Aatrox/Development

Aatrox, the Darkin Blade, revealed
By Tyler 'RiotWenceslaus' Eltringham



emerges from the shadows of history to slake his thirst for and battle. This deft warrior cuts down his foes and their life force with his blade. Aatrox's abilities cost health to cast.

I= Aatrox stores a portion of his abilities' health cost in the Blood Well, which slowly drains to a base amount while he is out of combat. When Aatrox loses all of his health, he draws on the Blood Well and recovers the amount of health stored.
 * Blood Well

Aatrox rises into the air and slams into a target location. Enemies within the impact zone are knocked up and take damage, while nearby enemies take damage.
 * -|Q=
 * Dark Flight

Aatrox heals himself on every third attack. Activating Blood Thirst toggles Blood Price.
 * -|W=
 * Blood Thirst
 * Every third attack now deals bonus damage instead of healing Aatrox. Aatrox loses health based on the bonus damage dealt.

Aatrox fires a line attack that damages and slows enemies caught in its path. Aatrox is refunded a part of the health cost if Blades of Torment strikes an enemy champion.
 * -|E=
 * Blades of Torment

Upon activation, Aatrox instantly damages enemies in an area around him. For the duration of Massacre, Aatrox gains bonus attack speed and range. Massacre has no health cost.
 * -|R=
 * Massacre



is a basic attack dependent melee champion who excels as a duelist and team fighter. His built-in and  mechanics make him an ideal fit for top lane.

The sustain from keeps Aatrox's health topped off, allowing him to farm throughout the laning phase. Aatrox excels as a duelist, able to switch to for heavy burst damage when trading with his lane opponent. After the exchange, Aatrox can toggle back to to top off his health. When he's ready to finish the job, adds significantly to an already potent burst combo.
 * Top-lane

If the lane isn't going Aatrox's way, the knock-up effect from can be used to set up ganks for his jungler. Or, if Aatrox has bullied his enemy out of lane, he can push aggressively, safe in the knowledge that the disengage from and  slow will aid his escape when enemies come charging. Even when things go totally wrong, offers a second chance to secure kills or make a quick exit.

Aatrox's mobility gives him an innate ability to pressure enemy carries in team fights. grants Aatrox plenty of sustain as he tangos with enemy initiators and tanks. When he sees an opportunity to reach an enemy carry, closes the gap and allows the punishment to begin. When Aatrox is in deep, the area of effect burst and extra range from, and slow on prevent high-value targets from escaping. All the while the consistent healing from and resurrection effect from  keep him alive long enough to cut through enemy squishies.
 * Team fights

If Aatrox's team is on the defensive, a well-aimed can slow multiple enemies and open a window for retreating allies to slip away. Alternately, he can kite enemies with, and create an opportunity for the remainder of his team to turn and counter-initiate. If Aatrox is focused, sustain and the  keep him in the fight, giving his teammates an opportunity to cut through foes as he resurrects and delivers the killing blow.

Return to the Darkin Blade
By Ryan 'Reav3' Mireles

When Aatrox was released, a ton of players picked him and were super excited to try him out on the Rift. Unfortunately, the promise of Aatrox’s art and theme really wasn’t delivered on in his gameplay. Aatrox continually tops our player request charts for a gameplay update, so we want to take this time to revisit the Darkin Blade and try to truly deliver on the fantasy that Aatrox’s art and theme suggest—a demonic warrior who craves bloodshed.

This will likely be the largest pure gameplay update we have ever done on a champion, with every single ability being evaluated and updated. We’re still early in development on Aatrox but there are already some promising design directions we’re playing with. The update is still a ways off, but we wanted to start talking about it now since we know it’s high up on players’ wishlists.

Diving into the original Darkin
By Ryan 'Reav3' Mireles

There’s not much new to say about Aatrox, but I thought it’d be good to at least discuss his progress a bit. Aatrox is planned to be our largest pure gameplay update to date and as such we’re still quite a ways off on his release. We’re still in heavy design iteration, but once we get something more solid, I’ll be back to talk a bit more about what direction we landed on. Know that we are working on him, though, and we want to make sure Aatrox finally delivers on the promise of his Darkin warrior thematic.

There will be blood
By Ryan 'Reav3' Mireles

Next let’s talk about the Darkin Blade, Aatrox. As noted previously, Aatrox’s changes will be the largest pure gameplay update we’ve ever done, and it’s taken us a bit longer than we originally predicted. We think that Aatrox really isn’t holistically living up to his Darkin Warlord theme and needs to be rethought from the ground up.

After many iterations and a lot of experiments, we’ve finally settled on a design direction we’re happy with: “bloodthirsty, greatsword-wielding Warlord.” We want Aatrox’s attacks and abilities to feel very heavy and powerful while still maintaining the duelist nature of a sword master. And he’s definitely gonna have a giant Darkin sword that feeds on the death and destruction of all humanity. You know, typical Darkin stuff.

Death is only The Beginning
By Ryan 'Reav3' Mireles



The last time I talked about Aatrox, I said he was only going to get a gameplay update, but as we dove further into his new kit’s direction of a “greatsword duelist that relentlessly pursues his foes,” we realized that the feeling of playing the new Aatrox wasn’t exactly matching his current visuals. Aatrox’s new design felt more powerful, more weighted, and overall just more imposing to play against. We felt this called for some model updates to match his gameplay feeling and to make him look the part. That being said, it won’t be a full VGU as we aren’t giving him 100% new animations or remaking all of his skins, though there will be small tweaks to the skins to match his base model update. We will, however, be giving Aatrox all new, brutal VO to bring him in line with our newer champions, because who doesn’t want to hear Aatrox physically and verbally destroy his enemies.

Champion Update: Aatrox


A fallen god-warrior who once threatened to destroy Runeterra, Aatrox and his kin were bound to ancient weapons and imprisoned for centuries. That age is over. Now, with stolen flesh warped in brutal approximation of his previous form, the Darkin Blade seeks an apocalyptic and long overdue vengeance:

Total obliteration.


 * Abilities

I= Aatrox’s next basic attack has increased range and deals a percentage of the target’s maximum health as damage. This attack also significantly all healing and shielding on the target for a few seconds.
 * Deathbringer Stance

Deathbringer Stance’s cooldown is slightly reduced whenever Aatrox casts a spell or when he lands the edge of The Darkin Blade on a champion.

Aatrox swings his greatsword up to three times. Each cast increases in damage, impacts a unique area of effect, and can hit with the edge of the blade (a second, smaller hitbox).
 * -|Q=
 * The Darkin Blade

Edge of the blade: Hitting enemies at the far end of the first two casts and the center of the third briefly knocks them up and deals significantly more damage.

Aatrox smashes the ground, damaging the first enemy hit and briefly slowing them. If it’s a champion or large monster, they are chained to the impact area.
 * -|W=
 * Infernal Chains

If the chained enemy is still in the impact area after a few seconds, they are dragged to the center and take damage again.

Passive: Aatrox heals for a portion of the damage he deals.
 * -|E=
 * Umbral Dash

Active: Aatrox dashes, increasing his attack damage for a few seconds. Umbral Dash can store up to 2 charges and can be used simultaneously with The Darkin Blade.

Aatrox unleashes his full might, becoming monstrous in size and taking flight on massive wings. As he transforms, Aatrox fears nearby minions and briefly increases his movement speed (this bonus is reactivated when out of combat).
 * -|R=
 * World Ender

While transformed, Aatrox increases his overall damage and gains a Blood Well that stores health over World Ender’s duration, reviving him if he takes lethal damage while in his true form.

Aatrox is an infernal warlord who cleaves earth and bone to massacre entire armies. Raze the battlefield with The Darkin Blade, landing precise hits with the edge to utterly decimate your opponents. Aatrox brings more ruin with the blade than basic attacks—focus on cooldown reduction to unleash a constant onslaught. As enemies learn to dodge, bind them in place with Infernal Chains for a guaranteed guillotine, or outplay their evasion with an Umbral Dash as you wield The Darkin Blade.
 * Playing as Aatrox

Umbral Dash’s passive turns bloody teamfights into fonts of health, keeping Aatrox alive for as long as his carnage continues. Allies who shield and sustain him for more swings of The Darkin Blade will be rewarded with a frontline juggernaut who can take as much damage as he deals. Wary enemies will try to slay the darkin before his Blood Well fills, but even death cannot halt his warpath once Aatrox transforms with World Ender. Flee, or die.

'''“I am not your enemy. I am the enemy.”'''




 * Tips and Tricks
 * Keep advancing on the enemy to ensure you catch them with the edge of The Darkin Blade — each cast moves the hitbox closer to Aatrox, with the final swing of his greatsword crushing those immediately in front of him.
 * The combination of Deathbringer Stance’s reduction to your enemy’s healing and Umbral Dash’s passive boost to your own means Aatrox can go head-to-head with the biggest, bulkiest foes. As long as you’re dealing damage, it’ll be hell to bring you down.
 * Don’t wait to become the World Ender: use your ultimate early to rapidly join the fight from afar and start filling your Blood Well. The longer you wage war in your true form, the more you’ll recover upon reviving—time it right, and your death will give you a second health bar for the final slaughter.

“I must destroy even hope.”



Aatrox Lead Designer Interview
Christy "Ender" Frierson talks to the lead designer of the Aatrox rework during the EU LCS Ready Check pre-show!

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Aatrox/Desarrollo