Heya, I'm wynnie, my ign is 'bnuy'. I'm a mag one-trick and have over 1,000,000 kills with her. She's my favourite frame, I adore her fashion, her theme, and her play-style. I'm here today to teach y'all everything you need to know about [Mag]! I've taken a look around, watched every single Mag guide on Youtube, even peeked my head around here... Honestly quite saddened at the lack of quality explanations / understanding by all of the Youtubers and guide creators. So here I am, to bring you the [Mag] guide to rule them all. Sit back, grab a nice cup of tea, and get your brain sponge ready to succ.
There used to be a separate build linked for Archon Shards, but I've now combined them into this one guide.
Passive: Pulls in nearby loot.
1.) Pull: Quick one-handed crowd control ability.
Pulls all enemies from the target direction towards [Mag] and groups them in a small vortex infront of her. Can be used when in a pinch to quickly ragdoll all susceptible enemies, allowing you a bit of breathing room.
2.) Magnetize: Crowd control / enemy denial and area damage.
Use to create a magnetic bubble around the target enemy, this bubble will pull in all nearby enemies as well as absorb all weapon's fire. A portion of absorbed projectile/hit-scan weaponry damage is added to the bubble as a scaling damage over time effect. It has a hold cast portion as well but it might as well not exist as it's effectively useless.
3.) Polarize: Support / defensive tool.
Strips a flat amount of enemy shields and armour while dealing damage, or replenishes ally shields, to anyone caught in the growing bubble.
4.) Crush: Area crowd control.
While locked in place [Mag] suspends and deals damage to all enemies caught inside the radius. Replenishes shields to all allies in range for each enemy hit. Can grant over-shields.
Section Summary:
[Greedy Pull]; okay for niche builds, but really not all that useful outside of say, camping with a Nekros for a specific loot farm or something similar.
[Magnetized Discharge]; incredibly powerful for any Mag build that relies on her bubble. This augment gives a significant amount of range, as well as allowing you to re-cast to prematurely detonate any bubble. This can be used to re-organize your bubbles, since you can only have three at a time, and casting any when you have three active will remove the oldest one. Instead of removing the oldest, and potentially incorrect bubble when casting a fourth one, you can now remove the bubble of your choice before replacing it.
[Counter Pulse]; fantastic crowd control augment. Great if you need extra survivability, but I personally dislike it for the fact that it stops enemies in their tracks. Less enemies running towards me means less enemies for me to kill, and that's no fun!
[Fracturing Crush]; wide area crowd control with the potential for full armour removal. For full armor removal this mod requires 134% Ability Strength. This used to be essential for high levels, but since the armour changes I don't feel it's necessary, however it can still be useful if you run lots of endurance missions.
Duration;
Duration is very helpful but it's difficult to stack much of it with [Mag]'s core mods. Pull and Crush do not benefit from duration at all, however your Magnetize damage per second scales up constantly until it expires, meaning more duration affords you time to scale the bubble damage exponentially higher.
Efficiency;
Efficiency is incredibly important on [Mag], as she's a caster frame. She is required to be constantly casting her abilities, supporting allies all the while dealing the most damage on the team. For this reason stacking lots of efficiency is very beneficial, while also allowing you to effectively ignore your low energy capacity. Less energy per cast means energy orbs are more efficient in the long run, and this is a much better way to play than low efficiency but with a high energy pool.
Range;
Range is without a doubt the most important stat. Magnetize bubbles block all incoming enemy gunfire, and can be effectively used as a shield while also dealing damage. More range means bubbles work more effectively to block incoming fire, it also grants a larger radius to Pull and Crush, enhancing their crowd control ability. Crush will also give more Overshields, allowing you to max your Overshields out in a single cast. For these reasons Range is the most effective way to increase your survivability and damage output all in a single stat.
Strength;
Strength is important for this build because it affects how much of your shields Polarize and Crush will replenish. Polarize will replenish 556 shields with 139% Ability Strength, allowing you to replenish your full shields every cast. This will guarantee a full 1.68s of immunity thanks to the shield-gate. With [Brief Respite] this will grant an extra 0.50s of immunity to every Polarize cast, increasing the full immunity duration to 2.18s.
Section Summary:
Aura
[Brief Respite] in the Aura slot will allow you to get between roughly 0.40s and 0.75s of invulnerability whenever you cast an ability. This synergizes with Polarize incredibly well, it will ensure that during the 0.5s cast time (with [Natural Talent] or Amber Archon Shards) you are invulnerable for the full cast animation. This means off of a single cast of Polarize you will gain roughly a full 2.18s of invulnerability, allowing you plenty of time to react to whatever situation is happening.
Exilus
If you wish to not use Primed Sure Footed you can swap in the Exilus mod of your choice.
Base Mods
A trade-off you can consider is using a max rank [Fleeting Expertise], then removing [Streamline] to make room for the mod of your choice.
Using Amber Archon Shards will allow you to replace [Natural Talent], I recommend replacing it with [Magnetized Discharge].
Damage: [Magnetized Discharge]Survivability: Rolling Guard, Adaptation, Augur AccordCrowd Control: Counter Pulse
Armor Removal: Fracturing Crush
Arcane Aegis (Survivability Preference): once activated it renders you immune to death except via toxin damage, as the constant shield regeneration will continually refresh your shield-gate. A free twelve second invulerability when it triggers.
Arcane Double Back (Survivability Preference): for active play-styles this is a must have, you can keep an extra 50-75% damage reduction layer to stack with your shields' innate reduction, meaning even at higher levels they won't get instantly destroyed.
Arcane Energize (Energy Issues Preference): the gold-standard for energy issues, makes it only take a single orb to fill your entire energy pool. Incredibly convenient.
Arcane Steadfast (Energy Issues Preference): a moderate chance for three free ability casts whenever you spend energy on them, amazing for casters like Mag who spam.
Molt Efficiency (Magnetize Preference): a great tool for increasing your bubble duration. It's incredibly easy to keep Mag's shields topped off, and with this Arcane having them topped off makes you even stronger!
Arcane Arachne: grants a damage bonus to weapons of all sources, however, thanks to Breach Surge being coded as a weapon, the projectiles get an increase to their total damage. Multiplying multipliers, math goes brrr!
Arcane Pistoleer: grants infinite ammo to all weapons upon getting a pistol headshot kill, activate then swap to your Exergis or primary weapon bubble-[Shredder] of your choice.
For this build I use Archon Shards to replace [Natural Talent], freeing up an extra mod slot. Her extra Archon Shards in this build are flex slots, meaning they can be changed to fit your needs or preferences. The Archon Shard setup is as follows.
Archon Shards
Polarize Shards are glowing fragments created by [Mag]'s 3, Polarize. Each time the Polarize wave drains Armor or Shields from a target it will drop a few Polarize Shards next to them. These shards are able to be collected by [Mag], automatically clinging to her once she is close enough. Once picked up they will passively orbit around her, attacking any enemies that stray within melee range, constantly attacking them while any remain in range. Shards have 100% Status Chance and are an even split of puncture and slash damage, meaning they will apply plenty of 'Weakened' and 'Bleed' status effects. Along with this, they also count as weapons, meaning they can be buffed by generic weapon buffs, such as [Grendel]'s Nourish, to grant them Viral damage and status.
The main draw of Polarize Shards is that they will be picked up by Magnetize, though they behave differently than regular projectiles. Their damage will not be absorbed by Magnetize, but they will become trapped inside, quickly flying around the center of the bubble to repeatedly damage enemies. A single Shard on it's own is miniscule damage, but they are quite easy to stack up in large numbers. The simplest way to fill a bubble with Shards is to simply cast Magnetize on a group, let them all get sucked in, then cast Polarize! Once you've completed this basic combo, you can watch the Polarize Shards go to work and [Shred] any victims caught within Magnetize.
Polarize Shard Droprate: upon draining a targets Armor or Shields, Polarize drops 1 Shard, with a 50% chance to drop a 2nd
Polarize Shard Damage: 25 Puncture, 25 Slash + 25% of the total Armor or Shields drained from the target by Polarize
Bubble buffing refers to using your ranged weaponry to amplify Magnetize's damage over time effect that it deals to all enemies caught within it. Magnetize absorbs 25.0% percent of all ranged damage, even from enemies, adding the amount to it's damage over time effect. The total damage over time amount is split up over two hits every second. There are however some rules to the damage it can absorb.
Magnetize Absorb Rules:
[Mag]'s Magnetize damage relies in large part on her guns' damage output, meaning your weapon choice is incredibly important, and is equally as important as mod choice.
The reason weapons are so important is because in general [Mag] relies on her Magnetize ability for damage, and it's damage is a percentage of all absorbed gunfire. This means to maximize your Magnetize you need to optimize your weapons to synergize well with her Magnetize's absorb mechanics, allowing it to significantly empower it's damage.
Magnetize Weapon Rules:
Ideal Magnetize Weapons:
[Exergis]: (Prefered Primary)While it's power may be outshined by newer powercrept weapons, it still holds it's own. It has high base damage, no crit reliance, infinite enemy punch through, and is a projectile weapon. If you're in need of slash damage to deal with armour, this weapon will be your best friend. An absolute monster at proccing slash dozens, if not hundreds of times on a single enemy, assuming they can even survive that immense damage! It fits all of the criteria for being an ideal Magnetize weapon, and it sure shows it.
https://overframe.gg/build/143581/
[Akbronco Prime]: (Prefered Secondary)
My absolute guilty pleasure, I never leave the Orbiter without her by my side. This weapon's strongest build relies on the Entrati augment mod, [Damzav-Vati], which grants a whopping 240% viral damage. While this weapon isn't a projectile, and has no punch through, it's the highest raw burst damage of any weapon that works with Magnetize. This means it can make a Magnetize deal significantly more damage per second than any other weapon, allowing the bubbles to instantly evaporate any enemy simply upon touching them.
https://overframe.gg/build/143597/
Secura Penta: (Energy Generator)This weapon is a niche pick with a unique play-style, however it can't quite compete with the other top picks. The weapon deploys grenades that only detonate on command, and these little grenades during this time of being deployed will deal a small amount of damage whenever they hit an enemy. They last an infinite duration and never expire if you choose not to detonate them, meaning they can be used essentially as a permanent orb of death for any bubble that picks one up. Just plop down a bubble, shoot in a grenade, and watch it blend!
Thanks to the weapon being primarily used with [Internal Bleeding], it benefits heavily from using Primary Exhilarate to grant passive energy regen, something Mag can never have too much of.
[Felarx]:
This is without a doubt one of the best weapons for dealing insurmountable damage with [Mag]. Thanks to the Devastating Attrition perk, you can effectively mimic a 1,000% damage Rhino Roar buff. When you also consider the fact that this shotgun has infinite punch-through on enemies, you realize absolutely nothing will be stopping you once you get your hands on this relic of the Void!
https://overframe.gg/build/440207/
[Phenmor]:
One of my guilty pleasures with [Mag], I love everything about this weapon, and [Mag] only amplifies how incredible it is. This weapon with a Devouring Attrition build ticks most of the boxes for being a great Magnetize weapon. Along with the fact it's a near perfect match, it also has two different swappable firing modes. The alternate mode is one of the most satisfying things I have ever seen inside of her bubbles. It has incredibly high punch through and is effectively a minigun in this mode, melting anything that gets sucked into the bubbles.
https://overframe.gg/build/326467/
[Tenet Arca Plasmor]:
This weapon sits among the best. While [Exergis] has higher single target damage and bubble buffing power, Plasmor has wide projectiles that can hit multiple enemies side by side, this means it's guaranteed to hit everything inside the bubble. Plasmor is best for using as a slash ([Hunter Munitions]) weapon to kill armoured enemies within the bubble, as it falls behind in bubble buffing power when compared to other top picks.
https://overframe.gg/build/273666/
Tenet Detron:
This pocket cannon hits like Exergis but without the slash and punch-through. An unfortunate result of it lacking slash damage and relying on crit means it's unable to buff bubble as well as weapons like [Exergis] or [Akbronco]. Regardless, it's a projectile shotgun meaning it has immense power inside of her bubbles. While it doesn't have punch through like Exergis, you can easily slap some on with mods.
https://overframe.gg/build/221261/
[Mag] has a wonderful kit, but her 1, Pull, isn't actually that great in the grand scheme. Sure it can be used to CC enemies in a large area, but you can already do that with her 2 and her 4. For this reason I usually opt to subsume out Pull for another more useful ability. Due to [Mag]'s versatility, she can benefit from a very large amount of the Subsumable abilities, but there are few that shine above the rest. In this section I'll go over all the top Subsumes for [Mag], and why they are as effective as they are.
With this build Mag already has powerful crowd control, enemy grouping, DPS, and decent survivability if you abuse shield-gate effectively. This is why her Subsume is very reliant on your preference, there is no one Subsumable ability that every Mag player would want to use.
Breach Surge (Bubble Buffer's Preference): This is an amazing tool for pumping your Magnetize DPS into levels that simply shouldn't be allowed.
How It Works:Breach Surge blinds all nearby enemies in an expanding radius while also applying a debuff to them. This debuff gives a chance to create a "spark" whenever the target is damaged, reflecting a portion of that damage outwards as a projectile dealing radiation damage. Any damage can trigger these sparks, even the Magnetize DoT, which the sparks will then amplify the damage of. An incredibly synergy that creates an everylasting cycle of damage amplification!
Example: You prime a group of enemies with Breach Surge and cast Magnetize on them. Now you dump a magazine of your bubble buffing weapon into Magnetize and watch the DoT and sparks multiple one another exponentially!
Nourish (Energy Issue Preference): Nourish is an incredibly versatile option on [Mag], granting tons of quality of life bonuses to her.
How It Works: To begin with, it will grant an increase to weapon damage, further amplifying the amount you can get your Magnetize to directly absorb. Polarize Shards now count as weapons, meaning generic weapon buffs like Nourish can apply to them. Also considering the recent changes to Polarize Shards and how they work, this means they are able to actually deal considerable damage while applying viral and slash to enemies. Nourish also benefits energy replenishment, multiplying all restored energy by multiple times, almost entirely negating any energy issues.
Spectrorage + [Spectrosiphon] Augment (Energy Issue Preference): This is a decent subsume allowing infinite energy generation, but at the cost of a mod slot for the Augment.
How It Works:Spectrorage creates a ring of mirrors around the cast locations, these mirrors lure enemies in and draw their focus. The augment is the main draw of this subsume option, it grants a high chance for any enemy that dies within the ring of mirrors to drop an energy orb. Since your Magnetize is sucking in enemies constantly and killing them, this allows for a fun synergy of turning them into energy generators.
Example: You cast Magnetize on an enemy then immediately place Spectrorage inside the bubble. Any enemies that die within that Magnetize will now have a high chance to drop energy orbs, meaning you've just created an energy generator.
Gloom (Survivability Issue Preference): This wouldn't be a proper Subsume section without the wonderful survivability tool, Gloom.
How It Works: Gloom creates a slowly expanding bubble that buffs all allies and debuffs all enemies inside. Allies inside will gain lifesteal, while enemies are slowed. This allows you to stay alive through the combination of large scale crowd control, as well as lifesteal when you're in a pinch.
Part 1: Don't get hit!
[Mag] has lots of tools as her disposal to allow you to keep yourself, or even your allies, in peak condition.
First and foremost, she has her bubbles to use as shields. You want to keep all three of your Magnetize bubbles active at all times, then position yourself between them and the areas enemies are attacking you from. These bubbles will prevent any enemy gunfire from reaching you, as it will instead be absorbed by the bubbles. Along with this the bubbles will also suck in any enemies that get near and deal damage to them each half second. A strong offense and effective defense all wrapped up in one nifty little ability.
Along with her bubbles, you are able to use her plentiful access to strong crowd control. [Mag]'s first ability, Pull, as well as her fourth ability, Crush, will keep the feet of your enemies off the ground, thus preventing them from attacking you.
Part 2: Shields and Shieldgating
Whenever your shields are depleted, you will be granted a period of invincibility, called the "Shieldgate". The duration of your Shieldgate depends on how the highest shield value you've had since their last depletion.
With this setup, a single cast of Polarize will make you invulnerable to all damage except for Toxin Damage, and this effect will last roughly 2.20s. This should be enough time to react to whatever threat you're currently facing, and if it's not you can simply re-cast Polarize to reset the invulnerability duration! Do this as many times as you need, it will be what keeps you alive most of the time.
Don't forget, you can top off your Overshields with Crush, with 50% Damage Reduction these will actually be able to absorb a decent amount of incoming enemy attacks.
Part 3: Build Optimization
Up above in the modding section there is a 'flex slot', meaning you can replace this 'flex mod' to grant yourself more survivability if desired, you can also take the two Arcanes recommended for survivability to help further.
If you are having trouble staying alive despite all of this, try watching and mimicking some of the [Mag] Demonstration videos I have linked below.
Section Summary: Use your bubbles to block enemy fire and crowd control to keep enemies from hitting you. When you get hit use your shield replenishing abilities to reset your Shieldgate invulnerability. You can also substitute some mods for the survivability mods of your choice, but that's really all there is to it.
Thanks to the fact that this build utilizes [Fracturing Crush], you never need to build [Mag]'s arsenal for dealing with armoured units. This allows you to simply bring along your trusty [Akbronco Prime] to all content and make your bubbles [Shred] all enemy types for hundreds of thousands of damage per second, even up into the millions!
With armoured units entirely negated, the only real consideration for this build is your personal playstyle!
Mag Demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu81eatWei0
Active Play
Active play revolves around finding a room or area that you and your squad are happy to chill, and vibing there. When you are in a room you want to be mindful of the areas enemies mainly [Flow] in from, so I normally pinpoint the three most used doors and place bubbles down in these. You will just keep your bubbles active in the main choke points for enemies, and then kill them appropriately depending on if they have armour or not. You will basically just be juggling bubbles in the main chokepoints while you jump around and kill things, it's quite pleasant.
Lazy Play
This style of play revolves primarily around corner camping. You want to find a good spot with a dead end, like a hallway, and then park yourself in the back of it. Once there, you will place a single bubble in the only hallway leading to you, the only area enemies can funnel through. Once you've got your bubble set up, blast away! It's really this simple. Just remember, always keep a bubble active, that's what keeps you alive and keeps you dealing damage.
So basically, here are the few key things to focus on while playing Mag.
Always have your maximum of 3 Magnetize bubbles active at any given time.
Position yourself with the bubbles between you and the enemies, to use them as cover.
Cast your 3 when your shields are broken, to reset your shield-gate. Can also use 4 which CC's enemies as well as shield-gate resets, but has higher energy cost.
Cast 4 to crowd control and knock down a room, allowing free time to res allies or just for a second to breathe.
Cast 4 to grant allies overshields, topping them up, granting them a bit more EHP.
I appreciate you all reading this and sincerely hope it's helped. I love playing [Mag] and wanted to spread the joy!
Your time is absolutely appreciated Tenno, I just hope I was able to give you something in return for it. (epic [Mag] knowledge)
If you have any questions feel free to ask away!