Magnus is a brawler by profession, meaning he provides you with a true gang leader’s gameplay experience. Magnus combines offensive heavy strikes with some defensive skills, offering a balanced gameplay. All in all, he is a good character, and you can rely on him to win Solo, Duo, or Squad gameplays.
This article discusses his skills, different build types, playing guides, duo and squad gameplay strategies, and pros with some cons. Let’s start this discussion with the passive, QWER, and weapon skills of Magnus.
Table of Contents
Magnus’ Skills
 | Broken Bullet (Q) 90 SP; 18 secs cooldown Magnus slams the ground and launches a rock towards his enemies. If a target is hit by the rock, their movement speed is reduced for 4 seconds. |
 | 17 vs 1 (W) 80 SP; 10 secs cooldown Magnus spins and deals damage to all enemies in an area around him. Enemies that are slowed or immobilized receive additional damage. |
 | Heavy Strike (E) 80 SP; 13 secs cooldown Magnus smashes the target, dealing damage and knocking them left of the direction he faces. If the target hits the wall, they are stunned for a certain time. |
 | Bike from Hell (R) 100 SP; 125 secs cooldown Magnus summons and rides his motorcycle. When the skill effect ends or is reactivated, Magnus jumps off the bike and launches it forward. If the bike hits an enemy or wall, it explodes and deals damage to that area, which reduces skill cooldown. |
 | Tough Body (Passive) No cost Magnus's defense increases when his HP decreases. The amount it increases goes up with your level. |
 | Weapon Skill: Full Swing (D) No cost; 25 secs cooldown Deal damage to all enemies in front of you and knock them back. If the enemies hit a wall from the knockback, they are stunned. |
 | Weapon Skill: Armor Piercing (D) No cost; 30 secs cooldown Smash the hammer in a targeted direction, dealing damage and reducing the defense of enemies. |
Tough Body – Passive
The passive skill of Magnus is a defensive move. He uses bring his solid body to defend himself from enemy attacks. However, Magnus achieves this defensive skill by losing his HP level (1% with each defensive level increment). (For players of Heroes of the Storm; Magnus’ passive is basically the same as Garrosh’s trait).
Broken Bullet – Q
Magnus unleashes a long-ranged bullet strike with his Q skill. You can target enemies with Magnus by standing as far as 11 meters. The SP cost for this skill is 90-130, and the cooldown time is 8-18 seconds. Apart from skill damage, the Broken Bullet move also causes a reduction in the speed of enemies being hit by this move (22%-50%).
17 vs 1 – W
Magnus swings his hammer ferociously to knock down enemies around him with his W skill. Magnus makes around 8 hits with this skill at the cost of 80-120 SP level. The cooldown time for this skill is 10 seconds. Enemies hit by this attack get their movement speeds reduced by 20%. The arc of the swinging hammer of Magnus is 2.5 meters, so make sure to be close to your targets for maximum damage.
Heavy Strike – E
The heavy E skill of Magnus is quite useful to smash enemies out of the scene. The cooldown time for this skill is 10-12 seconds, and the SP cost is around 120. You can swing the hammer with Magnus in an arc of 3 meters with this move. Skill damage for the heavy strike is also more significant, i.e., 60-280.
Bike From Hell – R
The ultimate skill of Magnus is the most damaging move. The American heavyweight summons a bike and rides it. Once he releases the motorcycle, it explodes and causes significant damage to the target. The cooldown time for this skill is the highest among all, i.e., 70-90 seconds. The SP cost is around 200, which isn’t all that high for an ultimate attack. Skill duration is 9-11 seconds, meaning that you can ride the bike for the mentioned amount of time.
Full Swing – D (Bat)
Magnus swings his bat in the targeted direction with his bat weapon skill. It is quite similar to the 17 vs 1 and the heavy strike move, as it pushes all the enemies back with a furious swing of his bat.
Armor Piercing – D (Hammer)
The hammer skill of Magnus is both damages causing as well as defense reducing skill for enemies. The American fighter smashes his hammer into the targeted direction to cause damage.
Skill Leveling Order
R> W> Q> E> Passive
Magnus’s ultimate skill is by far the most effective and the most damaging one out of all his moves. Maximize the R skill of Magnus when you can, and then look to put your points in other skills. This skill order is handy for all the builds we are mentioning below.
Magnus’ Builds
Basic Hammer Build
Basic hammer build for Magnus; Saved Plan ID 317994
Firstly, we would suggest you try some hammer weapon attacks of Magnus. This build utilizes Fang Mace as your primary weapon. Using this type of hammer gives you an added advantage of attack power (+55) and skill amplification (+31).
Items required for this build:
You need to have the following items for this build:
- Weapon: Fang Mace (Hammer)
- Chest: Rocker’s Jacket
- Head: Imperial Crown
- Arm: Draupnir
- Legs: Straitjacket Sneakers
- Accessories: Uchiwa
Build Route
Archery Range> Dock> Uptown> Avenue> School> Beach
With the recent changes to the Imperial Crown this build route seems quite long, but it’s actually not that bad. Just make sure not to linger in zones when you have all your items there, especially when you don’t have the Fang Mace yet.
Two-zone Hammer Build
Two-zoner Hammer of Dagda Build for Magnus; Saved Plan ID 318003
Hammer of Dagda is another option that you can use with Magnus. It provides you with a significant chunk of Attack Power (+95), Extra-Normal Attack Damage (+20), and HP Regen (+150%). You’ll get your hands on the Hammer of Dagda just after two zones. Try out this build if you want to start playing aggressively early on.
Items required for this build:
You need to have the following items for this build:
- Weapon: Hammer of Dagda
- Chest: Commander’s Armor
- Head: Imperial Crown
- Arm: Draupnir
- Legs: Feather Boots
- Accessories: White Crane Fan
Build Route
Chapel> Pond> Hospital> Archery Range> Alley
You would be going through five zones to build your items. The best thing is that it has a two-zoner weapon build-up. Once you have the Hammer of Dagda, you should not have any difficulty in whopping some players out of your way. Overall, it is a useful build route that provides quick access to your weapon.
Magnus Auto-Attack Build with Bat
AA build for Magnus with Bat; Saved Plan ID 318005
If you love playing around with Magnus with a bat in his hands, you would surely love this auto-attack build type. You would be using the Statue of Soteria for this build. This bat weapon type is full of features and added advantages. This bat provides Magnus with an attack power of +90, SP Regen of +60%, and finally, attack speed and life steal of 10%. This build can make you a winning player in a nutshell, and you can dominate your opponents.
Items required for this build:
You need to have the following items for this build:
- Weapon: Statue of Soteria
- Chest: Amazoness Armor
- Head: Helm of Banneret
- Arm: Sheath of Shah Jahan
- Legs: EOD Boots
- Accessories: Magazine
Build Route
Hospital> Pond> Avenue> Alley> Cemetery
You will again be able to build your weapon entirely by the end of the third zone. All the zones are connected with each other except the final Cemetery zone (but you can take a teleporter there). So, try to go through the first four zones as quickly as possible, and then roam around Cemetery once you have the Statue of Soteria in your hands.
How to Play Magnus
Magnus is a powerful character to have under your control. However, he is not an ultra-fast or ultra-attacking character. It would be wise to use him in a balanced way. Make a strategy to smash enemies with lesser defensive skills and avoid running into the arc of players with long-ranged attacks and quick movements. You can dominate players once you keep the following skill guide in mind.
Passive Skill Guide
Magnus’ passive skill makes him more rigid as his HP drops. While you can’t really actively control this skill, it is good to know that when you and your opponent are both dropping low, you have the upper hand.
Q Skill Guide
Q is a strong attack, but requires some accuracy. You will have to be precise in using the broken bullet move of Magnus. Since it is a long-ranged move, the enemies may get away from your target if you do not target it correctly.
W Skill Guide
17 vs 1 skill is an ideal move if combined with other skills. You can use this skill if you are running towards the fleeing enemies as well. However, you can cancel this move any time if enemies run away from the arc of this hammer skill by pressing the W button again.
Other than this, the W skill is an ideal option for you in Squad or Duo gameplay strategies. Swing the hammer of Magnus hard to save yourself from multiple enemies. The lesser cooldown and moderate SP cost mean that you can afford to use this skill quite often.
E Skill Guide
Using a heavy strike of Magnus to perfection is highly important. As the skill as a casting of 0.2 seconds; therefore, you need to be absolutely precise in executing this move. Like the 17 vs 1 skill, this move is also quite handy if you get encircled by a squad or duo gameplay enemies. Try to smash the enemies out of your sight with the E button of Magnus. The move will push enemies being hit 3.25 meters away from you.
Moreover, this attack’s damage increases many times if the target is hit with a wall or any other solid object. The best way to harness this move would be to use it with a wall near enemies. It will stun the targeted opponent, and you can launch any other skill on the stunned enemy as well.
R skill Guide
You can use the ultimate skill of Magnus to catch fleeing enemies. The explosion of this move has significant damage. However, you need to use it quite precisely as it has the lengthiest cooldown time among all his skills.
Weapon Skill Guide (Bat)
You can use the full swing move of Magnus to stun your opponents as well. Like the heavy strike move, use this skill near a wall or a solid object to knock down your opponents. You can then launch other attacks over a stunned opponent to cause more damage.
Weapon Skill Guide (Hammer)
The hammer skill of Magnus is quite useful in different scenarios. You can use this skill to cause damage and also reduce the defense of the targets. It would be wise to use this skill over stunned enemies to maximize its potential.
Attack Combos
Use the Broken Bullet with his W skill:
17 VS 1 skill of Magnus is absolutely a fatal move. The best way to use it is to make sure enemies do not run away from the move’s arc. As Magnus’s Q skill ensures a reduction in the movement speed of enemies, it is ideal to use the Q skill of Magnus with his W.
Try to use heavy attacks over a stunned enemy:
Magnus can stun his opponents with his heavy strike. Use the American gang leader’s E skill to perfection by knocking enemies down and using the heavy strike afterwards. We recommend you use the 17 vs 1 skill or the ultimate skill over an unconscious opponent being stunned by Magnus’s heavy strike.
Teams and Match-ups for Magnus
Magnus can be a fun player to control if you love playing in pairs or in a team. He can provide handy assistance to your teammates. He is powerful and possesses a majority of his lethal attacks in the form of close-ranged strikes. Following are some of the useful guidelines for both Duo and Squad gameplays while playing with Magnus.
Duo gameplay
Magnus is a powerful character to have in your team. He can do both jobs, i.e., smashing enemies with Hulk-like moves, and can defend himself with his formidable body. Playing Magnus with Aya, Hart, or Sissela is a viable option. Combining Magnus with any of the players mentioned above gives you a choice of long-ranged attacks. So, you can definitely form a lethal Duo team with these players, but be wary of Xiukai, Jackie, and Hyunwoo, as they may give you a tough time.
Squad gameplay
Playing in squads is a suitable option if you can add a few quick players with Magnus. In that case, Chiara, Sissela, and Fiora can prove to be a winning option. However, some squads may give you a challenging outing. The players you should keep an eye on are Aya, Jackie, Isol, and Rozzi. Other than these, you can afford to be aggressive with your rival squads.
Magnus’ Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
- The cooldown time for most of his attacks is moderate: Except for Magnus’s ultimate skill, the cooldown time for his QWE skills is around 10 seconds. This enables Magnus to use his skills now and again to strike his enemies.
- Magnus can choose a bat or a hammer as his weapon: The American gang leader is not reliant on a single weapon; instead, he can choose from the two. You can decide on his weapons based on your build preference or on the route your ally wants to take.
- This character has a mix of both long-ranged and short-ranged fatal attacks: Magnus can target his enemies by standing close to them and from a certain distance with his variety of skills. These attributes to knock down your opponents from both ranges are rare qualities of this character.
- Magnus is a simple and straightforward character to control: If you are new to this game, Magnus can be an ideal choice for you with his simple yet effective skill moves.
Weaknesses
- The cooldown time for Magnus’s ultimate skill is higher: You would have to wait for around 80 seconds for the Bike from Hell skill of Magnus.
- Magnus has a lesser variety in his weapon and QWER skills:Magnus’s weapon skills, i.e., full swing and Armor Piercing, are quite similar to his W and E skill moves. So, there is a lesser variety in terms of his attacks.