Atlas Reactor: Magnus
I used to play poorly with this freelancer. For the past months or so, I observed players who used him well and I noticed one glaring difference: they used Deal Breaker quite often.
Quick background for context: the first freelancer I leveled to 20 is Grey. Believe or not that the tipping point where I improved my performance as Grey was to follow a simple advice (can't remember who gave it): support my tank.
I was thinking could it be also that simple for Magnus? That I just need to use Deal Breaker as often as possible. It's a powerful ability because of the crowd control feature, especially if the target is already rooted by Horns Up the previous turn i.e. 2 consecutive turns of movement denial.
So I used Deal Breaker as often as possible, even if I could hit more enemies if I use Power Drive instead. Amazingly, it worked lol: I did much better. Alright, alright, there's probably another reason: a buff to his shield (from 10 to 20) in the second part of Horns Up i.e. if he doesn't dash.
Here's my current build:
(refer to this wikia for details on abilities and mods)
(1) Power Drive - Force Capacitor (2 loadout points)
Haste is great for melee lancers.
(2) Extinction Event - Nowhere to Run (3 loadout points)
I used to take Protection Racket, which is a greedy mod actually. Worked well if enemies grouped fairly close together.
However, Nowhere to Run should be more consistent, with the extra range of 3. I use it if I can't hit anyone or as a form of trap on enemies who are likely to dash that turn.
(3) Horns Up - Fake Out (3 loadout points)
In my opinion, this is too good to pass up. It allows me to freely use Horns Up as a form of getting the first shield because I'll get it back quicker if I choose not to dash (and benefit from the second shield).
Trample is tempting but again, it's a greedy mod and not as consistent as Fake Out.
(4) Deal Breaker - (unequipped)
The last 2 loadout points are distributed to this and ultimate abilities. Currently, I unequip mod for Deal Breaker in favour of mod for the ultimate.
Potentially, I can unequip Boss Around and pick Concussion for this ability, which looks great because that's additional crowd control. Imagine root from Horns Up, knock back from Deal Breaker, and then slow from Concussion mod. Hmmm I may try this.
(5) Boss Around - Sonic Boom (2 loadout points)
I used to play with Lower Morale mod because I reasoned that since this ultimate ability pulls enemies towards Magnus, it would be good to have them weakened next turn. Doesn't guarantee my survival but it should help. It's still a good mod but I just want to try something different: kill them and don't need to worry about enemies next turn? Lol. Or at least injure them severely so that either they feel or die next turn. Yes, I can die too but I'll take a trade.
Here are some recent gameplays:
Quick background for context: the first freelancer I leveled to 20 is Grey. Believe or not that the tipping point where I improved my performance as Grey was to follow a simple advice (can't remember who gave it): support my tank.
I was thinking could it be also that simple for Magnus? That I just need to use Deal Breaker as often as possible. It's a powerful ability because of the crowd control feature, especially if the target is already rooted by Horns Up the previous turn i.e. 2 consecutive turns of movement denial.
So I used Deal Breaker as often as possible, even if I could hit more enemies if I use Power Drive instead. Amazingly, it worked lol: I did much better. Alright, alright, there's probably another reason: a buff to his shield (from 10 to 20) in the second part of Horns Up i.e. if he doesn't dash.
Here's my current build:
(refer to this wikia for details on abilities and mods)
(1) Power Drive - Force Capacitor (2 loadout points)
Haste is great for melee lancers.
(2) Extinction Event - Nowhere to Run (3 loadout points)
I used to take Protection Racket, which is a greedy mod actually. Worked well if enemies grouped fairly close together.
However, Nowhere to Run should be more consistent, with the extra range of 3. I use it if I can't hit anyone or as a form of trap on enemies who are likely to dash that turn.
(3) Horns Up - Fake Out (3 loadout points)
In my opinion, this is too good to pass up. It allows me to freely use Horns Up as a form of getting the first shield because I'll get it back quicker if I choose not to dash (and benefit from the second shield).
Trample is tempting but again, it's a greedy mod and not as consistent as Fake Out.
(4) Deal Breaker - (unequipped)
The last 2 loadout points are distributed to this and ultimate abilities. Currently, I unequip mod for Deal Breaker in favour of mod for the ultimate.
Potentially, I can unequip Boss Around and pick Concussion for this ability, which looks great because that's additional crowd control. Imagine root from Horns Up, knock back from Deal Breaker, and then slow from Concussion mod. Hmmm I may try this.
(5) Boss Around - Sonic Boom (2 loadout points)
I used to play with Lower Morale mod because I reasoned that since this ultimate ability pulls enemies towards Magnus, it would be good to have them weakened next turn. Doesn't guarantee my survival but it should help. It's still a good mod but I just want to try something different: kill them and don't need to worry about enemies next turn? Lol. Or at least injure them severely so that either they feel or die next turn. Yes, I can die too but I'll take a trade.
Here are some recent gameplays:
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