Mean Magnus Monitor

There's a new dominant force in the office.  It's big, bulky, and full of unbridled rage waiting to be unleashed up to 3 times before reloading.  Yes, the N-Strike Elite MEGA Magnus is large and in charge at my workplace.

It's been hiding in my desk drawer, rearing it's head whenever trouble strikes.  Those who face it must be willing to accept two facts.  The first being that the darts it dishes out are much more noticeable than the Elite blue darts whizzing around during battle.  They whistle, so you hear it coming and when they do connect with the target, there's no question whether it hit you or not.  The second is that, while you can't fire these darts back to the sender without a MEGA blaster of your own, these darts are very throw-able.  Put a fingertip to the back of the dart and throw it from there and you'll find you've got quite the lethal rocket in your hand.

Now, there is a worry that I had when this blaster was new that is starting to show.  Because of the nature of how these darts are loaded into the blaster, in that they're getting "smooshed" into the 3-round in-built magazine, they are starting to lose their structural integrity.  AKA: they're getting beat up.  So I still defend that this blaster is leagues better than the Centurion before it, there is the slight drawback that extended use with the same darts will start to take their toll on the quality of those darts hold.  You can extend the life of your MEGA darts being used in the Magnus by purchasing a 10-Dart refill pack and rotating your darts through that.  The wear and tear of the loading sequence on the Magnus on these darts isn't as noticeable if you do this.

The trajectories of Mega darts are still a little squirly, which was a noticeable problem when I first tried out the Centurion, but this Magnus is still more reliable and more accurate than it's predecessor.  While it does take up more space, I can still hide the Magnus in a desk drawer, along with it's spare ammo.  However, this blaster is not quite as stealthy as the other N-Strike Elite rivals around the office.  Priming the blaster is loud and obvious, whereas the single "click" of a Firestrike or Triad is much easier to hide for those initiating the attack.  I suppose the Magnus' loud audible priming action is more of a warning to others, so the intimidation factor is certainly present from the start.  Plus the fact that the darts do whistle every time they're fired, so even if you manage to throw a dart with your hand, the target still hears it coming.  Stealth is certainly not the Magnus' strong point!

I'd say the Magnus will remain my blaster of choice in the office for awhile.  No-one else has managed to one-up it and there's still a sense of fear that it's use can induce on my enemies even before it's been fired.  It's not the best blaster in terms of speedy reloads, it's loud and clunky, but it packs a whallop that has created quite the reputation of this being one bad-ass pistol.