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Magnus, The Magnataur
by
@Jenny
General Info:
The Magnataur is an excellent, but extremely underrated hero in casual play. Very few really know the true potential of Magnus. He’s got excellent farming capabilities whether you want to got he way of shockwaving or cleaving early on. He’s not a great hero killer earlier on, but his late game and utility definitely makes up for it. Not to mention his early game harassment is excellent compared to the more popular strength heroes/tank such as Skeleton King or Sven. He’s definitely a one a kind strength hero when it comes to such excellent harassment, farming and AOE damage.
Skills:
Shockwave
A wave of force ripples out from the Hero, causing damage to land units in a line.
Level 1 - 75 damage – 90 Mana
Level 2 - 150 damage – 90 Mana
Level 3 - 225 damage – 90 Mana
Level 4 - 300 damage – 90 Mana
**Your bread and butter spell early on. It’s fantastic for harassing in early game and farming at the same time. I can be singley targeted or shot along a line on the ground much like the ladder Tauren Chieftan’s shockwave. It’s got such a low and generous mana cost you’d be foolish not to spam this at every chance possible.**
Empower
Increases attack damage for a friendly unit. Only increases the unit's base damage plus damage from stat items. Lasts 30 seconds.
Level 1 - 15% attack damage – 90 Mana
Level 2 - 30% attack damage – 90 Mana
Level 3 - 45% attack damage – 90 Mana
Level 4 - 60% attack damage – 90 Mana
**Empower is another amazing spell. It can be taken early game or late game. It’s good for a damage boost to give you a small bit more killing potential early on, but for this guide we’ll be focusing on a different build than getting empower early on.**
Mighty Swing
Magnus' halberd swings in a mighty arc, damaging all enemies in a fairly wide circle. Targets beside the primary take less damage.
Level 1 - 12% damage is splashed.
Level 2 - 25% damage is splashed.
Level 3 - 37% damage is splashed.
Level 4 - 50% damage is splashed.
**Another fantastic skill that new players may want to grab early so they can farm “easier” and deal out heavy AOE damage. Not yet. Solely a mid-late game skill. Empower and Mighty Swing early on is –not- a good build.**
Reverse Polarity
Through some unknown property of matter, the Magnataur sucks all nearby enemies to his position and stuns them with a powerful slam, dealing damage.
Level 1 - 2 second stun, deals 150 damage – 200 Mana
Level 2 - 3 second stun, deals 225 damage – 250 Mana
Level 3 - 4 second stun, deals 300 damage – 350 Mana
**The best ultimate possible to synergize with ALL of Magnus’ skills. It’s fairly under powered in use against a lone hero, but when you get in the middle of an enemy push with you allies you’ll see how awesome the long AOE stun is. Then it doesn’t hurt that you’ll likely be dishing heavy damage around you with cleave.**
Builds
Lvl 1: Shockwave
Lvl 2: Stats
Lvl 3: Shockwave
Lvl 4: Stats
Lvl 5: Shockwave
Lvl 6: Reverse Polarity
Lvl 7: Shockwave
Lvl 8: Stats
Lvl 9: Mighty Swing
Lvl 10: Stats
Lvl 11: Reverse Polarity
Lvl 12: Mighty Swing
Lvl 13: Mighty Swing
Lvl 14: Empower
Lvl 15: Mighty Swing
Lvl 16: Reverse Polarity
Lvl 17: Empower
Lvl 18: Empower
Lvl 19+: Stats
Stats early? Yeah. Seems a bit strange on Magnataur when he’s got two other awesome skilsl that you neglect. There’s reason. Empower is acceptable early on, but if you’re decent at last hitting then you won’t need that boost so badly – that and stats will give you decent sustaining damage. You also won’t have to drain mana for empower early on, more for shockwave spamming. Stats give you this exactly. Without stats Magnataur has a pretty pathetic mana pool making it hard to spam wave or empower or even both constantly. Besides a mana pool increase you also get a nice boost to your HP which means you’ll stay in battle even longer – especially when combined with the amount of regeneration you’ll be getting.
Item Builds
My typical build is..
1. Basilus Ring/Vladimir’s Offering
2. Treads OR Travels
3. Dagger of Escape
4. Battlefury
5. Battlefury
6. Hyperstone/Assault Cuirass
First down the line you’ll want to start with a Basilus Ring and some Tangos. These will keep you laned and in the game while you farm your Perseverance for your first Battlefury. Be sure to get Boots immediately after. Magnataur is a fairly slow hero and without boots he’s easily caught – lucky early stats make you fairly hardy. This leads us to the boots. Travels if you aren’t getting Dagger of Escape – treads if you are. It’s arguable, but while the teleport is useful, you won’t need the move speed when you get Dagger, because you can get in range much easier now. Attack speed is –much- more useful – hence the last item you get is a Hyperstone/Cuirass. Finally, two Battlefurys. Yeah, a pretty whacky item set-up. You’ve already got cleave, right? Correct. With dual BF’s and your own cleave this puts you just shy of 100% cleave. It’s excellent for your AOE damage and pretty much key. Once you blink in, reverse polarity, you just go to town.
Gameplay Tips
-Spam Shockwave as much as possible. Against annoying range heroes this may be the best way for you to farm. Try to aim it so you can nab at least one creep kill and hit the enemy heroes at the same time. The mana cost is low, so it’s forgivable not to, but it’s ideal to do so.
-Don’t neglect your ultimate just because you can’t do massive AOE damage early on yet. You can still use it to occasionally get kills early on, but rarely, it depends on how could the opponent is. It’s also excellent for getting allies kills or securing you an escape.
-Do not go S/Y. I see this as the go to item for too many heroes in pubs. It’s a great item on some heroes, but for Magnus it’s just a waste.
by
@Jenny
General Info:
The Magnataur is an excellent, but extremely underrated hero in casual play. Very few really know the true potential of Magnus. He’s got excellent farming capabilities whether you want to got he way of shockwaving or cleaving early on. He’s not a great hero killer earlier on, but his late game and utility definitely makes up for it. Not to mention his early game harassment is excellent compared to the more popular strength heroes/tank such as Skeleton King or Sven. He’s definitely a one a kind strength hero when it comes to such excellent harassment, farming and AOE damage.
Skills:
Shockwave
A wave of force ripples out from the Hero, causing damage to land units in a line.
Level 1 - 75 damage – 90 Mana
Level 2 - 150 damage – 90 Mana
Level 3 - 225 damage – 90 Mana
Level 4 - 300 damage – 90 Mana
**Your bread and butter spell early on. It’s fantastic for harassing in early game and farming at the same time. I can be singley targeted or shot along a line on the ground much like the ladder Tauren Chieftan’s shockwave. It’s got such a low and generous mana cost you’d be foolish not to spam this at every chance possible.**
Empower
Increases attack damage for a friendly unit. Only increases the unit's base damage plus damage from stat items. Lasts 30 seconds.
Level 1 - 15% attack damage – 90 Mana
Level 2 - 30% attack damage – 90 Mana
Level 3 - 45% attack damage – 90 Mana
Level 4 - 60% attack damage – 90 Mana
**Empower is another amazing spell. It can be taken early game or late game. It’s good for a damage boost to give you a small bit more killing potential early on, but for this guide we’ll be focusing on a different build than getting empower early on.**
Mighty Swing
Magnus' halberd swings in a mighty arc, damaging all enemies in a fairly wide circle. Targets beside the primary take less damage.
Level 1 - 12% damage is splashed.
Level 2 - 25% damage is splashed.
Level 3 - 37% damage is splashed.
Level 4 - 50% damage is splashed.
**Another fantastic skill that new players may want to grab early so they can farm “easier” and deal out heavy AOE damage. Not yet. Solely a mid-late game skill. Empower and Mighty Swing early on is –not- a good build.**
Reverse Polarity
Through some unknown property of matter, the Magnataur sucks all nearby enemies to his position and stuns them with a powerful slam, dealing damage.
Level 1 - 2 second stun, deals 150 damage – 200 Mana
Level 2 - 3 second stun, deals 225 damage – 250 Mana
Level 3 - 4 second stun, deals 300 damage – 350 Mana
**The best ultimate possible to synergize with ALL of Magnus’ skills. It’s fairly under powered in use against a lone hero, but when you get in the middle of an enemy push with you allies you’ll see how awesome the long AOE stun is. Then it doesn’t hurt that you’ll likely be dishing heavy damage around you with cleave.**
Builds
Lvl 1: Shockwave
Lvl 2: Stats
Lvl 3: Shockwave
Lvl 4: Stats
Lvl 5: Shockwave
Lvl 6: Reverse Polarity
Lvl 7: Shockwave
Lvl 8: Stats
Lvl 9: Mighty Swing
Lvl 10: Stats
Lvl 11: Reverse Polarity
Lvl 12: Mighty Swing
Lvl 13: Mighty Swing
Lvl 14: Empower
Lvl 15: Mighty Swing
Lvl 16: Reverse Polarity
Lvl 17: Empower
Lvl 18: Empower
Lvl 19+: Stats
Stats early? Yeah. Seems a bit strange on Magnataur when he’s got two other awesome skilsl that you neglect. There’s reason. Empower is acceptable early on, but if you’re decent at last hitting then you won’t need that boost so badly – that and stats will give you decent sustaining damage. You also won’t have to drain mana for empower early on, more for shockwave spamming. Stats give you this exactly. Without stats Magnataur has a pretty pathetic mana pool making it hard to spam wave or empower or even both constantly. Besides a mana pool increase you also get a nice boost to your HP which means you’ll stay in battle even longer – especially when combined with the amount of regeneration you’ll be getting.
Item Builds
My typical build is..
1. Basilus Ring/Vladimir’s Offering
2. Treads OR Travels
3. Dagger of Escape
4. Battlefury
5. Battlefury
6. Hyperstone/Assault Cuirass
First down the line you’ll want to start with a Basilus Ring and some Tangos. These will keep you laned and in the game while you farm your Perseverance for your first Battlefury. Be sure to get Boots immediately after. Magnataur is a fairly slow hero and without boots he’s easily caught – lucky early stats make you fairly hardy. This leads us to the boots. Travels if you aren’t getting Dagger of Escape – treads if you are. It’s arguable, but while the teleport is useful, you won’t need the move speed when you get Dagger, because you can get in range much easier now. Attack speed is –much- more useful – hence the last item you get is a Hyperstone/Cuirass. Finally, two Battlefurys. Yeah, a pretty whacky item set-up. You’ve already got cleave, right? Correct. With dual BF’s and your own cleave this puts you just shy of 100% cleave. It’s excellent for your AOE damage and pretty much key. Once you blink in, reverse polarity, you just go to town.
Gameplay Tips
-Spam Shockwave as much as possible. Against annoying range heroes this may be the best way for you to farm. Try to aim it so you can nab at least one creep kill and hit the enemy heroes at the same time. The mana cost is low, so it’s forgivable not to, but it’s ideal to do so.
-Don’t neglect your ultimate just because you can’t do massive AOE damage early on yet. You can still use it to occasionally get kills early on, but rarely, it depends on how could the opponent is. It’s also excellent for getting allies kills or securing you an escape.
-Do not go S/Y. I see this as the go to item for too many heroes in pubs. It’s a great item on some heroes, but for Magnus it’s just a waste.
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