Dota 2: Magnus Build Guide

There are few heroes in Dota 2 that are as versatile as Magnus. Back in the early days, most people would either run the hero in the middle lane or as an Offlaner. However, in the current patch, you can put the hero in just about any of the five roles and expect him to have an excellent impact throughout the game.

The hero has a versatile toolkit and can control the flow of battle even without any farm. And if he gets the gold to buy a couple of key items, he becomes the biggest threat to the enemy team during team fights. In this Dota 2 build guide, we’ll dissect which items to buy on Magnus and how to level up his abilities.

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Dota 2 Magnus Hero Overview

Magnus is a melee Strength hero with excellent base strength and Strength gain. That naturally makes this hero a lot tankier compared to heroes like the Windranger, who scale with Intelligence. On top of that, his base movement speed of 305 is a bit above the norm, allowing him to move around the map quickly, setting up plays.

The hero’s biggest strength in the early game is his Skewer ability, which allows him to reposition enemy heroes(or even cliff them if you manage to pull it off). Other than that, the hero also has a ranged nuke and an attack modification buff that he can use on himself or his allies.

Standard Abilities & Ultimate

The following table will give you a clearer idea of how Magnus’s standard abilities and ultimate works:

Ability Name	How it Works
Shockwave (Q)	Magnus sends out a shockwave in the target direction, damaging enemy units in a straight line and also pulling them slightly towards him. It also applies a movement speed slow for a short duration.
Empower (W)	Gives an allied unit bonus damage and cleave on attack. When cast on Magnus, the hero receives a 50% larger bonus.
Skewer (E)	Magnus rushes towards the target direction, goring enemy heroes caught in his path. It causes a movement speed slow and deals additional damage when skewering enemies through trees or cliffs.
Reverse Polarity (R)	Magnus pulls in nearby enemies in front of him and stuns them for a duration.

Reverse Polarity ignores debuff immunity and can stun heroes even under Black King Bar.

Magnus’s Aghanim’s Scepter and Shard upgrade offers the following:

Aghanim’s Scepter: Gives Magnus a new ability, Horn Toss. On Cast, Magnus tosses any enemies in front of him to his rear. Enemies are stunned when they are in the air.
Aghanim’s Shard: Upgrades Shockwave, allowing it to return to the original cast location after reaching max health. The second Shockwave deals less damage.

Magnus also received two facets and an innate ability with the Dota 2 Crownfall patch.

Innate Ability (Solid Core): Magnus has an innate slow resistance, and knockback abilities from enemies have less effect on him
Facet 1 (Reverse Polarity): Reverse Polarity pulls all nearby enemies in.
Facet 2 (Reverse Reverse Polarity): Reverse Polarity pushes enemies away all around Magnus

Magnus Build Guide in Dota 2

dota-2-magnus-reverse-polarity-animation

Magnus’s versatile abilities allow him to be played in all positions and roles in the current meta. For this build guide, we’ll focus on his Position 3 Offlane items and ability order since that is his most popular role. When playing as the Pos 3, Magnus’s job is to create space on the map and disrupt the enemy team during teamfights with his powerful initiation tool.

While this build is focused around team play, you can also find solo kills on the map, especially if you manage to hunt down the enemy Position 4 and 5. After the first few items, you should be moving around the map with your Midlaner, actively looking for kills and teamfight opportunities any time your ultimate comes off cooldown.

Here’s how the build works:

Magnus always goes for the Reverse Polarity Facet, regardless of his role. Reverse Reverse Polarity might be good for a few “meme builds” when you’ve got heroes like Bloodseeker on your team. But Reverse Polarity is what makes Magnus such a formidable teamfight hero.

In most cases, you’ll want to put your first point into Shockwave. This gives you a nuke at level one and also a means to secure the ranged creep on the first wave. After that, go for a point in Skewer for some kill threat. You’ll want to max out Shockwave as soon as possible. A value point into Empower might be good at level 4 if you’re having trouble last hitting. Otherwise, skip it and go for another level in Skewer.

You’ll always want to go for your ultimate in level 6. However, instead of leveling up your Talents, it’s best to max out your other abilities. At level 15, you’ll start putting points into your Talents. Here are the ones to go for:

+0.8s Reverse Polarity Stun Duration
+125 Shockwave Damage
-5s Skewer Cooldown
+0.75s Shockwave Slow Duration

Item Progression

When playing as the Pos 3, Magnus is the primary initiator. You’ll have to be the one to start the fight for your team. Here are the items that are good for the hero throughout a typical game of Dota 2:

Magnus’s starting items are pretty straightforward. A set of Tango, two Iron Branches, and a Quelling Blade are must-haves to help you secure early creeps and sustain the lane. Also, pick up a Gauntlet of Strength and a Circlet for some additional stats. You’ll be able to build it into a Bracer afterward.

During the laning stage, the first item you’ll usually want to build is Bracer. The stats it gives are too good to pass up on the hero. Buy a Magic Wand next for the burst healing. Pick up Boots of Speed next. Both Arcane Boots and Power Treads are good choices for Magnus. If you’re struggling with Mana management, go for Arcane Boots. Power Treads, on the other hand, gives you attack speed and some extra stats.

If the lane is too difficult, consider buying a second Bracer to become tankier.

Blink Dagger is Magnus’s primary initiation tool, and it’s the first core item you’ll want to start working on after getting your early-game items. Blink Dagger lets you jump onto enemies during teamfights to pull off excellent RPs (Reverse Polarity) that can turn the tides of the fight.

Building an Echo Saber and upgrading it to Harpoon serves as another major power spike for Magnus. You can use it to blink in, hook an enemy, and Skewer them towards your team to get an easy kill. It also gives you a lot of extra damage and stats.

Against enemy spell casters, Black King Bar is a good investment. It helps you get your abilities off without getting interrupted. Finally, Aghanim’s Shard gives you more damage and control.

Extra mobility is always great on Magnus. After picking up your key items, there are a few other options that are worth considering to fill up your inventory slots. Force Staff is a good candidate allowing you to position properly in teamfights. Shadow Blade is good in certain situations when the enemy team isn’t setting up Observer and Sentry Wards. Eul’s Scepter of Divinity gives you bonus movement speed and a way to dispel yourself.

As for aggressive options, Refresher Orb offers a lot of value. If you manage to pull off two multi-hero RPs in a single teamfight, it can easily lead to a team wipe. Shiva’s Guard can also be a good choice against heavy-hitting carries like Juggernaut, who relies on physical damage.

If you bought Arcane Boots, consider upgrading it to Guardian Greaves for more utility.

Magnus is a high-skill hero that requires a lot of practice to master. But the first step is getting his item build right. Feel free to try out our build in your next ranked game in Dota 2 and see how it works out for you.