31 replies to this topic

[Nean]

I'm thinking about buying one these mech packs, and I've always loved the cougar. I need to get back to playing with light mechs, and the cougar seems like a good choice. However, I've seen very few so is there something wrong with them?

[Audacious Aubergine]

Long story short no one wants a slow (81kph is slow for a light) light mech and if they did want one they'd probably get an adder instead. Me on the other hand preordered a cougar but haven't had a chance to use it yet

[Callsigntal0n]

hey are a second line support mech, with the basic pack you dont get much for "meta" builds though one does come wit ha 5 med laser+gauss build that i am loving. plus none of the basic have jumpjets and neither does the hero which kinda pisses me off as i didnt have the funds to get the reinforcement pack. i do see it as a pay to optimize mech meaning if you get it you are near forced to get the reinforcement pack to have access to jj's and ecm. however it is not a bad mech. i love my stock blood adder and the only thing ive done is change the hmgs for light mgs with more ammo.

in basic, its a mid range second line support mech, its not meant to be a fast scout, its meant ot have the weapons load of a medium +the armor while having the size of a light. it just takes a bit more careful engagement planning to play but i got consistent 600-800 dmg games in my blood adder. play it more like a semi-squishy medium instead of a light, and you should do fine.

[Mad Skull]

Do it!!!!! They are so much fun. So far the Uziel is all i played but am having a blast playing with the new toys.

[PAQUERA]

is a slow light mech. Role: scort heavies and assault mech and protect flanks. Heavy weaponry, very heavy for a 35 tons light mech

omnipod
low armor
low speed
heavy weaponry

[The Basilisk]

Before the Skilltree the Adder (actually the father of the cougar, wich should be simply an "Upgrade" to this existing design by Clan Jade Falcon) was the slow unloved light mech with the Clans.
Now it's the Adder.
Literaly the only upside of the Cougar over the Adder is the possibility to carry ECM wich is hidden behind 15 extra dollars to pay if you don't want to wait till end of the year.

Concerning its capabilitys...well I did not see one so far but it seems to be a large, slow, light mech with missiles in 3 of its 5 configs. Since it has the possibilitys to field up to 4 missile hardpoints and has 19t of podspace there are some (not classical light mech) builds that would be possible.
With the headmounted laser slot and two ATM 12 you still have enough room for ammo and be a light missile support platform.....

And since the CT energy hardpoint of the Adder is located above its head you can do the exact same loadouts with it.
The only other thing the Cougar has "over" the Adder is its right side laser arm with 4 hardpoints that enables him to field a maximum of 7 lasers over the Adders 5. (or 6 and ECM)

If you own the hero you also could do things like mount 2 UAC5 and enough ammo or quad MPLs and 3 HMG and ecm....lots of odd stuff possibilitys that will cost you lots of money since you need standart, reinforcement and hero mech for it. (35$...admittedly compared to some other packs in the past thats not that much)

On the other side if you are not inclined to buy the whole pack rather use the Adder for C-bills.

Edited by The Basilisk, 20 July 2017 - 12:48 AM.

[dr watson]

I have to say I'm digging my little heavy mechs. I'm doing well over 400 dmg in games with all my variants, and I have all of them build for close range brawling. The thing is most people ignore you witch when your caring a lbx10 srm4x2 and erllaser you become a very nasty ankle biter. I'm not a light mech pilot by any means but my cougars are the assaults of the lights.

[ScreamingSkull]

I like them as well. The E variant has very good energy hard points to back up the missile racks if you can afford it.

[Koniving]

Nean, on 19 July 2017 - 05:38 PM, said:

I'm thinking about buying one these mech packs, and I've always loved the cougar. I need to get back to playing with light mechs, and the cougar seems like a good choice. However, I've seen very few so is there something wrong with them?

You'd have to buy it, and even at 5 less than the usual 20.... you could just as easily buy an expensive assault .
mech with that 5 dollars more and wait for the cougar to come out for cbills. It is hard to justify the difference in price for the preorder. The Cougar might be around 5.5 million or 6 million out of the store, the Mad Cat MK II is probably gonna be around 14 million each or more.

Edited by Koniving, 20 July 2017 - 06:14 AM.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

CUAC20+2xSRM4 - Something the Adder definitely can't do. Granted, that's because it has the same engine as a Mist Lynx, but if you gotta be slow you might as well bring the pain. I haven't played with it much yet, but I will definitely be keeping it in my lineup- it's stupidly fun. No other light I can think of can run boom-splat.

CUAC20+5xERSL - Energy variant. Probably less feast-or-famine, but much hotter. Tried with micro pulse first, but they just don't have enough reach for a slow light like this.

2xATM9+2xHML - Missiles, maybe? Haven't tried it yet. Didn't like ATMs much when I was messing around with them in 1v1s. Worth a try next time I log in though, since my D is sitting idle after I looted its gun arm for my Prime(S).

I got the collectors but not the reinforcements or the hero, so I don't have the E, H, or BA pods.

[Yumoshiri]

Cougars are difficult mechs to play. My recommendation is to skip it, and wait until they come for c-bills, and until then, enjoy the adder. BTW, hero adder now on sale for 1600 mc.

Cougars have maybe 1 or 2 tons extra available compared to an adder for weapons, however theres a biggg huge *** BUT

• 20 kph! slower than an already slow light
  
• Same hitbox profile.
  
• Adder has better heat management (10% RoHL (rate of heat loss bonus) on adder vs 12% RoHL on the cougar - but the Adder has an extra heatsink in the engine making it better).
  
• 2 slots less space on the cougar, due to extra external heat sink requirement.
  
• Similar builds are possible
  
• paywall behind ECM for cougar.
  
• Adder has superior quirks, incl armor

Does that mean the cougar is useless?
I think the cougar is better support:
ECM, 2x AMS
Just dance around the fatties on mid range.

Missiles, lasers, Gauss or AC... it can all work on the cougar. It just also can work on an adder. Try to get your build focused on a supportive role. Medium range or long range. I'd avoid the UAC20 as it takes a lot of tonnage for the weapon/ammo. The jam time makes it not so nice too. The adder has a big advantage to using an UAC20: quirks, and speed. Show your face, double boom, out. Doesn't work on the cougar due to the poor speed and armor.
Don't think you're strong enough to run away from a fatty friend, you don't have any armor. Avoid attention. With the slow speed you are the easiest prey.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

Anyone who can make an Adder or a Kit Fox perform will have no trouble making the transition to the Cougar... which is 16-17kph slower, not 20. That's significant, but not insurmountable; the other slow lights are already far too slow to squirrel around like their zippier brethren, and if your team is too spread out for 81-87kph to get you from one side of the group to the other in a matter of moments, then you're fighting a losing battle already anyway. Sticking with the team is already the best strategy with the ADR and KFX, because they're lights that move like mediums. The COU is too- at the slow end of the range, yes, but still able to keep pace with the mobile heavies and slower mediums, which means it can keep up with the deathball just fine and thus hide among the larger, juicier targets for protection.

That, and the heat gap actually works in the Cougar's favor. With two more tons of podspace, but only one fewer engine sink, it can carry 3 points more cooling total than the Adder can. Fewer available crits? Sure... but how many builds can you come up with that actually require 29 crits and only require as much free tonnage as you can safely wring out of an Adder? I can honestly only come up with a few, and they're all ML or SL boats. Pick a combination of lasers one ton each or under, because that's what it takes. Play around with it- you will run out of tonnage before you hit the 27-crit mark with literally anything else, and... you just don't need that many sinks for that gun load. The Adder's extra crits don't matter. There aren't any other builds that the ADR can run and the COU cannot.

The difference comes down to a tradeoff between speed and loadout options. The Cougar seems like an odd duck right now, but wait for it to settle in. It'll be a niche little 'Mech, to be sure, but it will have a niche.

[Aggravated Assault Mech]

It's surprisingly fun. I was expecting it to suck horribly and while I don't think it's great (would need armor quirks), it's a nice gimmick.

I've only been playing the Blood Adder, close to stock. I swapped in LMGs and pumped the ammo capacity up to 7t for the ATMs. The UAC20 builds look funny, but personally I'd opt for a UAC10 and more ammo.

It's basically an escort mech. You just hang around near your assaults and focus whatever they're shooting at. If lights try and harass, you're fast enough to use the ATMs like very high-damage streaks. Use the MGs for critseeking and basically just focus on keeping yourself in the ATM sweet spot range of whatever everyone else is shooting at.

It's not super amazing, but if you want something to just **** around in and break up the tedium, it's nice.

Here's my best game so far.

Edited by Aggravated Assault Mech, 26 July 2017 - 04:46 AM.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

More Cougar fun... I upgraded my pack because I discovered that these are some of the most entertaining 'Mechs I've owned yet.

'Mech Melter! With all heat skills, it'll zap up to the 70s on alpha, but it'll also straight up end people. Makes a fantastic murder-and-hide 'Mech. I'm actually running that on my BA, because the stock pods don't speak to me. I did, however, want to put that abomination of science on a cbill boosting variant without sacrificing the UAC20+2xSRM4 build I have on my Prime(S). Smurfy doesn't know how to deal with the COU-H, apparently. Unless the H head is actually on the H variant, you can't mount ECM.

Destroyer Escort. It's an assault buddy. Not meant for alpha striking (ever!); the lasers are for poking at whatever your fatties are poking at, and the SRMs are for blowing up enemy lights when they get too close. Hey, look, there's a use for one of the BA pods!

Flying UAC20! Revised COU-C build to further differentiate its role from my ADR-D and COU-Prime(S).

Flying 'Mech Eraser. Similar to above, but with jets instead of ECM. Would be easier if you could buy extra E and H pods (it'd be nice to have at least one of the HLLs up high), but sadly that's not a thing. I can buy as many Prime, C, and D pods as I please, but not spare ECM heads or jet shoulders... you'd think that they'd unlock by account or something, but whatever.

[SuperFunkTron]

My experience is limited and I've found that you can not play them like a light mech at all. They've got a solid punch (more than an adder even) but you are also incredibly fragile. Despite their glass jaw, you can really do a lot of damage if you find some mechs of similar speed to run around with.

[Alias72]

I find the best way to play clan light mediums is to be the second scariest thing in any battle. If you are the scariest thing than the enemy will cut you down quickly but you have advantages in clan lights that you can use. Lets look at free tonnage.

Cougar 24.5 tons free
Nova 26 tons free

You have the firepower of the Nova. there aren't as many hard points but you can mitigate the importance of that.

Also all clan lights come with a cloaking device that activates when you stand beside any heavy or assault mech. You also have ablative armour when hiding behind your teams mad cat mk 2. This can give your light mech survivability rivaling the Nova.

I believe the reason many people shy away from these mechs is that they do not enjoy playing a light mech with the speed and firepower of a medium. I feel that the small threat perception of these mechs combines with their innate damage potential to make a vehicle deadlier than the equivalent mediums when played intelligently.

Medium range dueler I have been using this variant of the cougar. It has what I believe to be high alpha potential. The lack of additional heat sinks mean that you really only want to poke with this. The exception is the ATM. The low arc of the ATM allows you to fire over the crest of hills. You can force the enemy back from ledges with this. You want to keep the range open because it throws off the enemies aim and gives you more options for relocating.

The 36 HLL + 24 - 36 ATM damage below 500m means you can force an enemy to reconsider a charge. I run it with two coolshot which is usually enough to get through an enemy push. You won't win battles alone but you can force the enemy to reconsider their tactics. No one wants to play peakaboo with a mech that does 60-72 damage in a hit. As for heat you can usually get two alphas on an average map. More on the cold maps. You can even fire a salvo on terra therma. I recommend leaving the battlefield after the first salvo though.

Terra Therma Proof Haven't had as much luck with this because it requires long face time. If you are supporting a brawling assault then you can do serious damage with this. You are reliant on that cloaking device though.

The most important thing with the cougar is that it is not mobile. Stick by your team and act as a force multiplier. You should be aggressive, because you have great damage potential, but understand that you won't last on your own.

Edited by Alias72, 29 July 2017 - 11:22 AM.

[Ardetth]

WrathOfDeadguy, on 27 July 2017 - 08:20 PM, said:

More Cougar fun... I upgraded my pack because I discovered that these are some of the most entertaining 'Mechs I've owned yet.

'Mech Melter! With all heat skills, it'll zap up to the 70s on alpha, but it'll also straight up end people. Makes a fantastic murder-and-hide 'Mech. I'm actually running that on my BA, because the stock pods don't speak to me. I did, however, want to put that abomination of science on a cbill boosting variant without sacrificing the UAC20+2xSRM4 build I have on my Prime(S). Smurfy doesn't know how to deal with the COU-H, apparently. Unless the H head is actually on the H variant, you can't mount ECM.

I am absolutely loving playing with this build. Just pray for cooler temp maps lol!

[Nean]

Alright, thanks so much for the help guys. I won't buy it now, but when it comes out for c-bills I'll buy it for sure. But damn, the ludicrousness of this thing. I always knew it was pretty heavy for a light but 24.5 tons of pod space? That's insane.

[BTGbullseye]

If you wanted a heavy-hitting stealth light, you could go with this build... http://mwo.smurfy-ne...a0b77e9871dd83e

Jumpjets, ECM, 2x HLL, T-Comp 1, Light Probe... Makes for a decent slow mid-sniper scout.

[Methanoid]

plays like a strange mix of adder and kitfox that still ideally needs to hug other teammates, mine cant make up its mind what setup suits it, atm im running: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...9799c36900c36a7

My previous setup was 5x C-ER-ML and 1x Narc, tbh it doesnt seem to matter what i equip, in my case my performance rarely differs much, so maybe just pick whatever suits you best or try various things, we got omnipods here so its not like your stuck to 1 setup.