UrbanTarget, on 16 July 2017 - 11:11 AM, said:
It's built to hang with the big boys, not scout.
If you play it like a medium/heavy you can do serious dmg
But you don't have the armor of a medium, nor the firepower.
Arkhangel, on 16 July 2017 - 12:03 PM, said:
I do agree it should probably be a LITTLE tankier, but in fairness, it's got a pretty short target profile too, which should help it a little, like it does for the Bushwacker and Crab.
It doesn't help the Adder tho. And the Cougar has the same target profile while being a lot slower. You cannot compare the 35t Cougar with IS medium Mechs which have formidable hitboxes and armor/structure quirks.
Problem the Cougar has is: 81 kph stock, 87 kph after current speed tweak (21 skill points that HAVE to be taken). Survivability won't help a lot on clan lights (+5 points on CT with the left half of the survival tree skilled).
Pod Space: I'll compare Cougar and Adder here.
Total Tonnage: 35t both
Engine: 8.5t for the Adder , 5.5t for the Cougar
Armor: 6t for the Adder, 5.5t for the Cougar (can be upped to the same amout of the Adder)
Heat Sinks (for a total to 10): 2t for the Adder, 4t for the Cougar
Chassis weight: 2t Adder, 1t Cougar
Available pod space: 16.5t for the Adder, 19t for the Cougar
That's a difference of 2,5 tons, with nearly maxed armor 2t... while being 17,4 kph slower (speed tweaked). Keep in mind, that is the same speed that Huntsman, Nova, Ebon Jaguar, Hellbringer, Mad Dog, Timber Wolf, Summoner and Gargoyle can go. Even the Stormcrow and Linebacker can go faster.
My take on would be to buff the speed tweak percentage of the Cougar to make it at least somewhat competitive. Otherwise it'll be breakfast for anything on the battlefield. You basically have to take the -H head (ECM) to at least gain some extra survivability.
It's getting pretty annoying with clan lights. The only competitive light is the Arctic Cheetah. The Kit Fox ist kinda okay (it's redeeming factor being ECM). The Jenner IIC is way to tall. The Adder lacks speed or armor. The Mist Lynx is slow and has bad hardpoints.