Return of Reckoning

Greetings, fellow servants of the Great Changer.
I'm currently leveling a Magus (level 17) and looking for some guidance on how to shape my build going forward.

My goal is to run a Havoc "sniper-style" setup with some defensive layers, mainly to avoid getting instantly deleted by melee DPS who manage to close the gap.

I’ve come across conflicting advice regarding survivability: some suggest stacking toughness up to 800, while others prioritize wounds instead. I’m trying to understand which of the two offers more practical value in real encounters.
Also — if I invest heavily in defensive stats, how much damage output am I realistically sacrificing? Is the tradeoff worth it?

Lastly, since I love DoTs above all else, I’m also curious if a Changing tree DoT-based build is viable. It seems to deal solid damage over time, but in my tests it struggles to secure kills. Is this tree more of a pressure/support option than an actual killer?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

ignore the defensive and play at max range and always have some way safe to kite.

Dots deal alot of damage but since you are missing a heal debuff you will struggle to secure kills on targets that has support.

Vorloj wrote: ↑Thu Jun 05, 2025 9:00 am Greetings, fellow servants of the Great Changer.
I'm currently leveling a Magus (level 17) and looking for some guidance on how to shape my build going forward.

My goal is to run a Havoc "sniper-style" setup with some defensive layers, mainly to avoid getting instantly deleted by melee DPS who manage to close the gap.

I’ve come across conflicting advice regarding survivability: some suggest stacking toughness up to 800, while others prioritize wounds instead. I’m trying to understand which of the two offers more practical value in real encounters.
Also — if I invest heavily in defensive stats, how much damage output am I realistically sacrificing? Is the tradeoff worth it?

Lastly, since I love DoTs above all else, I’m also curious if a Changing tree DoT-based build is viable. It seems to deal solid damage over time, but in my tests it struggles to secure kills. Is this tree more of a pressure/support option than an actual killer?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

Click here to watch on YouTube

Shameless self advertisement, but relevant to topic thats dps mid tree spec soloroaming.

https://youtube.com/shorts/_sBpKG2Lc3c?feature=share for peak def gameplay...

Akilinus wrote: ↑Thu Jun 05, 2025 10:22 am ignore the defensive and play at max range and always have some way safe to kite.

Dots deal alot of damage but since you are missing a heal debuff you will struggle to secure kills on targets that has support.

This.

what is your spec @pahakukka

Akalukz wrote: ↑Thu Jun 05, 2025 4:05 pm what is your spec @pahakukka

In that clip i had https://builder.returnofreckoning.com/c ... ,8521,8513 used demonlord gear with triumphant if i remember right, and fort staff to proc dmg with rends too


I usually run the normal havoc spec with 4 pc triumphant and sov

First of all, thanks everyone for the replies. Thanks to Pahakukka for the video, very interesting.
However, what I see is that if it comes down to dogfighting, then it’s better to spec the Magus into Havoc for single target.
If doing DoT AoE damage isn’t useful against groups, then a strong single target build is better.
I used to think that DoT AoE could deal solid damage to groups and make a difference in scenarios or warbands, but if that’s not the case, then it’s basically useless.

Vorloj wrote: ↑Fri Jun 06, 2025 12:06 pm First of all, thanks everyone for the replies. Thanks to Pahakukka for the video, very interesting.
However, what I see is that if it comes down to dogfighting, then it’s better to spec the Magus into Havoc for single target.
If doing DoT AoE damage isn’t useful against groups, then a strong single target build is better.
I used to think that DoT AoE could deal solid damage to groups and make a difference in scenarios or warbands, but if that’s not the case, then it’s basically useless.

Havoc is way stronger yeah. Changing works but is not nearly as good. Indigo fire alone hits like a truck and magus gets high crit chance fairly cheaply

Vorloj wrote: ↑Fri Jun 06, 2025 12:06 pm First of all, thanks everyone for the replies. Thanks to Pahakukka for the video, very interesting.
However, what I see is that if it comes down to dogfighting, then it’s better to spec the Magus into Havoc for single target.
If doing DoT AoE damage isn’t useful against groups, then a strong single target build is better.
I used to think that DoT AoE could deal solid damage to groups and make a difference in scenarios or warbands, but if that’s not the case, then it’s basically useless.

Changing can make a difference in WB play, since most of ur damage is spirit and u can cut down some resists, sometimes it pierces a lot. But as for me its not about the dots, the firestorm is ur main ability. 20% slow as itself are very weak, but combined with other classes slow it can be very usefull. BiS tactic for +15% dmg with one dot (that actually bursts by havoc tree).

So overall changing magus can be usefull, but if u wanna feel real outcome-> a lot of practice, but in the end u will feel more comfy on sorc in dot spec.
I had a lot of late killing blows by dots, but its more about that there were 50+ enemies and some noobs have not enough healers in warbands. So Changing Magus deal solid dps, but u need to be very precise, when dps meter can shine, the real outcome is much less.

For smallscale Havoc best, u can try rift also, for wb run changin or rift. But nevertheless, magus struggles a lot in a lot of ways, if ur wb have more than 1 magus, for ex u cant stack some main skills like cloud and firestorm. And to deal decent damage u need to stack some dots, and as mentioned above, u dont have heal reduction debuff.

But answering ur question, u can made a defensive magus only for Rift since a lot of skills required to be close to the target. Otherwise its a waste of talis/talents since magus lack of damage overall vs other rdps classes.