Return of Reckoning

With the upcoming ranged DPS updates announced for Engineer, Magus, Shadow Warrior, Squig Herder, Bright Wizard and Sorcerer, I think it is a good time to have a calm and constructive discussion about where Magus could end up in organised warband and semi-warband play.

Right now, my main concern is simple: will these changes actually make Magus more desirable in organised groups, or will the class remain a niche pick while warbands continue to prioritise more explosive AoE burst classes?

I am not saying Magus is useless. The class has clear strengths: strong range pressure, utility, Rift potential, zoning, defensive play, and some interesting build diversity between Havoc, Changing and Daemonology. But in organised and optimised warband environments, the question is not only “can the class do damage?” The real question is: does it bring enough immediate, reliable and coordinated impact compared to the classes that can deliver heavy AoE burst on demand?

That is where I think the future changes will be important.

For me, there are a few key questions:

1. Will Magus remain too static?
A big part of the Magus identity is built around daemon positioning, setup, range management and playing around prepared ground. That can be fun and unique, but it can also feel limiting in fast-moving fights where the warband has to push, kite, rotate, reposition or instantly follow a call. If the future ranged DPS changes keep Magus mostly tied to a static gameplay loop, I am not sure its place in organised warbands will really change.

2. Will Magus get a more dynamic damage profile?
Organised groups often value classes that can contribute to a clear burst window. Pressure and sustained damage are useful, but warband fights are often decided by short moments: a good engage, a coordinated morale drop, a caught backline, a clump punished instantly. If Magus remains mostly about setup and delayed pressure, it may still struggle to compete with classes that deliver faster and more obvious AoE value.

3. What should the class identity be?
I do not think Magus needs to become a Sorcerer clone. That would be boring and would remove what makes the class interesting. But maybe the class needs a clearer role in organised play:
stronger zoning and battlefield control,
better rewarded daemon positioning,
more reliable AoE contribution,
more mobility or faster redeployment,
or a clearer burst window that warbands can actually build around.

4. Will utility be enough?
Utility is great, but only if it is strong, reliable and worth taking over raw damage. If Magus is not meant to compete directly with burst AoE classes, then its utility should probably be valuable enough that a warband leader actively wants one. Otherwise, the class risks staying in the same position: playable, interesting, sometimes useful, but not really desired when slots are limited.

Personally, what I hope for is not an overbuff. I do not want Magus to become mandatory or broken. I would just like the class to feel like a serious option in organised warband play, with a gameplay loop that matches the speed and reality of current large-scale fights.

So the real question is:

After the ranged DPS update, will Magus become a genuinely attractive warband pick, or will it still be seen as a niche/static class while burst AoE careers remain the default choice?

Curious to hear what other Magus players, warband leaders and ranged DPS players think.
What kind of changes would make Magus more relevant without destroying its identity?

I think Magus in wb size play is perfectly fine, it's super strong in solo play, but the only department he is lacking is in organized 6-man grps and that has two reasons:

1. Lack of healdebuff
2. Lack of Mobility

While the first one is manageable, the second one is really tough to go around.

25% of your damage is strung to your pet and even with the Chaotic Attunment tactic it's just exhausting to manage. It costs precious gcds and a lot of AP.

So how to fix this? There may be 3 options:

1. Increase the radius for the damage buff significantly. -> My least favorite option tbh

2. Remove the pet completely and just flat out buff his damage. ->Simple and easy, but also a bit boring

3. Make the Pet mobile. -> My favorite Option

I don't know how difficult it would be to switch out the static deomons with one that move, so the way to go here would be to use the models of NPCs that can move. For example, Tzeentch has flying demons (Screamers) that could be used for this and they could be summoned in three different colours to represent the three different paths. For Engi there could be used a scaled down gyrocopter, again in different colours.

These pets just fly besides them, give the buff and are attackable/destroyable by players. So you still have some pet management to do and there is counterplay. Just like it is against Squig and WL.

Of course you could mix this idea just into the class. Just implement these changes above to the first path (magus/Engi), make him a mobile single target caster/sniper and leave the pets from 2nd and 3rd path as it is to keep the stationary defense tower flair alive.

Core thing about rDPS - dodge&disrupt work in 360 degrees and snb tanks can give up to 45% of d&d. Let's say avg ini-willpower at 250 - 7,5% d&d, 3 hold the line - 52,5%, at max strikethrough - 26,25%, 1/4 of damage mitigated just because 3 snb press the button in case of maxout strikethrough.

Magic classes are one stat bound, but on other hand - armor cap 75%, resist cap 40%. But still with little trick, 3 types of magic and mix of solo resist debuff. Add here problems with attack healers(700-900 willpower and probably with 20 renown points in d&d, before htl - 42% of disrupt).

Another point - cast time, if you have inc damage even 1sec cast time can lasts for 2-3sec.

Ranged AoE channels with no target needed - not stack.

To make any suggestion you have to define final goal. Goals can be different, normalize spread inside archetype, correct spread between archetypes, give builds for different scale.

My conservative prediction:
-engi magus summon rework, like lower to +15% but without wait or distance to summon change like stacks if less 20ft, keep if less 50ftm loose above 50ft or both is some way
-bw sorc recalc abilities and resource bonuses and/or add more resource management
-sw sh hard to predict, inner feeling it's a place where class will be broken and not in a good way for players on those classes

"May be" change - proper LoS calc for engi magus sh summons, chances are low, it looks like server can only raycast by navmesh and server just can't calc it properly for player perspective.

Huge risky "not in my watch" change - no more dodge from behind or twice less likely before strikethrough.