Aatrox the World Ender: A Potential Rework

Preface: I would like for it to be known that I am not an Aatrox main, nor someone that wants to dislike Aatrox. In the backlog of Champions that desperately need fixes, Aatrox's development has been a rollercoaster of bad design decisions for a character that is, on paper, really cool. A large ancient warrior demon bearing an eldritch blade and a lust for all things violent and deadly? "Sign me up", most people would say. However, his old kit never quite sold on the proposed power of this concept and his new kit is... Well... "Diet Riven". My heart truly goes towards those that main Aatrox, and that is the driving force behind this proposal. With this post, I'd like to address the good and the bad of his current design, how it can be steered in a good direction, and how he can keep certain mechanics of his modern kit while still innovating upon them in a way that could be consider easier to balance and more fun to play. I will also be bringing back older mechanics that the Old Ones (Riot) have chosen to remove. My hopes are that this reaches them and this is not misconstrued as a strong armed attempt to erase a character's identity, but to fully realize the demonic terror they were always meant to be. Ultimately, I like to believe we all _want _ to enjoy this character, but find great difficulty in doing so as his kit is now largely incohesive with predominant design philosophies in the modern cast of League.

Passive: The Bloodwell Aatrox has a secondary "Health Meter" below his normal Health Meter. During times of inaction, it remains at 0, but scales up to Aatrox's Maximum Health. This Meter fills up in accordance to the amount of Total Damage he deals and will decrease at a moderate pace during times of inactivity (out of combat). Upon death, Aatrox will temporarily enter a state of invulnerability before returning to an amount of Health equal to that stored in his secondary Meter. However, this state runs on a time limit as Aatrox's Health will progressively drain until he dies again. This can only be stopped by KILLING the Champion responsible for Aatrox's initial death. During this time, Aatrox can also only be Damaged by this same Champion, though is still subject to Crowd Control effects from their Allies. This Passive does not have a Cooldown.

With this Passive, I wanted to bring back Aatrox's staple Revive mechanic, but actually tune it in a way that makes him genuinely scary without erasing potential counterplay. Theoretically, it forces a single Enemy into a 1v1 scenario for having bested Aatrox but does not reward an Aatrox player for, say, diving into a 1v5 as their Target's Allies can still Crowd Control him long enough for his Health to run dry, his Target to run away, and/or for his Target to take him down again. This will in some ways liken him to Sion and his Passive, but I believe in handling Aatrox's Bloodwell this way, it pays homage to his concept as a skilled warrior while not tossing his demonic bloodlust out the window; exhibiting a more petty and furious side of himself when defeated, as if to say "That wasn't good enough, fight me like a man, you coward".

Q: Darkin Raze Aatrox flips, slamming his blade into the ground in front of himself, dealing scaling Physical Damage and Knockup to all Enemies within the AOE. This ability's Cooldown is short but not microscopic; Aatrox should always require at minimal 4 seconds (Assuming max CD is achieved) before being able to use it again. During World Ender: Aatrox targets a moderate sized circular AOE and fires his blade at it; the blade extending to the Target location, dealing Physical Damage, Knockup, and pulling Aatrox to the location.

These changes largely keep concepts presented with the current Aatrox model but gives them a more definitive use. This go around, unlike with the current Darkin Blade filling the space of Aatrox's Q, Darkin Raze will have a slightly chunkier rectangle of an AOE, deal a slightly longer Knockup, and have better AD scaling. As for its upgrade from World Ender (I recommend reading down to understand the direction I wish for World Ender to be taken), this maintains the third stage of the current Darkin Blade but gives it Target projectile qualities at a moderate Range, as well as giving Aatrox a definite "in"; allowing him to pull himself into an Enemy's safe space and properly chase them down. After all, Aatrox wants nothing more than to Attack and hit you with his abilities, being able to get in is an important feature to have for this reason.

W: Umbral Feast Passive: Aatrox Heals for 10/15/20/25/30% of Damage dealt to Champions. Active: Aatrox lengthens his blade, gaining additional Attack Range and increasing his Attack Speed greatly for the next 3 Attacks. These Attacks do have additional Damage added to them, but it scales with AP. During World Ender: Extends World Ender's Duration and grants the same bonuses of Umbral Feast as before, though from the safety of World Ender, with even greater Attack Range.

Remember when Aatrox's additional Attack Range meant something? Remember old Kayle where she could temporarily increase her Attack Range? Think that. Except, with a big demonic sword that extends and unlinks like a chain blade. Out of World Ender, it provides enough Range for Aatrox to strike those just out of his reach or hit with the tip of his Darkin Raze. In World Ender, it is a terror from the skies as he hovers above the battlefield wreaking chaos with his unescapable Attacks. And of course, Aatrox demands sustain with that Lifesteal.

E: Darkness Advances Aatrox dashes in a straight line, dragging his sword through the ground and passing through the first Enemy hit, dealing Physical Damage and a Slow as he slashes them. Does not dash through walls. During World Ender: Aatrox slashes the earth in a pointed "V" shape (Similar to his old E but with greater distance), inflicting all those struck with scaling Physical Damage, an AP scaling Burn, and a Slow.

Remember when Aatrox had somewhat of a projectile? Pepperidge Farm remembers. I thought bringing that back and giving Aatrox a better Dash would be health, though this ability changes dramatically in intent when World Ender is active. Due to an already increased number of "Get in" methods Aatrox now has, having a more utility driven tool for the World Ender variation felt beneficial seeing how if the player wanted to get in anyways, they could always go for the World Ender upgrade of Darkin Raze anyways. With this AOE, we're not only calling back to the original Aatrox, but in a way that provides more in team fight based situations where many Enemies are clustered together. Or situations where Aatrox and his team are trying to escape and need a Slow. Not to mention, I've always appreciated the concept of a visual signal that a character is so strong that they rip the literal earth to bits during their attacks. It really sells on a visual level that Aatrox does with the battlefield as he pleases.

R: World Ender Aatrox ascends into the skies for 5 seconds, becoming invulnerable and untargetable while also gaining Movement Speed and being able to traverse impassable terrain. During this time, Aatrox cannot Attack, but all his Abilities gain enhanced properties. When an Ability is used or the timer for World Ender ends, Aatrox exits World Ender. During World Ender, all Minions, Summoned Units and Neutral mobs within Aatrox's Attack Range will flee with Fear. This ult has a relatively short cooldown, clocking around a minute at Level 1 to a minimum of 20 seconds with max CD.

Aatrox has always had this thing for becoming a flying entity during his ultimate, though aside from scarce 1v1 instances in the past with old Aatrox, there are no occasions I can recall where him being in ult actually came across as scary. Here, I expressly wanted to convey looming danger; a threat lingering above that not only cannot be combated, but presents a very real danger and potential to alter the course of a fight. Is he going to dive bomb a cluster of Champions for a mini-AD Malphite ult? Is he going to start hacking and slashing with no regard for Attack Range? Is he going to scorch everyone in a large AOE and tremendously Slow them? Mind you, even non-Player units are aware of this and are running with terror, so don't expect help from your Summons. Tibbers isn't coming to help you this time. There are some things I could see getting nerfed, such as the Cooldown or his ability to bypass terrain, but overall I think conceptually this conveys an immediate sense of power among the people who play him while instilling uncertain fear for those down below.