Profile[]
Magnum is a ranged damage dealer equipped with a cannon containing a surprising amount of versatility. The full roster of gadgets at his disposal includes a flamethrower, a net launcher, and the cannon itself even functions as a mortar!
As one of the Marksman types, Magnum has pretty good attack power and an average amount of health. However, he excels best setting up kills or ganking from the jungle due to the nature of his skills. Flamethrower leaves behind a burning land trap, dealing DoT to any that cross it. Electronet keeps targets in place, while Mortar lands on wherever the target is. His passive skill, Battle Rage, also makes him even more of a terror, being able to attack faster every time his abilities hit an enemy hero!
His runes, meanwhile, either makes him hit harder or give the opponents even more to worry about. Most of his runes are geared to increasing his damage output either directly or indirectly, with a couple runes here and there that lets him slow or panic his targets. Adjusting it to your playstyle is the key to victory.
Abilities[]
Runes[]
Level 1 Runes[]
| Burndown | Basic attacks against burning targets deal 15% more damage. |
| Forest Rage | After killing a forest monster, the hero deals increased damage for 7 seconds. |
| Explosive Minions | Minions killed by Flamethrower fire explode, dealing damage around them. |
| Cosmic Empowerment | Damage of third basic attack increases. |
Level 2 Runes[]
| Burning Napalm | Damage from Flamethrower burning is increased greatly. |
| Long-Range Flamethrower | The area covered by the Flamethrower is increased. |
| Sticky Flame | The burn time of the Flamethrower is increased by 2 seconds, and damage is increased slightly. |
| Third-Degree Burns | The target burned by the Flamethrower receives 40% less healing while burning. |
Level 3 Runes[]
| Shockstrike | Damage from the Electronet is increased greatly, but root time is decreased by 1 second. |
| Electric Field | The Electronet deals minor area damage around the target. |
| Electrification | The Electronet places an effect on the target, dealing periodic electricity damage. |
| Caught Prey | A target under the net receives increased damage from all sources for 3 seconds. |
Level 4 Runes[]
| Less Is More | The damage of each rocket is increased, but there are only 2 rockets. |
| More Explosives | The explosion radius of rockets is increased. |
| Napalm Rockets | After landing, each rocket leaves a burning zone. |
| Cooling Systems | Mortar cooldown time reduced. |
Level 5 Runes[]
| Slowing Fire | The Flamethrower target is slowed for 3 seconds. |
| Woodcutting | Root time is increased by 1.3 seconds. |
| Frightening Flame | Untis burned by the Flamethrower panic for 0.8 seconds. |
| Hazy Shock | The Electronet target is silenced for 2 seconds. |
Level 6 Runes[]
| Rapid-Fire Rockets | The rocket strike warning is shorter, but every rocket deals less damage. |
| Rocket Coordination | Rockets select different targets and land at the same time. |
Tips and Strategies[]
Like all Marksmen, keep Magnum in the backline of your tank, if you have one. Else, hit and run strategies go well with him. Aiming is paramount, especially with Electronet, or else he won't be hitting anyone with it. Flamethrower can be used to leave a burning trap or to directly deal damage on enemies, and Mortar can keep your enemies moving unless they want to be punished.
Magnum, however, excels in alternating between pushing the lane and jungling. His third attack deals AoE damage, making quick work of grouped creeps, with both Flamethrower and Mortar also making quick work of them. And he should be jungling, especially in early points of the game, making use of the map as to when to help his allies push or come over and root retreating enemies.
Ability and Rune Tips[]
- Basic Attacks
- Make use of his AoE third attack. Target enemies that are in the thick of a fight.
- Pay attention to enemy heroes who are burning, especially if you have the Burndown rune equipped. 15% increased damage is nothing to scoff at when you're at higher levels.
- Flamethrower
- You can use it in two ways. Either leave behind a trap for your enemies to go on and deal DoT, or hit them directly with it to make sure they get burned. The latter will usually serve you well more, especially if your enemies are all grouped in one spot.
- If you want to be a nuisance to your enemies, equipping Long-Range Flamethrower along with Slowing Fire or Frightening Flame can assure you're enemies can't run away or that they're stalled for a second. It's great against technical enemies.
- If you want to maximize damage, equip Burning Napalm. This is damage from the Flamethrower DoT, not the attack itself.
- Electronet
- Root an enemy in one spot is great, no matter what the situation is. Just be careful; they can still attack and use skills unless you have Hazy Shock equipped. That means Candy can still run away from a root - only target her if she's already used Slide.
- Mentioned before Hazy Shock is great for silencing enemies. It also keeps them from escaping from the root while you and your allies lay on the pain.
- For even more damage, equip Caught Prey - this is even more significant when you have allies or under a tower as they take increased damage from ALL sources, not only from you. It also persists for a second longer after root
- Mortar
- This is where most of Magnum's damage comes from, and it comes at a price. There is a delay between a target appearing and the rocket hitting it, so enemies can easily dodge it if they run constantly. However, this also means they take more damage if they still or are grouped with their allies, assuring they all get hit. Timing this is paramount.
- Mortar has only one damage increasing rune, Less Is More, but it comes at the cost of reducing the number of rockets.
- Another way to deal more damage is by utilizing Napalm Rockets, leaving behind a burning zone that burns targets and deals DoT. This way, your rockets don't need to hit - they just need to walk over it.
- If you want to give your enemies less warning, you can do it with Rapid-Fire Rockets but at the cost of reducing damage.
- There's also hitting multiple targets with Rocket Coordination. If you can time it right, you can have all three rockets (or two if using Less Is More) hit the same target all at the same time!
- Battle Rage
- It merely increases his damage when his abilities hit an enemy hero. That makes him a pretty good hero killer and ganker, so make sure to keep attacking (assuming you're not about to die yet).
Combos and Co-ops[]
- Solo Combos
- One of Magnum's best ways to certain kill an enemy opponent is by utilizing all of his abilities, including Battle Rage to it's optimum. That means making sure all of your rockets hit the same target, the target is burning, and the target's been netted. And then making sure you attack all the way.
- Using Mortar first and then rooting the target with Electronet ensures that all rockets hit, maximizing damage.
- Rune Combos
- Burndown with any of the Flamethrower or burning runes is useful, but the best combinations are Long-Range Flamethrower, Napalm Rockets, and/or Slowing Fire. This ensures that the target is always being burned, and the slow helps with making sure the target is always in your range of fire.
- Long-Range Flamethrower loves all the Flamethrower runes, although the only two other runes are Slowing Fire and Panicking Flame, only one of which can be used with it at the same time. Either is a good option, depending on your style of play.
- Third-Degree Burns combined with either Slowing Fire and Panicking Flame, again, are great against tanks that have healing runes and skills, although it will hinder your killing power.
- For maximum killing power - which can actually be used to kill off lower health enemies in higher levels - using Burndown, Burning Napalm, Caught Prey, and Woodcutting are recommended.
- Notable Character Co-ops
- TBA
- Notable Opponents
- TBA
Story[]
Armed to the teeth with some of the best engineered weaponry that his race is capable of creating, Magnum enters the arena in hopes of destroying the Devourer. Admittedly, his goal isn’t specifically to defeat the Devourer. That’s merely a sign that his creation was successful…
Magnum belongs to a race known as Eyoks - small rodent-like beings that, despite their appearance, are quite warlike. Their history is one of endless wars for independence as their home world of Crossroads is located at the center of the galaxy. This brings it under frequent attack by various colonial powers. However, the Eyoks have managed to repel each and every one of these attacks.
The Eyoks themselves function as a clan-based society, with Magnum being from an ancient and highly respected clan of weapon-makers. Each one of his ancestors have made weapons and little else. A distant relative invented the bow and arrow, another invented gunpowder, his grandfather developed the thermonuclear bomb, and his father created the combat taser. Each one has created a new piece of technology that advances the Eyoks ability to wage war.
Magnum has worked with weapons since he was a child, and has no rivals among other weapon experts. He easily knows more about what to kill with what than anyone else in the galaxy. But that’s not enough.
Magnum’s ancestors reproach him silent from the past – after all, he’s already 250 years old. With Eyoks having a life expectancy of 400 years, he’s grown quite old without inventing anything exceptional that could put his name in same category of all his great weapon-making ancestors. To be considered an equal with these ancient family members is Magnum’ greatest dream. When the forerunners saw the Spark within him and explained the Devourer, Magnum finally realized how he could make his dream come true.
He decided to create the weapon that would destroy the Devourer, and has been obsessed with the idea ever since.
It’s this obsession that the Forerunners exploit in the Arena, where Magnum literally “roasts” his opponents. This exploitation continues outside the Arena as well, where the Forerunners encourage his striving to build the Universal Weapon. While the Forerunners don’t really believe it’s possible…what if it is?
Skin Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- During beta-testing, he was called the Gunsmith.