Cougar
The Cougar is true gunboat light mech; a glass cannon that gives up all its speed to focus purely on damage output. It is similar to the Adder and Kitfox, but slower and more fragile while bringing even heavier payloads. The Cougar can be very rewarding when mastered, and one of the more effective solo queue lights, but many players won't enjoy its unforgiving nature and steep learning curve.
The weakness of this chassis is the extraordinarily large side torsos that comprise almost the entirety of the mech's hitboxes. The extreme fragility is mitigated by the fact that good loadouts are exclusively high-mounted and people generally don't shoot at Cougars because they aren't perceived as major threats. Of course, when someone does decide to shoot the Cougar, it is not a survivable mech. This means that positioning skills and trading mechanics are crucial to doing well in this chassis, and the mech doesn't hold up well in organised/competitive play.
While ECM and jumpjets are both available on the Cougar, equipping them is generally not advised. High-mounted hardpoints are the key to doing consistently well in the Cougar, sacrificing even one of them to take jumpjets is often too much, so jumpjets are almost never used. The same goes for ECM, which additionally requires a substantial investment into the Sensor Tree, which is too high of a cost for a mech that desperately needs every Firepower and Survivability node it can muster. Furthermore, ECM offers little benefit to a mech which doesn't have the speed to sneak around and flank without getting caught out.
Do not take Mobility Tree to offset the Cougar's slow speed - the cost is too high, and the benefits too dubious. Focus on getting every boost to Firepower that you can, and maximizing Survivability because this chassis needs every point of armour and structure it can get.
| Variants | LA | LT | CT | RT | RA | HD | JJs | MASC | MaxEng | Accel | Twist | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 COU-PRIME | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | FALSE | 175 | 50.0 kph/s | 120o @ 126.0o/s | 20o | ||
|
COU-C | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | FALSE | 175 | 50.0 kph/s | 120o @ 126.0o/s | 20o | |||
|
COU-D | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | FALSE | 175 | 50.0 kph/s | 120o @ 126.0o/s | 20o | ||
|
COU-E | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | FALSE | 175 | 50.0 kph/s | 120o @ 126.0o/s | 20o | |
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COU-H | 1 | 3 | ECM | 4 | FALSE | 175 | 50.0 kph/s | 120o @ 126.0o/s | 20o | |||
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COU-BAH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | FALSE | 175 | 50.0 kph/s | 120o @ 126.0o/s | 20o |
COU-any
Since Cougars don't have different CT's, any Cougar build can be done on any variant. The only differentiating factor is some Set of 8 hardpoint configurations are worthwhile given their quirks.
COU-any lists builds which do not use any So8 quirks.
One of the strongest Cougar builds, and simplest to play. The build is rather efficient, so you can afford to fill the last ton with ECM, unlike many other Cougar builds. Don't rely on the ECM - the Cougar is still extremely fragile, it's best to play it pretending you don't have the ECM at all.
This maximises what the Cougar is good for - high mounts, and ample tonnage for an extraordinarily large alpha so you don't need to expose yourself to the enemy very frequently. Due to heat, you only get to shoot so many times in a match, so make every shot count.
This build has no jumpjets and isn't supported by quirks, however ECM is a worthy addition and any tonnage that doesn't strictly need to be spent on heatsinks can go into backup lasers.
As long as you stay within ATM's close range bracket and avoid AMS, this deals stupid amounts of damage with stupidly good heat efficiency (you won't need Cool Run). Use the relatively high mounted cockpit and TAG to get locks and fire while exposing as little of your mech as possible.
Any amount of secondary weapons you equip would require you to be more exposed to the enemy in order to fire them, thus nullifying the advantage of using ATMs for their low exposure. So don't bother equipping secondary weapons - just stack maximum ATMs and be cognizant of their minimum range.
While 4x SRM6a is possible, that is a build for an Adder. The Cougar has more tonnage and hardpoints available, so lasers are used here instead to offer a much more substantial punch.
cHSL can be swapped for cERSL instead for more range, but it makes little sense when the SRMs are best used as close as possible anyway.
Similar to the SRM build, this does not run four missiles. Using the right arm for its four energy is a far more effective use of the available hardpoints than just copying an Adder build on a mech that moves considerably slower.
COU-H
Except for PPC poptarting, the So8 for this variant is not worth building around - having to expose both arms of the mech to deal damage is not worth having the substantial quirks provided.
Jumpjets come via the torso omnipods, so the unfortunate downside to this build is the PPCs must be in the low-mounted arm. However, the utility of the jumpjets is invaluable, and the build conveniently comes with a So8 cooldown and heat quirk, as well as ECM.
COU-E
This variant's So8 gives you a cooldown quirk, which has limited applications. ATMs are tempting, but only two missile hardpoints means ATM12's which are terribly tonnage-inefficient; you can get a much better ATM24 using smaller launchers - see COU-any for that build.
The alpha is rather small for a Cougar, but with the So8 boost to cooldown this will output rather decent DPS. Obviously the whole idea is that this is all high mounts. You must abuse the small peeking profile in order to consistently benefit from the high fire rate and cooling - find some ridges and hump them like you mean it.
This build gives up jumpjets in order to have mounts above the cockpit. The low speed and lack of jumpjets means you are limited in repositioning and vulnerable when caught out, so plan carefully to abuse the high mounts, otherwise you are better off playing the jumpjet build.
This is a build exclusively for organised group play. Find a ridge to sit on and go hump it like crazy. Extremely high mounts, and plenty of DHS, while having an extra ERLL compared to pretty much every other light mech. This is truly a fire-support build, meant to hang out with the heavier trading mechs for when you can't bring a heavier mech yourself.
COU-C
This So8 has an attractive set of hardpoints, but any viable build will require using both arms of the Cougar, meaning you have to fully expose the entire fragile mech to deal damage.
Compared to the SRM build, this has the potential for a higher alpha, but has to contend with punishing and frustrating jams. The sustain is worse, but the weapons are more precise. This has tankier side torsos, but must be fully exposed in order to avoid the UAC20 eating dirt.
The SRM build is better, but this can be fun to play as an alternative. Also, this is strictly inferior to using the hero side torsos for their improved quirks.
This is an extremely common build which unfortunately is NOT recommended. Variations on this build include dropping a laser for ECM or another heatsink.
While this build does take advantage of omnipod quirks, it must use the low-mounted left arm, which means that in order to shoot the enemy, you have to expose your entire mech to them, pretty much from head to toe and from arm to arm. The Cougar is too fragile to expose itself this much to the enemy (armoured omnipods don't make up for this), so playing this build will get you killed more often.
Instead you should be playing pure laservomit, which has higher alpha, higher burst, higher sustain, and higher mounts.
COU-D
So8 on this variant is not worth building around. Refer to COU-any for applicable builds.
COU-Prime
So8 on this variant is not worth building around. Refer to COU-any for applicable builds.
COU-BA "BLOOD ADDER"
The hero has two high-mounted ballistics, but any build that attempts to use both of them will be horribly underpowered. It's best to use just one ballistic and supplement it with more-tonnage-efficient energy instead.
Since all Cougar CT's are identical, this hero can do any of the builds listed under COU-any, making it a good pick if you're just looking for a C-bill boosted Cougar.
This is perhaps the only build that is worth playing which uses the unique hero omnipods. This offers higher bursts than pure laservomit, with comparable sustained DPS, and similarly high mounts. The downside is that it requires frequent exposure to utilise the UAC10 to full potential.
A variation on the previous build which focuses more on short range. This is higher alpha and more efficient, though considerably less flexible.
Pretty much the same build from the Adder guide under the ADR-CN. Only differences is that you're slower, have slightly more ammo, and have ECM.
This is an improved version of the same COU-C build which uses the empty hero side torsos for their ballistic quirks.