War Cat kinda sucks

[PotatoPulverizer]

Doesn't do that much more damage than a zweihander and is vulnerable to all attacks. You can't even compare it with it's "peer" the dragon.
But the worst part is it doesn't count as a "beast", it typed as a light infantry regardless what the class info tells you. Which means it doesn't work with tailored great helm and probably mix unit tactics. But somehow it also doesn't work with Raid Captain????? Whadahell?

Anyways, add cat rider please thanks.

[Vambran]

It's meant for ambush squads. Light units only mixed in with it , like Cat man + Rangers.

[grognardgary]

If it takes up two spaces like a dragon it isn't worth it. Is it worth two rogues/assassins? Or an assassin and a ranger? Maybe early game before you can deploy 9 units in a squad?

[Iguana-on-a-stick]

War cat is great early game. Hits much harder than its stats suggests, can attack up walls, and is much tougher than other early game light infantry. Plus it requires no resources.

Upgraded behemoth isn't quite as good as a 2 good tier 3 units, but still does hit very hard. It just dies too quickly, even with its large amount of hitpoints. Still, a useful addition to squads that lack leadership for a full 9.

Also, I notice that their "weight" for light units seems to be increased. Adding a warcat to a squad means you can add more non-light troops and still get movement and ambush bonuses. So they give you more flexibility in making your light squads.

Still, they definitely don't compare to dragons. Dragon riders are the ultimate high-tier late-game units. The early game versions kind of suck, but with investments and patience they become great.

Warcats/behemoth are early game force multipliers. They help you get going fast and turn mediocre squads into decent squads. But they do kind of get left behind in the very late game.

[Jab]

Them being light is why they're good, they can ambush. They fill in important niche as a midgame ambush unit that doesn't require resource investment or even that much time, and is quite cheap. Also it's good against the frontline which rangers and assassins struggled with on their own.
A had a couple of war cats that were a godsend on ludicrous.

[dtdavis84]

They are a little easier to use in the early game. They're a good deal as far Capacity is concerned and they work well for Stephen, Raskuja, rogue MC, etc squads.

But they stay useful in the late game, especially in high Skill squads boosted by artifacts so they never get hit by anything besides cannons. When you do this, though, you're usually using artifacts that remove magic and probably not running any magic units in the squad. With no magic, your group may lack a form of area damage... which the cats provide. That's basically their niche.

In my last run, a Behemoth squad I had was so hard to hit they literally could literally tank every single enemy squad in the later maps without taking damage. And in my last NG+ run, a did a 3 Raskuja 3 Behemoth "Cat Squad" that was the same.

[BB Mouse]

It's true flying dragons aoe attacks are a lot better than the cat splash attacks. And I almost never had many chances doing ambushes 'cause late maps or big battles rarely have ambush Terran or walls. 2 Zweihanders have more CP than 1 cat when they both do the same splash damages. So cats are really not that useful. I use them anyway 'cause they are cute. What other reasons do you need? XD I have 5 of them, they are ferocious meow~ I mean do people only make useful friends? no cute friends? :P

A 3 dragon squad can have a 50k threat level near end game, while a 3 behamoth squad is only about 20k. So, cats are cute. Dragons are scary. :P

[Hand of Gabriel]

War Cats are kinda ripped. One of the best units in the game for sure.

[TJR]

For what it's worth, I've just finished Scenario 30 on Ludicrous and my Cat/Ranger squads were consistently doing more damage to the enemy than my Dragon squads, apart from Beatrix's squad of course.

Love (er, War) Cats allow you to fill Stefan, Narima and Raskuja's squads and still have plenty of room for all those Skill/Evasion artifacts.

[Example]

War cats are pretty solid because they can build for crit (lithe assault + precision or assassin's heart). War cats are tier 2, so comparing them to tier 3 zweihanders is kind of weird but also kind of makes sense since they take so long to promote that they'll exist with tier 3s for a while. They also attack before heavy units, which makes them likely to hit three units whereas zweihanders move last and act as more of a cleanup crew.

[WomboCombo]

i disagree with OP. i find war cats to be great units. they are not OP but they are great.

1. they hit hard and tank decently well due to evasion.
2. they do not cost material to upgrade.
3. they can attack units on a wall.
4. they have AOE attack.
5. they do not require tech tree investment to become effective (but also do not get much stronger in the late game)

now... Light units are not meant to be superior tanks compared to heavy infantry. but war cats do hit a bit harder than Zweihanders. and if you place them in the forest or hills, these hello kitties are very good.

the biggest benefit of war cats is they make Light squads much more viable in the early game, when T3 units are not available and T1/T2 Light units desperately needs a tank.

their AOE attack helps Light squad, which tends to dominate in single damage, resulting in overkill.

their wall attack is not that useful for damage, but they CAN force surrender, which is excellent at cleanup duty.

i suggest a minimum of 6 war cats, placing 2 in each Light infantry squad.

[RyanEX2000]

The guy above me has it right. Warcats are meant to give light squads some necessary punch. I typically have three with Stefan and Razkuja and considering putting another three with Kuroda.

With their aoe swipes it's rare that a front row survives the first round. If you build them around dodge and crit they can be particularly devastating and hard to hit.