So the suggestions I read to take magic at a lower priority level (eg. lower attribute score) to get some bio were incorrect then as basically the resulting attribute score would be 1 (if I applied the 1 special attribute point from Priority E to it) which would be pretty useless a I couldn't even get Improved reflexes 1. After Positive qualities, the most the attribute could be raised to is 3
I think someone misspoke when they gave you that advice. The only time setting your Magic Priority lower produces a higher Magic Attribute is when you place Metatype at a higher priority and use the Special Attribute Points to then increase Magic instead of Edge. It's a strategy that can be used to negate the penalty from Essence loss in character generation.
[spoiler]Essence Loss and MAG
As you probably know, any Essence Loss reduces your MAG Attribute by 1. Basically, if you're taking your base Essence (6) and subtract the Essence Cost of whatever Bio/Cyberware you're installing, then the whole number is what your MAG Attribute is limited to (save for qualities, Initiations, etc). For example, a Mage with 6 MAG and 6 Essence gets a Datajack installed. This drops him to
5.9 Essence, and thus 5 MAG. This also means he can then add .9 nire Essence worth of Bio/Cyberware before he incurs another penalty.
Where this gets weird is when your MAG isn't at its Racial Limit. Even if you only have 4 MAG and you drop your Essence from 6 to 5.9, you still lose 1 MAG because the Whole Number of your Essence dropped. The Whole Number of your Essence is thus your new Limit, and your MAG stays the same distance from the Limit regardless of how much you drop it. This is why taking Magic as Priority D (Adept) and then taking Wired Reflexes 2 is a bad idea. Your MAG Attribute then drops to 0 and you lose the ability to use Magic.[/spoiler]
The way this helps in Character Generation is when someone is, effectively, trying to "game the system". If you place Magic as C Priority as an Adept, you have 4 MAG. Lets say you're also an Elf, so Metatype at D, which gives you 0 Special Attribute Points (SAPs). Now, you install Muscle Toner (Standard) 2 for a .5 Essence cost, dropping your Essence to 5.5 and your Magic to 3. At this point all you can do to raise it back up to 4 (since 5 is your new Limit) is spend Karma.
Now, lets say you took Magic (Adept) as C Priority and Metatype as F (Human). Magic (Adept) at C gives you 4 MAG, and Metatype (Human) at F gives you 1 SAP. Now you install Muscle Toner (Standard) 2 for .5 Essence, dropping your Essence to 5.5 and your Magic to 3. Now you can spend that SAP in MAG and bring it back up to 4, effectively getting around the Essence Loss to MAG (although your Limit is still lower).
Hopefully that made sense!