So Mag is very powerful but not really my frame, I did give her a solid try once and the result was a Brozime video (I’m one of two people behind the original reddit post that Brozime Sorry it was AznvasionsPlays refered to as ‘the reddit community’) While broken if used right it always feels like the correct way to use mag is never the intuative way to use mag, her best interactions come from using her kit in very un-intended feeling ways.

Sorry it was AznvasionsPlays

If I main anything, it’s Mag. (Though I don’t really main anything.)

In non-steel path, Greedy Pull is super handy. For other content, you want Fracturing Crush. Magnetic Discharge or whatever it’s called is something I don’t see the use for at all.

Mag likes Transient Fortitude, because no bubble needs to last very long. No, don’t put Continuity on her. Use the Augur set (without Message) and Growing Power or Brief Respite if you’re scared. Your choice on how to handle energy economy, keeping in mind that if Mag isn’t casting every few seconds in high level content, she’s dying. Energize works fine at rank 4 or higher, Zenurik works too, but ultimately with enough amber shards for energy, you don’t need either.

I’ve read all sorts of people praising Breach Surge on Mag. I love a Blazing Surge Hildryn, but not for Mag. Polarize is better. And Pull is too good. Mag’s abilities synergize too well to replace any of them. You can Pull more victims into a bubble. Holding Pull is weak and just plainly something I only ever do by accident. Why hold it in front of you when you can just Magnetize whoever is shooting at you?

Primary and Secondary Deadhead can proc reliably from shooting into the top of a Magnetize bubble.

Mag requires projectile (not hit scan) weapons with punch through. After really, really extensive testing here’s her weapons:

Best Primary: Exergis. It has infinite body punch through. That means it does INFINITE damage in a bubble. With this, put Arcane Tempo on Mag. Most Practical Primary: Tenet Tetra with Punch through AND Kinetic Ricochet. Primary not alt fire when shooting into a bubble. People love the arca plasmor for the bubble, but it’s really not even in the top five. Most Hilarious Primary: Secura Penta with Internal Bleeding. (Or is it Hemorrhage? I can never remember which is which.) Pentas do NOT need punch through and in fact should not have it.

Best Secondary: Not a clear winner here, but Aksomati Prime are a good choice. It’s likely you have a projectile secondary with a good riven that will push the Aksomati out of the top spot though. Unfortunately Seeker is very expensive to put on a pistol. Tenet Cycron is very strong, and beams do get grabbed by the bubble, but they stop when you stop firing. You might think the Aegrit would be like the Penta, but it’s not.

Best Melee: Quassus Prime built for heavy attack. Outclasses even the verdilac. By a LOT. But this is for melee into Magnetize. Some sort of finisher weapon like Innodem is better if you’re planning Ground Finishers using Pull.

Of the trio of starter frames, I think I like playing Mag the most. Dropping a verdillac projectile into the Magnetize field feels good.

Mag is one of those frames I always want to use due to a cool theme and then when I try to play her it just feels finnicky and weird.

Pull pulls but not everyone and not the same distance or to the same location.

Magnetize is either completely OP or you face an eximus that just walks through it, and it’s also annoying for teammates that might want to shoot something not in a bubble but you have them all over the place.

Polarize is the thing you spam to not die, at least until enemies run out of shields and armor.

Crush is cool I guess

Seems like everyone just builds her with shield gating and magnetize abuse in mind but that doesn’t seem that fun. Wish it were to me, for Aoi’s sake 🤷‍♂️ I just wanted to be Magneto and a telekinetic god throwing stuff around, or like Jesse in Control, but it ain’t it.

I played my fair share of Excalibur and I Volt was my go-to AoE nuke before I got Saryn but I never really touched Mag much. She’s definitely strong with all the buffs she’s gotten over the years but she just never seemed all that fun to me. Magnetize is definitely her signature ability, shooting projectiles with infinite body punchthrough into it and watching them spin and obliterate everything inside is what she’s known for. Her biggest weakness is her dependence on specific weapons and mods to really make her shine, not something that’s ideal for a starter warframe.

I’d say Mag is tied with Volt for the most well-rounded starter, although as your access to mods expands she starts to approach the same actions through a more support-oriented route. Her relative level of power has become more balanced after Jade Shadows, but in the intervening year and a half between then and Veilbreaker, she was easily one of the best frames in the game.

Even before considering her fantastic augments, her base kit has a lot going for it:

• Pull: A one-handed action, so works as a quick CC and helps Mag with her melee play. I have an (outdated) video demonstrating this playstyle: https://dormi.zone/post/295699. Opens enemies to ground finishers too for Obex Entropy Detonation memes, Innodem finisher abuse, G H O U L S A W, Influence bombs, Argonak/Dark Dagger setups, amongst many other options.
• Magnetize is an incredible CC and damage buffing tool. There is a high level of skill expression in placing your mag bubbles in a way that creates walls through the battlefield that prevent enemy travel and lines of fire. On priority targets, places a damage vulnerability effect on the victim. You can also consider it as a lingering grouping ability for melee or any blast or gas-modded weapons in your loadout.
• Polarise: one-handed shield gate. With Mag’s large shield reserves she can get a very long shield gate between Polarise casts making her very comfy to play. Prior to SP, also a very competent nuke for dealing with Mirror Defense and the benighted Corpus Ship Defense nodes.
• Crush: shield gates you, bestows Overshield, Overshields Mirror Defense objectives, and freezes enemies in place. One of the ultimates of all time.

Augments are where Mag gets really silly, and also a bit painful due to mod slot syndrome. I personally have a few different loadouts for different augment combos.

• Magnetized Discharge significantly eases the process of placing Magnetize bubbles, as well as recycling them and turning them into bombs that do frankly an unreasonable amount of damage.
• Counter Pulse assists Polarize as your cheap shield gate by additionally disabling enemies hit by it, assuming they are still susceptible to it. The disarm roots enemies in place so don’t use this in Defense where it doesn’t kill things. Stops working on enemies that have shields down or no longer (or never had) have armour. Despite all the caveats gives Mag almost perfect tile control.
• Fracturing Crush: Mag’s apotheosis from good to goddess. Massive range, low strength requirement fullstrip, shield gates you, your friends, any objectives, CCs enemies. A Fracture Mag on the team is essentially just an unconditional 10x damage multiplier before considering Polarize abuse.

Mag is one of the mightiest sandbox frames in the game, hands down. With love and respect to the other Dormizone tenno here insinuating she needs to play around Magnetize, I would rather say Mag is total freedom and unparalleled power. And she’s a fantastic support to boot. Try Mag today!