  We present an analysis of mock X-ray spectra and light curves of magnetic
cataclysmic variables using an upgraded version of the 3D CYCLOPS code. This 3D
representation of the accretion flow allows us to properly model total and
partial occultation of the post-shock region by the white dwarf as well as the
modulation of the X-ray light curves due to the phase-dependent extinction of
the pre-shock region. We carried out detailed post-shock region modeling in a
four-dimensional parameter space by varying the white dwarf mass and magnetic
field strength as well as the magnetosphere radius and the specific accretion
rate. To calculate the post-shock region temperature and density profiles, we
assumed equipartition between ions and electrons, took into account the white
dwarf gravitational potential, the finite size of the magnetosphere and a
dipole-like magnetic field geometry, and considered cooling by both
bremsstrahlung and cyclotron radiative processes. By investigating the impact
of the parameters on the resulting X-ray continuum spectra, we show that there
is an inevitable degeneracy in the four-dimensional parameter space
investigated here, which compromises X-ray continuum spectral fitting
strategies and can lead to incorrect parameter estimates. However, the
inclusion of X-ray light curves in different energy ranges can break this
degeneracy, and it therefore remains, in principle, possible to use X-ray data
to derive fundamental parameters of magnetic cataclysmic variables, which
represents an essential step toward understanding their formation and
evolution.
