How do you play Mag?

[Jabarto]

I've been playing Mag Prime lately, and it's going so poorly that I'm pretty much at the point where I consider the fact that she's a potential starter frame to be some kind of cruel prank on new players. I've got her at level 30, with a reactor. I have her modded with Corrosive Projection, Intensify, Vigor, Stretch, Streamline, Flow, Constitution, Redirection, and Natural Talent, but any missions over level 20 or so are almost impossible unless I eat a couple of revives. She's more fragile than I ever thought a frame could be, she's constantly starved for energy, her abilities barely do any damage, she's not particularly fast...and yet people tell me she's a top tier frame.

So I guess I'm asking for not just build advice, but actual strategy. Which of her abilities should I be using? On what kinds of enemies? What kind of modifiers should I be going for? What exactly does she do that other frames can't do better? I'm at wits end here so nothing is too basic.

[Hypernaut1]

She's probably just doesn't fit your playstyle. She's definitely not a weak frame and can do a ton of damage and cc in high level content.

You have to have a more active playstyle to be successful with her, she's not just a simple nuke frame.

[TotallyLagging]

Use Lanka & Detron with punchthrough to abuse projectile/punchthrough with Magnetize.

 

Pretty much it.

Pull? Pull is decent CC but some enemies resist it, which means that yes, you can pull a Napalm right on your face without it being knocked down and kill you.

Polarize? The damn thing can't even strip armor from level 10 enemies with max power strength. People that praises this ability post-rework are bloody liars.

Crush? Decent CC with some armor strip if you have the augment. The CC becomes better if you have a Nova in the team since MP also slows down the animation. 

 

Again, unless you abuse Magnetize bubbles you're not gonna "nuke" anything and you'll be forced to use certain weapons. But of course the forums being the forums you'll only receive cryptic answers about learning to play and how she's the most broken OP thing DE has ever created in this game.

[Xgomme]

4 hours ago, Nomen_Nescio said:

More like step 1 - don't play trash frames. Step 2 - learn to play the game Step 3 decide if you want to be a special snowflake and try trash frames 'work' for you Step 4 - decide they a don't work for you b come to like them and defend giving any opportunity saying "they're fine youshould l2p" and "just not press one-two buttons to 'win'"

You should stop talking with steps when the first one should still be "Git Gud"

People spamming 1 spell with a random build found on internet are not the smartest people, not even the most efficient players.

 

Feel free to stay in the "meta addict" part of the game, kinda nice if you're born without skill 

[(XBOX)SweatyPick3L]

Good vid from Noob. Mag is a great camp frame. I built her for corpus survival mostly with her over shield augment. Great for kubrow too.

 

[SenorClipClop]

Mag is one of my main go-to Warframes. Her change in 18.13 moved her damage from the front of her 3 to the end of her 2, and while all of her damage is stationary, there is a whole lot of it. I build Mag full-positive (no corrupted mods, every power value above 100%) with Redirection, Continuity, Streamline, Intensify, Power Drift, Constitution, and two mods (one Exilus) that flex to whatever I feel like each mission. My aura is usually Rifle Amp.

I play Mag as a control mage to shut down enemies at specific points of interest (defendable objectives and doorways, mostly), focusing my abilities around Magnetize. The power seems to favor rapid-fire weapons and beams, but it has interesting synergies with many weapons that I recommend experimenting with. But anyway, back to play. I wait for a heavy unit to be in an opportune position and tag them with Magnetize. The damage  multiplier on Magnetize means the enemy is dead pretty much immediately after I start shooting it, and now I have this cool structure to play with, which works sorta like a combination of Snowglobe and Absorb. I feed ammo into the bubble, increasing its DoT and eventual explosion. I'm safe in the bubble (or if I'm on the opposite side from enemy fire), so I can use it defend myself and the objective. Enemies who enter the bubble are subject to constant damage. I'll step out of its cover to shoot enemies, I'll hop around the bubble to ensure enemies stay within it, or I'll Pull them in with me to subject them to the DoT/make quick work of them with a Finisher. Use her 3 and 4 as needed, it should be pretty clear when to use them. The most fun I have with Mag is watching the bubble reach the end of its timer, at which point it explodes for massive damage. When it shrinks a bit, Pull enemies into the blast zone for a satisfying execute.

I'm really not sure why the hate is on for Mag, but I guess it's just a matter of the frame not really making sense to some Tenno. The way I've worked out her build and playstyle, I regularly (without minmaxing) achieve top damage in the missions I play with her.

[Theiyre]

10 hours ago, Jackviator said:

How to play Mag: 

Step 1: Only use one ability (Magnetize) and a weapon that can abuse its mechanics (most notably the Lanka), because using Hitscan weapons is buggy as all hell with Magnetize.

Step 2: Wish you were playing a different frame, preferably one with more than one or two effective abilities and an energy pool that actually suits their gameplay style.

Real talk: Don't use Mag. Don't even use Mag Prime. She's honestly one of the worst frames in the entire game. All she can do is press 2 to win unless one min-maxes the hell out of her, at which point she becomes either a press 3 to win (so long as you're facing enemies below level 70) or press 4 to win (if you're feeling particularly suicidal).

Her energy pool doesn't fit her as a caster frame, her 1 is ok at best, her 3 doesn't scale, her 4 has a suicidally long casting speed for a tiny bit of non-scaling damage. All she has is her 2.

Essentially, how to use Mag: build her, rank her and her Prime for mastery, and dump them in the trash (or at best hold onto her Prime for when DE get around to reworking her again in, say, 2025).

stop

[Jackviator]

5 minutes ago, Theiyre said:

stop

Sure, I'll stop... in 2025. And only if they don't screw up her rework again.

[SenorClipClop]

11 hours ago, Jackviator said:

Step 1: Only use one ability (Magnetize) and a weapon that can abuse its mechanics (most notably the Lanka), because using Hitscan weapons is buggy as all hell with Magnetize.

This was an issue right when the rework dropped, but honestly, have you tried her in the last six months?

11 hours ago, Jackviator said:

eal talk: Don't use Mag. Don't even use Mag Prime. She's honestly one of the worst frames in the entire game. All she can do is press 2 to win unless one min-maxes the hell out of her, at which point she becomes either a press 3 to win (so long as you're facing enemies below level 70) or press 4 to win (if you're feeling particularly suicidal).

What specific problems are you having with Mag? I ask because I don't think I'm having the problems you're having, so there must be a big difference in how we approach Mag. Can I help you?

[Jackviator]

10 minutes ago, SenorClipClop said:

What specific problems are you having with Mag?

Her playstyle boils down to "press 2 and then shoot the Lanka/other weapons with travel time into the bubble." And if you don't do that and instead try to use all of her abilities, you'll find yourself spamming energy pizzas. She's a caster frame with the energy pool of a tankier frame like Rhino or Frost. Add in the fact that you need to spam her 3 for it to be effective at even second mission Sortie levels (due to the lack of scaling), and she'll be starved for energy real quick.

And if you decide to go for Fleeting Expertise to combat this, her kit suffers for it. Same with the rest of the corrupted mods. But Streamline isn't enough.

So... yeah. Press 2 to win, or you'll have a bad time. Is it effective with the right weapons? Yeah. Is it extremely limited and boring? Also yes.

[-Akeva-Banshee-]

Ssshhh we don't talk about mag OP it will get nerfed!

[(XBOX)ReadingFire229]

7 hours ago, Nomen_Nescio said:

Morplayersstep 1 - don't play trash frames. Step 2 - learn to play the game Step 3 decide if you want to be a special snowflake and try trash frames 'work' for you Step 4 - decide they a don't work for you b come to like them and defend giving any opportunity saying "they're fine youshould l2p" and "just not press one-two buttons to 'win'"

There are no trash frames only trash players

[gkuoni]

52 minutes ago, Jackviator said:

Her playstyle boils down to "press 2 and then shoot the Lanka/other weapons with travel time into the bubble." And if you don't do that and instead try to use all of her abilities, you'll find yourself spamming energy pizzas. She's a caster frame with the energy pool of a tankier frame like Rhino or Frost. Add in the fact that you need to spam her 3 for it to be effective at even second mission Sortie levels (due to the lack of scaling), and she'll be starved for energy real quick.

And if you decide to go for Fleeting Expertise to combat this, her kit suffers for it. Same with the rest of the corrupted mods. But Streamline isn't enough.

So... yeah. Press 2 to win, or you'll have a bad time. Is it effective with the right weapons? Yeah. Is it extremely limited and boring? Also yes.

So you don't like mag's playstyle, good for you. No reason to bash it into everyone else's head. The thing is, other than her 4, she really only needs a few minor tweaks on her abilities. While yes I do agree that her energy pool should be larger, that doesn't mean that she's completely useless. I almost always use her for sorties, and get through it with ease (and I don't use lanka with her). I think you are just stuck in the old mindset of how powerful her old 3 was, and due to it no longer clearing rooms, you think she's useless unless you use lanka and her 2. 

Real talk: she's not useless. She just needs a few minor tweaks and a better 4 (it's pretty much as dated as her old 1 used to be, and I mean really old 1)

Spoiler

and personal opinion, but frost is way more boring than mag, due to his immobility and slowness (presuming you play frost due to that being your profile pic)

 

[Fast_98]

7 minutes ago, (Xbox One)ReadingFire229 said:

There are no trash frames only trash players

So hydroid actually amazing?

[(XBOX)ReadingFire229]

1 minute ago, Fast_98 said:

So hydroid actually amazing?

Hell no but seen people not suck with him

[Fast_98]

9 minutes ago, (Xbox One)ReadingFire229 said:

Hell no but seen people not suck with him

So because a few individuals can use him half decently it means he shouldn't be improved on and tweaked?

And doesn't this go against your point that no frame can be "bad".

Edited February 12, 2017 by Fast_98

[(XBOX)ReadingFire229]

3 minutes ago, Fast_98 said:

So because a few inputtduals can use him half decently it means he shouldn't be improved on and tweaked?

And doesn't this go against your point that no frame can be "bad".

I didn't say he didn't need to be improved your putting words in my mouth

[Akavakaku]

Mag is great.

Her bullet jump attracts items, so you can replace Vacuum with another mod (or a pet).

Use Pull to get a break from enemy attacks, get enemies away from a defense target, or pull additional enemies into Magnetize.

Use Magnetize to concentrate damage on a certain enemy, shield an area from damage, stop enemies from passing a certain point, or round enemies up for destruction. It's basically Vortex and Snow Globe in one, plus damage when it ends. Use a punch-through, area-of-effect, or chain-targeting weapon, or a multi-target melee, to damage all the Magnetized enemies at once.

Use Polarize to restore the team's shields or strip enemy armor. I don't know what you've been playing if you haven't seen it totally remove the armor from decently-leveled Grineer.

Use Crush only if you have energy to spare and aren't in an exposed location. It's useful for stopping enemies, but it stops Mag at the same time and for almost as long.

[Fast_98]

6 minutes ago, (Xbox One)ReadingFire229 said:

I didn't say he didn't need to be improved your putting words in my mouth

I didnt, but that generally what the rest of community says. The only thing I challenged was your opinion that their no bad frames.

[Sziklamester]

First of all the mag was nerfed multiple times to become a starter frame. She needs a little bit more speed, some tweaks on her abilities and her ultimate shuld be changed some other ways because that is slow, not killing on high levels (all damage dealer have the same fate) and you are not saved by your ult and they can still shot down you.

There are builds which could make her better but she stated in her first trailer a teamplayer so she mostly an asset for her team and her pull can cc enough enemies to drag and pull them to the ground which let others and her to kill them with a fast melee. Magnetize is a good ability but the old ability was also okay but they not turned it into a dual use ability like some other frames could use. Her old ability bullet attractor could have been used as a deflector similar how turbulence work on zephyr when you cast on your ally. Also the polarize is still an okay ability but could be better, and the ulti should be changed.

Another suggested extras for her to add more speed from 1.00 to 1.10 and increase her base energy pool to 150.

Her armor could be 100 which not makes so much bonus but still better in damage reduction than the classical 65 or 50 or 15. DE somehow afraid to change the lower armored frames because they want maybe encourage us to be mobile and attack always but in a idiot hordeshot where enemy can spawn behind you and dozens can attack you simultaneous then there need more armor and option to evasion.

Otherwise she is not a bad frame just the devs decided to weakening the starter frames otherwise nobody wish to change them if they are godlike. They want to sell frames aswell so they make tiers and don't care about to make the frames really balanced like how they did with Saryn when they lowered her hp and armor. The balance is a different thing in their head so not except so much for her balance what I suggested could make her better but until they not fix the scaling and damage issues then there is no real reason to make balance changes because they balance the frame in a broken system which later again will be changed then again coming a rework.

I like the clean and good work and not bandaiding until peoples will bored out of the game. 

[(XBOX)ReadingFire229]

3 minutes ago, Fast_98 said:

I didnt, but that generally what the rest of community says. The only thing I challenged was your opinion that their no bad frames.

Hydroid may be unpleasant to use for A lot of people but that doesn't make him A terrible frame

[Fast_98]

Just now, (Xbox One)ReadingFire229 said:

Hydroid may be unpleasant to use for A lot of people but that doesn't make him A terrible frame

Then what makes him A good frame? I seen people use hydroid and pretty well mind you  but I've also seen those player equip any other frame and do even better.

Plus this doesn't include the fact that alot of frames can be taken to high level content with just weapons alone, heck when sortie didn't have level 30 frames as requirements I would level my frames there with a strong gun.

[(XBOX)ReadingFire229]

Tbh nothing makes hydroid a "good" frame I was just saying he's usable in a skilled player's hands but I totally get you when you say they bring another frame and do It better.

Disregard everything I said I just remembered his kit and omg eww

[gkuoni]

11 minutes ago, Fast_98 said:

Then what makes him A good frame? I seen people use hydroid and pretty well mind you  but I've also seen those player equip any other frame and do even better.

Plus this doesn't include the fact that alot of frames can be taken to high level content with just weapons alone, heck when sortie didn't have level 30 frames as requirements I would level my frames there with a strong gun.

When someone says that something isn't terrible that doesn't instantly make it good. It means what it says, namely that it isn't terrible. That simply means that there's potential to do something instead of completely useless, which being terrible would imply.

[Andaius]

This is my general purpose anti-Corpus Build. For Grineer just swap Shield transference with fracturing crush. I opt for Fast spamming of Magnetize bubbles to litter the field with 3-4 delayed blast explosives that murder group0s of enemies. Use Pull too keep the heavy group down while you get to cover or get crush going. Polarize to keep your shields up. The magnetize/polarize combo murders Grineer in the bubbles.

Edited February 12, 2017 by Andaius

[Fast_98]

1 minute ago, gkuoni said:

When someone says that something isn't terrible that doesn't instantly make it good. It means what it says, namely that it isn't terrible. That simply means that there's potential to do something instead of completely useless, which being terrible would imply.

Yes there potential, so what? Tell me what so wrong about making that potential more viable or easier to achieve? I questioned him on the statement he made that only bad players make bad frames which I  am against.