Magic: Legends Beginner’s Guide – What The Tutorial Doesn’t Tell You (PC)

Welcome new and old planeswalkers! You may have heard there is a new ARPG based on the Magic: The Gathering IP, with Open Beta for Magic: Legends having launched on March 23rd, 2021 with Limited Early Access opening 24 hours prior via codes.

This guide is to help planeswalkers of all experience to navigate the game of Magic: Legends when first getting started and hopefully make it a little easier on your brain, hands, and computer.

While the game is in its early days, the data below is subject to change as new information, research, patches, and changes are released. If you see something that I’ve missed, misunderstood, or just completely gotten wrong, please let me know by leaving a comment at the bottom!

Check out our other Magic: Legends guides!

Table of Contents

1. Before You Get Started
   • Performance (FPS) Improvements
   • Difference Between Planeswalker and Class
   • In-Game Menu and Keybinds
     • In-Game Menu (TAB/F1)
     • Keybinding Mouse Clicks
   • Terminology
     • Creature Spells
     • Spell Mechanics
     • Enemy Ranks and Mechanics
     • Loadout Score & Equipment/Artifact Stats
2. Classes and their Abilities, Traits, and Stats
   • Classes Overview
     • Beastcaller
     • Necromancer
     • Mindmage
     • Geomancer
     • Sanctifier
     • Dimir Assassin
   • Dual-Coloured Decks & Unlocking Additional Classes
     • Additional Class Costs
     • Class Traits
3. Tutorial Area – Tazeem
   • The Sanctum
   • When can I play with friends?

Before you get started

Performance (FPS) Improvements

Given the immaturity of the game’s development, there are a number of things that aren’t optimised as well as they could be, even some powerful rigs are struggling to stay stable (though the Razer Chroma RGB integration is working well!) Here are some things you can do to help reduce the stress on your system and improve FPS.

Firstly, reduce loading times and stuttering by going into the Magic: Legends launcher:

• Options (top right)
  • uncheck “on-demand patching”
  • check “force verify”

This will force the game to download everything at once rather than during load screens.

If you’re wondering how to view you FPS or change settings that aren’t in the GUI for settings, these are done through the chat box. Using these commands through the chat in-game can help change some of the graphics that aren’t in your graphics settings dialogue. The game may not look as pretty, but the FPS improvements are necessary.

• /showfps 1 – shows your FPS in top right of screen
• /netgraph 1 – shows your ping in bottom left of screen
• /shadows 0
• /ssao 0
• /dynamiclights 0
• /lensflare_quality 0
• /visscale 0
• /vsync 0
• /water 0
• /worlddetail 0
• /terraindetail 0
• /highDetail 0
• /highFillDetail 0
• /characterdetail 0
• /txaa 0
• /msaa 0

These settings will need to be changed every time you launch the game, as it resets on closing the client.

You can bind your F5, F6 and F7 keys with the following chat lines that saves between sessions and with a single keypress you can set the graphics to bare minimum or to whatever you like (change accordingly.) You can use the line /unbind F5, for example, to clear the binding in the future.

/bind F5 “shadows 0 $$ ssao 0 $$ dynamiclights 0 $$ lensflare_quality 0 $$ visscale 0 $$ worlddetail 0 $$ terraindetail 0 $$ highDetail 0 $$ highFillDetail 0 $$ characterdetail 0 $$ poissonShadows 0 $$ entityTexLODLevel 0 $$ worldTexLODLevel 0 $$ target_highlight 0 $$ unlit 0 $$ scattering 0”

/bind F6 “showfps 1 $$ netgraph 1 $$ texLoadNearCamFocus 0 $$ texAniso 0 $$ highQualityDOF 0 $$ soft_particles 0 $$ frameRateStabilizer 0 $$ vsync 1 $$ maxfps 30”

/bind F7 “netgraph 0 $$ showfps 0”

Thanks u/Watipah!

difference between planeswalker and class

Let’s first figure out what the difference is between your planeswalker (character) and class.

Your planeswalker is your character; it contains all your classes combined, and has a maximum level of 320. Your in-game drops and loot are shared between classes on the same planeswalker including your gold, currency, upgrades, and Planeswalker Level benefits – all shared.

Your class is the playable character you end up using in the overworld, each with their own unique abilities, attack style, level bonuses and stats.

Each time you gain a class level or earn sufficient XP while playing a max level class (level 30), you will gain a Planeswalker Level.

For every Planeswalker Level increase, you receive a % increase in one of the following attributes. These are rewarded rotating from top to bottom of the list.

• Planeswalker Damage +0.5%
• Maximum Health +1%
• Creature Damage +0.5%
• Creature Health +1%
• Critical Damage +0.5%
• Gold Drop Rate +0.5%
• Spell Page Drop Rate +0.5%
• Relic Fragment Drop Rate +0.5%

For your very first class you receive a starting deck of 12 spell cards and after that you must finish the story lines for each overworld (five spell cards per colour) and pray to the RNG gods that you get some frequent spell card drops from mobs for the colours you want to unlock next.

In the State of the Game – Open Beta Week 3 article from the developers dated 8th April 2021, a mid-April update will see starter decks being unlocked when you unlock a new class:

..we also want to help make building out your spell library more efficient – by now including the full 12 spell starter deck for every launch class you unlock.  This means if you unlock a class through the realm or the store, that full starter deck will be added to your library.  Of course many people have already unlocked classes, and we’ll also be retroactively adding those spells to your library at the same time.

Steve Ricossa, Executive Producer | Magic: Legends

It’s important to carefully think about what class you want to ‘main’ in this game, and cut any losses before you invest too much time in a class that you don’t enjoy playing.

A relatively pain-free way of testing the classes is to create multiple planeswalkers, each with a different starting class, so you can test the playstyle of each class and get a feel for what you enjoy playing.

Your first 20-40 hours of gameplay will be spent on your first two classes, with the passive buff of the class trait (level 30 class) being the only thing that directly affects another class.

In-game menu and keybinds

In-Game Menu (TAB/F1)

The in-game menu contains your Map for fast travelling; Guide for story line missions and daily zone reputation quests; Loadout to change equipment, artifacts, class, traits, and deck; Library containing all your owned spell cards and their customisations; Store being the microtransactions hub as well as containing Battlepass details which are also available for free-to-play.

Keybinding Mouse Clicks

As of the 31st March, you cannot naturally keybind mouse clicks. Again, it’s a matter of using slash-commands in the chat to make this possible.

Combine these two tables as necessary.

Keybind Action	Description
+MouseBehavior_Camerarotate	Rotate Camera
+MouseBehavior_ForceMove	Move without attacking
+MouseBehavior_AttackThenMove	Attack and Move
+kbm_secondary	Secondary ability
+kbm_utility	Utility ability

For example:
/bind Mbutton +MouseBehavior_Camerarotate

The above command will set camera rotation to your middle mouse button.

Terminology

Creature Spells

Most loadouts will at least have one creature, as the probability of having enough cards to have a sorcery-only deck is low until much later in the game. Understanding how to read these cards and what the numbers mean is vital for understanding how other spells/creatures impact your creature damage and survivability.

You can have your summoned creatures target a specific enemy by pressing T on your keyboard,

The cost to cast this creature spell is noted by the Mana circles above the Rank number. In this example, we have a total cost of 10 Mana; 8 Mana of any colour plus 2 Blue Mana.

The power/toughness (5/7 above) anecdotally seems to be a multiplier of a Base DPS and Base Health stat number. This as if it were a 1/1 creature.

There is still research being undertaken to determine the formula for Base DPS/Health at each Class Level, which is also a factor in calculating total DPS and Health of a creature. These DPS and Health figures are before any equipment/class/stat bonuses are put in effect.

As you rank up your spell card using Spell Pages (bought from Broker or loot from mobs/ordeals), the DPS and Health of the card increases.

The Special Ability is cast both on summon as well as on a set interval between auto-attacks. This interval seems to be 10 seconds, however more testing needs to be undertaken to confirm this.

You can reduce the Spell Page cost by per rank by 75% through upgrading Lands (Mana/Colour Specific) and your Aetheric Core within the Meditation Realm. It is not worth upgrading the rank of your spell cards before upgrading the Land to make it cheaper.

Spell Mechanics

Having received some information regarding the game code, we have been able to accurately determine the values for spell stats and how much lesser or greater buffs/debuffs impact targets.

Your mana bar consists of 12 Mana segments, with a regeneration rate of one Mana every two seconds. Drawing a card takes seven seconds from the time of last draw/new slot opening up.

Pressing R on the keyboard initiates Mana Surge. Mana Surge gives an additional three Mana over six seconds, for a total of one mana/second for six seconds.

When you have all four Mana Surge segments, you can activate your classes Spark ability (Space by default). Your Spark bar contains 1200 Spark, with class abilities consuming between 60-120 Spark/seconds giving an ability time of 20 seconds.

Without and Spark Recharge boosts from equipment, Mana Surge/Spark regenerates at a rate of 10 Spark/second, giving 30 seconds between Mana Surge segments and 120 seconds for a full Spark bar.

Mechanic Name	Effect
Activated Ability	If this spell enters your hand while you control the creature, it becomes this ability instead.
Disorient	Prevents actions and movement until damaged.
Exile	Exiled creatures cannot act or take damage.
Haste	Lesser/Greater is a 25%/75% increase of attack speed.
Hexproof	May not be targeted by foes.
Kicker	Press and hold to spend additional mana.
Lifelink	Once per attack, damage dealt by the creature will also heal you.
Mana Regeneration	Lesser/Greater is a 50%/100% increase the speed of Mana Regeneration during combat.
Mana Efficiency	Lesser/Greater is a 25%/50% decrease in spell cost.
Might	Lesser/Greater is a 10%/20% increase of damage strength. Lesser and Greater Might stack if combined.
Piercing	Basic projectiles pass through enemies.
Reflect	Reflect enemy damage back to the attacker. Damage dealt is limited to your maximum health.
Regenerate	If this creature would be destroyed, it instead heals to full life and loses this effect.
Resistance	Lesser/Greater is a 10%/20% increase resistance to damage from enemies.
Retaliate	Deal its power in damage when hit.
Root	Entrap enemies in place with roots.
Sacrifice	Sacrifice a creature in play to gain a buff or an additional effect.
Slow	Lesser/Greater is a 25%/75% decrease of attack speed.
Snare	Lesser/Greater is a 25%/50% decrease of movement speed.
Stun	Momentarily stuns and incapacitates enemies.
Summon X	For spells with “X” in their cost, press and hold to spend more mana.
Swiftness	Lesser/Greater is a 25%/50% increase of movement speed.
Taunt	Forces an attack from foes, which uses up their ability or temporarily makes players lose control.
Trample	Basic attacks hit multiple targets.
Transform	Transform into second form if available to the creature.
Vulnerability	Lesser/Greater is a 10%/20% increase in incoming damage.
Weakness	Lesser/Greater is a 10%/20% reduction to damage dealt.

Enemy Ranks, XP Received and Their Damage/Health Multipliers

There are five ranks of enemies found in Magic Legends, with only four of them giving XP when defeating (Minions do not give any XP.)

Each rank of enemy also has a different Damage and Health scaling off a base value. This base value is unknown, however we have been able to identify the multiplying factor.

Champion ranked enemies have 3.11x the Health than a Standard enemy, with Elites have 6.89x the Health. Now you know why Elites seem to take so many more hits to take down!

Class Level	Hordeling XP	Standard XP	Champion XP	Elite XP
1	1	3	13	48
2	1	3	13	48
3	1	3	13	48
4	1	3	13	48
5	1	3	13	48
6	1	3	13	48
7	1	3	13	48
8	2	6	26	96
9	2	6	26	96
10	2	6	26	96
11	2	6	26	96
12	2	6	26	96
13	2	6	26	96
14	2	6	26	96
15	3	9	39	144
16	3	9	39	144
17	3	9	39	144
18	4	12	52	192
19	4	12	52	192
20	4	12	52	192
21	5	15	65	240
22	5	15	65	240
23	5	15	65	240
24	7	21	91	336
25	7	21	91	336
26	7	21	91	336
27	8	24	104	384
28	9	27	117	432
29	10	30	130	480
30	11	33	143	528

Base Damage Multipliers	Multiplier Factor
Enemy_Ranged	0.466666668653488
Enemy_Melee	1.000000000000000
Multiplier of Base Melee Damage Dealt
Damagescale_Hordeling	0.159999996423721
Damagescale_Standard	0.300000011920928
Damagescale_Champion	0.479999989271163
Damagescale_Elite	0.750000000000000
Multiplier of Base Range Damage Dealt
Hordeling_Ranged	0.266666680574417
Standard_Ranged	0.400000005960464
Champion_Ranged	0.466666668653488
Elite_Ranged	0.533333301544189
Multiplier of Base Health Value
Healthscale_Hordeling	0.119999997317790
Healthscale_Standard	0.449999988079071
Healthscale_Champion	1.399999976158140
Healthscale_Elite	3.099999904632560

Loadout Score & Equipment/Artifact Stats

Loadout Score represents your overall power. You can use it to choose and appropriately challenging difficulty level. Loadout Score is calculated by totaling your Equipment Scores from your Equipment, Spell Cards in Current Deck, and Artifacts.

Your Loadout Score is used to determine a Health and Damage bonus multiplier using a complex formula.

See my other article delving into the mathematics behind XP and Loadout Score calculations in Magic: Legends.

Equipment

For every one upgrade of your equipment, you will increase the selected mod/stat, as well as the overall equipment score for that piece.

For every 1 point of equipment/artifact stat increase, this roughly translates to a 0.03% increase. There is a lot of research being undertaken to understand this mechanic, as it anecdotally seems to have a diminishing return after +500 potency.

The maximum Equipment Score that any one piece of equipment can have is 58, regardless of rarity. This creates a cap of 348 Loadout Score that can be obtained from Equipment.

Rarity of equipment determines how many extra mods are available. Two for Common, three for Uncommon, and four for Rare and Mythic.

Artefacts

The maximum Equipment Score for an artefact is dependent on rarity:

• Legendary: 80
• Greater: 60
• Lesser: 40

With the ability to slot up to one legendary, two greater, and three lesser artefacts, this creates a cap of 320 Equipment Score from max-rank artefacts.

Spell Cards

As you increase the rank of your Spell Cards, so does the Equipment Score. For every rank above Rank 1, you gain 7 Equipment score towards your Loadout Score.

With Spell Cards being capped to Rank 10 as of writing, this creates a limit of 63 Equipment Score per Spell Card in your Current Deck. With 12 cards at Rank 10, this creates a cap of 756 Equipment Score from your Deck.

Traits

You can slot up to three traits with a fixed Equipment Score of 30 each. Jump to Class Traits to read more details about what these are.

With three traits slotted (3+ classes at Level 30), you will receive +90 to your Loadout Score.

Theoretical Maximum Loadout Score & Damage/Health Bonus

With the above information taken into consideration, we can expect to see a maximum Loadout Score of 1404 with every slot equipped at maximum upgrade/rank:

• Equipment – 348
• Artifacts – 320
• Spell Cards – 756
• Traits – 90

With a Loadout Score of 1514, we should expect to see a Damage and Health Bonus multiplier of x11.09 .

Stats Found on Equipment & Artefacts

Stat	Description
<colour> Mana Creature Health	Health of <colour> Mana Creatures
<colour> Mana Creature Potency	Damage output of all <colour> Mana Creatures
<colour> Mana Resist	Damage resistance to sources of <colour> Mana Spells
<colour> Mana Sorcery Potency	Damage output of all <colour> Mana Sorcery Spells
Chromatic Creature Potency	Damage output of all Creatures
Chromatic Sorcery Potency	Damage output of Sorcery Spells
Control Rating	Duration of outgoing Control Effects
Control Resist	Resistance of incoming Control Effects
Green Mana Buff Rating	Buff duration of Green Mana Source
Health Globe Potency	Healing received from Health Globes
Health Globe Potency	Healing received from Health Globes
Health Regen Rating	In-combat health regeneration
Incoming Healing Potency	Effectiveness of incoming heals
Max Health Potency	Maximum Planeswalker Health
Primary Potency	Damage output of the Primary Attack
Secondary Potency	Damage output of the Secondary Ability
Secondary Recharge Speed	Recharge rate of the Secondary Ability
Sorcery Damage Potency	Damage output of all Sorcery Spells
Sorcery Healing Potency	Healing received from Sorcery Spells
Soulsteal Potency	Healing when killing a Creature
Soulsteal Potency	Healing when killing a Creature
Spark Recharge Speed	Recharge rate of the Spark Meter
Spark Recharge Speed	Recharge rate of the Spark Meter
Utility Potency	Damage output of the Utility Ability
Utility Recharge Speed	Recharge rate of the Utility Ability
White Mana Buff Rating	Buff duration of White Mana sources

classes and their abilities, traits, stats

There are five ‘free’ classes to choose from, with a sixth, Dimir Assassin, being gated behind a microtransaction booster pack (1.2% chance of obtaining) or completing the Season 1 Battlepass.

Aside from the passive effects and attack style of each class, they also have unique abilities and class perks that increase in potency with class level.

Abilities are the basic combat skills of a planeswalker. The abilities of a class are divided into three categories, Primary, Secondary, and Utility abilities which are all executed in the field. As the player increases the character level, they can modify these core abilities by unlocking ability upgrades and class perks that modify or adds additional effects to the ability.

Class Perks are passive boosts that are specifically tied to their class. Perks further enhance the stats of the character and boosts the effects of its abilities.

Classes Overview

Beastcaller Class – Green Mana

The Beastcaller is the embodiment of the wild, a force of nature with devastating axe attacks. Never alone, the Beastcaller charges into battle with their trusty Aether Fox, destroying their foes with impeccable teamwork.

Passive Effects:
+375 Creature Damage Potency
+375 Creature Health Potency
Attack Style:
Melee

Necromancer Class – Black Mana

The Necromancer attacks from a moderate distance with their dark magic, summoning an army of undead to assist them in combat. The Necromancer understand that life is temporary, and even death can be useful.

Passive Effects:
+500 Sorcery Damage Potency
+250 Sorcery Healing Potency
Attack Style:
Mid-Ranged

Mindmage Class – Blue Mana

The Mind Mage deals powerful telekinetic attacks from a moderate range, using trickery to defeat their enemies. With their powerful psychic abilities, the Mindmage created illusions and controls their enemies, and the battlefield.

Passive Effects:
+500 Control Rating
+250 Sorcery Damage Potency
Attack Style:
Mid-Ranged

Geomancer Class – Red Mana

The Geomancer controls the power of the earth, forming gauntlets before punching through enemies in melee range. With nothing more than rock-covered fists and the power of the very land itself, the Geomancer unleashes devastating attack to enemies nearby.

Passive Effects:
+500 Max Health Potency
+250 Sorcery Damage Potency
Attack Style:
Melee

Sanctifier Class – White Mana

The Sanctifier is the icon of all that is holy, supporting their creatures and allies from a distance. With the support of an angel and their powerful healing abilities, the Sanctifier calmly dispatches their foes with piercing bolts of light.

Passive Effects:
+500 Sorcery Healing Potency
+250 Sorcery Damage Potency
Attack Style:
Ranged

Dimir Assassin Class – Blue and Black Mana

The Dimir Assassin epitomizes House Dimir, capable of setting up its enemies for devastating combo attacks. Always fighting on its own terms with a strong sense of control before exploiting a weakness to devastating effect.

The Dimir Assassin isn’t a starter class, and new characters cannot start as this class. The only way to obtain the Dimir Assassin class is through gambling in Dimir Assassin Booster Packs, buying the class unlock through the Broker in the Sanctuary, or completing the Season 1 Battlepass.

Passive Effects:
+500 Sorcery Damage Potency
+250 Control Rating
Attack Style:
Mid-Ranged

Dual-Coloured Decks, Additional Classes, and your ‘main’

Coming in a mid-April update, unlocking a second (additional) class on the one planeswalker will unlock the starting deck (12 spells) for that class.

Until then however, you receive a deck of 12 spells for your starting class then all other spell cards are found in the overworld or completing story line missions for the first time. An update on 1st April doubled the drop rate of spell cards from loot.

Once you have left the Tazeem starting area, moved onto your second overworld, and have atleast two different coloured spell cards in your library, you can start using a dual coloured deck. As at the time of writing, it’s only possible to use up to two (2) colours in one deck.

Additional Class Costs

You can unlock additional classes with in-game currency/materials by upgrading the Mystical Study in your Meditation Realm.

To unlock your second (2nd) class, this will cost:

• 2 000 Refined Aether
• 50 000 Gold
• 2 000 of each Planar Mana type
• Mystical Study level 2

To unlock your third (3rd) class, this will cost:

• 100 000 Refined Aether
• 150 000 Gold
• 3 000 of each Planar Mana type
• 150 Chromatic Mana
• Mystical Study level 5

To unlock your fourth (4th) class, this will cost:

• 200 000 Refined Aether
• 300 000 Gold
• 7 500 of each Planar Mana type
• 250 Chromatic Mana
• Mystical Study level 7

Details around the fifth (5th) class unlock are yet to be experienced/released, but will update when the information comes to light.

Alternatively, classes can be bought in the Store for 2 500 Zen (~25€) each (except Dimir Assassin.)

It is definitely worth starting a new class as soon as you can (planar mana & gold will probably be the limiting factor) to push your overall planeswalker level up faster and receive more bonuses.

Class Traits

Once you have reached the max level for a class (level 30), you unlock their Trait which can be slotted and benefit your planeswalker, regardless of the class you are playing.

You can slot up to a maximum of three traits on your planeswalker, so consider the interplay of these traits when thinking about your overall build and which class you like to play as your main.

For example, myself, I like playing Sanctifier (heals) and have slotted the Sactifier, Geomancer, and Beastcaller traits. Heart of Iron (Geomancer) grants me a second chance if I mess up and wipe, and Primal Rage (Beastcaller) gives my creatures Power damage when casting Sorceries (healing spells).

Tackling Tazeem’s Tutorial

The lengthy tutorial area takes you through the Tazeem Overworld; a forest and aquatic biome filled with spiders, saprolings, and merfolk.

Expect to spend around 1-2 hours of gameplay before being able to group up with friends and enter multiplayer. There are five ordeals (missions) to complete with each ordeal taking a minimum of 10 minutes each.

Upon completing the Tazeem tutorial area, and as part of the tutorial story line, you will planeswalk (teleport) to your personal ‘Meditation Realm’ which acts as a base that you can upgrade for unlocks. From there, you teleport again to The Sanctum.

The Sanctum – Your One-Stop Shop

The Sanctum is a public town containing a Battlemaster, Broker, and a Tailor.

At the Battlemaster, you will be able to queue for 1v1 Duels against other planeswalkers (PvP). Be wary, as there are some bugs that haven’t been fixed yet within the PvP realm that can brick accounts.

The Broker is where you can trade in-game resources for premium currency, buy and sell Spell Pages (used for upgrading spells) and World Enchantments. Planeswalkers are provided ten Trade Tokens per day, of which a maximum of thirty can be held at any time. These can be traded along with currency to purchase items.

For each level you increase your Aetheric Core in your Meditation Realm, the amount of Spell Pages you can buy per Trade Token increases by 24.

The Tailor is where you change your cosmetic appearances, through unlocked costume items and default outfit options. These can be saved to slots/loadouts and change as you change loadout in the in-game menu.

Play with friends!

Now you have left The Sanctum, you are now able to party up with friends and take on the overworlds together!

Open the social panel by pressing “O” or the “Esc” key. You can add and invite your friends to party on the left hand side with the chat log underneath.

When you have partied up with your friends, you may find that you aren’t in the same Overworld instance. This can be fixed by one person staying on the map, and the others leaving and rejoining – make sure that everyone is on the same Overworld difficulty!

To check your weekly or daily caps on resources, open your Wallet from the social panel. Hovering over each of the currencies will bring up details with how much you have collected for the cap period, as well as how long until the cap reset.

The daily cap resets at 10:00 AM (UTC) with weekly caps resetting on Tuesdays.

Speaking with Ral Zarek to the north of The Sanctuary teleport location, you will now be taken to one of the five overworlds to continue the story line and build out your deck of spell cards from ordeal rewards;

• Benalia (White)
• Gavony (Black)
• Shiv (Red)
• Tolaria (Blue)
• Tazeem (Green)

Outside of these overworld storyline ordeals rewarding set coloured cards, the loot table from NPCs in the overworlds are pooled, meaning any coloured card can be obtained from any overworld NPC drop.

Thanks for checking it out!

If you’ve found something that doesn’t quite line up with the data, or a correction on a blatant error, please leave a comment below to let me know!

Stooban
Magic Noob | Avid Gamer | Always Curious