new Aatrox play smoothly.

Overall Scores/TL;DR:

  • Thematic/VO: 7/10. The new voice fits what it means to be a Darkin in League's lore, while still retaining parts of old Aatrox. I think that it should have been presented better in the trailer, but Aatrox still has his poetic moments (if you agree with me calling it that).
  • Kit/Abilities: 4/10. Looks clunky, unsatisfying, and unfinished. Doesn't capture the juggernaut/diver we wanted and instead just gives us a weird kit with an unsatisfying ultimate.
  • Compared to Current Kit: 3/10. Very little is similar between old and new Aatrox. From AA-based duelist/diver to spellcasting juggernaut, with even less Blood Well.
  • My Final Thoughts: 5/10. Could be much worse, but could be much better. IMO, make his kit smoother and look into altering E and Ultimate the most. It's too late to change the VO, but I don't mind that after hearing more of the new lines. Make him left-handed.

My Ideas for Kit Changes:

  • Better base stats? I've heard they aren't that good, and aren't fitting of a juggernaut.
  • Make passive not be consumed upon hitting minions, only champions or large monsters. This will make his dueling better and laning more satisfying.
  • Changes to Q could include: Faster cast time OR cast time scales with AS, maybe alter the range for better use in close-range, and please let him move during it.
  • W may need something different. Not sure what, maybe instead apply a debuff and not the chain box?
  • Change E to make it more impactful. If Riot goes through with allowing movement during Q, perhaps have E go farther and have a longer-lasting AD buff, at the cost of only having one charge?
  • Ultimate needs more impact. Give AoE magic damage instead of fear, AS instead of movement speed, and have blood well more prominent in the kit.
  • For Blood Well changes, maybe make it charge as he attacks, either all the time or only during ultimate.

Discussion is welcome!

5 Comments

Wolf and Gun6/13/2018, 8:16:47 PM1 votes

You put a lot of thought into this post.

And I won't get into every point.

But the new Aatrox looks 'fun' and 'playable'.

Old Aatrox was a disappointment.

End of story.

DW Diana6/13/2018, 8:21:15 PM1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Legacy Hydralpha,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=tUjOu0gm,comment-id=,timestamp=2018-06-13T19:53:55.695+0000)

Aatrox was one of my first main toplaners, and I've played him consistently since right before Season 8, and somewhat less often before then. I have about 115K mastery points on him, but I'm only Silver if that matters. I'm going to give my thoughts on Aatrox rework, but I'd like to make it clear that I don't have PBE access, and have not played new Trox. This is only observations I made.

Overall Scores/TL;DR:

  • Thematic/VO: 7/10. The new voice fits what it means to be a Darkin in League's lore, while still retaining parts of old Aatrox. I think that it should have been presented better in the trailer, but Aatrox still has his poetic moments (if you agree with me calling it that).
  • Kit/Abilities: 4/10. Looks clunky, unsatisfying, and unfinished. Doesn't capture the juggernaut/diver we wanted and instead just gives us a weird kit with an unsatisfying ultimate.
  • Compared to Current Kit: 3/10. Very little is similar between old and new Aatrox. From AA-based duelist/diver to spellcasting juggernaut, with even less Blood Well.
  • My Final Thoughts: 5/10. Could be much worse, but could be much better. IMO, make his kit smoother and look into altering E and Ultimate the most. It's too late to change the VO, but I don't mind that after hearing more of the new lines. Make him left-handed.

Hey buddy, So I used to be an aatrox main last year before his mini rework (mainly jungle) so was very excited to see his rework. I just played him for an hour on PBE and would like to let you know a couple of things you might not have seen/noticed in the videos.

Firstly his Q. It's actually pretty smooth. It doesn't feel half as clunky as it looks, and works well with Triforce (you'll want it or BC, I'll explain why in a sec. His W is great fun to use, but you REALLY need to hit your first Q afterward to have any hope of hitting them with it at rank 1 (unless they're bad >.<) His E is probably the key to his Q. This is because the range on each part of his Q gets shorter and shorter. Obviously with Triforce/BC you will get some mobility, but having his E there to re position quickly is really essential for his Q to work. Also notice that it has his heal built in. It's a lot more important then you'd think when just watching video's/reading his stuff. His ult... I mean this thing looks and sounds like a worse version of his old passive, but it really works well with him. He gets and AOE fear, which while sounds kinda crap has already been gamechanging for me in both teamfights and in lane. It doesn't last long, and I will admit i miss the longer AA range, but the large AOE fear for 1 second is great. Also it's his old passive, meaning you can CHOOSE when your GA style res is up. This is again great as you can be in a bad spot, blow this fearing everyone, do a bit more damage with that E sustaining you, and if it all still goes tit's up, can move away while ressing. It's actually a lot more powerful then it initially looks, and people blowing their ult's etc on you is fine if you can counter it with this (no more "CC the aatrox and he's fucked".)

On the whole I'd give his kit about an 8/10 at this point. It synergises really well, and once you have a BC or triforce (i prefer this because of the sheen proc after Q) you have some nice chase potential. I do think a yorwick style build might be nice on him because his movement speed is AWFUL (390 with boots), but unfortunately the PBE sever went down so I couldn't test this.

Will try to keep the boards updated anywho :)

Laters,

Loki

Edit: I agree the passive needs to NOT proc on minions, but I will say I love it proccing in the jungle!

TwinkiePro6/13/2018, 10:26:51 PM1 votes

Link the blood well with his Q and E. Whenever he strikes an enemy with his Q, he gains a point in bloodwell, hitting with the edge gives him double. Each stack in blood well increases his Q's damage and his E's lunge range.

Just my thoughts to go with your own.