The new Bandit is perfect! Thank you SOE!

Below are pictures comparing it to the Merc and the Cyclone. It basically had the Cougar's old stats transferred to it and I could NOT be more happy! I think it is now the perfect fit for the NC arsenal and I don't think any further changes are needed. It kept the same attachments and the 0.75x ADS. It is now in the perfect spot between the Merc and the Cyclone, damage, RPM, hipfire and movement wise.

How the hell you got onto test server? And I might still consider running Cyclone half the time due to half of hipfire CoF bloom :/

It's simple, I sat here and tired to log in 5000 times until it worked. xD Then it crashed again when I tried to test TR. Also that is perfectly fine, it's not meant to completely replace the cyclone for hipfire.

Good for you guys! I felt that the original Cougar was something that the NC should have anyways so this makes me happy. Even better that it's .75 ADS too.

Hope you filthy rebels have fun, I'll be looking forward to challenging you on the battlefield with all of our new stuff.

Bandit is better than Cyclone. +1 SOE.

Lesser damage drop off.
More MV

Hipfire is insignificant since you can get a pretty nice hipfire using ALS any more than that is pretty insignificant.

Got in, tested, **** me sideways, it's perfect!

I hope you guys can finally get the Cougar to be something you are satisfied with as well. This does make way more sense now for the Bandit however to have the old Cougar stats.

It was always an NC gun and it was just very very strange that they tried to make it a TR weapon first. I liked the controllability of the 600 RPM Bandit but let's face it, if it has to compete on DPS with the Mercenary then 75% ADS might not be enough. Extra damage output and the CQC attachments make it a real midpoint between the Merc/AC-X11 and the GD-7F. For when you don't want to shove a carbine in somebody's kidneys, but still expect to see a lot of close-mid-range ADS work on top of hipfire.

I suspect it'll be quite the terror for LAs as it'll trade a touch of DPS out of the GD-7F for a lot more ammo efficiency. Less time recovering ammo, more time stomping towers. The reload was upped but it's still not quite as bad as the GD-7F's, and to load a lot more DPM.

The Bandit is basically the NC's Jaguar. Think of it that way and it all pretty much makes sense. Not quite as user-friendly as the Jaguar, but it should be a welcome addition.

(And lest the VS panic, the Zenith is looking really good too, it's just less exciting to talk about)

Yes, I'm definitely happy with the new Cougar. It may not have the velocity of the Razor, but it has HVA (which on carbines has a greater effect) and biased recoil, meaning it is VERY easy to control. Those 5 extra shots are going to be a very nice luxury. It broadens the range of our carbine selection quite nicely.

Plus it has the 2x burst which the Razor doesn't have.

This looks like a great gun. I'm excited.

It should fill the NC "Jaguar Gap" (between the GD-7F and Merc/AC-X11) quite nicely.

Although whilst the new TR Cougar looks good, I can't help but think the TR have lost out by not keeping the orginal version, but then I suppose the TR didn't really need a 167 Jag.

The TR had so, so many weapons that were amazing in CQC for LA/Engi. It is now certainly filling the gap that they didn't really have. High damage for mid to long. The T5 AMC is their only other option for that and it's a whole different story. Anyways there's plenty of threads on that right now.

They didn't. The Jag is still more forgiving than the Bandit, better at bodyshotting and hipfire, and has way more damage per magazine. The old-Cougar had no real place next to it, but as the new-Bandit it can at least stand up against the Jaguar in the 75% ADS department. If the Bandit user is extremely highly skilled he or she has a slight edge, in almost all other circumstances the Jaguar has a slight to moderate edge.

It would have been very, very silly for TR to have a 167 damage ALS weapon when the NC did not. This all seems to be working out dandy for both sides.

Yeah the Jag is likely the better weapon (it is still arguable the best Carbine in the game), but this version of the Bandit should fill in the NCs major Carbine gap nicely (I can see the nerf it threads already! ).

It should certainly sell well too (as should the Cougar) which should please SOE.

Yes I was ****** about being given a worse Jaguar, but being second to a awesome weapon like the Jag is not really too bad.

Can anyone post the "previous" Bandit to compare the stats they changed?

I don't have a picture of it but what I remember off the top of my head is only that it had 600 RPM, 167 max at 10 meters that dropped off to 125 minimum at 70 meters and it also had a slightly higher velocity of 450 I think.

Thanks so far. I tried to make a few screenshots of the new weapons some days ago but my PTS client won't allow me to take screenshots anymore...

Considering the Jaguar is essentially a souped-up Mega-Carnage given form as a carbine, being "pretty competitive" with it in its wheelhouse isn't bad at all Especially considering the Bandit will in all likelihood exceed the Jaguar in realistic killing potential in the non-CQC, general purpose bracket while also being a total monster up close.