Mag for dummies?

[Scarlet Shocker]

I kinda have an idea of what "Mag" is. I don't think it has much to do with red hats (or any other linux distro) but it seems to me it is about the "weight" of a power on an opponent.

 

My question is more about how you accumulate and stack it, how do you make it meaningful...

back in the day,we'd talk about Ghost Widow's 1000 mag on the LRSF... which basically ripped your proverbials off and there was no way you were getting out of that but that's not a thing these days it seems.

 

What I would love is a guide to "Mag" but I've searched for it but... maybe my search fu is weak

[Luminara]

Magnitude 1 - affects underlings (Rikti Monkeys)

Magnitude 2 - affects minions

Magnitude 3 - affects lieutenants

Magnitude 4 - affects bosses

 

Big bads need big Mags.  For example, a single-target Confuse in the hands of a dominator or controller, and properly slotted, can confuse GMs, like the Winter Lord.  EBs are usually no harder to control than bosses.  AVs are cheating dicks.

 

Magnitude is cumulative.  1 + 1 = 2.  2 + 1 = 3.  And so on.

 

Controls only stack by type.  Holds with Holds, Stuns with Stuns, yada yada yada.  A Hold won't stack with a Stun, a Stun won't stack with a Hold.  Same same to stack.

 

Duration is relevant, as is animation time.  If you use a Mag 2 control with a 12s duration and a 1.67s animation time, and a Mag 3 control with a 10s duration and 2.112s animation time, to control a boss, the Mag 2 control will drop approximately 9.8s after you use the Mag 3 control.

 

Stacking is easiest and most effective if two or more powers with controls are used, and presuming those two or more powers are not shit like 20% chance to X.  Dark Pit with Oppressive Gloom, for example, sparks joy.  Barrage plus Boxing, while both have small chances to Stun, does not spark joy.

 

Control powers can stack with themselves, if their recharge times are low enough and durations long enough.  Entangling Arrow, for instance, can be spammed and stacked with itself.

[macskull]

23 minutes ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

back in the day,we'd talk about Ghost Widow's 1000 mag on the LRSF

FWIW this is still a thing, but it's mag 100. It very much still exists, but teams these days have so much defense flying around you're not likely to get tagged with it - but if you do, you're at the mercy of your teammates for the 15 seconds or so it lasts since you'd need half a tray of breakfrees to get out of it.

[Championess]

10 minutes ago, macskull said:

FWIW this is still a thing, but it's mag 100. It very much still exists, but teams these days have so much defense flying around you're not likely to get tagged with it - but if you do, you're at the mercy of your teammates for the 15 seconds or so it lasts since you'd need half a tray of breakfrees to get out of it.

 

Yeah it's defense you're running that covers a lot of holes.  Having high defenses by way of things like Barriers kind of gives you quasi mez protection no matter the AT you're on since they need to hit you first to control you.

Edited 10 hours ago by Championess

[Scarlet Shocker]

So those "worthless" holds in control sets (looking at Poison and TA in particular) that do nothing but hold - actually with a Lockdown +2 mag suddenly seem pretty damned good in the round, amirite?

[macskull]

10 minutes ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

So those "worthless" holds in control sets (looking at Poison and TA in particular) that do nothing but hold - actually with a Lockdown +2 mag suddenly seem pretty damned good in the round, amirite?

Ehhh, on their own they’re not great unless you have stuff to stack them with, and they tend to have a shorter duration and longer recharge than control set holds.

[Psyonico]

3 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

So those "worthless" holds in control sets (looking at Poison and TA in particular) that do nothing but hold - actually with a Lockdown +2 mag suddenly seem pretty damned good in the round, amirite?

Both can stack with themselves as well as another power in the set.  Paralytic Poison can stack with Poison Trap and Ice Arrow stacks with EMP arrow.  Throw the lockdown proc in them also helps (though the duration of the proc is pretty short.

[MonteCarla]

8 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

So those "worthless" holds in control sets (looking at Poison and TA in particular) that do nothing but hold - actually with a Lockdown +2 mag suddenly seem pretty damned good in the round, amirite?

 

My TA/A Defender had the Lockdown and Devastation % chance to hold procs in Ice Arrow. It was probably overkill having both, but it meant I always held bosses in one shot.

[MoonSheep]

9 hours ago, Luminara said:

Magnitude 1 - affects underlings (Rikti Monkeys)

Magnitude 2 - affects minions

Magnitude 3 - affects lieutenants

Magnitude 4 - affects bosses

 

Big bads need big Mags.  For example, a single-target Confuse in the hands of a dominator or controller, and properly slotted, can confuse GMs, like the Winter Lord.  EBs are usually no harder to control than bosses.  AVs are cheating dicks.

 

dominators can stack enough confuse to mez most AVs even though Purple Triangles of Doom, takes about 40-50 seconds, sometimes worthwhile for tricky battles