MA Major Buff, Your thoughts

Seems like a bit too much, at least in terms of mine damage. Will have to wait and see but adding in a small speed buff instead of going crazy on the damage front would seem more interesting. I don't have a Cheetah, so hard to judge. I've really wanted one even as is, but not until after finishing my main hangar and getting my Shadow to 6. I'll be interested to see how this plays out.

These people crack me up. When you complain to them about the crappy matchmaker, their canned answer is that they can’t make any drastic changes to it out of concern for messing up game balance. And then they give this mech’s ability a 84% buff. 84% is not exactly what I’d call a minor adjustment.

    I'm tempted to get this at some point soon. I do like variety in gameplay. I've lost quite a few Mechs to well placed mines.  This could be fun and interesting at near double damage. 😎 Facing an onslaught of hyperactive AI? Mines down! Lol. Mine the sides and corners then fire up the middle with MRs. Lots of possibilities. 😁

I cannot commit to a 5th mech. 1)Running Guardian, but not loving him.
2)Cheetah is fast, and mines will help.
3)M.D. but he has a way to go.
The Buff for Cheetah makes me want him. I never feared the mines, but now they may be deadly. Md is wull be expensive, but may be better for clans.
ADHD all over the place here

As someone who has Cheetah and plays it regularly – 4* level 7 typically with AT 10, hangar SP around 2300 overall – it is definitely exciting to hear this news. Cheetah is definitely one of the least powerful mechs in the game right now, but can be quite fun to play. Right now the only people who play Cheetah are those who enjoy the challenge despite knowing that there are much better options.

When I first saw this news, I thought that this buff was a bit silly because it ignored Cheetah's actual main weaknesses, but have since come to realize that this is likely an intentional design choice to keep Cheetah different than other mechs.

From my perspective, these are Cheetah's main weaknesses:
1. Inherently defensive ability. While mines can be used aggressively, this requires extremely short range which is usually difficult and foolish. Typically, you want to drop mines from behind cover to kill someone that is walking around a corner to attack you. However, mines do not actually mitigate any damage unlike the other, more powerful defensive abilities in the game, and they require you to stay behind cover to work effectively most of the time.
2. Mine detonation timer. Mines do not blast immediately but take a second or two to blow up. This makes it possible for many mechs to evade the damage and kill you before you can drop more mines. Killshot especially can dash through mines.
3. Close range play style. To maximize the mines' effectiveness you need to be fighting at very close range. Many mechs like Killshot, Zephyr, and Guardian can play at close range much more effectively.
4. Slow speed and low health. Ostensibly, the advantage of light mechs is that they can outmaneuver their stronger competition and grab control points, get good firing angles, and evade oncoming fire. Lancer and Shadow both can do this extremely effectively because of their health pool, speed, and evasive abilities. Cheetah's health and speed are both inferior to these other mechs and the mines are not enough compensation.

So will a large buff to mine damage and a medium buff to health make a major difference for Cheetah? I don't think so. Cheetah still has all of these weaknesses and stronger mines are still not enough of a benefit to outweigh them. For people who want truly competitive hangars I bet Shadow or Lancer will still be better choices for light mechs and even those are probably worse than mechs with higher energy limits.

Will this buff make Cheetah a more viable "fun mech" for those who enjoy running around causing havoc and setting up traps for unsuspecting opponents? Absolutely. BOOM BOOM BOOM!

I want to do this. I do. I just can't get sidetracked. Maybe when my primary builds are set. It sounds fun! I think it needs an indirect fire weapon though, like DL8, Jav6/8 or something bursty, like the MR6/8 or RPG6. Regardless, all of these ideas require R5+ which is a significant investment. I'm hesitant...

So, any idea if/when this buff is taking place or is it already in place?

In CPC I can see it being a pain in the butt, me likey,  that's a crowd I want to join. *winks*  I can see Jav 8s annoying the fool of people and them doing everything they can to reach me only to be blown to smithereens by my mines. I'm already laughing.  " Take that Succckas.... "

Nonetheless, I'm staying w my plan too.  I have a short term Acoin goal for the new stuff, whenever that happens to drop for everyone.  I'm almost there.  Once I reach it I think I'll buy the mech but just let it sit a base level until I finish maxing my other mechs, only pulling it out to mess around.  

I'm saving my KS just for you little buddy!  Mine away!  lol

I guess that was kinda the point. 85% less impunity. 🤣

Of course you know that means now that everybody and their mother will be running the cursed things. 

Trouble with that is, Cheetah is  s l o w  for a light mech, and all it takes is one red with a Killy to wreck that plan. Unless you have a teammate sniper you can count on to keep the middle clear for you long enough to cap it. I know every time I run for center, I’m usually on my own. Even with the Killy it’s about 50/50 that I can get the cap before getting offed. And then if I do get it, 90% of the time reds take it before any teammates realize it was ours to defend. That’s just my luck. 

so what triggers the ability to reset?
Do all the mines need to be detonated?
Can you deactivate and move them?
Is it a timer, and you can litter the map with them?

I was under the impression that using the ability dropped 3 mines automatically ..probably because I always found them in groups of 3.

I've been playing Cheetah heavily since the update (mostly on Fortune Towers and Tunnel of Fate, which are some of the best maps for Cheetah). Yes, mine is only 4* level 7, which is a far cry from being maxed, but my two main mechs Killshot and Zephyr are also at 4* so I can compare relatively easily.

With the rebalance, it's really fun. Just enough health that you can usually survive a Killshot dash with a sliver of health while the mines kill them. And just enough mine damage that the area denial is actually effective.

But it is still very far from OP. It is slow and has low health, so one wrong move and you are dead. The three mine limit and the current mine damage means that you can't actually do much area denial since you should be placing all mines in the same place typically. Overall I think my Lancer is still a better light mech.