aatrox needs some work

Knight SoIaire ·7/29/2014, 11:36:35 AM·1 votes·1,767 views

well i will find it weird if only i think like that aatrox is a fun champ but his kit is rly bad designed i dont mean that he doesnt work but his kit usualy confuses the player who plays him his w goes unnoticed and usualy ppl who play him sometimes get confused which form they actualy use, and sometimes just kill themselves his itemisation is a great unknown if you build ad you are sustaining so you can soak some damage but sometimes you are unable to calculate if you will heal enough to win if you build tanky you are aware of how much dmg you will withstand (cause you dont rely on replenishing that hp) but you'r kit doesnt realy scale with tankyness which leads to losing lots of hp for skills and low sustain also the clunky ways of filling passive, its a choice beetwen being a sadist masohist or pure masohist each item has its gains and loses for you which is already much diferent from anything else in the game (jax guys hp he gets hp, aatrox buys hp he gets hp and bigger costs on his skills, he buys ad he gets ad and capability to kill himself faster etc)

his w doesnt realy have any pattern of use, for jinx minigun is for solo fights and towerkilling, and rocket launcher is for teamfights, for aatrox its like chosing beetwen trying to survive longer or dealing more damage which usualy gives the same results, tryng to use damage mode before hoing below 50 5 hp usualy leads to getting just blown up his passive is just for saving his life and allowing him to escape which finds low use in practice (you need q to negage, you need q to escape, you need q to move around and the cooldown is quite big)

in the end playing aatrox feels like a big unknown cause you are theoreticaly doing much but you cannot be sure that you will do anything in an actual fight

it would be nice if riot would give his some kind of identity instead of leaving his as a the guy who lifesteals a lot

3 Comments

CaptainWednesday7/29/2014, 1:47:38 PM2 votes

I feel like your analysis falls a bit short. Aatrox can be confusing to some players (when to toggle W, engaging, Blood Well management, proper time to ult, etc.), but I think his kit is very well designed. I cannot believe you say the W goes unnoticed. Early game it will heal you for tons of your health, and even more if you're under 50% (x3 the base). The heal becomes less noticeable because you should build a Life Steal item. I agree with his Blood Well being difficult to fill sometimes, but toggling your W and spamming E will it fill it rather quickly.

His build path seems pretty straight forward to me. While in the top lane, you need to rush a Life Steal item to quickly counter your self-inflicted costs. I prefer Blade of the Ruined King over the other major LS items. It's AD, AS, Life Steal, and passive/active effects grant Aatrox plenty of healthy stats. Next, you'll need a tank item to soak up damage. Sunfire Cape or Randuin's Omen are both great on Aatrox as the Sunfire passive will help your dueling power (but be aware: You gain bonus attack range upon using your ultimate, meaning you may never reach your target with the passive), and Omen's active can llow you to continue chasing a fleeing opponent or peel when your abilities are down. Spirit Visage is also a great choice as your first tank item if you're against an AP laner. It amplifies your Life Steal, innate healing, and your Blood Well regeneration. Third, you could typically get another damage item if you're ahead or at least even. Armor penetration is a great stat to have as your main damage output will come from basic attacks. Black Cleaver, Youmuu's Ghostblade, and Last Whisper are all good options and an early Brutalizer can help you out a lot. Next, you should grab another tank item. Followup with either more damage, a Guardian Angel (2nd revive option), or another tank or utility item depending on the game situation. You have a lot of options when buying boots. If you feel you need tanky boots, try Ninja Tabi (for dueling) or Mercuty Treads (if you do not plan on buying Zephyr). Berserker Greaves and Boots of Swiftness are also decent options.

Ideal Build: item 3047 - item 3153 - item 3143 - item 3172 - item 3065 - item 3156