Cow Mangler 5000

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A deadly device by any measure, the Cow Mangler will quantum disentangle Cows, Sheep, Humans and even Demomen!
Cow Mangler 5000 publicity blurb

The Cow Mangler 5000 is a primary weapon for the Soldier. It is a large, shoulder-fired, retro-futuristic ray gun. Several portions are team-colored, and arcs of electricity appear periodically on the frontal nodes.

This weapon can fire up to five blasts of team-colored energy that, compared to the default Rocket Launcher, deliver 10% less damage to players and 80% less damage to buildings. The blasts fired function similarly to rocket projectiles; as such rocket jumping can be performed without hindrance, and the shots can be reflected by enemy Pyros. The Cow Mangler 5000 features a "Mangler" bar in the HUD which serves as an indication of its ammunition clip. After the bar is depleted, it can be recharged through a reloading process in which the lever on the side is cranked. It does not incorporate the traditional ammo reserve used by other weapons, a feature shared with Righteous Bison, Pomson 6000 and Manmelter.

When the Mangler bar is full, pressing the secondary fire button will cause the weapon to begin charging up. During this process, the entire Mangler bar is consumed and the Soldier's movement speed is reduced to a third (from his standard 80% of normal speed to roughly 27%). This charging period lasts for two seconds, after which a single charged shot is fired with both the speed and blast radius of a typical blast. This shot deals mini-crit damage to players and will cause them to suffer six seconds of afterburn damage at the same rate as the Flamethrower. This can affect the Soldier who fired it if he is near enough. The charged shot also disables any enemy buildings hit for four seconds.

Although this weapon is unable to be crit-boosted during an Übercharge of the Kritzkrieg or Humiliation, it is able to perform mini-crits from the Buff Banner, even though it does not glow while the banner is active.

Enemies killed by the Mangler suffer a distinctive death by vaporization: they turn black, hover in mid-air while performing a specific disintegration animation surrounded by team-colored particles, and then disappear into ashes.

Damage and function times

See also: Damage
Damage and function times
Shot type Projectile
Damage
Maximum ramp-up 125% 101
Base damage 100%
Players:
81
16
Maximum fall-off 53% 43
Point blank 96-101
Medium range 45-81
Long range 41-43
Mini-crit 109
Afterburn 3 / tick
36 total
Afterburn (mini-crit) 4 / tick
48 total
Splash damage
Minimum splash 50% 9 ft
Self-damage 24-80
Self damage (rocket jump) 24-41
Function times
Attack interval 0.8 s
Reload (first) 1.3 s
Reload (consecutive) 0.85 s
Afterburn duration 6 s
Values are approximate and determined by community testing.

Item set

Main article: Item sets
Dr. Grordbort's Victory Pack
Item icon Dr. Grordbort's Victory Pack.png
Effect

No effect

Demonstration

Crafting

Main article: Crafting

Blueprint

Reclaimed Metal Black Box Cow Mangler 5000
Item icon Reclaimed Metal.png + Item icon Black Box.png = Item icon Cow Mangler 5000.png
Class Token - Soldier Slot Token - Primary Scrap Metal Possible Results
Item icon Class Token - Soldier.png + Item icon Slot Token - Primary.png + Item icon Scrap Metal.png =
Item icon Direct Hit.png Item icon Black Box.png Item icon Rocket Jumper.png Item icon Liberty Launcher.png
Item icon Cow Mangler 5000.png Item icon Original.png Item icon Beggar's Bazooka.png Item icon Air Strike.png
Item icon Panic Attack.png

As a crafting ingredient

Refined Metal Victory Pack weapon Possible Results
Item icon Refined Metal.pngx4 + Item icon Cow Mangler 5000.pngItem icon Righteous Bison.png =
Item icon Lord Cockswain's Pith Helmet.png Item icon Lord Cockswain's Novelty Mutton Chops and Pipe.png

Related achievements

Leaderboard class soldier.png Soldier

Backdraft Dodger
Backdraft Dodger
Kill a Pyro who has airblasted one of your rockets in the last 10 seconds.


Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare
Get the highest possible rocket jump using jump and crouch.


For Whom the Shell Trolls
For Whom the Shell Trolls
Bounce an opponent into the air with a rocket and then kill them with the shotgun before they land.
Mutually Assured Destruction
Mutually Assured Destruction
Kill an enemy sniper with a rocket after he kills you.


Death from Above
Death from Above
Rocket jump and kill 2 enemies before you land.

Leaderboard class pyro.png Pyro

Hot Potato
Hot Potato
Reflect 100 projectiles with your compressed air blast.


Pilot Light
Pilot Light
Ignite a rocket-jumping Soldier while he's in midair.

Leaderboard class sniper.png Sniper

Jumper Stumper
Jumper Stumper
Kill a rocket or grenade-jumping enemy in midair with your Sniper Rifle or the Huntsman.

Update history

July 20, 2011 Patch (Dr. Grordbort's Victory Pack)
  • The Cow Mangler 5000 was added to the game.

July 22, 2011 Patch

  • Improved the impact sounds for the Cow Mangler 5000’s projectiles.
  • Optimized many particle effects related to the Cow Mangler 5000.
  • Updated the Cow Mangler 5000 to display the drawbacks in its attribute list.
  • Updated the gamehaptics file
    • Added recoil/draw/crit/reload forces for the Cow Mangler 5000
    • Added charge shot force for the Cow Mangler 5000

July 22, 2011 Patch #2

  • Fixed the charged shot sometimes doing more damage than intended.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the projectiles to stay in the world after a team change.
  • Slowed reload rate by 5%.
  • Decreased damage dealt by 10%.

July 26, 2011 Patch

  • Corrected the damage ramp for the Cow Mangler 5000

August 18, 2011 Patch

  • [Undocumented] Updated the kill icon for Cow Mangler 5000.

September 15, 2011 Patch

  • Updated the particle effects for the Cow Mangler 5000 and the Righteous Bison

October 14, 2011 [Item schema update]

  • The Cow Mangler 5000 can no longer be painted.

October 27, 2011 Patch (Very Scary Halloween Special)

  • Updated effects for The Cow Mangler 5000.

May 13, 2013 Patch

Unused content

  • In GCF files there is an unused alternate sound for charged shot resembling some of Quake sounds listed as cow_mangler_overcharged_shot

Bugs

  • The weapon will fire a charged shot even if the charging process is interrupted by getting stunned or the Soldier's team losing.
  • Deactivating an enemy Sentry Gun during humiliation will cause them to reactivate afterward and shoot the winning team.
  • If the player changes from the Cow Mangler 5000 to another Rocket Launcher using a Resupply locker while charging a shot, they will be stuck with the slower moving speed until they change classes or finish firing the charged shot.
  • The laser can go through thin walls such as setup gates when fired at a correct angle.
  • Rarely, after a moment of not firing, the Soldier will automatically reload the weapon's clip, regardless of the player's auto-reload setting.
  • The fire damage self-inflicted on the Soldier by the weapon is treated as an environmental hazard. As such, the last enemy to injure the player will be credited in the kill feed should the Soldier die from the afterburn damage.
  • It is still possible to taunt and quickly press alt-fire to charge a shot. The result is a laser fired from the Soldier's chest as he taunts.
  • When killing a player going to destroy the cart in Hightower, the Soldier will be awarded with a Kamikaze kill.
  • When minimizing the game with this weapon equipped, the ammo portion of the HUD may disappear. Looking at the scoreboard may fix this.

Trivia

  • The name Cow Mangler is a reference to the association of alien contact coinciding with cattle mutilation. This originated from American science-fiction movies of the 1950s in which aliens would use laser and plasma weapons to cause mutilation to livestock.
  • Unlike other weapons that have two separate VMTs for team colors, the Cow Mangler 5000 is using the same method that used to paint hats to give the weapon team colors. The projectile is colored using the same method as well.
  • This weapon's design seems to be inspired from the "Pearce 75 Atom Ray Gun", a model which can be bought here at Weta's online store.
  • Several Pyro achievements can be earned using the afterburn of the charged shot.
    • Attempting to rocket jump with a charged shot will set the user on fire, awarding the Pilot Light achievement.
  • A small number of Cow Manglers were painted due to a schema update that resulted in Cow Manglers being marked as paintable in team colours for a short period of time. Due to the way the model VMTs are set up this resulted in both the model and projectile being painted.

Gallery

See also