As if coming with a sorcerous suite of powers with names like Vengeful Spirit, Soulblaze and Dark Pact weren’t cool enough, “Magik's host of Limbo minions makes for one of the most dynamic summoning systems we've created to date,” says Michael May, Game Systems and Character Designer at Gazillion.
“She'll be able to choose between summoning a large number of more fragile minions, or opt for one of the bosses of Limbo instead, such as N’astirh. Turning the tables and getting a boss to fight for you is very entertaining to me. She can also absorb the energies of those minions into her Soulsword, sacrificing the summons altogether in exchange for more personal power. There are many ways to create a ‘loadout’ for Magik players to enjoy her in the way they best see fit.”
Anyone who’s seen Illyana Rasputin in the comics knows that she has one of the most complex power sets of any mutant. Bringing it all to life proved challenging for the development team – but it was a challenge they met with flying colours. “As such a versatile character, we had to ensure that we were representing as many aspects of her history, combat skills, and mutation abilities as possible,” says May. “It would have been easy to focus strictly on her Soulsword and make her a pure melee fighter, but she has so much more to offer to a game of our genre. We structured the Soulsword as the core of all of her builds, but utilized her minions, teleportation discs, and sorcery to supplement and enhance her melee combat.”
May designed Magik’s power set with inspiration from the classic dark-magic classes of the action-RPG genre. Some of his personal favourite abilities include “a magical cone projectile attack that fires a wave of small spirit bolts, the ability to summon up a wall of bone from Limbo, and a debuff spell which curses enemies, providing a variety of benefits for Magik.”
However, May identifies his absolute favourite power as what’s known as Capture/Revive. “The Capture ability allows Magik to transport an enemy permanently into Limbo where they will become her vassal, at which time the Capture power becomes Revive,” he says. “Revive returns that creature from Limbo as a minion for Magik, with enhanced magical powers and strength. After a time, the minion will return back to Limbo to be summoned again later.”
