Class Guide: Playing a Magus

A Magus' role in group situations is to simply do a lot of damage and stay alive. This may seem like a simple charter, but theres some tricks to it. If you do too much damage, you may pull aggro and die. If you do too little, then the monster lives too long, the healer gives out, and the tank dies. Both these scenarios are, ultimately, your fault, and no one likes to be responsible for that, so keep these tips in mind when in a group.

1. Start off slow. When your group is attacking a particularly difficult monster, like a stage 2 or 3 PQ (public quest) mob, let the tank get aggro and then do slow damage. As the fight progresses you can ramp up your damage more and more, but the initial 10 or so seconds in crucial.

2. Control your Pet. Pets that attack anything that comes near them can very quickly cause the entire group to get killed. Stay in direct control of your pet's attacks. If you can't control your pet then don't summon it.

3. Love your Detaunt. Magus' get Horrifying Visions at level 7. If a monster comes after you while you're in a group, use this ability and then do not attack. This greatly increases the chance that you will survive the attack, and can return to doing your job. The alternative is death for you, and quite possibly your whole group.

I wish I could say that the Magus class really shines in PvP and that you'll always be at the very top of the damage and kills charts, but the fact is that the Magus is a "balanced" class. You sacrifice damage for utility, and mastering those utilities is the only way you will truly shine in PvP. That isn't to say that a Magus can't top damage and kill meters, but to do so requires a little bit more effort, the right scenario, and quick thinking. These tips will help you get the most out of your class.

1. Use choke points. The Magus has a plethora of AoE and DoTAoE abilities at their disposal, and an excellent AoE pet in the Blue Horror. These can be exploited in choke points - areas where lots of enemy players are grouped up for a reasonably long time. An example of this is the ruins of Mourkain Temple, a Tier 2 scenario, or on the bridge in Nordenwatch, a Tier 1 scenario.

2. Stay near a tank and healer. You can't do any damage if you spend the entire PvP session dead. Staying near tanks and healers will help ensure that you don't get secluded away from the group with a melee DPS class that will very quickly kick your squishy butt. Don't try to be a hero. If you charge into a group you WILL die, and then be no good to anyone.

3. Close-range casters. Even if tanks are keeping melee away from you, you are still going to be getting hit really hard by casters, particularly Bright Wizards. If you can do it safely, ie: without breaking the above rules, get up close on them. They are very ineffective at short range and your attacks, like Demon Lash, will interrupt their casts.