Dota 2 Magnus Guide – The Ultimate That Makes a Difference

This Dota 2 Magnus Guide is about to reveal why this hero can be played in almost all positions. 

There are a couple of heroes that are as versatile as Magnus. He is among the popular heroes in PUBs and pro games, which is why this Magnus Dota 2 guide will reveal more information about him.

Following the changes in patch 7.33, Magnus became a Universal hero. He is melee, and his attack damage is between 46-54. The hero starts the game with 2.5 armor and 305 movement speed, which allows him to be swifter than a lot of his counterparts. Besides being famous for the Magnus Dota 2 ultimate, the hero has a lot of pros, so let’s dive into the guide.

Abilities

Regardless of the Magnus Dota 2 build you go for, you will have access to the same abilities.

• Shockwave – This ability deals 300 magical damage and slows down the enemy’s movement speed by 75% for 0.9s. Moreover, Shockwave will pull enemies closer to Magnus.
• Empower – This ability lasts 35s and gives 36% bonus damage and 40% cleave. Interestingly, Magnus will get a 50% larger bonus.
• Skewer – This ability allows Magnus to move the 1125 range forward, dealing 360 damage and slowing down all enemies in this patch for 50%R for 3.3s. The ability also slows down the enemy’s attack speed, and Magnus can drag all units he catches.
• Reverse Polarity –  This ultimate deals 225 damage and stuns targets for 3.5s. Furthermore, it gathers all heroes close to echo other.

If you decide to enhance the Dota 2 Magnus skills and get an Aghanim’s Shard, your Shockwave will have more range, and it will return to the caster’s location, hitting the targets for the second time for 50% damage. Those who choose the Aghanim’s Scepter will have a new ability allied with Horn Toss. When used, Magnus will toss any enemies in front of him for 275 damage. The units will be in the air for 0.6s and then will be stunned upon landing for 0.8s.

Talents

The hero’s talents are the next thing we’ll look at in this Magnus Dota 2 guide.

Level 10 – +0.5s Shockwave Slow Duration or + 10s Empower Duration

Level 15 – -7s Skewer Cooldown or +8 All Stats per hero hit with Reverse Polarity

Level 20 – +375 Skewer Range or +125 Shockwave Damage

Level 25 – +0.8s Reverse Polarity Stun Duration or +10% Empower Damage/Cleave

Dota 2 Magnus Guide – Tips

Regardless of your preferred Dota 2 Magnus set, the hero can fit in different roles, depending on what’s needed. Typically, Magnus is an offlaner, but there have been metas where he can be a mid-laner, a carry, and even support. Of course, the items you need to get and how you level your abilities depend on your position. For example, support and offlane Magnus players usually only focus on landing the perfect RP and providing their cores with Empower, whereas the core Magnus players need to farm as fast as possible and get at least a few items that will allow them to be more effective.

Speaking of landing your ultimate, this is one of the hardest and most important parts you need to learn when playing with Magnus. Many people think that they should start a fight with RP, but in reality, this ability is better to be used as a counter-initiate. Good Magnus players will pay attention to the enemy teams and use it when they’re grouped up so they can do as much damage as possible. 

When talking about RP, it’s worth knowing that you should not save this ability to use it only when there are multiple enemies close to each other. In some cases, it is better to use the RP for a specific enemy hero that’s hard to kill. This includes things like Ember Spirit, Void Spirit, Storm Spirit, and many other elusive opponents.

If Magnus is a core, he can do insane amounts of right-click damage. However, the hero requires a lot of farm to become a threat, so most people prefer to put him in other positions.

Dota 2 Magnus Guide – Pros and Cons

Before taking a look at the best Dota 2 Magnus items you can get, here are some of the pros and cons.

Pros:

• Hard to kill
• Works exceptionally well with any melee core
• Has one of the best stuns in the game
• Farms pretty fast
• Can make a huge difference in team-fights

Cons:

• Landing a good ultimate is easier said than done
• He requires specific items to be effective

Dota 2 Magnus Guide – Items

After taking a look at the pros and cons, here are some of the starting items for your preferred Dota 2 Magnus build. Usually, players go some HP regen but also get at least 1 or 2 Mangos because the latter allows them to have mana when needed.

Early game

The items for Magnus depend a lot on the situation. If the hero is score, he should have at least a Boost of speed, if not PT, a Magic Wand, and one or two Bracers.

Mid-Game

Since there could be a Dota 2 Magnus Counter, the hero’s items for the mid-game will vary. Players often get Echo Sabre and Shadow Blade/Blink Dagger, but the hero might also go for a Force Staff or Guardian Greaves, especially if he’s an offlaner.

Late game

The late game items that Magnus should go for will depend on a lot of things. If he’s core, he can get a Silver Edge, Daedalus, Monkey King Bar, MoM, Black King Bar, Eye of Skadi, and more. Utility Magnus players usually go for a Refresher’s Orb, Aghs, Aeon Disk, and more.

Magnus Dota 2 Guide – Counter

The Magnus Dota 2 counter you can face can make his life really hard, so here’re a couple of names to be aware of.

• Bloodseeker – Magnus relies on his mobility to stun and do damage, so Bloodseeker’s ultimate counters him. 
• Huskar – The latter is just too strong in a 1v1 scenario, and the hero can destroy Magnus in the laning stage.
• Rubick – Unless Magnus stuns Rubick, the latter can steal his RP and make an insane counter-attack.
• Tinker – This hero deals too much damage, and he has the ability to cancel Magnus’s Blink Dagger.

Final Thoughts

Aside from the Dota 2 Magnus responses, the hero is unique in many ways and can make a real difference. Albeit a bit harder to play, Magnus can play against any lineup and is a solid option in any meta.