Ideas for an Aatrox's rework - Help me out!

XIII Vanitas··3 votes·494 views

I really like Aatrox's concept, but I don't think it's well-represented in game. His 3 main characteristics are: 1- He's a mysterious demonic figure that weilds a giant sword: check 2- His living weapon sustains him by draining the blood of his enemies: check 3- He shows up unexpectedly and leads weaker armies to victory over their enemies by increasing their violence and bloodlust: NOPE.

In game, Aatrox is played as a duelist/splitpusher and not as a teamfighting champion. That is my main issue and I don't really know how much it's shared in the community, therefore let me know your opinion!

Anyways, if we wanted to fix that, how could we possibly do it? Well, maybe we could give him a hard engage... but what about an aura buff? I know, I know, Riot's game designers aren't too fond of them because it's hard to identify and balance their value but this is just a concept I'm making for fun and I'm asking for your help (and your criticism too, the negative one is especially welcome!) to give it a realistic shape.

So, let's drop the bomb: what if Aatrox's ultimate buffed his allies and therefore buffed himself too?

Here's my idea: instead of giving him a self-buff, Massacre now buffs nearby allies in a ??? radius around Aatrox, granting them Bloodlust for ??? seconds. Champions affected by Bloodlust gain ??? bonus movement speed towards enemy champions, ??? bonus attack speed, ??? bonus cdr and their cdr cap is also increased by the same amount. If any of them scores a kill or assists Aatrox getting a kill while having the buff, their own buff duration is refreshed. If any of them leaves the Massacre aura around Aatrox, their own Bloodlust buff decays twice as fast. Until there are champions affected by Bloodlust inside Aatrox's Massacre aura, he gains the same Bloodlust buff and bonus attack range for an indefinite amount of time.

What do you think about it? I wanted the aura spell to be something that affects the entire team and puts every single player under the pressure to keep it going, simulating the frenzy of battle that Aatrox should bring on the battlefield. In my mind, it should feel like throwing a chunk of bloody meat inside a tank full of piranha.

11 Comments

TBakes2 votes

I always thought Pantheon's ult or Taric's ult would work well for Aatrox.

XIII Vanitas1 votes

Well, this ult takes a lot of inspiration from Taric's Radiance, but, instead of just adding stats, it creates frenzy on the battlefield. You need to think and act fast if you want to keep the buff going!

TBakes1 votes

Or it could take the piece of Sion's ult where he has to keep punching when he is undead to prevent his health from deteriorating. I think others have suggested adding a Fear mechanic to his dive or ult. Does that already exist?

Sorry, I have very little experience with Aatrox. I unlocked him early in my LoL career and never really clicked with him.

XIII Vanitas1 votes

No, it doesn't, but, tbh, I wouldn't like it if it existed. Mainly because it wouldn't change the fact that Aatrox's team doesn't feel the urge to fight whenever he ults and that's the most important thing that sould be implemented in his gameplay, imo.

Paradoxtimegamin1 votes

Well tbh he really doesnt need one hes balanced the way he is and thats how riot sees it

XIII Vanitas1 votes

None has ever said that he's unbalanced and some rioters have stated that they want to look at his gameplay in order to improve it because it doesn't feel right, especially when you have to play from behind.

Guyy Fieri1 votes

I mean, if you know how to play Aatrox well he's a strong team fighter. You need to build a little tanky of course but he's strong at diving the back line and taking their damage out so your team can focus down their tanks. I used to think similarly about Aatrox but if you just build tanker (after a BORK rush to be fair), Aatrox actually make s a strong DPS tank.

The Deckowner1 votes

the problem with aatrox is he dont really deal as much dmg as the other backline-diving fighters, for example xin zhao, shyvana, jax.

and even with 3 tank items he isnt nearly as tanky as many tanks, anykind of soft cc or kiting can easily destory him due to him unable to aa and sustain his hp.

XIII Vanitas1 votes

That's really not the problem. The problem is that Aatrox doesn't feel right in general: his playstyle doesn't match his most important characteristic, his spells feel clunky and disrupts the flow of his autos and he has pretty much 0 utility to help him when he's behind. Nothing makes him the best teamfighter and nothing makes him the best duelist. He's just average and his kit is really bland. But that's a total waste, because Aatrox is one of the best characters in League, with an awesome concept and design!

The Deckowner1 votes

what about an aura that gains nearby ally increased lifesteal, spellvamp, healthregen for a base amount and scaling with their missing hp/mana/energy/whatever resources or aatrox's ad?? since in his lore his army seems to be bloodthristy (like tryndamere) and fights till the last breath.

XIII Vanitas1 votes

It's something you wouldn't feel in game. Having more movespeed, attack speed and cdr, instead, is something you clearly notice, because you move faster, attack faster and cast spells more frequently. Also, your buff wouldn't help that much squishy supports. :/

More from Concepts & Creations

More by XIII Vanitas