Cat A Performance
All twins I have flown have have Cat A capability, clearly with restricted weights, some better than others. The AS355F1 is perfectly capable of helipad departures and arrivals, and to be honest the figures given seem quite relaxed ie. it is not too big a deal if an engine does go bang. With newer machines the limits seem to get pushed harder such that if the worst should occur then there is little margin for error. The 355 has very basic graphs giving a fixed profile, the 365 has variable Vtoss and Vy to give more options depending field length. The added complexity increases what we can do legally.
All manufacturers want to get the most out of their machines, which means if they can they will work closer to the limits, so long as we are professional in our approach this is fine, but it does leave a door open to getting caught out if we are not.
Remember Cat A is for the whole flight so guaranteed ground clearance in the cruise is part of it, and during climb out, 3% is 150ft per mile, a 500ft hill 3 miles away gives more than 3% gradient.