Have you ever heard the tragedy of Sir Shadow Cat the Expensive?

I thought not; it is not a story the narrative would tell.

Howdy and welcome back to Mech Overview. This week is going to be more Mist Lynx than it is Stormcrow. The Shadow Cat is a mech that I am very fond of, as it is the starting mech in MW4 Vengeance, my first Mechwarrior game. However, I have known for a very long time now that it kinda… doesn’t work great on the table. This is one of those Omni-Mechs with a fundamentally flawed design that is not corrected by any variants, and to spoil things a bit, the Shadow Cat is like half a Stormcrow that can also pretend to be most of a Black Lanner for way more expense than is justified.

I want to be positive to this mech, I really do! Just look at it! This thing fucking owns! It is a boxy weirdo on reverse legs with a fucked up looking arm and is in general an industrial, utilitarian mech. I adore this sort of mech design, it is just a shame that he was constructed wrong, as a joke.

Chassis

So the Shadow Cat is an Omni-Mech, meaning that it has a more or less set base frame that is shared by all variants, with only the weaponry changing for the most part. As a frame it is a 45 ton medium mech with about as much armor as you would expect at that weight and a deeply unfortunate movement profile of 6/9(12)/6. This is horrible for speed factor as you pay full price for the movement speed from the MASC, but obviously can’t use it all the time, and you are adding even more speed factor from the jump jets while not being able to hit 4 TMM with them, but also you are capable of hitting 4 TMM with the MASC which you can’t use every turn so you are being charged for it even though you can’t access it more than one turn in a row without risking instant leg obliteration.

In addition, the MASC is fixed, the jump jets are fixed, so you can’t even tone down the speed issues to save BV. Miserable little thing.

In addition to its speed issues and mediocre armor, the Shadow Cat still has 17 tons of pod space to fill up with as many expensive Clan guns as it can manage, and this all adds up to create a mech that costs Stormcrow BV without Stormcrow firepower or Stormcrow durability.

Variants

These mechs have all been reviewed based on a standard F through S scale, which you can find described on our landing page here (along with all of our other ‘mech reviews, the name of the box you can buy to get any of the mechs we have covered, and our general methodology).

Prime

Coming in at a mighty 2156 BV, the Shadow Cat Prime has a useful loadout in theory but not for nearly 2200 BV. The main gun is a Gauss Rifle, backed by a pair of ER medium lasers and an active probe. You can get this firepower on a mech that is 700-800 BV cheaper, and the only thing you are really getting here is the inconsistent movement profile of the Shadow Cat. It’ll bully something like a Vindicator, but seeing as it costs almost twice as much it had fucking better. Some of the best assault mechs in the entire game are in the same BV range, and a lot of really high quality medium mechs can be had for far less price.

If you are a sicko who doesn’t care about price, this is still ass, as it can’t consistently get 4 TMM while being a lot more brittle and having much less firepower than comparable Clan medium mechs that also get 3 TMM most turns.

Rating: D-

A

The Shadow Cat A is 2220 BV and carries two ER large lasers, a streak SRM-6, and an active probe.

Rating: D- get a Stormcrow Prime

This is a bad loadout for this price, having similar alpha strike potential to a fucking Gargoyle Prime, a mech that, while good, is not exactly known for its damage output. And is an assault mech. For 1500.

This wants to do skirmishy snipy things, which is typically expensive, and this isn’t even particularly good at it.

B

The Shadow Cat B is 2420 BV and-

Rating: D-, take a Trebuchet 9N for this exact job

It carries two LRM-15s with Art IV, two ER medium lasers, an ECM, and an active probe.

It’s bad! This is bad for this price. This is Regent BV. This is Vulture III/IV BV. This is almost Mad Cat BV. It is overspending on not nearly enough gun. This just doesn’t have the gumption in it to fight things that cost the same amount as it due to the intense unreliability of MASC and the fact that 3 TMM is not nearly enough to keep a Regent from putting this thing in the dirt.

C

The Shadow Cat C-

Rating: D

-is 2199 BV and carries a pair of ATM-6s and three ER medium lasers. This is decently high damage output, but you can pay 250 more for an entire Mad Cat E that carries two ATM-9s and a pair of ER large lasers, outgunning the shit out of this mech while also being, you know, a Mad Cat with actual heavy mech durability. You can pay this much for a pair of Fire Falcon Es, and get two ATM-12s from that. And be able to get 4 TMM every turn. Just a dismal waste of BV.

D

The Sha-

Rating: D

-dowcat D is 2298 BV and carries an ER large laser, three MPLs, an ER small laser for some fucking reason, a pair of machine guns for KILLING THE BUGS UNDER ITS SKIN, and a streak SRM-6. This is, as usual, not nearly enough firepower for this price on a 3 TMM mech. This thing costs like a heavy mech but most heavy mechs in this BV range will kill it and laugh at the body.

E

So I won’t do the cutoff gag again and the Shadow Cat E is a fucking weird one. For 2084 BV you get a pair of improved heavy large lasers, and nearly enough heat sinks to fire them, only going up 4 on a run while firing them both. This wouldn’t be amazing, but the secret sauce here is that the E carries a pair of coolant pods. This means that it can build up to 8 or 12 heat, and use a coolant pod to spike the heat back down or to compensate for jumping over terrain or something. I don’t think its an incredible use of BV, but this does have an interesting play pattern and seems somewhat usable for the price, a rarity for a Shadow Cat.

Rating: C-

H

The H is a bad heavy laser one. For 2155 BV you get a large heavy laser with targeting computer, and an LRM-20 plus artemis IV. This is okay damage and it manages heat well, but the price is still far too high for what you are getting. A CLRM-20 with ArtIV is extremely good, but not on this mech for this much.

Rating: D

I

What a dismal fucking creature the Shadow Cat is. For 2408 BV you get a pair of medium improved heavy lasers, a pair of ER medium pulse lasers, and a pair of streak SRM-6s. The lasers are boosted up by a targeting computer. This is a weapon set that is, frankly, fucking hilarious, but it doesn’t have the heat capacity to use it particularly well and it is, you know, 2408 BV for something with a defensive profile similar to a Vindicator or base model Centurion. It just doesn’t have the mass in it to stick around, even with the accuracy buffs.

Rating: D-

J

HE RETURNS! THE INFANTRY GUY HAS ARRIVED TO BATHE THE STARS IN BLOOD.

For a frankly bargain bin price for a Shadow Cat, 1808 BV, the J is just insanely funny. It carries a HAG/20 and six AP gauss rifles. It also has an active probe if that matters. This is death on legs to conventional infantry, and the damage is, in general, actually pretty acceptable for the price. It has no heat problems, does decent damage, has plenty of ammo, and HAGs are in general really funny weapons due to the +2 to cluster at short range. It is still defensively a Shadow Cat and it has a lot of explosive weapons in 10 armor arms which could cause some issues for it, but this is far and away the most functional one yet just on raw price.

Rating: C

M

Back to normal with a 2438 BV Shadow Cat, the M carries a pair of LPLs and a pair of ERMLs. Paired Clan large pulse lasers are strong, but not 2438 BV strong. You can get better cheaper, etcetera, it’s a fucking Shadow Cat. It is insane how much these things cost; don’t do MASC kids.

Rating: D-

T

Below 2000 again! For 1852 BV the T carries an ultra AC/10 and a pair of medium pulse lasers. This is a good loadout, with good skirmish potential from the AC/10 and good everything from the MPLs. This is a solid clan medium mech that won’t profoundly disappoint you, and it is the first Shadow Cat that is better than the average mech. UAC/10s are just good weapons to keep BV down with on big Clan things.

Rating: C+

TC

So I knew going into this that the TC was the good one, and it is the only Shadow Cat that has any significant presence on local tables. The reason for this is very simple, it only costs 1378 BV.

For that very reasonable price you get an SRM-4, an active probe, two small pulse lasers, and an LB-10X with two tons of ammo. This is a great loadout for utility, and the TC can see fantastic play as a utility piece, jetting around the field using the MASC not for TMM but for repositioning, and applying LBX pellets and SRMs to things in need of a bit of crit seeking. This is not an all star mech, but it is a solid team player that acts as a great force multiplier for a big expensive Clan thing, following up on any openings that the rest of your lists makes. LB-10X’s sometimes just win you games, and this can chip in with solid shot even when it doesn’t have anything weak to try to kill with pellets. This is an actual good medium mech, costing a couple hundred more than my closest comparison, the CN9-D, while gaining the MASC, better close range damage, and jump jets.

Overall a solid workhorse medium mech that can see play in more or less any force and acts as a great force multiplier for something like a Kodiak or Hellstar. Makes good mechs better and bad mechs less bad, gotta love it.

Rating: A-

Final Thoughts

The only Shadow Cat that breaks free from mediocrity is the TC, and it only does that because it is cheap. If all the Shadow Cats were built around autocannons of various sizes with cool backup guns, it would be a much better mech, but the insistence on using expensive ass gauss rifles, LRMs, and Clan energy weapons just price the thing well beyond what the chassis is capable of.

Take the TC and enjoy your utility piece, if you want an all star, take a Mad Cat or something. The Shadow Cat is not cut out for it, and it is way better when it accepts its role as a support piece and stops getting TBIs trying to fistfight enemy assault mechs.

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