Aatrox Jungle Build Guides, Runes, Items, and Abilities

Aatrox, the Darkin Blade, has emerged as a strong pick in the jungle with his high sustain, powerful ganking potential, and devastating teamfight presence. This guide will help you optimize your Aatrox jungle gameplay by covering the best runes, items, and ability priorities for dominating your matches. Whether you're looking to dive deep into the enemy backline or provide frontline support for your team, Aatrox's versatility makes him a valuable asset in any composition. Prepare to unleash the full potential of this fearsome champion in the jungle role!

See more: How to Play Aatrox in League of Legends

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1. Strengths

• Aatrox is a lane bully who can snowball quite quickly. If you can get an early lead, try to abuse it to get more kills in the lane to increase your chances of winning the game.
• You’re a very mobile champion thanks to your Umbral Dash E. It can be used in multiple ways and is a good way of turning around exchanges with the enemy.
• You have tons of sustain thanks to your Passive and Ultimate. This will increase your survivability in team fights and skirmishes.

2. Weaknesses

• Make sure you’re only using your abilities when you have to, especially your Umbral Dash E. Aatrox suffers from long cooldowns and is easily abusable when they’re on cooldown.
• You’ll fall off in the later stages of the game. Try and end the game as quickly as you can or snowball your lead so you’ll be a huge threat in team fights.
• Aatrox is not an easy champion to learn. He has a unique mechanic on his The Darkin Blade Q which does take some time getting used to. You’ll need to put in a lot of practice to master this champion.

• You can use your Umbral Dash E to reposition your The Darkin Blade Q sweet spots. This includes using your Umbral Dash E forwards, backwards and even left or right.
• When ganking a lane, try to get as close to the enemy as possible before throwing out your Infernal Chains W. If you throw out your and miss, the gank will fail and you would’ve wasted time.
• When ganking a lane, try and attack from the rear or behind the enemy to make your ganks more successful.

• Q + E: Trade normally with Q then E mid animation to line up your sweet spot.
• Q + Q + Q + E + AA: Extend your trade by using Q three times then E to land your third Q. Average
• W + E + Q + AA + Q + AA + Q: All in at level 3 with W and instantly E Q to help keep them in place, follow it up with AA Q2 into AA Q3.
• R + Q + W + E + AA + Q + AA + Q: After level 6 R to get into Q range then instantly Q W E AA, Q2 to keep them in your W then AA Q3 for an easy dunk.
• W + E + Q + AA + Q + AA + Q + AA + Q: With more Ability Haste you can combo smoother and use E again. W E Q instantly one after another then AA Q2 followed by AA Q3 and using E mid air to guarantee the sweet spot landing.
• W + E + Q + AA + Q + AA + Q + E + Flash: With more Ability Haste and Flash you can chase opponents much easier. W E Q instantly one after another then AA Q2 followed by AA Q3 and using E and Flash mid air to guarantee the sweet spot landing.
• W + E + Q + AA + Q + AA + Q + Flash: Flash can be used to secure your Q3 damage. W E Q instantly one after another then AA Q2 followed by AA Q3 and using Flash mid air to guarantee the sweet spot landing.

1. PASSIVE ABILITY (Deathbringer Stance):

• Aatrox's auto attacks deal extra percent health magic damage and periodically heal him as well as having a slight increase in AA range. The cooldown for this heal decreases the cooldown for heal by two seconds. Hits with the edge of The Darkin Blade reduce it by four seconds instead.

• In the Jungle, Aatrox benefits from this passive exponentially. His passive keeps him healthy enough to full clear and move onto scuttle to fight if necessary, and if not then there is ample health to gank top or middle. This also keeps Aatrox alive in team fights a bit longer provided he is able to get an auto off.

2. Q (The Darkin Blade):

• Aatrox can activate The Darkin Blade three times, each having a different area of damage and a sweetspot that does extra damage. If hit by the sweetspot, enemies are also knocked up in a short stun.
• In the Jungle, The Darkin Blade is the primary clearing, ganking, and damage tool. Hitting monsters with your sweetspot Q dramatically increases clear speed times and the three stuns from the same aforementioned sweetspot can allow for free kills during ganks.
• This scales with Attack Damage

3. W (Infernal Chains):

• Aatrox sends out a chain forward that deals magic damage to the first enemy hit, doubled for minions, and slows them for 1.5 seconds. If it hits a player or large monster the chain connects to the enemy and pulls them back to the center after a short period of time if they do not get far enough away to break the chain.
• In the Jungle, The Darkin Blade is the primary clearing, ganking, and damage tool. Hitting monsters with your sweetspot Q dramatically increases clear speed times and the three stuns from the same aforementioned sweetspot can allow for free kills during ganks.
• This scales with Attack Damage

4. E (Umbral Dash):

• ACTIVE: Aatrox dashes in a target direction. This can go over some walls. This dash also resets his AA timer and can be cast at the same time as other abilities.
• PASSIVE: Aatrox heals himself as he damages other champions. This passive scales with Health.
• In the Jungle, Umbral Dash can increase clear speed times by having Aatrox dash over jungle walls to lessen the time walking from camp to camp. In the later game, having Umbral Dash maxed out also gives Aatrox a great deal of his vampiric tankiness.

5. R (World Ender):

• Aatrox unleashes his true form for ten seconds, fearing nearby minions and monsters. He is also ghosted at this time and gains bonus movement speed on activation. The duration of the ultimate extends by five seconds when Aatrox scores a takedown. During the duration of World Ender, he also gains bonus attack damage, increased size, and bonus healing from all sources.
• In the Jungle, World Ender is an initiation tool for ganks. Or, at times, it can be used to run away from a fight because of the increased move speed. In late game, World Ender is the only way to survive in large scale team fights due to Aatrox's falloff.

1. DRAGON

• Aatrox can solo any dragon at any point in the game, but struggles if attacked during the initial clear. It's important to keep vision around dragon pit to avoid a gank and wards should be cleared before beginning the objective.
• He benefits the most from Infernal Soul. Infernal Cinder's grant just a smidge of movement speed and the bonus Attack Damage from soul is always beneficial.

2. VOIDGRUBS

• It is highly recommended to be at Voidgrub's when they spawn, as Aatrox can clear the camp and remain at very high HP. Hitting the grubs with the sweetspot of your Q can make the task incredibly fast, especially the second and third sweep. Aatrox does not need any assistance in clearing the camps, but it is always helpful and appreciated if a teammate comes to you willingly.

3. RIFT HERALD

• Herald can be solo'd by Aatrox, though it isn't as fast as it is with some other champions. It is recommended to have a teammate within reach (they don't have to be there directly, just keeping an eye on the baron pit) so that the enemy jungler or others cannot come and completely shut down the objective attempt.

4. BARON NASHOR

• Aatrox has a lot of sustain to help him in baron fights, making him a formidable jungler to triple or even duo baron. He is best suited to fight baron with an ADC who is going even in their lane, preferably ahead and close to full build. However, if it is up to choosing Elder Drake or Baron Nashor and the game is completely even, I would recommend getting Elder Drake first.

5. ELDER DRAKE

• Aatrox prefers to get Elder Drake over baron if possible due to the extensive damage he can put out late game. All it takes is one lucky Aatrox with elder buff to win the game, as long as he/she isn't completely CC chained (or just a bit bad).
• Aatrox can solo this objective, but it is highly unrecommended and much better to do with a team.

1. Early game

• You will want to focus on getting your level 3 quickly as it will allow your ganks to be powerful enough to get kills. Ask your teammates for a hard leash early on for maximal effectiveness.
• Always target overextended enemies and focus on clearing vision frequently. Although you are mobile in the brunt of a fight, you will first need to get to the enemy undetected.
• Once you get your Ultimate World Ender R, you should be able to capitalize on your ganks. Make sure you keep clearing the Jungle and take neutral objectives regularly.

2. Mid game

• Focus on getting your core items during the mid-game. This should be pretty easy if you prioritize farming during the early game.
• Picking off enemies should be really easy during this phase of the game. It is suggested to work with your Support so that you can capitalize on vision placement and removal as well.
• Always look for flanks during team fights. This will help you separate the enemy backline from the frontline and you will be able to take the squishies out of the fight quickly.

3. Late game

• Be a part of as many fights as you can in this phase of the game. It will really help you get more kills due to how your Ultimate works.
• Chokepoint fights and looking for flanks should be the main goals during fights. Chokepoints will facilitate your The Darkin Blade Q landing while flanking will disrupt fights completely.
• Do not barge into the enemy team if you don't have any follow-up from your team. You are an important part of the fight and it is vital that you stay alive, lest you want the enemy team to take over the neutral objectives.

Mastering Aatrox in the jungle takes practice, but the rewards are well worth the effort. By following this guide, you'll be equipped with the ideal runes, items, and ability paths to maximize his impact on the Rift. With his unique blend of sustain, crowd control, and damage, Aatrox can carry games when played to his strengths. Now, it's time to take what you've learned and carve your path to victory as the Darkin Blade!

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Good luck to you! – Cheng