In-depth guide to beating Aatrox
Aatrox is a severely difficult boss to defeat in the game, since he not only has tons of ways to regain his health, but also isn't satisfied with dying once. This is a several-parter, so you'll have to bear with me. This is how you defeat the overpowered, infuriatingly difficult boss, Aatrox.
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Aatrox will occasionally have his sword glow different colors like he's at a rave party, because complicated gameplay is apparently Mojang's thing. Since the developers of the game have not shared what this indicates, I decided to take the time to decode what they do. Here is what each color represents: Red- Aatrox is about to steal some life from you. Fortunately, the way to counter this is to interrupt his AI by knocking him under half health. This is an ensured way to make the AI cancel the heal command and give you some leeway to take down this titan. Purple- Aatrox's sword is suffocating and needs air. Avoid hitting him during this period, since the sword will lose health on its own. Any sudden movements will allow Aatrox's sword to track you, so stand still until the sword returns back to red.
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Aatrox is a very capable fighter and has a few tricks up his sleeve. Occasionally he will stand still and twitch, and his sword will look as if it is beating him on the head. Do not be fooled by this maneuver, because he is far from defenseless during this state. Aatrox can sense attacks coming, but not movement, so walk toward him without attacking him until you're very close. This will ensure you launching a successful surprise attack, allowing you to knock off quite a bit of his health.
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There are times when Aatrox will fire converging fingernails from his sword at you. Do your best to stand between them to avoid the attack. It may be a bit tricky at first, but if you use any mobility that you have to hit it early on, it will phase through you. Should you avoid the attack, he gains a permanent buff to his health regen, because the developers are great at making fun bosses.
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Unlike Sephiroth, Aatrox's wings actually have a use. He will occasionally leap high into the air and smash into the ground. One would think that the indicated area is the danger zone, but Aatrox is so massive and powerful that the indicator zone is actually the only place where the ground will not be disrupted by a huge shockwave that has the potential to send you flying off the map for an instant death. It's difficult, but you must stand in the zone that is indicated, by any means. That means your mobility spells must be used if possible, since you don't have much time to react. Don't worry, though, since he tends to target around you for maximum impact and knockback, so use this to your advantage. There are two circles, the inner circle indicating that you can deal damage to Aatrox when he lands, as you obviously are armed and your character will automatically attack Aatrox. Try to stand in the inner circle.
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After fighting him for a while, Aatrox will say some garbled nonsense about being cold and raise his sword to the sky. His sword will grow in length, and he will start flying. Intimidating, yes. However, he's simply doing that to compensate for his lack of power at that point. His defenses are down, so go ham on him, and steps 1-4 will be crucial here. The rest is up to your own skill.
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He's one of those bosses, so when Aatrox goes down, he charges up for a revive. Make sure you throw any powerful skillshots you have when he's down. It may be dishonorable, but you have no other way to beat him easily. Use your AoE, skillshots, anything that isn't targeted on him during this period for maximum damage and to get a headstart on taking down his second form. Once he gets up, he's invincible for a while, so don't fight him during this period of time. If he continues to attack you, either bring steps 1, 3, and 4 into play, or just run.
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If you're in a party to take him down, you might occasionally see people in your team suggest an item called Executioner's Calling. DO NOT GET THIS ITEM. The EC strat does not work anymore. There are quite a few stats to avoid, so it's easier to just say this: buy only damage and health. Do not get anything that hinders movement or anything, since it is wasted on somebody who isn't affected by CC. Aatrox is a raid boss, stunning, slowing, or anything like that is a waste of time unless he's weakened as specified in step 6.
Thanks for reading my guide on Aatrox. A lot of you liked my guide on Shen, so I decided to cover this boss as well. Let me know how it goes!
