Aatrox Build Guide for Wild Rift

How to play Aatrox

Aatrox is a versatile fighter you can play in the Solo Lane or Jungle. His playstyle focuses on outlasting opponents through strong self-healing while hitting well-timed ability combos. At first glance, Aatrox may not seem difficult to play; however, he has a high skill ceiling, especially when mastering his combos. Consistently hitting the sweet spots with The Darkin Blade is key to unlocking his full damage potential. Aatrox excels in both duels and teamfights. His mobility gives him access to the enemy backline, making him highly effective at killing the primary carry.

Be sure to check the alternative build at the top of the page for playing Aatrox in the jungle.

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Aatrox's Abilities

Deathbringer Stance

(Passive)

Enhances Aatrox's next attack every 24 seconds to deal bonus physical damage based on the target's max health and heals him for the same amount.

Hitting a champion or large monster reduces the cooldown by 3 seconds.

There is an indication underneath Aatrox's health that tells you when Deathbringer Stance is ready.

Try to use this empowered attack on enemy champions rather than minions, as it significantly increases your healing and damage. Use The Darkin Blade's sweetspot knockup to help you hit an auto attack afterwards for a powerful short trade.

The Darkin Blade

(1)

Aatrox swings his blade up to three times, dealing physical damage. Each cast deals increased damage.
Enemies hit in the sweet spot take bonus damage and are briefly knocked up.

The Darkin Blade has three different patterns: a straight line, a horizontal sweep, and a circular strike. The sweet spots are at the tip for the first two, and in the centre for the circular cast. Hitting these sweet spots is essential, as they deal significantly more damage and help win trades.

You can use Flash and Umbral Dash to adjust your positioning to line up sweet spots so it hits more consistently.

Infernal Chains

(2)

Aatrox sends out a chain that deals physical damage to the first enemy hit and slows them for a short duration.
If a champion or large monster stays inside the area, they are pulled back to the centre after a delay and take the damage again.
Since enemies will often try to escape the impact area, use Darkin Blade to knock them up to keep them inside Infernal Chains. This greatly increases your damage and can be decisive in teamfights. Infernal Chains stops on the first enemy it hits, which means minions can block it.

Umbral Dash

(3)

Passive: Aatrox gains Physical Vamp against enemy champions, increased during his World Ender.

Active: Aatrox dashes forward, resetting his basic attack. Umbral Dash can also be used while casting other abilities.
Most of the time, you'll be using Umbral Dash to help you reposition for The Darkin Blade on an enemy or to close the gap when chasing enemies. However, you don't always want to use Umbral Dash forward; it can also be used defensively to disengage from fights when you need to retreat or avoid damage. Umbral Dash can also be used to dash over walls.

World Ender

(Ultimate)

Aatrox unleashes his demonic form, gaining bonus Attack Damage, increased healing and a burst of Movement Speed that decays over time.

World Ender's duration is extended on takedowns.

You should always activate World Ender before committing to a fight, as it greatly increases Aatrox's damage, healing and mobility. The bonus movement speed with Umbral Dash makes it much easier to reach and stick to key targets. During World Ender, your main goal is to look for champion takedowns to extend the duration.

Aatrox Build Breakdown

Plated Steelcaps

Eclipse

Death's Dance

Serylda's Grudge

Spear of Shojin

Guardian Angel

Eclipse gives high Attack Damage and a shield that helps Aatrox win short trades. Aatrox can easily stack Eclipse's passive with The Darkin Blade, allowing him to consistently proc the passive shield in fights.

Death's Dance gives Aatrox both damage and survivability. Its passive helps reduce incoming burst from both physical and magic damage, giving Aatrox more time to heal through fights.

Serylda's Grudge helps Aatrox deal more damage and stick to targets. Its passive slow makes it easier to hit sweet spots with The Darkin Blade, allowing you and your team to follow up with more damage.

For runes, we have the following:

Conqueror

Conqueror is ideal for Aatrox because it enhances his strength in extended fights. He can stack it quickly through his abilities and auto attacks, gaining damage and bonus healing.

Courage of the Colossus

Courage of the Colossus gives Aatrox a shield, adding extra survivability. He has multiple ways to trigger it through his crowd control, from Darkin Blade knockups and Infernal Chains pulls.

Second Wind

Second Wind gives Aatrox consistent healing after taking damage, helping him win trades and keeping him healthy during the laning phase.

Perseverance

Perseverance reduces incoming damage taken when he is crowd-controlled, helping him survive enemy burst and follow-up damage.

Sudden Impact

Sudden Impact boosts Aatrox's damage after he uses a dash, which he can easily do with Umbral Dash. This increases the damage of his follow-up ability or auto attack, helping him deal more burst during trades and all-ins.

Flash

Ignite

Flash is essential on Aatrox. He can use it to extend the range of The Darkin Blade to land sweet spot knockups, or quickly close the gap onto priority targets. It also helps him escape dangerous situations or dodge skillshots.

Ignite adds extra true damage to help secure kills during all-ins and extended trades. This helps Aatrox finish targets more reliably when he dives in, extending the time of World Ender.

Early Game

In the early game, Aatrox focuses on using his abilities to punish enemies. His main goal is to hit The Darkin Blade sweet spots to either farm minions or hit the enemy to help win short trades while sustaining with his passive and abilities. Aatrox is strongest when his passive, Deathbringer Stance is available, so you should look for trades when it's available for extra damage and healing. Once you reach Level 5 and unlock World Ender, Aatrox gets even stronger, and you can start forcing fights more confidently. In dangerous situations or when being ganked, Umbral Dash can be used to reposition or escape to safety.

Late Game

In the late game, Aatrox's strength comes from teamfights, where he can heal through multiple enemies and reset his passive, Deathbringer Stance. You should look to flank or dive the enemy backline using World Ender to boost his damage, healing and mobility. Hitting sweet spots with The Darkin Blade becomes essential, as it allows him to threaten squishier targets, so remember to use Flash and Umbral Dash to reposition in teamfights. Aatrox is not a strong split pusher in the late game and can be outmatched by other Solo Lane champions, so grouping is usually the safer and more effective option.

Conclusion

Overall, Aatrox is a strong fighter who excels in extended fights. Success with him comes down to practising hitting the sweet spot with The Darkin Blade and using his abilities effectively in trades and teamfights. With good positioning and consistency, he can become a powerful threat in fights.

Thank you for reading this guide!

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Good luck on the rift summoners!

- iTzSTU4RT