Cougar

DLC-Exclusive content.

This content requires the Tales from the Far Territory addon to be installed before it can be seen or used in regular gameplay.

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A deadly hunter, the Cougar stalks the rocky crags and ravines around Great Bear and may be your greatest nemesis yet.

Hinterland description

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The Cougar is a Wildlife predator found on Great Bear Island. They were introduced in the Part 5 Last Horizon update as part of the paid portion of the Tales from the Far Territory Expansion.

NOTE: As of 6/28/2024 The Cougar is temporarily removed from The Long Dark in patch 2.30 pending a redesign by Hinterlands Studios.^[1]

Overview

The Cougar is a highly territorial predator that is different from any other predator animal; you do not find the Cougar, the Cougar finds you. They only appear and stalk survivors who spend time in a Region for too long. Once the survivor stays in a region long enough, the Cougar will travel there and inhabit it, building a Cougar Den Cave somewhere and eventually coming out to stalk and attack the survivor until the big cat is killed, or the player leaves the Region and the Cougar moves out of the Region.

Cougar attacks are deadly: resulting in the unique Severe Lacerations and multiple Blood Loss/Infection Risk Afflictions.

If the player survives a Cougar Struggle, they will have the option to select a weapon from their inventory and a chance to fire one shot at the retreating Cougar. If the shot hits, the Cougar will die. If it misses, the survivor will remain hunted by the Cougar.

Enable Option

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The most deadly and ferocious predator you will encounter in The Long Dark. The Cougar's relentless stalking can be mitigated, but only for a time. Choose wisely.

Disable if you are unready to be stalked by this predator in your game.

In-game Description

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New and existing survival sandboxes after Part 5 of Tales from the Far Territory have the choice to include Cougars in their game. They will not appear if the option is disabled when starting a sandbox. This toggle option is not available when playing on Misery Mode.

Drops

A Cougar is a fierce and dangerous foe to hunt, but killing one will produce a Cougar Carcass, which can be harvested to obtain the following items:

The Cougar Claw is harvested automatically when Harvesting Cougar Hide/Quartering animal. There is no option to harvest one or the other separately while examining a Cougar Carcass.

↑ https://hinterlandforums.com/forums/topic/45242-temporarily-removing-the-cougar/
↑ If carcass is harvested
↑ If carcass is quartered.

Killing Cougars grants unique rewards: Cougar Hide (for crafting Cougar Hide Wrap) and Cougar Claw (for crafting Cougar Claw Knife), as well as Cougar Meat.

Behaviour

The Cougar is a territorial ambush "alpha-predator" and is a serious threat on all survival modes; it will occupy a region once the survivor has spent enough consecutive days there. Cougar Threat can be mitigated by regularly traveling between different regions. Once a Cougar occupies a region it will remain there until killed or the survivor remains outside that region for a period of days (timer can be viewed from the Map for that region ("M") e.g. Pleasant Valley.

Cougar Encroaching

Cougar Arrival — A warning that a Cougar will arrive in 5 days

The Cougar will encroach on any region the survivor has lived for too many consecutive days in. During this time is is still possible to travel outside without risk of a cougar attack.

A warning message "Cougar Encroaching" (in white) will appear at the top of the UI when The Cougar begins traveling to the current region, providing 2-5 days notice to leave the region or prepare.
A red "Cougar Arrival" timer on the Map ("M") for the afflicted region.

Note: all Indoor areas and transition mines/caves are children to a region, and will be counted for cougar presence. e.g. "Cinder Hills Coal Mine" is considered part of Coastal Highway, not Pleasant Valley. To find out which region an area is considered, stand in the area and open the Map ("M").

Cougar Encroachment Period
Difficulty	Consecutive Days in Region
Pilgrim	70
Voyageur/Stalker	30
Interloper	20
Misery	10

Cougar Threat Arrived

If the survivor remains within the same region when the Cougar arrives, that region will become infested and the Cougar will begin hunting them until they or it are killed, or the survivor flees the region for a number of days. Once arrived the Cougar can attack at any time while outdoors.

A warning message "Cougar Threat Arrived" (in red) will appear at the top of the UI.
A red "Cougar head" icon will in the lower-left of the UI, once The Cougar is active and has arrived in the same region as the survivor
The ominous "Cougar Theme" will play when outdoors (and at risk of a cougar attack).
Cougar sounds may be heard outdoors (meows, growls, hisses, footsteps, branches breaking, etc.)
The survivor will utter unique Survivor Monologue about the odd noises.
Bloody spots of killed animals may be found outdoors/carcasses of small game (ex Rabbit Carcass).

The Cougar bears multiple similarities to The Darkwalker from the challenge "Escape the Darkwalker".

Both follow the survivor to new regions (Darkwalker very quickly, Cougar after the encroachment period)
Are invisible entities which pursue the survivor across a region
Frighten nearby wildlife (in a ~50m radius for Darkwalker, region-wide when Cougar arrives)
Play unique audio (Darkwalker footsteps, Cougar footsteps/hiss/cries)
Play unique music which gets louder the closer it nears to the survivor (Darkwalker theme, Cougar theme)
Play a scripted cutscene upon reaching the survivor
Can be defeated by performing a ritual in a specific location (Darkwalker: gathering notes and travel to Ash Canyon, Cougar: gather noisemakers, travel to randomized Cougar Den)

Cougar Den

One Cougar Den exists on Great Bear Island (a different location each game), this den is a small cave small roots at the entrance, and cannot be entered by the survivor. When the survivor is within ~100m of the Cougar Den, the Cougar's theme will begin playing (an ominous drums song, growing louder as the survivor nears the den), overriding all other music (including the Aurora theme).

While the den is active, the Cougar will encroach on the survivor if they spent too long in any one region.

Destroying the Den

This den may be temporarily destroyed by throwing THREE Noisemakers at it, collapsing the cave and suppressing Cougar activity across the Island for a long time.^[1]

Once the survivor begins attacking the den with Noisemakers, The Cougar will begin hunting them immediately until the den is destroyed: this can result in The Cougar to immediately attack the survivor.

Cougar Den Locations

Sundered Pass: south of Ambler's Lake

Struggle

Cougar struggles are an event while the survivor is outdoors in a cougar infested region; it may be prevented by being indoors or leaving the region. Similar to Bear or Moose struggles, Cougar struggles are a mauling cutscene and may not be defended against with tools, though if the player survives with a weapon in their inventory they will have the option to counter-attack.

55-70% flat Condition loss (unmitigated by Protection)
(high) chance of afflicting Severe Lacerations (-50% maximum Condition, periodically inflicts Blood Loss with Infection Risk. Lasts for 72 hours.)
- Severe Lacerations additionally afflicts 3 Blood Loss and 3 Infection Risk immmediately.
Severe damage to all outer layer clothing

Note: "Severe Lacerations" affliction lasts for 72 in-game hours and periodically applies new instances of Blood Loss and Infection Risk (requiring a Bandage and Antiseptic to treat). This makes Time Accelerating tasks (Sleep, Pass Time, Crafting, Harvesting, etc.) extremely dangerous while afflicted.
Note: Blood Loss causes 30% Condition loss per hour and each application stacks. This can quickly kill a survivor without enough bandages, or if Severe Lacerations applies a new Blood Loss.

If the player survives a Cougar struggle and has at least one weapon in their inventory, they will have the option to counter-attack and fire a single shot at the retreating animal.

Strike (fire a single Hunting Rifle, Revolver or Survival Bow shot, or faint after 10 seconds)
Desperation (faint immediately)

If "Strike" is chosen the selected weapon will draw, and the survivor will have 10 seconds to aim and fire a single shot at the retreating cougar. The cougar will flee in a random direction, which may be obscured by terrain or obstacles. After taking one shot or after 10 seconds the survivor will faint, awaking a short time later.

If the shot hits: The Cougar it will be dead nearby when the survivor awakes.
If the shot misses: The Cougar will escape and continue hunting the survivor. Can result in a new cougar struggle as early as 2 hours later.

Note: Stones, Distress Pistol and all tools may not be selected during a Cougar struggle.

Trivia

The Cougar is based off of the Cougar (Puma concolor), a species of big cat found in North American and known by over 40 different English names. The most common names for this species include Puma, Cougar, Mountain Lion, Panther, and Catamount (the later meaning cat of the mountain).
Killing 3 Cougars unlocks the "Big Cat Killer" Feat.
Cougars are a scripted event, ambushing the player with a struggle before fleeing and vanishing should it not be killed.
Cougar do not leave paw prints in the snow.

Gallery

Game History

UPDATE 24 June 2024 (Update):
- Added to game.
UPDATE 28 June 2024 (Update):
- Temporarily removed from the game by Hinterland due to poor reception and heavy player criticism of the Cougar's initial overall gameplay functionality and mechanics. Will be returned in a future update.