Warframe: Advanced Builds Guide - Mag & Mag Prime

Detailed guide on Mag & Mag Prime. Includes 2 builds: Counterpulse and Umbral Mag. Also covers weapon choices, mods, and general playstyle. UPDATED as of patch 24.0.6 (Fortuna)

Introduction: Why Mag?

If you're reading this guide, you might be wondering what Mag and her Prime have to offer. For starters, you'll find her fun to play if you enjoy playing as casters/mages/magic wielders in Warframe and other games. Her playstyle isn't a "push-one-button-to-kill-everything" type of Frame (looking at you, Mesa and Equinox), which means you have to learn what each of her abilities actually does and how they synergize together. Every one of her abilities offers a type of crowd control and lets Mag pick and choose how to lock down a room. Her augment mods further enhance her abilities in useful ways, helping the player strip enemy armor and disarm groups of enemies. She also happens to be one of the starter Warframes who can carry you through the entire game without much fuss and survive endurance missions for hours on end. So in short, if you're looking for a frame with a great cost-to-benefit ratio, look no further than Mag.

Both builds below include the Counterpulse augment, which is arguably her best augment: 4 seconds of crowd control where enemies can't shoot at you is hard to pass up. These builds are also focused on modding for Power Strength, Range, and Duration. I have included brief explanations for alternating the builds to modify these attributes accordingly.

Both builds require 2 Forma on Mag Prime. I wrote a section on Aura mods because using a Forma on the Aura mod slot can alter the build slightly and depends on your playstyle.

Mag Prime Relics

Blueprint: Lith M2
Neuroptics: Neo N9
Chassis: Meso B3
Systems: Axi S4

To acquire the relics, do Orb Vallis and Cetus bounties, as well as missions in the Void (Capture, Sabotage, etc. with varying enemy levels).

Build 1: Standard Counterpulse

This build offers good survivability and offensive stats. It is also extremely flexible in letting you customize it as you acquire more mods (particularly mods like Transient Fortitude and Overextended). It's ok if you don't have the Primed mods; the standard versions work fine. Counterpulse is mandatory because it gives you 4 seconds of crowd control.

Customization:
Vitality can be swapped out for Overextended and Cunning Drift can be swapped for Power Drift to get more Range while maintaining high Power Strength.

Remove Stretch and replace it with Consittution to boost Power Duration if you wish.

Rapid Resilience can also take the place of Vitality for an alternative boost to survivability.

If you don't have Growing Power, replace it with Steel Charge instead.

You can also pick Fracturing Crush over Intensify if you want more Armor stripping and crowd control; Power Strength drops to 150%.

Sample build with Overextended:

Sample build with Fracturing Crush:

Build 2: Umbral Mag

A more advanced build that requires you to complete The Sacrifice quest.

Alternate build:

Which Aura? Madurai vs. Naramon

I decided to write a separate section for her Aura mod because which Aura mod you pick is largely dependent on your playstyle, and while it is always possible to re-Forma this slot, I hope to save you the time and cost of doing so if it can be avoided.

Mag and her Prime have a built in Madurai (V) polarity. With this polarity, she is able to take advantage of mods such as Growing Power (preferred), Steel Charge (beginners,), Rifle Amp, Dead Eye, Pistol Amp, and Shotgun Amp. Most of these mods are okay for the vast majority of the game, but I prefer Growing Power for the Power Strength buff which can easily be procced with high status weapons like the Torid or Pox. If you are playing in a full squad, running with at least 2 copies of the same Madurai polarity Aura mod can be useful but isn't mandatory by any means unless you have a really specific strategy in mind. For example, you run a Growing Power Mag because you have a Growing Power Banshee on your team and you want that stacking aura.

If you find you really dislike the Madurai polarity and want more useful mods for this slot, I recommend using a Forma to change it to a Naramon (Dash) polarity. Naramon Aura mods include popular favorites like Energy Siphon and Corrosive Projection, but again, these are not needed to clear the game. Corrosive Projection is best used in a full squad to get the maximum benefit from it, and Energy Siphon's benefits can be outclassed by the Zenurik focus school, Arcane Energize, and Squad Energy Restores (craftable). I personally have not really used Loot Detector, Empowered Blades, and Shield Disruption. Speed Holster will either become obsolete or reworked with Melee 3.0 so I wouldn't mod this slot solely to use it, if that is the only Naramon Aura that interests you. Sprint Boost can be useful in certain squads or mission types (Sortie exterminates, survival). The Scavenger mods are entirely situational and rendered obsolete by Carrier's Ammo Case.

In my opinion, the best Madurai Aura mod to use on Mag is Enemy Radar. It is the go to mod for endurance runners because it increases enemy spawns (solo and in a squad, stacks in a squad). Increased enemy spawns are vital for survival missions (more enemy spawns = more drops = more life support) and speeding up missions in general. For general use, I'd recommend either Energy Siphon or Corrosive Projection if you're not interested in endless missions.

Primary Weapons:

The Torid synergizes well with Mag's Magnetize bubbles. Mod for crit and status depending on the factions you're fighting.


Other viable options include the Zarr and Lanka.

Secondary Weapons:

The Mara Detron, Pox, and Zakti (for Corpus) are great weapon choices that work well with Mag's bubbles. Make sure your status coverage is different from your primary weapon's status build. I went Corrosive on my Pox to strip armor.

Melee:

Mag isn't designed for close quarters melee combat, as she is a squishy caster frame. Thrown melees such as the Glaive/Glaive Prime, Orvius, and Zenistar better suit her playstyle.

If you meet the login requirement, the Zenistar is a good weapon (my personal favorite) because the disc can be thrown and has fantastic status procs. The disc will orbit around your bubbles if you throw it at them.

Playstyle:

When playing as Mag, you generally want to avoid as much enemy aggro as possible since she is very fragile. Keep Counterpulse up as much as possible, enter Void mode (if unlocked) to dodge enemy fire, and parkour to reduce the damage you take after casting abilities. You will always be most vulnerable when casting abilities (especially Crush, which requires you to be stationary) so keep on the move and place Magnetize bubbles strategically around the room and on tough enemies to control the fight. Use Pull to bring enemies into your Magnetize bubbles and to trip melee enemies. Don't forget to Roll in tight situations, as this move will reduce your damage by 75%.

Sentinels are her go-to companions; I often run an Ammo Case Carrier Prime (with Primed Regen) to help manage my Pox's low max ammunition on long runs. A Djinn modded with Sacrifice and Reawaken can also be extremely useful if you find yourself getting killed frequently. Mod your Sentinels with Medi-Ray, Guardian, and Shield Charger to help keep you alive.

TL, DR:
- assess each room's chokepoints and place Magnetize bubbles accordingly
- cast Counterpulse on every mob when it's up
- cast Magnetize and Crush on elite enemies
- Pull enemies into bubbles
- roll and parkour to reduce damage
- enter Void mode to reduce damage (if unlocked through story progression)

Pros & ♥♥♥♥:

Pros:
Insane crowd control and map control
All four of her abilities are useful and offer crowd control
All of her powers can be used both offensively and defensively
Teaches you the importance of parkour and mobility (transferrable skills)
Teaches you to think strategically (map awareness, prioritizing certain enemies, ability combos)
Powerful augment mods that complement Mag's abilities (particularly Counterpulse and Fracturing Crush)
Can be played solo or in a team effectively
Can survive solo endurance runs
Top notch skins for fashion frame (Mag Pneuma and Alata personal faves)


♥♥♥♥:
Weaker against Corpus vs other enemy types
Counterpulse does not affect melee enemies
Fracturing Crush only immobilizes enemies and does not stop aggro
Relatively squishy if you're not careful
Umbral mods require you to complete most of the game (The Sacrifice quest)
Primed mods are limited in availability (Baro Ki'Teer Void Trader; trade chat)
Umbral and Primed mods require large quantities of Endo to fully max out
Mag Prime is vaulted and subject to market prices

Conclusion & Recommendations:

Whether you're going solo or fighting in a team, Mag is an all around solid choice to help you clear the star chart and run endgame missions. Her builds offer a lot of modding flexibility and the crowd control she offers make her one of my top tier picks out of all Warframes.

I recommend joining either New Loka or the Perrin Sequence to acquire her augment mods if you'd prefer not to trade for mods. All of the mods I listed earlier can be acquired through gameplay, though you may want to trade for Primed Continuity and Primed Flow since Baro isn't guaranteed to have them every time he surfaces. Riven mods for your favorite weapons are useful but by no means required to dominate with Mag.

Let me know in the comments below if you agree or disagree with my build, or perhaps have some suggestions to modify it! I'm always on the lookout for new builds and cool warframe/weapon combos.

If you like my guide, I also recommend checking out my guide for Nyx below:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=876806847
This guide contains several screenshots taken by me but also various pieces of artwork and concept art of Mag, Mag Prime, and locations in the Warframe universe, which were created by the developer, Digital Extremes, and can be found on their website. All the rights to this artwork (and game) belong to Digital Extremes.

Thanks for reading my guide! Please give it a thumbs up and favorite!

Til next time, Tenno.

[Spall]

Forehead / Forehead Prime Guide

[Tabby3456]

wow, the complaining makes rhino mains easier to understand

[Burn China to Ash]

You can't deal any damage with her 2 if you are dead Da Atte, Mag needs duration for both 2 and 3, her str can be the secondary priority since you still hold something in your hands. Therefore Dur and Range are a must have for Mag. DO NOT LET ANY OF HER NUMBER HAS NEGATIVE STAT. (F*ck the limit of 1000 words in the comment btw)

[Burn China to Ash]

Imagine you have a Lephantis sortie boss fight, what u gonna bring if you know there's a Slowva in your squad? Chroma? Wot if there's another Chroma? Mag with duration is the answer, u place her 2 on a head, Chroma shoot, one head down. If not Lephantis, Ambulas, even though no special spot to hurt it but her 2 helps you to easier target it down, 2 shot is complete for a lv100 Ambulas, ofc u can't has 2 shot of a sniper when you have negative duration. U always gonna want it above 150%, my case, I got a 156 and 194 dur build. Mag technically can't survive without duration, since you already said Mag doesn't need range, my bet on your 3 can't reach 20m with your build. If you can't reach that much, how you gonna defend yourself from the enemies fire? Pray?

[Burn China to Ash]

Mag needs a nuke build, range isn't too important but Mag need DURATION to expand the zone she can cover with her 3. Her 1 and 4 depend on range so it's best not to let it below 100%, her 3 with the aug is perfect, no need to discuss but DURATION is a MUST HAVE for Mag.

[Da Atte]

What I don't get is why everyone wants Range for Mag? She needs Strength, Effiency and negative Duration. Why negative Duration? Because with her 2nd ability she can create bubbles that will explode after a while and you want the explosion to happen as fast as possible when used on groups of enemies.

Place 2nd ability on enemy, shoot it with high damage weapon (Snipers Rifles are great for this) and then use 4th to pull the enemies towards the center of the bubble and stun them briefly. Then by the time the enemies are trying to get up the bubble will explode and deal hexty amount of damage to the enemies near it.

The problem (in my opinion) with Range and Duration is that the 2nd ability will mess up shooting sometimes. Not with Launchers, but with Assault Rifles and other hit-scan weapon without proper spread.

[Velnairi]

A couple things:
Counter-pulse is overrated, don't use it.
The overshields from her 4 are underrated, use 4 more.
You don't need a lot of strength to make her abilities super strong.
Any bullets from standard weapons will go straight to the enemy's head when shot into the top of her 2, expanding your list of effective weapons to a much larger amount.
Last but not least, playing mag aggressively is quite viable and I do it often.

[^0[.SAS.]^4HunterCat]

its just meh

[Leonie 🦋 🎀]

no arcanes REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[Tam4]

Just drop primed flow/flow from all of your builds and make duration/efficiency/strength build instead(you can spam all your abilities and its super fun), range is only viable with your 1 and slightly 2.